Rebuilding my 1980 GS250T here...

[pete]

Hahaha nice... throttle happy and a trouble maker to boot... all on a little 250!

[isu2014]

I do what I can!

[isu2014]

Got the megaphones on!
Not without a little modification but they work well. Really quieted the bike down and it runs extremely well now. But now I understand why the previous owner took them off... It literally spits oil out of the head gasket on the left cylinder. (As evidence of the puddle underneath)

[pete]

Glad she runs even better! Looks better too I reckon... always looks funny with cut off pipes that don't go further than the pegs in my mind...

Bugger on the oil spitting, but I think you were already aware of a leak weren't you? Just a tip on that... use genuine gaskets! If you must go after market, try to stick with Cometic, don't use Athena...

[isu2014]

If I can find the original chrome heat shields, the exhaust will look excellent.

Yeah, I knew about the oil leak but the extra back pressure really added to the issue. I think I will get a full gasket kit for each cylinder and rebuild both just for fun. Most of the gaskets on ebay look to be NOS OEM gaskets so I will stick to those. Thanks for the tip.

[pete]

Even if you can't find original shields, making them should be easy.

Either bend some metal to suit or get a piece of steel pipe the appropriate diameter and cut it in half so you have one for each side.

I can't remember how they affix but probably some nuts welded on the inside will do the job, and then just get the whole thing chromed.

No worries on the tip... I used Athena gaskets on mine (except the bottom end) and the valve cover and breather cover gaskets just constantly weeped even though everything was torqued correctly etc. Only fixed it by replacing with genuine.

[steveb922]

Try putting 'suzuki 14791-11410' into a search engine - you may be lucky!

[isu2014]

Installing these today... From a GL300. Just need to mark and drill mounting holes.

[pete]

Looks like they'll do just nicely...

[isu2014]

Forgot to post pics of the finished exhaust heat shields. Turned out decent.



Now I'm working on the gaskets.


Got to this point and now it's time to do some reading so I take this apart correctly. Always easier to put things back together if it was dismantled properly.

[pete]

Good job, those shields look like they belong there

Those gaskets look genuine too, good call!

[isu2014]

Good job, those shields look like they belong there

Those gaskets look genuine too, good call!

Thanks. I thought they turned out nice for $15.

I am waiting on 1 more gasket for the head but will get it put together when it comes in. All in all, it was a good progress. Work was cancelled due to the blizzard we had (10" of snow), so instead of being lazy like all the other employees probably did I accomplished something.





The snow:

[bwringer]

Just something I noticed earlier: you can remove the airbox by popping the fender loose from the frame. This allows you to move the fender down and back which allows the airbox to move back, up, and out.

Nice bike! I did a good bit of work on one of these lil' boogers last summer, and really enjoyed the test rides. Tried to grab it for my wife, but the owner didn't want to sell.

[pete]

Good one! Yeah if I get time off work I usually try to do something productive, like dismantling the old bicycle wheels on the little Ducati project yesterday on my first day of leave.

I like your friend in the corner too, and we have a water bowl just like that... haha

Oh, and someone left their lights on...

[isu2014]

Just something I noticed earlier: you can remove the airbox by popping the fender loose from the frame. This allows you to move the fender down and back which allows the airbox to move back, up, and out.

Nice bike! I did a good bit of work on one of these lil' boogers last summer, and really enjoyed the test rides. Tried to grab it for my wife, but the owner didn't want to sell.

I actually tried that but the box is wider at the front than any of the frame tubes. I even turned it sideways and stuff, no cigar. I gave up.

Thanks! I like it for a good Suzuki starter project. There are a couple GS450's for sale on craigslist right now so I might need to get another bike if the price is right.

Good one! Yeah if I get time off work I usually try to do something productive, like dismantling the old bicycle wheels on the little Ducati project yesterday on my first day of leave.

I like your friend in the corner too, and we have a water bowl just like that... haha

Oh, and someone left their lights on...

Thanks. I didn't work very hard at it so it took all day just messing around, but everything was pretty straight forward and should be easy to get back together.

That's Chester in the corner, he's a bengal. Very nice cat. He likes running water so those water bows work well.

And that's my truck warming up and the lights come on with the remote start.