GS1100G Resto-mod

Drey6

Over 1,000 Posts
Ive been MIA for the most part from this forum for a long while but am still workin on bikes fairly consistently. This project kind of happened suddenly as I acquired some parts on the cheap to resell (engine and other bits) then got a tip from my bud Chuck(Chuck78) that there was a titled frame (GS1100G)to be on a local auction. I won the bid at an extremely low price and also was pointed towards a non-titled parts bike (GS1100GK) that had a wiring harness and 17” rear wheel. Won that one as well and before you know it I was taking 3 incomplete bikes home with me. (My buddy also bought a titled GS650L complete project, his first bike).

Anthony sitting in his first project!
He picked up another complete titled parts bike to use along side the build. I’ll try my best to drag him over and post a build thread.

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My titled frame stripped of the 37mm forks, and rear wheel/swing arm. During its pre-paint bath.

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After plugging threads, primer and paint.

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I’ve made a bit of progress in the last few months so I’ll catch this up to speed. There is still a lot of work to do!

So the engine I purchased 2 years ago was from an abandoned project of a GSR forum member. He posted a CL ad for an ”engine and parts” @ $50. I said “hell, I can probably resell that for much more if I’m patient!” Well I wasn’t patient enough I guess and here we are.... included in the parts were lots of powder coated bits and polished hub/final drive.

Here is the swingarm w/new bearings and polished hub attached.

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Engine clean up before pulling covers to paint and replace gaskets.

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Most of the covers primed.

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Covers pulled

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Only oil leaks I could make an educated guess at were the oil pan, valve cover and possibly the tach drive and cam tensioner. The oil pan revealed some super thick gunky oil but luckily no metal bits etc. strainer was pulled and cleaned at this time as well but looked pretty clean prior.

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I pulled he 41mm forks and triples off of he non-titled auction bike and polished those up.

Before
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After
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Also replaced the fork seals, trimmed springs, removed stock spacer, installed a slightly longer 1/2” PVC spacer and fresh fluid.

New needle bearings for the steering stem, and wheel bearings.

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Gaskets/ orings and such arrived at this time.
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I took the dish soap garden hose cleaned wheels and fresh Shinko 230’s to Chucks to relearn and assist in removal of old tires/installing new. He has a set up there that he adapted from a Harbor Frieght car tire rig and fashioned it for motorcycles. He even welded a spare GS axle to it since that’s mainly what he works on.
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We both had our eyes on a pair of mostly complete 1982 1100GK parts bikes locally. I knew I could use a lot of those parts as I still was without tank, Sidecovers, lights, gauges, CARBS etc. I picked the both up with my small 4x7 trailer (it was a funny sight...). My buddy Travis helped load the bikes with me. We worked on Travis’s 650G over the summer. His first bike too, we did a general once over. Rebuilt carbs, updated wiring harness, updated charging and with Chucks help, fresh tires too.

Travis’s 650G
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Chuck went in on half the cost of the parts bikes to acquire a GK DPort top-end and 41mm forks. The guy had an extra GK engine and 41 mm forks for me when I got there. SWEET!

Here are the parts bikes. Looks like they were outside for a long while but many usable parts remain.

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I picked up some Tec Shocks meant for a Triumph Scrambler that weighs about same as an 1100G. Sleeves were too small for my shock studs and drilling them out wouldn’t leave much material so I removed the bushings from the stock GK goofy air shock, cut the rubber and retrieved the metal tubes to fit the into the Tec plastic bushings.

A pic of the shocks before I swapped the bushings.

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Maritime said:
Nice work so far Drey6.

Thanks man! So much more fun now that I’ve taken more time to learn from others and read. Only about 5 years of on off experience working on bikes has put me a more confident position to take on a project without constantly doubting and researching in between as I have had to do in the past.


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I've got that car tire stand, need to go get the motorcycle tire adapter for it next time it's on sale. I did 4 car tires on it this weekend and that paid for it. That balancing stand is nice. I use jack stands and an old axle but for 39.99 I think I'll grab one of those too.
 
Okay I’m almost done vomiting up all of the past work on his thread.

I mounted the shocks, swinger rear wheel and front end(mocked up/ nothing torqued yet but all is good there). Black Emgo Superbike bars with stainless bolts on the clamps. I’m using a lot of stainless on this bike. Black GK tank, tail piece, and 550 seat my buddy upholstered. Only has that seat on for a picture, I’m going to trim the dorky stock GK seat and slap a Saddlemen cover on it. Will be similarly shaped to the 550E seat photographed.

