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(And also my third motorcycle. I can't seem to stay away from these old 'zooks!)
Hi all. I've been scarce for the last couple of years around here, mostly because motorcycling took a back seat (if you'll pardon the expression) to a few of my other hobbies and my trusty L model continued to be, well, trustworthy. I ride it, feed it some gas and oil every so often, and it just keeps running without any drama whatsoever. I've come to refer to her as "old beastie." I did finally get her a new seat cover last year, however.
But for some time now, I've had this hankering for something slightly nicer. Don't get me wrong, the 1980 L model fits me like an old glove... a dirty, somewhat rusted, battle-hardened old glove... and it's always been an absolute blast to ride, even if the suspension is about 30 years overdue for an update. I had been watching the local Craigslist for months to see whether anything caught my eye and was starting to become dismayed at the stunning lack of old Suzukis popping up for sale. I thought maybe the good ones had all finally been scooped up by collectors in Japan. Or maybe all the sellers wizened up and realized that these things are actually worth some decent coin when you don't cut them up and turn them into hardtail bobbers with ape-hanger handlebars and skateboard seats.
I needn't have worried. On my recent trek through the CL listings last week, I found two decent deals: the one I bought and this one that I mentioned over on the marketplace forum: https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...-NE-of-Detroit Now, there are those who will argue that a 1981 GS1000G with lower miles and a lower price is a better deal and they're not wrong. But I decided on the 850G because I was more sure of the condition given the photos and the great communication with the seller. And it came with a crap-load of spare parts that are probably worth the additional cost alone. And was only a half-hour away.
Without further ado, this is what found its way into the stable Saturday evening:
The guy I bought it from had only owned it for a couple years (2 or 3?). He bought from another guy who did a restoration on it. I think I know the name of the guy who restored it, and I'm sure he's a member of the forums but I don't know his screen name here. Anyway, the restoration was pretty thorough. Before it made its way to me, it looks to have had (at least):
* aftermarket electronic ignition upgrade!
* new head (old head had burned exhaust valves on 1 and 4)
* new front and rear suspension (Hagon shocks!)
* new airbox (old one had a fire in it, judging by the old airbox boots)
* newish tires, Avon RoadRiders if I recall
* drilled and machined brake rotors
* a bunch of cleaning
* the tank _might_ have been clear-coated
* new rubber bits all over
* new cables
* new brake lines
* new random bits here and there, like the kickstarter lever
So we're off to a good start on this one! I did have to trailer it home because the battery was toast and the gas was 1.5 years old. I did manage to get it to idle on the old gas but it wasn't particularly happy about it. I was eager to give it a test ride so I cleaned the carbs, topped off the oil, and threw in a good battery. I went down to the corner gas station to get 5 gallons of fresh gas. Trying to dispose of old gas properly is a pain in the butt where I'm at so I decided to see if I could dilute the badness out of old gas by topping up the tank with new gas. It worked well enough for a test ride. It was no slouch but I'm sure it will wake up some once it's back on good gas.
First impressions:
* Man, this thing handles _well_. Cornering and swerving is just nothing short of excellent compared to my tired old GL and the suspension is (obviously) way way way better. Big bumps and potholes don't even matter.
* The sound of the engines and pipes on the G models is GLORIOUS. Not loud at all, just the right amount of bass to make it sound... I don't know... maybe "woody" is the right word? My GL sounds completely flat and uninspiring by comparison.
* The seat height is fine. This is one of the things I was worried about. I had an '81 750E that was a marvelous machine, but top-heavy and too high for me. I'm not a short guy but I don't like being on my tip-toes at stop lights either. The seat on the G is taller but not as tall as the 750E. Good deal.
* The gas gauge is completely bonkers, it wanders back and forth between 1/4 and 3/4 even though the tank was fully topped up. Could be something to do with the electronics but also likely a bad fuel sender. I don't think I'm going to bother fixing it, I'll just use the trip meter and try to remember that now I have a petcock with a reserve setting.
So for sure it's a great bike and I'm 90% certain at this point that it's a keeper. There are some things that need to be addressed but I'm going to talk about them in separate posts as this one is getting quite long and they deserve deeper consideration. Even though I've been here for a few years and know quite a lot about these machines, I'll have some questions for the experts coming up so stay tuned!
