Just bought non-running GS850

[tirebiter]

a closeup shot of the burnt wiring connectors :

http://

[tirebiter]

The battery was dead one day and I had to do this work about a month ago. The battery was on it's last legs but still kept starting the engine every time I rode her. The battery finally gave up the ghost entirely, two days ago and I had to break down and fork over for a new one ... as fortold by those in the know, on this forum.

The battery was the one I got when I purchased this bike and it was dry at the time. I had added straight tap water - from a well so it did not have as many chemicals as some utility water. Even so, one of the cells - next to the positive post as usual - always had a low specific gravity reading. It was only a matter of time.

[eil]

I am shocked (if you'll pardon the pun) that that battery even worked, let alone lasted a while. Glad to hear the rest of the bike is riding well. Can't wait to get the top end regasketed on my 850.

[tirebiter]

I keep tweaking and improving "Little Suzy" A fairly remarkable alteration to the ignition timing is covered in another section of these forums but suffice it to say, she LIKES it ! A LOT !!! You can read about it if you'd like by clicking on this link :

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?227724-1980-GS850L-ignition-timing-adjustment-for-each-cylinder-pair

Tomorrow I take a frigid-air ride northward and should post some good steady-state highway cruising, fuel economy figures. I've only seen 40 + MPG once before from a long downhill ride but I have a feeling ...

Typically I am still in the 39 to barely 40 mpg range. The goal of course is to come as close to the promised land of the advertised 46 MPG as I can. With acohol blended into the fuel these days, I'll be happy to get within a few percentage points.

I'm closing in on the third thousand miles of travel since putting "Little Suzy" back into running condition, earlier this year. She has not stranded me yet except for refusing to start once, at home with a totally wasted battery.

[Steve]

Don't fret if you don't get that "magic" 46 mpg. 40 isn't so bad, and is rather typical of some bikes, but it all depends on the tuning.

My wife's bike has had some wild variations on the same trip. Several years ago, we were with our GoldWing group, headed for West Virginia. They wanted to get to a particular restaurant before the lunch special ended (and you thought GSers were cheap ), so we were heading up the freeway at 75+ mph, into a headwind that was about 15-20 mph. She normally put her petcock on REServe at about 140 miles, but called me at about 85 miles to say she had just changed it. The next tank, she got about 95 miles. MPG figures for those two tanks were about 28 and 29. After lunch, we slowed down a bit and changed direction, she got upper-30s. The next day, we were meandering through the hills of West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky, she got three consecutive tanks over 55 mpg, the highest was right at 59.

My bike has been a bit more consistent. I have had a few tanks in the upper 30s, but most of the time it's in the 40-43 range.

.

[tirebiter]

It was cold this morning. When I got to my destination and took my glove/mittens off there was snow that formed from the moisture exiting my fingers !!! Encountered heavy and un-expected city traffic - stupid me for thinking Boston would be otherwise - stop-and-go for about 30 minutes at the outset of my return trip.

Managed the best fuel economy yet ... 41.5 MPG. I was in a hurry to get home so yes, I poured on the coals and did part of the journey at a steady 75 mph. I'm interested in knowing what the factory tourque and horsepower curves look like for the 850 engine. Can't find anything online. "FEELS" like anything goes but I'm sure there is an optimum RPM for good fuel economy - which I probably exceed when travelling at 75.

Happy sort of. Not yet satisfied. Maybe a tad too much advance for over 5500 RPM trips. Still thinking she needs more attention to the ignition timing curve. I don't notice the remarkable thrust above 6000 RPM like I did when the timng was reatarded significantly. Maybe just because the power at lower RPMs (1500 - 5000) is SO much better now.

Still planning some more work on her but either I need to put the Windjammer on ... or get some gauntlets for the hand grips.

[tirebiter]

A short trip today checking on farmed-out work for an employer. I'm getting more used to riding a top-heavy 600 pound motorcycle and it was raining very heavily. Still "feeling" my way around corners in low gears and at low speed all the way, however.

At a traffic, light as I pulled away from a standstill, "Little Suzy" made the first-ever misfire. Missed one or two beats but ok, I know when an engine is trying to talk to me. Well ... at least I THINK SO.

I'm sure the rain had something to do with it but now I have every reason to go through the entire ignition circuit(s) looking for compromised electrical connections. IT WAS POURING rain when this happened, but I bet Suzuki engineers designed their macines to cope with even worse weather conditions.

[tirebiter]

Heard an unfamilair "crunch ... crunch ... crunch" as I was slowing to a stop. Not everytime but significant when it was there. Eventually the speedometer needle dropped to zero and remained there. Trip ododmeter was stuck at 30 miles. Several gas tankfuls later, I finally had a chance to see exactly what broke.

