cost of getting 850 on the road

[ron bayless]

Thanks.I doubt I will use that here.I will try it on another forum,caferacer.com.I dont care if i use space there.

[ron bayless]

My costs just went up.Now need new switch, and harness.Burned up today,not sure why.key wasnt in ign and all i did was put new battery in.The wire burned from front to back including inside instrument panel so bad I cant even tell what color it was before it burned.I cant post pics because I am at work.

[GateKeeper]

Thanks.I doubt I will use that here.I will try it on another forum,caferacer.com.I dont care if i use space there.

posting pictures the way it's shown in that link does not waste forum space, as they are not stored on this site, but stored at photobucke';s site, you are actually using their space...

but hey you can do it how ever you like...

did you see my rebuild thread and the pictures in it, and it don't even put a dent on this sites resources....

.

[Bonehead]

i have lots to do,but its cheaper than other bikes I have owned. IMG_20130915_174829.jpg (49.2 KB)

I may have 2k in it when i am done.So...I spent 425 a month for 2 years driving a pos ultra classic.I would have to sandcast a gs engine before i even approached that kind of expense.

You say that now... I'm in $1464 so far. $600 for the bike, $864 in parts (Upgrades as well as general maintenance). And for the biggest kick in the ass, I have yet to get tires, rebuild the forks, rear springs, fabricate rearsets, and get new gauges.

However, it has 100% been worth it. Having almost no motorcycle work done previously, I have learned a lot from it. Probably one of the best things I have ever done if I'm honest.

[ron bayless]

You say that now... I'm in $1464 so far. $600 for the bike, $864 in parts (Upgrades as well as general maintenance). And for the biggest kick in the ass, I have yet to get tires, rebuild the forks, rear springs, fabricate rearsets, and get new gauges.

However, it has 100% been worth it. Having almost no motorcycle work done previously, I have learned a lot from it. Probably one of the best things I have ever done if I'm honest.

I agree.I dont like it when something goes wrong and there is no logical reason for it.It makes it much harder for me to fix.But overall, I really like working on my bike.Not all the time though.

[chuck hahn]

Only thing I can think of from just putting in a battery is that you may have accidentally hooked the leads up backwards.

[850 Combat]

This is the favorite of my two 850Gs. A 600 dollar purchase in sound running and charging condition. I used it as a loaner for the family tours I was doing for a couple tours before I put new tires on it and checked out/repaired the charging system. It is smooth and shifts great. It now has about 47000 miles, about a third of those since I bought it. Batteries? a couple. Tires? It can use another set. Expenses? Used Honda R/R, and some cables, gaskets, and carb O rings.

Bikes aren't cheap, but the cheapest isn't always the best deal. Many will need tires and a battery though. The thing about non runners is that when you get them running, you won't know what you have. That said, GS are so robust that I basically expect the mechanicals to be solid.

Oh yeah... That was $600 and he rode it over and dropped it off from 90 miles away. Sight unseen. Came with a set of soft bags and that Hondaline locking trunk. It had a Windjammer - like fairing on it, but luckily, it had the headlight ears and bucket on it.



This was also $600 bucks delivered. It came with brand new BT45s on it. It had a bunch of rusty junk racks, case gaurds, and weird doo dads. This is after half a day of cleaning and polishing. It ran great, charged, and everything worked. Best deal I ever got. Around 2007 or 2008.



A $450 non runner would have to be pretty decent and whole for me to buy it. If it shows evidence of too many thumbed hands being used on it then I would have to pass.

This last bike, it turns out had been resurected by a friend of mine who buys and refurbs bikes as a hobby business. He rebuilds steam turbine engines for a living. I rode it over to show it to him and he wanted to buy it back. It needed nothing but the ugly fat slippery foam grips to be replaced, really.

At least with your G you don't need chain and sprockets. The shocks, in my personal experience are long lived. One thing people don't readily see is the cost of putting the carbs right if someone threw the airbox away. Yes, jet kits work, but they don't give them away. That and rusty shocks and forks.

[ron bayless]

Only thing I can think of from just putting in a battery is that you may have accidentally hooked the leads up backwards.

