'81 GS850G Restoration

[Grimly]

As far as the switchgear goes, the one thing I stick to is the layout of the individual switches, because it can make a difference to safety if you have to fumble and remember that THAT'S NOT WHERE IT IS ON THIS BIKE.
From the late 70s onwards the Japanese makers seem to have pretty much standardised (I could be wrong on this) on a fairly universal layout of switchgear, especially of the important ones, like light dimming and horn, etc.
Relatedly, one totally bone-headed design is to be found on the European-market '78 and '79 Suzuki LH switchgear where the main lighting On/Off slider is inboard of the Main/Dip slider and more than once, on a badly-lit backroad, with oncoming traffic in the rain, I inadvertently switched off the lights entirely because the end of my gloved thumb had turned the lights off instead of dipping them. That particular design shortcoming might not apply to US-market bikes, because of the requirement for the headlight to come on with the engine, of course, and the master light switch might be missing from that location.
Not good.

[93Bandit]

Hey guys. I've had a lot going on so I haven't been able to work on my 81 Cafe build for a while. This evening I had some free time so decided to open up the old starter from my 83 850 to see if I could rebuild it and use in on the Cafe. Side Note:If you followed my starter problem thread for my 83, you'll know the only reason I bought my 81 was for the starter and to have extra engine parts. I put the 81 starter in my 83 to get it back on the road and put the 83 starter on the shelf for a rainy day.

Well today was a rainy day, so to the work bench the starter went. And it didn't get much further... Next stop, the trash.

For starters, first thing I noticed was excessive amounts of debris in large chunks and shavings. Not a good sign...



Digging deeper, here's the condition of the brushes, or at least whats left of them:



And lastly, the commutator is very worn.



I'm thinking it's time for a new starter, or a rebuildable core. However by the time I find a good core, pay for it and purchase the rebuild parts, I'm probably only a few bucks shy of getting a new one. What do you guys think?

[canuckxxx]

For the starter the commutator could be turned on a lathe so that it is flat across and smooth so the new brushes mate up properly. Make sure the spaces between the segments are cleaned out. Then put new brushes in.

My '82 Goldwing has very good handle switches. Here is a shot of the left. The turn switch is very simple and positive snap action which goes back to the middle position easily. There is no headlight ON-OFF.
image.jpg

[93Bandit]

OK guys, I suspect a full 180* change in direction for this build. If you saw my thread in the engine section, I came across a GS750 in severe disrepair and missing some parts. A perfect candidate for a Cafe build since it was already falling apart. I made an offer on it but he sold it to someone else. So that left me really thinking about what I want in a Cafe Racer, and my GS850G just doesn't quite fit the bill. I'd rather have spoked wheels, chain drive, kick start and a few other things that my 850 just simply cannot have. I think I would end up regretting cutting it up into a cafe style, only to be not quite happy with the end result. I really want a cruiser and my 850G is already set up as one. Just needs some attention. After contemplating it and reading all the disdain for cafe builds on this site, I think I'm going to try to restore my 850G. I took a good long look at it and thought it's maybe not as far gone as I originally thought. Either way, I think a cafe build or restoring it would cost me about the same and be just as much work. So I think I'm going to keep an eye out for another smaller bike that would better fit my cafe needs and in the mean time begin putting the 850G back together. But first, what do you guys think?

Take the poll on my thread and help me decide.

[Steve]

I have never really seen the appeal for the cafe racer LOOK. If you are actually building a racer that actually goes from cafe to cafe (the original intent, hence the name), you are looking for a very light bike with decent power. Anything that does not enhance power, braking or handling would be removed to save weight, which also enhances handling. Starting with an 850 just blows the whole idea out of the water, because that was the heaviest GS made, until the 1100GK came along with all the touring luggage. Stripping it down like a cafe racer just puts it on-par with many other bikes in their full stock trim. Strip them down and they are even better.

Bottom line: Get the 850 up and running where it will be happy. Pick on a smaller/lighter bike for the cafe look.

When you are "restoring" the 850, feel free to do some resto-mods. There isn't much of a market for a 100-point concours restoration, so just concentrate on the safety bits (tires, brakes, controls, etc.), then make it look decent. Don't worry that you have the wrong set of switch gear for that year or any other details like that. I would have to stop and count, but there are probably 15-20 items on my bike that are "wrong" for that year and/or model. That does not count accessories like the fairing, floorboards and electrical gizmos.

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[93Bandit]

Steve, I agree. I wasn't planning on a perfect restoration. Just want to get it looking near new, cleaned up and reliable for daily duty.

Since I'll be restoring the 850 rather than building a cafe racer, is there a way to change the title of my thread?
If a mod has to do it, can a mod help me out?

[Steve]

I have never changed the title, but I <think> I have seen where you can go to the first post and edit. Might have to go to "advanced" or something like that, but it's worth a try.

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[93Bandit]

Hey, it worked. Thanks Steve!