83 Suzuki GS650 Shafty - Better Late Than Never

Jonny_C

Been Around the Block
I purchased this bike in 2012 and started tearing it down and doing some modifications. Soon after I relocated from Madison, WI to Green Bay, WI and bought a house with a decent garage. I had plans to work on the bike right away after I moved in, but two years later I'm finally getting around to it.

Here's what it looked like when I started tearing it down when I first got it...

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Had the wheels powdercoated along with getting some new Kenda tires...

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I had polished the side covers, front forks, replaced the seals in the forks and installed Sonic springs. I tack welded closed the port for the air valve as well since I ditched that. This is how it sat for two years.

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In my new place. See the bike back there? No? It's there somewhere.

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Finally cleaned up the garage enough and started unpacking parts that I didn't even remember purchasing...

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Started building a electronics tray and picked up a Millermatic 140 in the process...

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Unpacked these babies after sitting in a box for two years. Completely rebuilt (cost about $250 in parts), polished, jetted.

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Tossed the GS850 tank on that I had purchased from a member on here (still need to build mounts), and put on the Hagon shocks.

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Got some basic wiring done and fired it up last night! One plug wire was cut and spliced back together. Tried to solder it just to get by, but that coil was getting crazy hot. Ordered up some Dyna coils and wires. Also have a SH-775 R/R on the way (had bought a FH-009 but got talked into the nice series regulator on the GS Resources forum), along with wiring loom, Weather Pack connectors, and left side controls off of a GSX-R.

A lot of work to do. Weld up a rear loop, figure out the rear set mounting (it might be too far back as shown in the pic, but that's the only good mounting location), mount tank, figure out what petcock to use, turn signals, tach/speedo, new cables, ugh. Still plan on doing an RFID ignition using a relay, have all of the parts for that as well.

I was previously working on a Arduino tachometer, but I doubt I'll end up doing that. Might just use the standard mechanical tach and speedo cables with some aftermarket gauges.
 
Made a bracket for the front mount of the tank...

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Cut out the hoop to get it ready for welding...

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Loving the progress so far! This is going to be one heck of a GS when you are done with it! I also have an 83 GS650, I've refrained from modify the frame in any way but I may get around to it someday. I'm looking forward to seeing the bike progress.
 

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specialk said:
Loving the progress so far! This is going to be one heck of a GS when you are done with it! I also have an 83 GS650, I've refrained from modify the frame in any way but I may get around to it someday. I'm looking forward to seeing the bike progress.
Nice! I didn't think anyone else owned the same bike, it seems to be the redheaded stepchild of the GS's.
 
Jonny_C said:
Nice! I didn't think anyone else owned the same bike, it seems to be the redheaded stepchild of the GS's.
No kidding! Still holds it's own against the big blocks though. Are you running a 4-1 pipe on yours?
 
specialk said:
No kidding! Still holds it's own against the big blocks though. Are you running a 4-1 pipe on yours?

Yeah, Mac exhaust. Thing was too expensive for the quality, but its the only option. When I fired up the bike I only seemed to be on 3 cylinders, so once I get new wires in my coils I'll need to check out the carbs if its still happening.

I get discouraged by how much work I need to do just to get the thing on the road.
 
I see, I'm sure once you hear it screaming on all 4 you'll forgot about the price. The original mufflers and mid pipe were rotted out on mine so I cut it off and welded on some shorty mufflers, the end result sounds great and looks pretty good too.

Try to keep your motivation high, you're off to a great start and its going to look great when you are done.
 
Thanks specialk, I appreciate the motivation :)

I have the rear hoop welded up. Wanted a slight kick, but didn't have the means to bend the kick into the already bent up hoop I purchased. Instead I just cut it at an angle and bought 7/8" metal spacers that I turned down on my lathe to fit the larger tubing of the hoop. Welded mounting bracket (which I will trim down) for an integrated brake/turn rear light. Pretty bad welding, but it should be solid.

Now I need to weld up some rearset brackets, an under-tank mount on the rear of the tank (seat will slide under the tank a bit, with the stock mounting tabs of the tank trimmed off), and start on the seat pan.

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Looks good! That should work nicely for you. What are you going to use for the seat pan? Sheet metal or the skate board deck method?
 
specialk said:
Looks good! That should work nicely for you. What are you going to use for the seat pan? Sheet metal or the skate board deck method?

Sheet metal. My mom has done some upholstery work, so I'm going to have her help me. Might use screws on the bottom instead of rivets? I don't know. Going to try to emulate this seat...

