Wife's new bike, GS850GL with a 1000 engine

[bomber737]

More progress today. I got the rear wheel cleaned up and wound up taking a wire brush to the rear rotor. I think it looks way better than it did before. Rear brake caliper cleaned and working like it should. I already have a nice new stainless brake line for it. That will go on after I get the wire loom in place.

I also finished putting the electrical panel together. I couldn't stand looking at those old rusted screws so I got some new ones in there now. I also drilled some holes and mounted the ignition module. I have seen them on other bikes at an angle and I wanted things to be nice and straight.

The donor GS850G is starting to look pretty bare. I took the headers off and 1 of the exhaust bolts had to shear so I am not sure what I will do about that. Yes I will be searching through the forum for that. I also have a bunch of options for the front fender, not sure if I want to put a painted one or use a chrome one. The rear fender is chrome so I am leaning that way.

Every time I look around my garage I find another part I have been looking for. Tonight I found that rear grab bar that it originally had but a friend gave me a more square one so Ill put that one on and see which one I like better.

I did find I am missing the right side turn signal mount. I have the left one so I am not sure where it got off to. If anyone might have a turn signal mount for the right side I would really appreciate being able to get my hands on it. The ones for the GL has extra metal on the back side to space it out a little. I have a set for the G I would be willing to trade. Tomorrow I will be rebuilding and polishing the forks and finally putting the Sonic straight rate springs in.

[bomber737]

More work done, I got all the grounds grouped and soldered together so I wont have to worry about bad grounds. They will all be connected to the battery and the engine case. I also got the the forks torn down. I decided that I will be polishing the fork lowers so I broke down and busted out the Sear's card and purchased a buffer. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive. I took them and sand blasted them so I now have a nice even surface to start polishing on.

I didnt like the way the front rotors looked so those got blasted to I am repainting them. So they should look like new when they go back on. I also painted the rear turn signal mounts painted.




I got the Tripples painted and installed with new bearings and seals. So I mocked up the headlight mounts and got the front turn signal's mounted. Turns out I am missing one of the nuts for the headlight bucket so I will have to make one of find one. I will be using a very nice 6" headlight my friend gave me. While I was cleaning things I got all the hardware wire brushed so now everything shines.


As soon as I get the fork lowers polished up I have the Sonic springs measured and ready to go back in with new 30W red line fork oil and new seals. Should make for a very nice riding bike. I love the way my GS1000 rides with them and the cartridge emulators don't hurt either.

[bomber737]

Got home a few days ago and my polisher has arrived. Got it mounted to a stand I can put in my vise after it fell on my foot and I started working away. Got the forks polished to a high sheen and re-assembled. Since I was playing with my new toy I polished the front rim spacers and spedo drive. I think it looks great and now I have some protectant it should be easy to keep clean.


I got the forks installed and started working on the electrical. I put a set of bars on it so I can mount the controls and get them hooked up. I am hoping to have the rest of the wiring done tonight so I can see if it turns over. Going to install coils tonight and get the rear turn signals on.



The seat is the original from the bike I burned down a few years ago when I was learning the proper way to clean and set up carbs. So the wife gets to have it redone. I am sure she will have it re-contoured and have a gel pad added in addition to a custom cover.

If anyone needs a 850 chassis and engine I will have the rest of the parts bike for sale. I will have pictures up when I get all the parts I need off of it but I should have them all later tonight. I will also have a couple of sets of 850GL triples I don't need.

[bomber737]

More work done today, new tach and spedo cables lubed up and put on, 1 rear turn signal mounted and rear grab bar polished up. I got the brake calipers put back together and remounted on the forks. When Mark, Bill and I rode down to the S. Indiana rally Mark had one of his calipers fall off his bike when we were tooling down the highway. So I elected to replace the flange bolts with some hardened bolts with washers and lock washers. Mark was very fortunate this did not cause him to crash that day so I don't want to tempt fate again with her. I like the way they look and I feel better that hopefully they are safer. I also replaced all 4 of the studs on the fork bottoms and replaced the washer/lock washer arrangement with a washer and a nylock nut. Cleaner look and as secure as before.

While I was away at work the stainless brake lines arrived so I got to install those as well and replace the banjo bolt with a nice new one.

I also test fitted the gas tank after I installed the frame covers with some nice new screws. I think it's coming together nicely. Every time I work on this as I dig through my parts bins I find parts I forgot to put on it. It's not a concourse restoration but there is just something about getting all the little parts back on. This time I found the guide for the brake line.

