My 85' 1150E - project.

[Don-lo]

Great rebuild story, I've really enjoyed seeing that beautiful bike come back to life.

So, how do those handlebars compare to the originals?

[Slowhand]

Thanks Don, damn nice of you to say that. I have enjoyed every moment of working on her.

I got the Stator cover back on her Thursday after re-cleaning the engine case and cover surfaces again, it popped right back on like before. All the bolts went on fine thank goodness, even the new heli bolt hole. Actually the helicoil one is stronger then the others. I filled her up with oil, she took almost a full 4 quarts because I had her open and dripping for over a week. Then took a little spin that night, no leaks from the oil filter cover or the Stator cover.

I also aligned the rear wheel using the string technique as I noticed she was pushing to the right a bit. Not the most accurate way but close enough for street riding. I had to adjust it almost a full hash mark forward on the right side of the rear wheel to get it lined up with the strings. No more push now.

Yesterday I had the time to take her for a little ride north of me into lower New York state. I live in northern New Jersey, about 40 minutes from Manhattan where I work. Harriman state park in NY state is the closest place near me to ride some nice roads "without" , repeat, "without" traffic. It's 40 minutes north of me, 30 if you rip it up there to get the hell away from all the cars and trucks on the highway ! The parks roads are empty on weekdays except for the occasional MC rider, or sports car driver and folks fishing in the lakes. I've driven those roads countless times over many years.
I had such fun yesterday driving an old friend who hadn't been on those roads in a long time, she had an absolute blast twisting and braking and throttling up on route 210 !! And so did I !!!

A couple of photos , the first two were taken in 1985 when she was a newbie at the Lake Tiorati parking lot in Harriman, November would be my guess by the lack of leaves on the trees. Still had the engine guards on. The second two photos, same parking lot, 27 years later !!




Yesterday, 8-24-12.




...............................

[Slowhand]

Don, I forgot to answer you about the lower bars. Truthfully, it's been so long since I rode her I forget how the original bars felt other than sitting a bit more upright. But I did love how these lowers felt riding the twisties yesterday. I will probably buy the one right bar I need eventually so I can switch back to them just to see and feel the difference. It's not that big a deal to do.

[7981GS]

Yesterday I had the time to take her for a little ride north of me into lower New York state. I live in northern New Jersey, about 40 minutes from Manhattan where I work.
Harriman state park in NY state is the closest place near me to ride some nice roads "without" , repeat, "without" traffic.
It's 40 minutes north of me, 30 if you rip it up there to get the hell away from all the cars and trucks on the highway !
The parks roads are empty on weekdays except for the occasional MC rider, or sports car driver and folks fishing in the lakes. I've driven those roads countless times over many years.
I had such fun yesterday driving an old friend who hadn't been on those roads in a long time, she had an absolute blast twisting and braking and throttling up on route 210 !! And so did I !!!

A couple of photos , the first two were taken in 1985 when she was a newbie at the Lake Tiorati parking lot in Harriman, November would be my guess by the lack of leaves on the trees.
The bike still had the engine guards on. The second two photos, same parking lot, 27 years later !!




Yesterday, 8-24-12.

Fantastic that you can post dejaview (sp?) pictures almost three decades apart, with the SAME scooter.
Besides the picture quality differences, the bike looks even better and closer to new... now!

Thanks for sharing!

Eric

[Slowhand]

I took her for another spin up to the lakes the other day. I have 250 miles on her now, that's not much but I haven't had to time to use her. So far no major issues. Actually there are plenty of issues, just not major ones. The main thing is she starts and runs fine, tracks straight and true.

1.) I have to replace the chain and sprockets before I go anywhere else. The chain is cooked and the front sprocket too. The rear is ok but I'll just do them all.

2.) It appears the left side foot pegs rail is bent in towards the swing arm. The chain sits really close to the bolts that hold the front foot peg to the rail. If I lean hard into left hand turn that has some bumps, the chain will actually make contact with the peg bolts as the swing arm goes through it's up and down travel. So I have to find a used rail.

3.) All new brake lines, but they can wait for the winter.

4.) A new rear shock. But that will have to wait for awhile. Those damn things are expensive !!!

I'll get the chain and sprockets this week online, who ever has them the cheapest. And hopefully find a good used rail on ebay.

From a couple of days ago at the lakes. Oh, and "AMY" is gone, thank goodness, my personalized plate came in. Though the funny , or not, thing is, I keep calling the damn bike Amy !!

[jwhelan65]

Great build, Great bike, Great story, Great thread......

[Slowhand]

Thanks for the nice comment Joe !!!
It's amazing what something as simple as replacing the chain and sprockets does for the feel of the bike. And the noise, or rather the lack of noise. Smooth and quiet now. Ahhh.....

I called up Z1 to order the 630 to 530 sprocket conversion parts because so many of you on here spoke highly of them. I spoke with a gentlemen named Mike who could not have been more helpful and polite. I can't remember getting customer service like that anywhere. He emailed and called me back a few times until we had the order straight and he was ready to ship the parts. These guys are the real deal and I will most certainly use them for anything else I will need down the road. I wanted to keep the stock gearing and Mike figured out what was needed for me. Amazing !!

I went from a 15 to an 18 tooth front and a 42 to a 50 tooth rear along with 122 link chain to tie them together. JT sprockets and an RK x-ring chain. Not top of the line equipment but more than adequate for the riding I do. Also got the needed 6mm spacer and a clip type master link. $174 shipped, not a bad deal at all.

So, do the switch ! Off with the old, on with the new, all pretty straight forward. The 6mm spacer goes on the 'inside' of the sprocket for my bike. I've seen posts on here about where the spacer goes or if you even need one. I guess it depends on what year and model of GS you have, my old 630 front sprockets have a 6mm boss on the inside so that is where the spacer goes for an 1150.









It was dark and late by the time I had it put back together so I only went for a short ride but I noticed the feel and quietness right off. I wanted to take a ride the next day but it rained.. Then I had to go back to work.. , then when I was off, it rained again... I'm off again today but it's raining again... !!! But hell, at least I'm off !



Clean, smooth, and quiet !!

[big block]

Interesting: I'd like to regear mine but I want more topend and more low gear grunt so i guess I might just as well leave it with stock gearing.

Sheldon

[azr]

Why do you use license plates under your centre stand? nice upgrade by the way.

[Slowhand]

Azr, the genius who owned my house before I bought it years ago had just paved the driveway and had it paved right into the garages. His way of covering up the cracked cement I assume. The bikes always settled down into it when left sitting for a time. It's just a habit I got into to always put something under the weight of the bikes. I've wanted to tear them down and build new for years but money always went for something else on the endless money list !

Yeah BB you can't have it both ways. This 18/50 tooth setup is so close to stock that it's impossible to notice the difference. Which is exactly what I wanted.