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?173563-Pictures-of-my-custom-seat&p=1405227#post1405227

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That would look great. Only issue I see with using screws instead of rivets could be that the vinyl/leather may rip on the sharp edges of the screw when you pull it tight. Also when you go to tighten the screw it'll probably grip the material and twist it as you tighten. Hard to say without trying it.
 
Yeah, I was thinking screws in case I had to restretch or replace the vinyl over time, but it would be easier to drill out a rivet and pop a new one in.
 
Had to cut out the stock coil mounts as the GS850 tank didn't fit, and picked up some Dyna green coils. Welded up new mounts.

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Jonny_C said:
Yeah, I was thinking screws in case I had to restretch or replace the vinyl over time, but it would be easier to drill out a rivet and pop a new one in.

This is true, Screws can work but rivets are much easier to both put in and remove later.
 
Crappy pic, but finished the plug wires. I should have just gone copper core, the suppression core wires are kind of a pain. I cut the graphite core the first time thinking it was insulation, then cut into it the second time stripping the wire (significantly increased resistance), then got it right the second time. All wires are around 10k ohms.

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Now I need help figuring out the rear tank mount. Here's the stock pad on the GS850 tank. I plan on cutting off the mounting tabs on the tank for a smooth look, and welding a mount underneath the tank.

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Here's the spacing underneath

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Here is the height that is needed

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And here is where it mounts to

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I was thinking of welding a plate on the bottom of the tank with a single large stud, drilling a hole in the plate in the last picture, then bolting it from below with a large rubber spacer in between like how the wood is. I'm just really afraid to weld that tank underneath and have it blow through the thin sheet metal or have a leak. Plus I need to get the stud welded at the right angle otherwise it will go through the bottom plate at a crappy angle for a nut and washer. Maybe a hinged stud?

The other option is to bend up a thick bracket to the rear seam of the tank where there should be more material to weld on, then have a rubber mount in between so it doesn't flex.

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If you guys have any other ideas let me know!
 
Well I welded up a bracket out of 16 gauge steel for mounting the tank. It's not pretty (a little cockeyed but the mounting surfaces are at the right angles). I'm going to drill holes in the bottom of it to bolt it to the frame, and I'll have to weld it to the tank. That's the part I'm worried about. I'm going to take the tank to a local radiator shop that said they will strip the tank (kind of rusty inside) for really cheap. I'll ask them about welding too. I can tack weld it on in multiple spots, but I'm not sure if that will be strong enough. I'm just worried about blow through, then I'm screwed.

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Small update. Welded the bracket to the tank after doing some test runs on my scrap tank. The welding on the scrap tank went really well actually, cut out the section to see the penetration on the inside and it looked good. But when it came time to weld the rather rare GS850G tank, it turned out like shit. I'm not even going to post a picture of it. I'm really nervous now about it failing or there being a leak. I filled it with gas and haven't seen a leak yet, but we'll see. If it does, I'll have to take it to an actual welder to replace the section and weld up another bracket.

Just ordered a fork brace, a Tarozzi 24-0040. This thing is becoming a money pit.
 
Got my rearsets mounted up. The brake side made this difficult. I first mounted them way back so the whole master cylinder assembly could fit to the rear of the frame, but then the exhaust got in the way of the brake so I had to space it out an inch by using spacers I made on my lathe. This looked stupid. So then I realized I could mount it on the side of the frame using the same 1 inch spacers mounted up to the stock footpeg locations and it didn't look ridiculous, and results in a better riding position too. It would be nice to have a solid bracket machined on a CNC, but this will work.

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Not much new. Got my Tarozzi 24-0040 fork brace, fits great. Also installed Rancho RS1952 shock boots as gaiters for $4 each. Trimmed them down and they fit awesome, perfect for a 35mm fork.

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Minor update. Fired up the bike and was having some major problems. Was running on only a few cylinders, so obviously really rough. Pulled the carbs and they were clean, except for a partial clog in the #2 pilot jet. Realized that it was actually a burr (had to use a microscope to see), so with a tiny drill bit I think I got it out of there. Tossed the carbs back on and it was still running rough, with different cylinders not firing right. Plugs were sparking, but I decided to test the ignitor which was getting really hot at times. It failed the test, so I bought a Dyna S since my model still had the mechanical timing advance. Needed a little modification to fit. It's really awesome how it completely replaces the stock setup with ignitor within the tiny little housings.

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Waiting on a crimper, then I'll finish up the wiring now that I got a PC-8 fusebox and bullet connections from Eastern Beaver (well worth it!) and fire it up, crossing my fingers that it was an ignition problem and not a fuel problem.

I should really clean up my workbench so I have room to actually work on stuff...

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