1980 Gs1000 rebuild

[6pkrunner]

Love that color - retina searing.

[sedelen]

I think it looks good with the Suzuki decal, but I must admit, I'm not used to seeing them that way.

[1980GS1000E]

I am with the Resto crowd. To restore it what it looked like from the factory would be more feasible in this case with so little miles. I have heard these E models are getting scarce.

[bomber737]

I found the decal on ebay and liked them. This tank replaced the original which had the screw on tank emblems and it was so beyond my skill to fix it I got a new one off of ebay. This tank did not have the mounts for the original tank emblems. I actually consider myself lucky that I found this tank and was able to purchase it. It had no dents and the inside is like new. I put the decals there because I just thought they looked nice there and after all I have to make it mine. I think I had seen a picture of another model that had ones that looked nice and were in the same spot. I don't think I am going to put on the accent color decals. I like the plain look and I love this color. I think I might paint another bike this color, it really pops and the metal flake looks fantastic in the sun.

[7981GS]

I think I had seen a picture of another model that had ones that looked nice and were in the same spot. I don't think I am going to put on the accent color decals. I like the plain look and I love this color. I think I might paint another bike this color, it really pops and the metal flake looks fantastic in the sun.

Me too! And it does.




Eric

[Vmass]

Nice tranformation!! Congratulations.

[Rover]

Nice look,yup,make it your own.Restoration is nice but I don't see any problem with adding your touch.

[fnkvn]

As for the color and the use of a decal - love it! I hope that this bike gets ridden and re-restored many more times in it's life, and it seems to me that a full resto (if that is what a future owner wants) wouldn't be anything more than a weekend job at this point. Nice work.

[1980GS1000E]

Agreed, didn't know the details of the tank work involved. Looks good!

[bomber737]

I did not take offense to anything anyone has said. I am grateful for this site and all of your input. There are so many really really nice bikes you fellow gs'ers own that I just tried to live up to the high standards set by you guys. I think I have succeeded from your comments and I will look forward to seeing other builds.

[bomber737]

I finally got to ride my GS1000 for the first time today and what an experience it was. To date the largest bike I have ridden was a 2011 Harley softtail classic and its performance does not hold a candle to this bike. I have also ridden a 1975 Honda gold wing, and that was quite a dog compared to the GS1000. I can't believe people, i.e. my friend who is a GL fanatic, think their performance is even close. The bike ran really well except for a small stumble around 2000 to 2800 rpm and it not wanting to idle down all the way. I am going to figure this is due to carbs are not yet lubed sufficiently by gas. So tomorrow I will be adding some marvel mystery oil to the fuel to lube them up faster. It ran fine around 3000 rpm and really took off anything over 4000, this thing really pulls. Almost to much as I felt like I was going to slide off the seat at one point. I have tried to keep it as stock as possible and I really like the results. The only thing it needs are the side cover badges and they are on their way. I highly recommend using a Pinngle fuel pet cock and blanking off then vacuum port on the #3 carb. I will also be changing out the brake lines in the near future, the brakes feel a little spongy but they work when I need them to. I also changed to headlight to a clear one with a 85W bulb because I ride a lot at night and I wanted a wider beam and brighter light. So here are the final pictures of my 80 GS1000. Thanks to all for your encouragement and advise.

[7981GS]

Wonderful news!!!
You deserve the fruits of your efforts.

Eric

[bomber737]

Now that the riding season is past for 2012 I decided to get to those things I wanted to address now that I put 5000 miles on the bike last summer. I went on the memorial ride in October and got the chance to talk with a bunch of guys and pick there brains about my front suspension. I decided to go with the sonic straight rate springs. I went with the 1.1 Kg/mm and put a set of race tech gold cartridge emulators. I can't wait for the snow to melt so I can do try it out. I think I will be replacing the rears this spring. There is a place in the town over that will make me a set of rebuild-able rear shocks for $250 and for 100 more I can get the piggyback nitrogen canister added. I will see what the finances are and go with whats best. The place can match the spring rate of the front so hopefully I will be done with upgrades to the bike for a long time. I also did get around to polishing up the forks and covers. I am really happy with the results and I think the bike looks even better than it did last spring. I just did the shims again and re-synced the carbs so I figure I am golden for another season.
Here are some pictures of the finished polished parts.

[steve murdoch]

Congratulations on getting your project on the road.
To my eye, the right amount of shiny bits.

[1980GS1000E]

Beautiful job. Some ideas on the carbs:

They don't need lubing and adding Mystery oil probably won't help.

I have had a stumble at around the same rpm and what fixed it was some carb tuning, specifically the needles and pilot screws.

Again, great looking bike.