Restoring a Garaged 1979 GS850 - Part II, it won't start

[Burque73]

Hey Folks! For another update, I have the bike fully registered and running. It's not perfect, and could still use more work, but it's wild to see it on the road and running really well given its age.

To follow up on the points from before:



I'm a bit annoyed that the only turn signals I could find were off a 81'/'82ish GS, but it's still technically a 'stock' Suzuki part.

I did a full carb sync with the Morgan Carbtune. It's an incredible piece of equipment, and it was insane to see:
1. How much it made a difference
2. How such a small screw turn made on the sync, and how hard it was to tighten the lock nut without moving the screw
3. How much an actual carb sync tool was worth the money, even if used only once.


Some more problems/things to fix:
- I never changed the gear oil, fork oil, or the final drive unit oil. I'm assuming that those need changed since they haven't been changed in decades
- The tachometer cable and speedometer cable are not in the best condition. The tach cable used to cause a whine until it was lubricated, now only the speedo cable causes a whine (even after lubrication)
- The speedometer jumps around a bit while riding, sometimes jumping up to 100mph while riding 30-40mph. I've stopped riding the bike until I get this fixed, because I assume it runs up the odometer quicker than normal
- The brake lever and reservoir are a cheapo purchase off Amazon. I can't seem to find a '79 GS850 reservoir in good condition, and the one I had was too far gone to be worth using. The $20 lever/reservoir I bought off Amazon works fantastically, including the stop lamp switch, but I'm not a huge fan of how it doesn't match the clutch lever.

I've ordered replacement speedometer and tachometer cables, hopefully that will solve the whining/jumping/etc.

Here's a photo of the bike over at Deus Ex in Los Angeles, CA:

Good to hear you've got things dialed in. These are such great running bikes when tuned right and yours looks super nice. Reminds me of my first GS when I finished high school in '91.

If you haven't changed the gear it really isn't hard to do. Remember, there are two places to drain and change. One right behind the shift lever (drive unit?) and the rear differential (final drive? driven unit?) I'm uncertain of the terms, but check the manual. I change mine every time I replace tires at 9 or 10k miles, which is around the factory recommended interval.

Same with fork oil. It's important to change and not that hard. The stuff you drain out likely won't look or smell anything like the new oil. Over decades that stuff ripens and gets NASTY.

The speedo and tach need to be lubed internally. That should stop the jumpy needles. They will certainly completely fail without lube. Here's a pic showing the mechanism from my '83 and where the lube needs to get to. Yours is a different cluster, but internally similar, I'm sure.




Some say to carefully shoot some light oil or something into the housing and get the gears lubed. Watch out though, too much and you'll fog up the lens. I had mine taken apart and was able to clean the gears really thoroughly, then lubed with some WD-40 lithium grease spray. The nedles are steady now. Wish I had done this earlier when I noticed the jumpi needles. The gauges are not easy to find anymore. Oh, I woudn't rely too much on the accuracy of the odometer so having it jump around probably didn't change the mileage reading much. I always use that reading as more of a guideline than actual mileage. LOL. Comparing to other vehicles I've traveled with, or the GPS on my phone, it's always been a bit off anyway.

[GSXR7ED]

Here's a quick before/after of derusting the bike:

WOW!!!

Bike cleaned up nicely.

Hey Folks! For another update, I have the bike fully registered and running. It's not perfect, and could still use more work, but it's wild to see it on the road and running really well given its age.

To follow up on the points from before:



I'm a bit annoyed that the only turn signals I could find were off a 81'/'82ish GS, but it's still technically a 'stock' Suzuki part.

I did a full carb sync with the Morgan Carbtune. It's an incredible piece of equipment, and it was insane to see:
1. How much it made a difference
2. How such a small screw turn made on the sync, and how hard it was to tighten the lock nut without moving the screw
3. How much an actual carb sync tool was worth the money, even if used only once.


Some more problems/things to fix:
- I never changed the gear oil, fork oil, or the final drive unit oil. I'm assuming that those need changed since they haven't been changed in decades
- The tachometer cable and speedometer cable are not in the best condition. The tach cable used to cause a whine until it was lubricated, now only the speedo cable causes a whine (even after lubrication)
- The speedometer jumps around a bit while riding, sometimes jumping up to 100mph while riding 30-40mph. I've stopped riding the bike until I get this fixed, because I assume it runs up the odometer quicker than normal
- The brake lever and reservoir are a cheapo purchase off Amazon. I can't seem to find a '79 GS850 reservoir in good condition, and the one I had was too far gone to be worth using. The $20 lever/reservoir I bought off Amazon works fantastically, including the stop lamp switch, but I'm not a huge fan of how it doesn't match the clutch lever.

I've ordered replacement speedometer and tachometer cables, hopefully that will solve the whining/jumping/etc.

Here's a photo of the bike over at Deus Ex in Los Angeles, CA:

Looks like you're near Venice Beach.

It's great to hear you're enjoying the fruits of your labor. You'll find the correct front turn signals soon. I think it looks great without the windjammer.

I've done a fork oil change once...that was a fun day at MrBill's shop. As for the gear & final drive unit oil, you can knock that out easy if you enjoyed the Carbtune.

Thanks for the updates!

Ed

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