Hi all. I've been scarce for the last couple of years around here, mostly because motorcycling took a back seat (if you'll pardon the expression) to a few of my other hobbies and my trusty L model continued to be, well, trustworthy. I ride it, feed it some gas and oil every so often, and it just keeps running without any drama whatsoever. I've come to refer to her as "old beastie." I did finally get her a new seat cover last year, however.
But for some time now, I've had this hankering for something slightly nicer. Don't get me wrong, the 1980 L model fits me like an old glove... a dirty, somewhat rusted, battle-hardened old glove... and it's always been an absolute blast to ride, even if the suspension is about 30 years overdue for an update. I had been watching the local Craigslist for months to see whether anything caught my eye and was starting to become dismayed at the stunning lack of old Suzukis popping up for sale. I thought maybe the good ones had all finally been scooped up by collectors in Japan. Or maybe all the sellers wizened up and realized that these things are actually worth some decent coin when you don't cut them up and turn them into hardtail bobbers with ape-hanger handlebars and skateboard seats.
I needn't have worried. On my recent trek through the CL listings last week, I found two decent deals: the one I bought and this one that I mentioned over on the marketplace forum: https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...-NE-of-Detroit Now, there are those who will argue that a 1981 GS1000G with lower miles and a lower price is a better deal and they're not wrong. But I decided on the 850G because I was more sure of the condition given the photos and the great communication with the seller. And it came with a crap-load of spare parts that are probably worth the additional cost alone. And was only a half-hour away.
Without further ado, this is what found its way into the stable Saturday evening:
The guy I bought it from had only owned it for a couple years (2 or 3?). He bought from another guy who did a restoration on it. I think I know the name of the guy who restored it, and I'm sure he's a member of the forums but I don't know his screen name here. Anyway, the restoration was pretty thorough. Before it made its way to me, it looks to have had (at least):
* aftermarket electronic ignition upgrade!
* new head (old head had burned exhaust valves on 1 and 4)
* new front and rear suspension (Hagon shocks!)
* new airbox (old one had a fire in it, judging by the old airbox boots)
* newish tires, Avon RoadRiders if I recall
* drilled and machined brake rotors
* a bunch of cleaning
* the tank _might_ have been clear-coated
* new rubber bits all over
* new cables
* new brake lines
* new random bits here and there, like the kickstarter lever
So we're off to a good start on this one! I did have to trailer it home because the battery was toast and the gas was 1.5 years old. I did manage to get it to idle on the old gas but it wasn't particularly happy about it. I was eager to give it a test ride so I cleaned the carbs, topped off the oil, and threw in a good battery. I went down to the corner gas station to get 5 gallons of fresh gas. Trying to dispose of old gas properly is a pain in the butt where I'm at so I decided to see if I could dilute the badness out of old gas by topping up the tank with new gas. It worked well enough for a test ride. It was no slouch but I'm sure it will wake up some once it's back on good gas.
First impressions:
* Man, this thing handles _well_. Cornering and swerving is just nothing short of excellent compared to my tired old GL and the suspension is (obviously) way way way better. Big bumps and potholes don't even matter.
* The sound of the engines and pipes on the G models is GLORIOUS. Not loud at all, just the right amount of bass to make it sound... I don't know... maybe "woody" is the right word? My GL sounds completely flat and uninspiring by comparison.
* The seat height is fine. This is one of the things I was worried about. I had an '81 750E that was a marvelous machine, but top-heavy and too high for me. I'm not a short guy but I don't like being on my tip-toes at stop lights either. The seat on the G is taller but not as tall as the 750E. Good deal.
* The gas gauge is completely bonkers, it wanders back and forth between 1/4 and 3/4 even though the tank was fully topped up. Could be something to do with the electronics but also likely a bad fuel sender. I don't think I'm going to bother fixing it, I'll just use the trip meter and try to remember that now I have a petcock with a reserve setting.
So for sure it's a great bike and I'm 90% certain at this point that it's a keeper. There are some things that need to be addressed but I'm going to talk about them in separate posts as this one is getting quite long and they deserve deeper consideration. Even though I've been here for a few years and know quite a lot about these machines, I'll have some questions for the experts coming up so stay tuned!
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