As luck would have it, I found a spare speedometer drive gearbox in the spare parts bin that came with the bike when I bought it. I didn't even know I had it when I was doing a search and making please and posting in the "parts wanted" forum on this site. I had been offered a fork set with the speedo drive - shipping costs would have been very unfavorable. I was offered a rebuild service with new gears for a give-away price.

I wanted to make sure what was wrong before sending my gearbox off to get a rebuild. I mean, I had not even checked the cable yet. All I knew was the crunching sound had stopped as did the speedo. So, I have it apart and here are a couple of photos :





I noticed the slotted nut went on too far after I put the axle back into place. A quick look online at a parts blowup showed me there is s
supposed to be a flat washer underneath the slotted nut. It's missing on my "Little Suzy" ! The cotter pin engages the slots in the nut but just barely. I also noticed the front axle was put in backwards ! Right to left instead of left to right. AHA ! Maybe this is why the speedo drive washer failed.

When the axle was put in it could have damaged the speedo drive washer. The flat washer that goes under the circlip took a beating too. At least I have a working speedometer again. I'm aiming to roll on until the odometer reads 33,333, miles before 2015. Now, it looks like I might make it.

Happy Holidays everyone.

[tirebiter]

I'm back like a bad penny with an update. Nothing to ask except what I'm trying to figure out in the tires forum. Little Suzy has gone more than 30,000 miles with me on her ... since August 2014. The clock is showing over 59,000 now. Stranded exactly twice due to running out of gas. Unbelievably reliable in spite of all my poor maintenance and jury-rigged fixes

I'm still putting off installing relays after my "fun with stator re-winding" episode that lasted a few weeks early this past summer. Ended up putting in a a new stator ... supposedly "high output" and an old crusty used series type regulater/rectifier from a snowmobile as suggested can do the job by so many on this forum.

Occasionally, I worry that my wired up float pivot mounting post will let go. Eventually I'll get around to doing soemthing about the feul petcock. I put in a manual shutoff but forget to turn it off about 25% of the tiem. Of course the oil is not in the best shape now and often it takes a while to start her up when I do that. it eevn seems to hydro-lock a couple of tiems when I first try to start the engine. Poor starter. Poor Little Suzy. I count myself lucky in that nobody has come to take her away from me due to negligence.

A screw that holds the tach face in place fell out of it's hole. It's trapped, laying in the bottom of the tach between the tach face and the glass fortunately. The tach sticks a little at low RPM. Another project waiting for my attention.

I lost the second right side cover a few weeks ago. Something was rubbing on the bottom of my thigh on a very windy stretch of highway one day. I didn't realize what until way to late.

I changed the oil once but not the filter. Keep adding oil since there is a small leak or two and I think it probably burns some although I never see any smoke from the tailpipe. I have a new filter and I keep buying oil but ... it's all gone before I get a chance to drain out the old oil and pull the filter. The 4 into 1 exhaust system makes it difficult to drain the oil without making a big mess on the pipes.

Occasionally the engine would just stop running. Usually while idling at a light. Would not turn over on the starter button although the igniton and oil lights would be on. Turns out flipping the starter switch on and off a few times would get me going again. Kept re-occuring for about a month while it was really hot out but it hasn't happened for a while now.

Everything was staus quo for at least a few more weeks and then the headlight low beam would turn off. Flipping the hi-lo beam switch several times worked to get it to go back on. It seems to have stopped happening for a week or two now.

I've replaced and realigned the front brake light switch several times but it doesn't want to stay fixed. Brake lights only work on the rear brake for sevral months now. This has plagued Little Suzy almost fom day one after I started using her over two years ago. Not sure what else I can do except make sure I use the rear brake everytime I pull on the front one. Hmm, maybe I should post a question about it on the braking forum. Think I'll do just that. I'll head over the that forum as soon as I'm done here, in case anyone is interested.

All-in all, I am pleased with this old Suzuki. Happy that I got this machine when I did and especially grateful for all the good advice and help from everyone who contributes on here. Heading into the cold season up here in new England, I will be rolling on the miles as usual but I still do NOT go out if the roads are wet or snow covered during freezing temperatures. Although, last Winter I discovered I can actually drive on snow and ice but it's not something I want to at anything above a crawl.

[cowboyup3371]

I wonder how much better it would run if you did the regular maintenance on it

[tirebiter]

Cowboy, It might run better with more maintenance but before I put the Vetter fairing and windshield on, the 850 was getting 45 miles per gallon just about every tank. Now I'm getting about 44 mpg just about every tank ... except when I forget to close the fuel petcock and it sits overnight. My typical drive consists of about half highway 65-75 mph and 1/4 back country roads and 1/4 city. She starts easily except those times when the fuel has flooded the spark plugs. I take the engine up close to redline a couple of times every week to blow out the carbon.