Once I know the bike runs and charges I will be stripping the tank and purchasing side covers for it. She likes white and chrome so that's what she is going to get. I purchased some rectangular turn signals the other day off of a GS550 for it but now ai can't use them. Turns out one of them has a cracked stem so shes going to have to live with smaller round ones on the front and large ones on the back. Guess I will keep looking around for 2 more of the same kind.

When I was at work the other day the sky was just lit up on my way back into Atlanta so I thought Id share a few pictures I snaped with you guys

[bomber737]

Started snowing out side today so now no more riding for me I guess. Until it melts that is, got heated jacket liner and gloves this year so my riding season has been extended. Put 150 miles on my 1000 yesterday and I was nice and warm. Took care of some wiring issues and decided to see if the engine would turn over. Sprayed some oil down the cylinders turned the key and it turned over. So I put some plugs in the wires and I have spark. So I have that going for me. I don't know the history of the engine so I guess the fact that it moved should be encouraging. The gauges look great and all the lights work.

I must still have something hooked up wrong since the high beam light is lit and the headlight did not turn on but I will deal with that a little later. The turn signals work to. So since it snowing I decided to take the clutch cover, stator cover, and shifter support cover to polish them to. Thank god for left turning drill bits because 2 of the screws striped and I had to drill them out. It's always a good feeling when they brake loose when you are drilling them. I will be replacing them with stainless alen head screws. I did find out the shifter support cover from a 850 is different than the one off the 1000 after I had already polished it up nicely.


Since I had the clutch cover off I decided to check the pads and make sure they were in spec and they were. None of the steel plates had any bluing so I think the clutch will be fine and I didn't see anything that might be a problem. There wasn't even a bunch of sludge at the bottom. I ordered new gaskets for everything today and all new cables.

I also got my parts bike completely torn down so the engine from it will be for sale in the for sale section..

[bomber737]

More polishing and more polishing and more and more and now I am done and or I give up. Spent 6 hours working these 2 pieces and the final step was using my dremel to get in the small crevasses for a final polishing. I think I will go tomorrow and buy some more mothers, mine was so old it had separated.


I will have to find another sticker for the stator cover. The one that was on it came off when I started to polish it and I actually managed to polish away a few of the letters. Fleabay here I come..

[eil]

Looking good, can't wait to see the final product.

[Wraith]

Looking very nice and shiny

[bomber737]

Thanks guys I have really enjoyed watching all your bikes get reborn over the last few years. I got my garage heater hooked up so no more freezing my a$$ off working on this thing. Wife was over tonight and picked her handle bars so now I am just waiting for the new clutch perch and front master cylinder and I can get the top end done for good. I also found more stuff to polish while I wait so off came the exhaust mounts and off to the polishing wheel I went. I think they look great and should look great when I start working on the exhaust.


One of the mufflers had a small hole in the bottom so I will have to get that welded up before they go on. Other than that they are in great shape. I still do have a bunch of exhausts left over from the 30 I purchased last winter so I will be looking through those and see if I have a better set. Since I was in the garage I decided to go through the allens I have in my kit and put all them in. Now I am waiting for all the new gaskets to come. I leave for work on monday so I know when I get home they will all be here. Its like Christmas every time I come home. I guess it pays to work out of town.

[bomber737]

More time in a heated garage and success I got the turn signals wired in and mounted. Took me awhile to go through my stash of signals to find some that are the same as the front. I purchased a set of 4 for this project but unfortunately one of the them had a crack in the stem so now I guess I have 3 of a kind. She would not be happy with that.



And of course when I tried to light them up they didn't light. In all the sets of signals I had of course I had to grab the 2 that didn't have any bulbs. So more cannibalization and they lit up like a champ. And at least I know the flasher works to boot.


Next up will have to be making the headlight work and turn that darn high beam indicator light off. Unless its in high. I am leaving for the next 8 days so hopefully all my stuff will get here and I can wrap up the last of the bars and get the exhaust on the bike. Might even have time to put the carb boots and carbs on. What a hoot that would be.

[bomber737]

Finally made it home last night and it was like Christmas. All the parts I have ordered while I was on the road had arrived. I now have all the stuff I need to make huge pregress on the rebuild. I got new gaskets for the engine covers, new throttle, clutch and choke cables. I also finally got the new front brake master cylinder and clutch perch. Soooo shiny. I also broke down and picked up a set of used side covers so those will have to get stripped and repainted when I do the tank.