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Started to install covers and OEM gaskets. Here is 2 of 5. I guess the others were completed after my phone died.

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Clutch cover with new clutch shaft seal. Also replaced the shift shaft seal on the opposite side.

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I had a hell of a time finding a good stator! I have 5 from these bikes and only the last two I tested had good resistance. I was pretty frustrated with the though of having to buy one when I had 5 here! The two that tested good both had Brittany wires. The one I chose could have worked as is but I figured it was best to trim it back inside the stator cover and solder/heat shrink +tape fresh leads.

I quickly cleaned and rebuilt the cam chain tensioner (new OEM o-rings/paper gasket) and did the same with the tach drive (new OEM oring and oil seal).

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All 12-14(?) chrome cam caps are pitted so picked the best of the litter, hit them with some WD-40 and #0000 steel wool followed by some Mother’s Polish. They turned out okay.

Here she is without the Suzuki badges(still need to refinish those). I also changed the secondary gear oil while it was in the bench.

Ready to be put into the frame!

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Maritime said:
I've got that car tire stand, need to go get the motorcycle tire adapter for it next time it's on sale. I did 4 car tires on it this weekend and that paid for it. That balancing stand is nice. I use jack stands and an old axle but for 39.99 I think I'll grab one of those too.

Yeah he seems pleased with his set up. I think he bought nylon parts to adapt his more to motorcycle rims from a retailer online(?) I’ll have to ask him who that was.

I’m in the process of moving in the next month (we bought a house!!), new job starting on June 18th and a our first baby in July! Ittzzza boy! Hectic summer ahead.

With that said, after I get settled in within the next year and my shop set up, I’ll definitely be picking up a similar tire set-up as Chuck has. You’re right, they definitely pay for themselves!


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Motor looks good. congrats on the life stuff, Kids are great! I'd like to know about the nylon bits as 39.99 doesn't give you everything LOL but it's worth the price to spend a little more to make it better. I did a set of chrome rims and had to be real careful not to damage them on the stand. Used my bike irons mostly with some cut up plastic bottle to keep them from harm.
 
Travis rode over to my house last Saturday and helped me get the engine in the frame. Dolly idea hit me while in bed the night before and to my surprise it worked out well! A few small chips in the paint but I’ll touch them up later on.
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Ladies and gentlemen, with the photo below you will see the moment where I said
“Damn... shits getting real”.

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I’m loving the look so far. My main goal was to sell this sucker when I was done but that’s gonna be really hard to convince myself to do now....

Now the carbaloids are a whole other story. Worse I’ve personally seen or attempted to revive. Salvageable for sure but they are rough.

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At this point they all had stuck throttle plates, and 2 of 4 throttle tubes were stuck in place. I soaked em with penetrant a few months ago to hopefully help with this process. The air screws all removed easily to my surprise. Luckily everything else removed safely, including all screws with a impact screwdriver I picked it up at Harbor Freight. This is the first one I’ve ever had, not sure what the hell I’ve been doing the last 5 years without it!!

Only troublesome part was removing the pilot jets. Though with some careful coercion and a screwdriver I modified via grinder to fit the previously mangled heads, the pilot jets all were removed! Whew, a huge relief.

Now for the “gore” fans (not to be mistaken with Al Gore fans). I have some gnarly photos for you.

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All broken down.
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I removed all the bits, diaphragms all look good and I split the rack up and have been using Simplegreen Pro HD/Distilled water for cleaning in the Harbor Freight ultra sonic. Heard this type of simple green is much safer on aluminum carb bodies. So far I am very impressed! I’ll get some photos up after the new OEM valve-seats, float needs, pilot jets, cycleorings.com kit and stainless kit arrive.

In the meantime if anyone has any recommendations for carb settings, I’m all ears. I’ll be running the stock airbox with a new UNI foam filter and Mac 4-1 (that Chuck gifted me with!).

I plan to shim the jet needles with small
.02 radio shack washer to start and am guessing maybe one size up on mains(I think stock is 115 and next is 117.5[?]) ?
Suggestions would be humbly accepted on this topic.


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Maritime said:
Motor looks good. congrats on the life stuff, Kids are great! I'd like to know about the nylon bits as 39.99 doesn't give you everything LOL but it's worth the price to spend a little more to make it better. I did a set of chrome rims and had to be real careful not to damage them on the stand. Used my bike irons mostly with some cut up plastic bottle to keep them from harm.

Thanks man, I just hope the paint cures nicely and hardens after about 6 months from the paint job! Time will tell I guess. Wish I would have baked em but unfortunately didn’t have anywhere to do so.