I have made idle mixture adjustments and synched the throttles at idle about 2-3 times each year, so far. Usually when the weather gets significantly colder or hotter. I'm still running the same spark plugs that were in it when I bought the bike in August of 2014. I bought new ones to put in right away but the "old" ones still look almost new.

Not sure how much better I can make it run. Planning to someday put relays on to protect most switches and to drive the coils. I'm sure that will help some. The day after writing my last entry to this log, the other tach face screw fell out. Now I will HAVE to fix that. The dial is rotating back and forth with the needle and I am one of those who checks the engine RPM and idle speed constantly, while driving.

Not sure what type of regular maintenance schedule the "check tightness of tach face screws" falls under.

[nejeff]

"Unbelievably reliable in spite of all my poor maintenance and jury-rigged fixes"


30,000 miles and no oil filter change and I'd bet no valves clearances checked. Too cheap to change out the plugs because the other ones look good and you probably need a full carb rebuild as well.

"I take the engine up close to redline a couple of times every week to blow out the carbon"

Your kidding right? Close to redline sometimes? Sounds like you probably lug this around like an old tractor. These engines operate best in the higher RPM zones try and get their much more often.

[cowboyup3371]

How about the oil changes and valve adjustments required to maintain an almost 37 year old motorcycle?

[dorkburger]

You have shown the quality of the GS engine, as your bike is still running despite its owner.
Give it some love and it will love you back for a long time.

[tirebiter]

ok a correction :
I guess I forgot to mention I did change the oil and filter in 2014 some time and miles after originally purchasing Little Suzy that August. I changed the oil but not the filter once more, about a year ago.

I also checked the valve clearances and had several of the shims precision ground to get everything within tolerance. None needed more than a few "ten thousandths" of an inch (0.0002-0.0003") removed, so I was not worried about going throug any case hardening they might have when new. Also I had them ground on only one side and I put that side towards the valve.

I also had the carbs off several times to change the jetting (THAT took a while to get right) and make sure they were clean and would work ok. Had to take them off once, since. When I fist looked inside, one of the carbs had a siezed float pivot pin which I had left and so never was able to clean the screen above the needle and seat assembly. Well, of course after about 10,000 miles of riding, it clogged up enough that I had to do something about it. Exactly as promised by everyone who told me it would, when I 1st joined this forum.

For those interested, the symptoms were exhibited only after driving at a constant highway speed long enough. there would be a slight but noticeable lack of power. one cylinder would start being weak due to leaning out as the fuel level in the float bowl would get lower and lower. After it got worse - remember I usually do not fix things right away but instead keep driving her day after day after day - I had to remove the carbs and get the seized float hinge pin out, somehow. Before I got to it, the clog got so bad, there would be a VERY audible missing at all RPMS that would go away if I slowed down and used less throttle. Good thing I knew well enough to not push the engine under those circumstances. Lucky I didn't burn a valve ...

As it turned out, I didn't do a good job. I broke the float pin support tower. I should have removed the cbales and put the carb rack in a vise to fix it. Too bad for me that I had forgotten how stuck the pin was. Ended up wiring it back together and by some stroek of magic, it is still holding although I keep my eye out for a replacement carb. Even if one with a broken support so that I can make a permanent repair. Trying to do it without taking the bike out of service ... in case I really screw up the carb that has been jury-rigged. Again, what's important to me is that I can keep riding the bike and for now I can, even with the wired-in piece that broke off. Actually for the past year like this.

I bought this bike specifically as a commuter. She's not a pleasure vehicle that would see only weekend use. To that end, I have done very little maintenance and I'm sure at some point I will have some regrets. For now however, it has shown to be a remarkable 37 year old transport. I do at tiems just go out for a joyride and so far, Little Suzy delivers on that also - in spades.

I agree, if I took better care of her, she'd maybe get better fuel economy and I'm sure would probably have an extended life. If things work out, I'll ride this thing until it's done. Hopefully before I'm done. I'll keep posting on here and hopefully not upsetting too many good folks in regards to my lacky style of bike ownership. Any bets on how far she'll take me ?

Meanwhile i keep looking for a 6-speed GS 550 - always trying to avoid fuel costs. To that end, I have an electric bicycle and am considering somehow making that into my new commuter.

NEJEFF, I utilize extremly low RPM while in stop and go traffic. It's nice and quiet that way. While in moderate to heavy traffic I usually shift up, anywhere from 3000 to about 4500 RPM. It depends on prevailing speed limit and how badly I want to stay ahead of other vehicles (or not) etc. By myself, no traffic, it depends. Sometimes I go real easy with the RPMs, shifting low around 3000 or lower, every shift. When I'm in a hurry, it's as high as 5500 regularly. The noise changes so radically when opening the throttles and using higher RPMs and I don't really want people who live on my commuter routes, to start hating motorcycles.