GS850G Road Worthiness Project

[Guest]

After owning a GS750e, riding it cross country and selling it shortly after, I started looking for another suzuki. I wanted an 8 valve suzuki as my 16 valve didn't appreciate 500 mile rides in 95 degree weather on highways, and it chewed the cam up nicely by Colorado.

My previous steed:


When I was done fiddling with it.



But I digress. Here's the new steed:79 GS850G. 24K miles, and ratty and rusty. It's been sitting outside in the PNW wet for a couple of years now. Its got a godawful saddleman mold collector seat and it came with a windjammer. The bike is actually in decent mechanical shape though.



Sorry for the camera phone shot, I'll get some better pics in a day or so.

So far I've replaced the fork seals, changed the oil and replaced the oil pan due to a stripped drain plug. I've "fitted" a headlight that fits the original bucket and dumped the old fuel. I changed the points out for a Dyna ignition unit, and replaced the brake pads in the front.

And if you have a ratty seat for a 79-81 850G or 1000G let me know, I can't stand this crapfest that's on there now.

Open Issues / Plans:
Hole In Exhaust - Leaky Exhaust seals sorted
Service Primary/Secondary Gears
Static/Dynamic Timing
Replace Coil Boots
Coil Relay Mod
Front Turn Signals
Seat Repair
Rebuild Rear Master Cylinder, Caliper
Replace carb O rings
New Air filter
Make caliper brackets, source F master cylinder and rotors
Inspect/replace all bearings(Wheel, steering head)
Replace choke cable
Replace clutch cable
Spit/polish/paint!

Lots to do, time to get busy.

Thanks for your interest/support! Mike

[kimjay]

Nice, that's pretty much how mine looked to start, exhaust rotten seat ripped, tank paint really badly peeling and badly oxidized aluminum everywhere I had seat shaved down and recovered. It turned out pretty good, but seat is still a little bulky for my taste

[Dogma]

You forgot a couple:
-Ditch the L bars
-Swap the mirrors back to their correct sides.

Or do you like it that way?

[mpkauto]

Haha, those mirrors are that way so they wouldn't interfere with the windjammer. Yeah, those are on the list as well.

[eil]

You've got your work cut out for you! I'll be following with interest. I'm nearing the end of a very similar project myself (minus the paint).

Consider adding stainless steel brake lines to your list if you haven't already. Also valve clearance check/adjustment.

I often wondered what could be worse than a Saddleman seat, now I know the answer: a rotting, mold-infested Saddlman seat.

Welcome and good luck!

[mpkauto]

I stole your thread title! Yeah, I will be using stainless lines - I had some aeroquip line made up for my 750, improved it significantly.

[mpkauto]

Didn't get much done today, just repairing a side cover and fiddling with the timing.

[mpkauto]

Update:

Installed new choke cable - old one was siezed
new air filter
recovered seat
new carburetor boots
sealed the airbox

the bike is running much better now, and I'm kinda diggin the bike's patina.

[BigD_83]

Do you have a story behind the tank? Replacement? Restoration?

Sure looks good now.

[mpkauto]

I'm lucky, the gas tank is pretty freakin clean - there's only one or two dings and barely any rust in the bottom. Even the fuel level sender works! The paint is crap though, the clear has rotted off in the sun.

[azr]

The bikes looking great! you could tour the planet on that bike, comfortable like no other and that kicker is ultra character! sounds like you're well on the way to having a very dependable bike. Nice upgrade, the dyna ignition, have you checked the voltage getting to the coils? nice to have at least 11 volts. One thing I did that was nice was to dig out the old plug wires from the coils and put in new with new caps.

[eil]

Is that a new seat or did you fashion it out of the old one?

Where did you get the cover from?

[mpkauto]

Is that a new seat or did you fashion it out of the old one?

Where did you get the cover from?

I bought a pan on ebay that was came with good foam. I got the cover from a guy who makes seat covers on ebay by hand and sells them for 30-35 bucks. The fit is pretty good but it does not have a draw string or anything. I'll have to fiddle with the cover more, its not as tight as it used to be like in those pics.

[mpkauto]

update Feb 22nd

Update:

I haven't done much with the bike since the summer. The last big jobs I did were the following:

Replaced rectifier and stator with Electrosport units, bike now charges
Rebuilt carbs (or tried to, I will have to have them apart again)
Painted the battery tray satin black
stainless cap screws on the engine, painted engine parts with wrinkle VHT

I'm in Canada for work now, so no work will happen until I'm back in April. I am planning on replacing the tires, petcock and rebuilding the rear brake master cylinder as it is sticking on. I will also need to adjust the valves and perform a real carb rebuild and balancing as it is very cold blooded as is, and isn't running quite right still. I replaced the orings which has helped immensely though. Tires and steering bearing are on the list as well. I will also adapt some newer rotors and calipers on the front.

Anyway, here are some pics of the bike in its current state.

[azr]

Well on it's way to being the dependable beast it once was, good job. Interesting that you used wrinkle paint, really making the bike your own. Hey where you working up in Canada?