The side covers even have all the mounting tabs still in place so new gromets are going to be a must purchase. I also picked up a tube of autosol so the exhaust will be the next task tackled. And I need to find some mounting bars since the GL frame and the 1000 exhaust I have mount differetly.

[bomber737]

More time tonight to work on the bike. I got the handle bars completed. I got the brake master cylinder mounted and the new throttle cable mounted and routed. I also got the clutch perch and clutch cable mounted but its not routed properly, tomorrow. I finally got the correct choke cable and got that mounted to.





Nice and clean looking I think. Since I put a new master cylinder on the bike I had to make leads for the tail light. A couple of connectors and the taillight works. You would never know I made the leads and this master cylinder has a nice switch built into it so no more messing with the Suzuki spring style switch silliness. I know it's kinda silly but I got a great deal on the master cylinder and clutch perch as a set. Unfortunately they have skulls on the end. So I guess shes going to fit in with the Harley set when we ride out to Sturgis this next summer.

New gaskets got installed and the engine end covers got reinstalled and I think with a little gasoline the Suzuki bond will clean right up and youll never know its there. I put oil in the engine and no leaks so I guess its a nice tight seal.


I had had a problem with the headlight not working and the high beam light on the gauge cluster being on all the time. I figured it out, there are 2 yellow wires by the coils and I had them reversed. The color is so close that I think it must be a typical mistake, but now the headlight works and the high beam light illuminates when it should.

Now I need to get a broken screw out that holds down the starter cover. That should be fun, there is so much space in there. Then I will tackle the exhaust. I am not looking forward to that. I think I might need to see my local welder because one of the mufflers has a small hole on the underside.

[bomber737]

I have been waiting for parts to get to my house and they finally arrived so I could get some projects done. I have been waiting for a bunch of LED light bulbs for the gauge cluster to arrive, a bunch of the bulbs were burned out. I will be replacing all the bulbs in my gs1000 as well. Since I will be putting a windshield on the bike I did not want to have to pull it when the 30 year old bulbs burn out at the worst time. So now I wont have to worry about changing them any time soon. I really like the way the cluster lights up now and you can even see when the high beam is on. It finally lights up bright enough to be seen

I also finally got the last of the engine badges and got it mounted. So at least now the engine is complete.
Of course I was on the phone talking with my parents when I put it on so the first time it was installed i mounted it upside down. Im so stupid. So i had to pull it back off and spin it right side up.
Now I am just waiting on the new o-rings for the intake manifolds and I have found a rust spot on the bottom of the left muffler that I will have to get TIG welded so it wont leak. I also ordered a new set of exhaust header inserts so I can get them tightened down when I mount them up. We will see if G&S gets them to me in a timely manner. If not I will never order from them again. I will have to make rear mounts since they are not the same as the 850

[bomber737]

Getting closer to the end now. It has been so cold up here in da nort that I have not been doing much on the bike lately. Indoor work mostly and the wait for parts has been a constant pain. I got new boots and clamps for the airbox and got them installed.


I had already cleaned and rebuilt the carbs so it is nice I will finally get to try them out.


They have been waiting for the last year for me to get this bike to this point. They are clean but I did not do any polishing on them so she is just going to have to be happy with them functioning like new, even if they don't look like new. I mounted the carbs to trial fit them on the airbox and they fit perfect.

I really cant wait to hear this bike run for the for the first time. I hope things go with out a hitch. I will be taking the exhaust to the welder tomorrow to get a small hole welded up.

[bomber737]

Making more progress now it's not -20 out side. My garage heater can finally keep up, I hate it when I get icicles hanging from my ears, and other parts. I have been trial fitting my exhaust and figuring out what kind of strap I need to make to hold the rear. I finally got the parts I needed for the inner pipes. All I have left to do is clean the right side exhaust and get it polished up tonight. Ill have pictures of it when it's done. I will also be painting the patch on the left side muffler. It's on the bottom so I am just gong to hit it quick with some aluminum colored paint so it won't rust in the future. I did get the new orings for the intakes and got them mounted.

I do still need to figure out what I am going to do about the inside retainer for the starter cover. The bolt sheared and I cant get at it with any of my extractors or drill bits. So I am planning on either putting some high temp RTV on the lip or use the oil pressure bolt and a strap to hold the cover down.