1979 GS1000L Engine Rebuild

[Guest]

A few years ago, my GS1000L looked like this:


I've made a few minor changes since this photo was taken and I'll try to list them as I go along.

Just before the end of last year, I got clipped with my girlfriend riding on the back by a guy making a u-turn and the bike ended up like this:







After the other drivers insurance company decided to cover my bike as a loss. I decided that I should move forward with some decent engine modifications and get the most out the bike instead of just doing straightforward build. I started out by asking around for a spare engine, as I would need complete engine cases. I ended up with two engines and ton of extra parts from two very nice, semi-local guys with a love for the GS.



Both engine have had the top end pulled off. The cylinders on the engine in back are 1074cc, which will soon be bored to accept 74mm pistons from MTC. The head in the back is from a later GS1000, which I don't think I'll be using on this build, but hopefully in the future I'll have more money to throw into getting a good valve job and larger venturi carbs.

My goal is to have a weekly update on this, next step is to get the crank out of the nearer engine and send it to get welded.

Ross

[mrl1000l]

One thing I noticed when taking apart the donor motors, was the difference in the stator.



I seen the style of the one on the left before, but the one on the right is new to me. And is looks extremely new.





Is this just an issue of Suzuki changing their supplier mid way through making the GS1000?

[gsrick]

One thing I noticed when taking apart the donor motors, was the difference in the stator.



I seen the style of the one on the left before, but the one on the right is new to me. And is looks extremely new.





Is this just an issue of Suzuki changing their supplier mid way through making the GS1000?

I'm no expert, but I'd say that the electrical components may be manufactured by different companies, not by Suzuki themselves. Each company would have a mounting template and output specs they had to go by, but each might have a different style of design. Or the same would apply if they are aftermarket stators. I guess the color wireing might tell you something, as the after market stators seem tpo just yellow wires were as the stock one had three separate colors. That is a nice looking L you've got there. Hope you get it worked out.

[mrl1000l]

I'm no expert, but I'd say that the electrical components may be manufactured by different companies, not by Suzuki themselves. Each company would have a mounting template and output specs they had to go by, but each might have a different style of design. Or the same would apply if they are aftermarket stators. I guess the color wireing might tell you something, as the after market stators seem tpo just yellow wires were as the stock one had three separate colors. That is a nice looking L you've got there. Hope you get it worked out.

Thanks GSRick, I figured it might be something that simple. It has the OEM style wire. I'm going to check the ohm between wires and testing on the bike once I get it running again.

[mrl1000l]

Today on "Smallest garage in Brooklyn with 6 motorcycles in it."

I got the crank out of the donor engine and sent it off to be welded. I also sent off the cams to Web for .365 hardweld.

In the meantime, I ordered up some other parts to get things ready for the engine transplant. I got aluminum fuel lines to replace the leaky original ones. Also got new S/S fasteners for the carbs. The old ones were getting rusty and a tad bit stripped.

Before:


After:


Sorry for not having fantastic images. It was 30° today and just did a snap-n-pray that the images would be ok.

I thought my carbs were also leaking from the float bowl gasket, so I ordered a 4 pack from Z1. It turns out I was already using the ThreeBond gaskets that come from Z1 and I know they weren't that old. I cleaned the matting surfaces and installed the new ones. Are these gaskets crap? I might have to add a set of gaskets from boulevard next time I order from Japan if they are still leaking.

[mrl1000l]

New parts in! The grip is on an R1 throttle tube.





Sadly, the dyna coils are NOT a straight bolt on for the GS1000L frame. When the engine is out, I'll have to trim the coil mount spot on the frame so the wires have clearance. I don't have a good shot of this now, but when I will when I get the bad engine out and put the new engine in.

I stripped the top engine case with some rock miracle. It will get a VHT 127 paint job once it gets warmer.





Before the bike goes faster, it needs to be able to stop faster. I upgraded to the square swept calipers and vented rotors from a GS1100. I also got some stainless steel goodridge hoses in black. I ran two 36" lines straight from the master cylinder. I stripped the yellowing rotting clear off the fork lowers. I also switched the front fender back to the original, the photo here has it on for a mock up. I still have to fix the loose rivets.

Before:


After:


An oil pan bolt sheered off when I was removing the pan, so I took the lower case to a builder friend that does vintage sidecar racing. He'll likely weld a new bolt onto the broken one to get it out. He also took me to his machinist, and somehow convinced me to bring my 1980 GS1000 large port head to get a 3 angle valve job, even though I don't have the money. I dropped the head off with the cylinders and a piston for the bore. My friend swears it is very affordable work, I will call tomorrow and find out how much it actually is, and decide if I will need to hold off the head work.

Thats it for now,
Ross

[gsrick]

Ross, what is rock miracle? Don't think I've ever heard of that.

