Re building a 1982 GS 1100 E

[l4yercake]

Hello everybody I am new to the forum so I apologize for anything I might do in advance. Anyway I am now the proud owner of a slightly used 1982 GS1100E. This bike comes with a small list of issues but thankfully do to research on this wonderful forum I believe I know most of the basic issues but I would like to get your opinions. So let me start with the issues that I know of.
1-Charging/ battery issues- So I am betting stator/ rectifier not to bad

2-Leaking oil like it was going out of style- Hopefully it's barrel gasket, we will see how bad that is.

3-Massive amounts of oil coming out of the exhaust like its a two stoke- I'm thinking valve issue, expected with how beat up the bike is.

4-Petcock is stuck-not sure from paint or other issue.

5-Turn signals do not work- I think it is a wiring issue due to the stupid after-market " carbon fiber" turn signals.

6-some bad paint job on the engine- I think degreaser and some kind of 3m paint stripper or a media blast of some kind.

Well that's about it so far but I will find more as I go along. So I think I can find out most of the fixes by searching this forum and by the service manual. But where do you think I should start? I'm in the army and in the mighty state of Montana so I want to take my time and do this stuff correctly. So time is not really a giant factor just as long as I finish it in less then three years. Thank you guys for all you help!

Also here be some pics I hope I am doing this correctly.

[l4yercake]

The tear down

Well I am starting to take the bike apart this evening and it seems like it is lacking an air filter and air filter box. So my question is what sort of damage can I expect from this sort of thing? And I am very amazed it even ran at all when I bought it.

[sedelen]

I think you got your work cut out for you.
One good thing about the bike is that it doesn't use shims for the valves, so valve adjustments are easier because you don't have to chase down shims of the right thickness.
A missing air cleaner box and filter would cause a lean running bike I would think. But my main concern would be the oil coming out the exhausts. That might have an '83 engine in it, '82's are aluminum, '83's black unless it was painted that way.

Here's a shop manual you can download.

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/80-83_GS1100T-LT-EX-1000SZ-EZ-SD-ED-ESD.pdf

And you'll find tons of useful information here.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[l4yercake]

It was a definite paint job on the engine. A very bad one as well all of it is flaking off, I guess it will be easier to clean that way.

Thank you for the links they will be a lot of help. Thankfully the guy I bought it from threw in the original service manual for it so that should help as well.

[steve murdoch]

Welcome to the site, 14yercake.
Most all of us have horror stories about the dreaded "previous owner syndrome".
Airbox and filter should not be too difficult to locate as lots of people swap to pods and all the extra tuning that they bring with them.
As well...thank you for your service.

[GateKeeper]

Welcome to the site....

How much time and money do you want to put into the bike will dictate on what your end result will be.....

you can just do the necessary maintenance items required to get the bike running and safe.....

or

you can do a full tear down and rebuild and have a next to new bike....

it's all up to you, you can see by my rebuilds which route I took, and I am now enjoying the bike ever so much....

I can see an air box on your bike, so I am not sure what it is your missing, perhaps the air filter ? maybe ?

Overall your bike does not look all that bad, seems all the parts are there you can just do that and get her running, or add the paint and stuff to make her look pretty as well...

good luck on your project....

.

[sedelen]

I think he's probably missing the air cleaner filter box, item 9 in this fiche,
no longer available.

http://www.boulevardsuzuki.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=95963&category=Motorcycles&make=SUZUKI&year=1982&fveh=2156

Occasionally they appear on E-bay,
another answer would be to just put pods on the carbs, but then they would need re jetting.

[GateKeeper]

Ahhhh I see, there is more in there than I can see in the pics.....

Hopefully he can source one out.....

.

[elcornus]

Welcome to the site, 14yercake.
As well...thank you for your service.

Yeah, what he said!
Welcome aboard the board, soldier.
It's THE best source for knowledgeable folks who KNOW these great machines.

I might have the other missing air box parts you need, I'll PM you if I do.
Make a list of what's missing and post a "parts wanted" thread. Lots of members have extras that they're willing to sell.

[sedelen]

I think I might know someone who has one, two, or more available.

[Homie]

I am now the proud owner of a slightly used 1982 GS1100E. This bike comes with a small list of issues:

1-Charging/ battery issues- So I am betting stator/ rectifier not to bad

2-Leaking oil like it was going out of style- Hopefully it's barrel gasket, we will see how bad that is.

3-Massive amounts of oil coming out of the exhaust like its a two stoke- I'm thinking valve issue, expected with how beat up the bike is.

4-Petcock is stuck-not sure from paint or other issue.

5-Turn signals do not work- I think it is a wiring issue due to the stupid after-market " carbon fiber" turn signals.

6-some bad paint job on the engine- I think degreaser and some kind of 3m paint stripper or a media blast of some kind.

Welcome. Looks like you came to the right place for help - your bike definitely needs some! Good googly-moogly ! You do have your work cut out for you. With so much to fix I agree with Gatekeeper in that you have to decide now just how much time and money you want to sink into the project. Not trying to be discouraging, but from the looks of things you could easily sink a whole lot of both into the bike.

If you decide that you are "all in" I think I would tackle the engine first. The cylinder has to come off to fix that base gasket leak (nice RTV job in that one pic ). However, before you do, I would do some diagnostics to determine why it's "smoking like a two-stroke". If it's smoking that bad your rings are probably involved. I would do a compression AND a leak-down test. The two of them together will give you a pretty good idea of whats going on inside the cylinders. When you take it apart, do so slowly measuring and recording everything - they will reveal clues to you as to what's going on inside the engine and you don't want to miss them.

We're here to help if you need it. Good luck and remember NSDQ!

[dorkburger]

This may be small beans in light of other work required on your cycle, but the front end seems to me, to be low. I wonder if the springs are modified. Or maybe its just me....Anyway, welcome aboard, and good luck,

[Mario]

the front end on my recently purchased 83 is the same. I wonder why? Maybe due to the air system? or maybe spacer removed

[l4yercake]

Thank you everyone for your input, lots of help already.
Due to everyone's input I think I will continue with this rebuild even if it does take a lot of time and money, I need to do something the three years I'm in Montana.

Some stuff I'm not sure of with the forks and whatnot I was looking around on the forum and I think that I may have aftermarket rear shocks please don't give me to hard of a time if I am wrong.



Also I'm guessing this was a chain guide mount at some point in time?



Well I will keep everyone updated. It's going to be a slow long ride due to kiddos, the wife, and the Army so Please don't take it to hard on me

Oh almost forgot I'm for sure starting with the engine work this weekend that thing is gross.

[bonanzadave]

I think that I may have aftermarket rear shocks please don't give me to hard of a time if I am wrong.

Those are box-stock...you idiot

Also I'm guessing this was a chain guide mount at some point in time?

Correct. Ya got a tig welder ?

I am now the proud owner of a slightly used 1982 GS1100E.

Welcome to the EZBoyez Club[/QUOTE]