Chuck just sent me the links for the tire changer kit.

https://www.mojotiretools.com/mojoweb.htm

https://www.mojotiretools.com/mojoblocks.htm
 
canyoncarver said:
Nice work so far, keep it coming. I have an 80' GS1000G in my barn. Yours is looking great.


Thanks man! Let me know of anything you need..... I have a lot of extra parts haha.

It’s cold here again today so I took the time to finally get a thread together. Should have some more progress to post on Friday. This just arrived.
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I forgot to mention above that I realized I forgot to put the U-Joint/drive shaft and new boot in the swing arm before placing engine in .... Opps! I realized it within 5 minutes after putting it in. Oh well, not too much extra work but still a bit irritating.


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Maritime said:
Thanks. Thise are rad, even if they cost as much as the whole stand lol

I just looked at those prices, that does get pricey for sure. I guess it depends on how many you could foresee doing. Or have some buddies give you a little money to go back towards the cost of the unit ?
You could always keep the others for cars only and pick a motorcycle specific one up. Chuck linked one like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/273112629181

JustinLonghorn said:
New House. Kid on the way. Working on bikes.

You're just living the dream, man!

Ha thanks! If you say so!
Life HAS substantially gotten better in the last few months.

In reference to the baby...I swear so many people (basically everyone I come across or know) have said things like, “oh you’ll love it” , “being a parent is great” etc etc.
Many thanks to those people for keeping me positive. Granted Layla is far into her pregnancy at this point so any anxiety I did have is pretty much diminished at this point, but there was a time (mainly the first month) where I was in a total state of “Oh shit....”. Luckily we have been together for many years and plan to continue on as such (I put a ring on her last fall, she hasn’t removed it yet!).



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Drey6 said:
In reference to the baby...I swear so many people (basically everyone I come across or know) have said things like, “oh you’ll love it” , “being a parent is great” etc etc.
Many thanks to those people for keeping me positive. Granted Layla is far into her pregnancy at this point so any anxiety I did have is pretty much diminished at this point, but there was a time (mainly the first month) where I was in a total state of “Oh shit....”. Luckily we have been together for many years and plan to continue on as such (I put a ring on her last fall, she hasn’t removed it yet!).

Cheers to you both. When that little head pops out it all changes again. For the better but man it gets real... best thing ever.
 
canyoncarver said:
Cheers to you both. When that little head pops out it all changes again. For the better but man it gets real... best thing ever.

That was nice to read. It is a welcomed change, that’s for sure!


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Lookin' good, Dave! I'll have to drop in next Saturday to admire the progress before I steal ya for some woods riding now that Wayne National Forest OHV trails are open!

I'm hoping those TEC shocks compress a little more once the weight of all of the remaining parts are on the bike (+ rider), or else I'd suggest reducing the preload on the shock springs if it's not already backed down all the way. That's a steep swingarm angle, max should be around 11.5 degrees. At least you don't have to worry at all about chain tension changing with a shafty! Spline engagement is all.

Did you use a recommended shafty rear wheel spines heavy duty moly lube for reassembly back there? The Suzuki stuff is harder to come by, and the GS guys seem to praise a Honda Moly 50 (or 60?) grease for this purpose. Most molybdenum wheel bearing/chassis greases only contain 10-20% only, that stuff is a true 50 or 60% moly which is crucial for spline lifespan.

Were you thinking of striping the tank still down the middle? That thing is a long hauler beast of a tank, so much girth! A big wide stripe would break up the sizeable width of that beast and give it an even more sporty look.
Headlight yet? IF it's a keeper, look for the Koito 6H5 OEM bucket assembly. I've never experienced such an awesome beam spread as I did with that and a Sylvania SilverStar Ultra H4 bulb and a good charging system! Wow. Unfortunately a deer took that one out, it's hanging from my workbench now as a reminder to be more careful and not ride much late in the season!
Otherwise a Stanley H4 will be more prevalent and easier to find a great deal on. And make sure to only use a rubber mounted headlight mounting bracket/ear set like the generic bikemaster etc ones that are all Tomaselli copies. Otherwise you will blow headlight bulbs all the time especially when revving it to redline. I almost got stranded without a headlight in the mountains at sunset once because of this! And don't torque the clamps down super tight or else the rubber vibration isolators won't do much good. Clamp them just enough so that you can't twist them or slide them, and then give it another quarter or half turn (on the fork tube rubbers). On the headlight bucket ears, they have a sleeve insert so that you can't over-torque those. I don't believe the original tomaselli style even have that, they just have the rubbers on the fork tubes.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/121790983330


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