[mrl1000l]

It's a paint stripper that looks like snot. You apply with a natural hair brush and deactivate with water. I prefer it over aerosol paint strippers because you don't have to worry about over spray.

[mrl1000l]

After a long hiatus of waiting on parts, the project is back underway. John Pearson got my crank back to me yesterday. Welds, welds, everywhere. Looks good.













Now that I unwrapped, I thought it wise to go ahead and close up the cases. no point in letting it sit out and gather dirt.



I'm using another GS1000 parts engine as work stand for this.



Lastly started prepping the cases for paint. It's too humid to paint today. Hopefully this weekend will provide a nice day where I can get the cases painted. Machinist has returned my cylinders and head. I will post photos of them as I get to installing them.

[mrl1000l]

I had a big plan to push the bikes out of the garage and build a temporary tarp tent inside with a vent fan like a did a few years ago when I was painting my CB tank, but between my hangover and general impatience, I just pulled the engine out and shot it with VHT SP127 on the sidewalk. I'm really happy with the color. I read a few have used this with VHT clear, but I'm just going to risk it and leave it with 2-3 coats.

[mrl1000l]

Getting closer

[mrl1000l]

I had a lag in work, so I spend the end of last week in the garage. These camera phone photos aren't the best, but it's what I had on hand this day. Thursday I swapped the motors.

Here is the old motor:


Breather cover got in the way, but other than that it came out quite easy. Just raised the scissor jack until it was level with the frame.



I'm not messing around on this rebuild anymore, so I cut notches in the brackets that hold the coils so the new Dyna coils would fit, did some touch up spray paint on the frame, then literally tossed the new motor in.



Friday
Friday was extremely rushed. No time to pull the camera out, really sorry about that. I installed my welded clutch basket. About year ago I shimmed the springs and welded the stock back plate to the basket, installed an ape extra plate clutch kit and new, OEM clutch nut. So that was good to go. With this rebuild I installed new oil pump o-rings and a new crush drive.

I put on the dyna-s on and twisted it to full retarded timing. Then I ran over to borrow a degree wheel, dial indicator and an adaptor to hold the dial indicator in the spark plug hole. I had eye-balled the cams when I installed them, so degreeing them was really easy. I set them for 105° b/atdc per web's instructions. They were set roughly 95-100° when I eyeballed it.

I'll update you guys on the rest of the weekend tomorrow.

[Paul]

Keep up the good work, coming along nicely!

[mrl1000l]

I didn't have a set of carbs for the 34mm port GS1000 head. I've heard great things about the BS34 carbs, and even better things about the BS36 carbs. I've spoken to a few people about getting a set, but the last set of CV carbs I had were a complete nightmare. (the CB750F ones, I believe the model # is VB42B) If this rebuild had gone faster, I'd have probably settled on some used CV carbs, but then the tax man gave me a really good rebate this year, and I semi-impulsively bought Mikuni RS34 carbs!





The carbs actually come with a range of main jets, with 125 installed, so I left those in place. I had bought 20 pilots for the VM26 carbs some time ago, so I swapped out the stock 17.5 with the larger pilots.

[mrl1000l]

Saturday
I got to the garage early. Reinstalled the exhaust. Put the alternator rotor and starting clutch back in, turned it over by hand about 20 times. Put in the starter motor. Hand tightened the manual cam chain adjuster. Double checked all my wiring. Installed some old carb boots that came with the head with some new o-rings. Installed the mikuni's with some new K&N filters. Wheeled it down into the street and had a friend of mine hold the camera while I started it for the first time.

(I'm not sure if this system allows for embedded video, so here is the link)

http://youtu.be/Inzi2jAO6Jk

After it got going, I adjusted the timing a bit. I know I don't look extremely happy, but I'm extremely happy here. I keep it idling at 2k rpm for 10 minutes to break in the cams blipping it up to 4-5k every minute or so.

http://youtu.be/WPjz7Dm8qUc

After letting the motor cool back down and the smoke dissipate. I started it back up and colortuned the idle mixture screws in, then took for a quick ride over to my friend shop. It's was leaking a bit of oil out of the bottom of the stator cover which was troublesome, but when I got home I pulled the cover and saw some old gasket bits that I neglected to clean off.

I can't believe how different the bike feels. I know the motor isn't fully broken in, so I can't fine tune the carbs until the ring are set, but the power is absolutely wild.

I'm so happy I put the money in the right places on this build. I'm still planning on painting the tank and side covers, but for the time being I'd rather just ride it.









A big thanks to all the GSR members, Non-GSR members, and banned GSR members who helped me get this bike back on the road. You know who you guys are because I've been bugging you non-stop with questions, and getting some really great answers and advice.