I am not that inept.

[ron bayless]

This is the favorite of my two 850Gs. A 600 dollar purchase in sound running and charging condition. I used it as a loaner for the family tours I was doing for a couple tours before I put new tires on it and checked out/repaired the charging system. It is smooth and shifts great. It now has about 47000 miles, about a third of those since I bought it. Batteries? a couple. Tires? It can use another set. Expenses? Used Honda R/R, and some cables, gaskets, and carb O rings.

Bikes aren't cheap, but the cheapest isn't always the best deal. Many will need tires and a battery though. The thing about non runners is that when you get them running, you won't know what you have. That said, GS are so robust that I basically expect the mechanicals to be solid.

Oh yeah... That was $600 and he rode it over and dropped it off from 90 miles away. Sight unseen. Came with a set of soft bags and that Hondaline locking trunk. It had a Windjammer - like fairing on it, but luckily, it had the headlight ears and bucket on it.



This was also $600 bucks delivered. It came with brand new BT45s on it. It had a bunch of rusty junk racks, case gaurds, and weird doo dads. This is after half a day of cleaning and polishing. It ran great, charged, and everything worked. Best deal I ever got. Around 2007 or 2008.



A $450 non runner would have to be pretty decent and whole for me to buy it. If it shows evidence of too many thumbed hands being used on it then I would have to pass.

This last bike, it turns out had been resurected by a friend of mine who buys and refurbs bikes as a hobby business. He rebuilds steam turbine engines for a living. I rode it over to show it to him and he wanted to buy it back. It needed nothing but the ugly fat slippery foam grips to be replaced, really.

At least with your G you don't need chain and sprockets. The shocks, in my personal experience are long lived. One thing people don't readily see is the cost of putting the carbs right if someone threw the airbox away. Yes, jet kits work, but they don't give them away. That and rusty shocks and forks.

The non runner part was because he didnt have the vacuum tube connected from the petcock to the carb body.he messed it up trying to find out which wire was the problem.there wasnt anything wrong with the wiring until he started cutting things in half.I suspect when i replace this harness I will find some wire grounding out to the frame.Why else would the instrument panel lights come on with no key in the ignition.The ignition wires were all touching, so that made the ignition switch come on basically.I have them separated now.Now when i hook the battery up there is no more smoking from the wiring.

[WShie]

I've done 2 bikes so far a 1979 Gl1000, and my 1980 GS1000G. To get them to my standards- safe reliable, turn key cost me about $1500 each not including the bike. Depends on what you want, I take the bike down to nothing and go up from there. Part of the reason these bikes can be had for so cheap is by the time you are done you usually have more in them than they are worth. That being said this is my winter hobby so the money or profit is secondary, I have 2 dead reliable bikes that I know EVERYTHING about inside and out and I have something no one else around here has.

[ron bayless]

I have 2 dead reliable bikes that I know EVERYTHING about inside and out and I have something no one else around here has.

I totally agree.I spent 17000 on a harley.13,000 on a yamaha, etc etc.I could spend a lot on this bike and not complain.I think the gs is the best ujm bike ever made.

[850 Combat]

I got a good used 850 or 1000G harness on this list for next to nothing. The seller threw in a nice gauge set, Ignition module, turn signal modules, and some switch pods. You will get that thing going, and its a GS 850. Chances are there is nothing wrong with it besides sitting too long and a PO with too much time and too many thumbs on his hands.

If you get a used (or new) wiring harness, take a look at the factory manual and see the way that it is routed. It would have saved me some time if I had remembered that the routing was in the book.

[ron bayless]

I got a good used 850 or 1000G harness on this list for next to nothing. The seller threw in a nice gauge set, Ignition module, turn signal modules, and some switch pods. You will get that thing going, and its a GS 850. Chances are there is nothing wrong with it besides sitting too long and a PO with too much time and too many thumbs on his hands.

If you get a used (or new) wiring harness, take a look at the factory manual and see the way that it is routed. It would have saved me some time if I had remembered that the routing was in the book.

here do you store all those bikes.How do you have time to ride them?