1982 GS650G First time builder

LovingtheCLE

Been Around the Block
1982 Suzuki GS650G- by all accounts this Craigslist "barn find" has been an exceptional bike. I have ridden it for three seasons without putting too much into it.

As soon as I decided that I wanted to start upgrading the bike, I started with some of the basics: new tires, brake pads, Xenon headlight, and LED turn signals.

My clutch cable broke a couple months back, so I had to replace that. From reading a few posts on the electricals thread, I think my new headlight is draining my battery.

What are my goals?

Immediate Upgrades: Clubman bars, shorty grips, bar end mirrors, smaller speedo and tach, shorty muffler, exhaust wrap, and retro taillight.

I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days along with some of my more long-term goals.

It is all about modifying and learning during the winter and riding as much as possible anytime it is over 40 degrees!
 
Heading to bed.......but wanted to sign up for this thread. I'll be getting back to this.......
 
I wouldn't think that the H4 upgrade would excessively drain your battery unless you went with a much higher wattage. I would look into upgrading the notoriously bad regulator/rectifier on these gs's. This will prevent any further damage to your stator and give you more charging power (aftermarket upgrades typically use all 3 phases).
 
jwegman said:
I wouldn't think that the H4 upgrade would excessively drain your battery unless you went with a much higher wattage. I would look into upgrading the notoriously bad regulator/rectifier on these gs's. This will prevent any further damage to your stator and give you more charging power (aftermarket upgrades typically use all 3 phases).

I posted at the end of a long day, it was a xenon bulb and not an H4 halogen. Thanks for the suggestion about upgrading the regulator/rectifier. Any brand recommendations?
 
Here are a couple of pictures I took of my bike last summer.

I'm looking to change everything except the tank. I want to give it a classic cafe feel, but I'm thinking I may need to design a custom removable seat cowl so I can still ride two up. My wife loves to ride, so I don't want to ruin a good thing by customizing the bike so she cant!

I will get around to posting some pics of what I'm aiming for before too long.
 

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Well, it looks like the xenon bulb may NOT have been the problem with my battery not holding a charge. I pulled the battery and checked the levels only to see that all of the cells were nearly out of acid.

I filled it with distilled water and connected it to my new trickle charger (Merry Christmas to me!). The battery is now fully charged, and it looks like a local muffler shop is going to be able to adapt my 4-1 pipes to the shorty muffler I have for about $50. I'll see if I can't get it scheduled for early on Saturday. Believe it or not it may be 60+ degrees here in Cleveland over the weekend. Shoot there are even a few days of rain between now and then to clear some of the salt off the road.

Customization AND riding on the same day...I don't know what I will do with myself.
 
Lovingthe CLE (is there something else we can call you? I hate to shorten that to just "Lovin") : are you a member over on the GSResources? There's a huge list of R/R's that can be wired up fairly easily.

As far as clubmans go: I know some Gs tanks are really wide.....so wide that clubman bars hit the tank. Omar's sells adjustable clubmans, but without rearsets, I would just stick with low bars - like what you have now or some drag bars.
 
Rich,

My name is Michael. No need for me to be known as "lovin". ;) Thanks for the heads up on the clubmans. I will contact DCC and see about the clearance on the GS tanks.
 
As always, DCC responded very quickly. However, I'm going to just have to wait until I get home from work and do some measuring.
 
I scheduled the muffler work! I'm dropping the bike off tomorrow morning at 9am. Looks like I may be ready to go for a ride this weekend!

I will take some close up pictures of the old muffler this evening and get them up on the thread. The pipes aren't rusted through, but the chrome on the pipes is discolored, and knowing myself, I figured wrapping and sealing the pipes would be a better solution for me than getting nice shiny new pipes. I like riding in all kinds of weather, so shiny chrome and I don't get along.
 
Make sure that the battery isn't being overcharged by the r/r, that will boil the battery over as well.
 
Mike (McLovin bwahaha jk jk) ;) ;)

I used clubmans on my 450 with a different tank. I don't know that DCC will be able to give you tank dimensions, only the bar size ETC. I know with my larger tank I get lock to lock with about a MM to spare on the enricher side.
Rich is right! Without rearsets those clubmans or clip ons will be mighty uncomfortable. Kind winds you up in a ball with your knees almost in the way of controlling the bike properly. The rearsets were the best investment I have made to look and total comfort thus far on my build. I am not sure of your personal sizing but a set of drags or euro bars would be much more comfortable unless you are going to continue to cafe it out.

JMHO

GK
 
I dunno.....we have a LOT of Mikes here now. McLovin might be fitting...... :)

I suggest going with the lowest bars that you think you might like (usually drag bars). Ride them for a while, and feel if you want to go even lower.
 
Mike,

If you want to get it out this weekend, give me a shout. I haven't really winterized either bike yet!

Matt
 
Well, a minor set back. I put the fully charged battery on my bike. The lights were on nice and bright. I was feeling pretty good about taking a ride to the muffler place in the morning...THEN when I hit the starter, I heard a "pop" and I lost all power.

I'm at a loss. I checked the fuses and all seemed to be fine. I've blown a fuse while riding, and that didn't cause me to lose ALL power. Any thoughts?

If I can get this fixed tonight, I may still be able to have it to the muffler shop by 9am.

Matt, if I can get this problem figured out, I will be up for a ride. PM me and we can work out the details!
 
Take a close look at the main fuse, if that pops then it'll kill all power on the bike. I've had it happen while riding a few times (on the freeway :eek: ) so sort it out before going anywhere too far. Btw, a glass fuse can still look good but be burned out under the metal caps.
 
Toast, thanks! I will definitely get back out to the garage and replace those fuses. I only need to make it about 3 miles tomorrow. If I can do that, I can get the exhaust work done.
 
Wegman, thanks for the info! I've got those links open now. I stopped by your build thread first, and was totally blown away by the quality of what I saw. Really nice stuff.
 
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