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Name's Aries and the mighty Cafe Gods have demanded a bike from me. I must produce one at my best abilities, but with alot of advice and work it will surely be ready before the summer hits Minnesota.
Let's keep it simple; I picked up this nugget from a guy who ran out of money, energy and was in debt for experience on Motorbikes. At the time I was looking online, this was the best deal and for $600 dollars I scooped it up and rinsed it off.
Known issues at time of purchase:Charging issues, considerable oil leak after a shotty gasket set replacement on the engine.
I am in the disassembling and reconditioning phase of my build. I have not touched the engine yet, or done any mechanical reconditioning. I am working out of a Studio Apartment with no air tools and limited resources. Ya... I know, but you know what.. The calling was strong and I gotta do it anyways, The Cafe Gods spoke to me and said I would be able to pull it off easier then a prom dates dress after a few gas station wine coolers.
I want you all to know I appreciate any positive energy and good vibes you can mentally beam into my head or life, but if your limited to good mechanical advice I will gladly accept that too!
Thanks TONS !! Aries
(Clear Title, Engine free, No structural damage, Parts on order, Time to wrench this beauty apart)
The owner before me said the Oil leak was coming from the Right side of the engine. I asked him to be more specific and he was not exactly sure. He was not a motorhead. I asked him if he was using it daily and he said yes before him and a friend tried to put a new gasket set in it. After an attempt at regasketing the engine, it leaked worse. That combined with a charging problem shelved this guys future for riding motorbikes and he decided to sell. I flew in like a crazy spider monkey with wings and scooped it up!
Also - and you'll surely hear this a few times, especially given your experience and resources - it would be wise to set a plan of attack before you go crazy with the wrenches. Job one is to get it running, and running well; no sense customizing a bike that you can't get anywhere. And taking on ten jobs at once is a great way to make sure none of them gets done (recall that there's a reason you got it on the cheap!)
If you haven't joined the GSresources site I'd suggest that as well, you'll get great model-specific information there.
Before I even posted here I started breaking the bike down. Financially I could drop a new used running engine in it if I had too. One of the values I am seaking from this is not just the final result, but the painful learning process I have come to know from many other kinds of life experiences. I don't expect smooth sailing.. I have been jetting all over the net looking at sites and thankfully I came across the gsresources site. Super cool, thanks alot man! and yes.. I kinda wish I would have gotten her running first, but Its actually down to the engine and frame at this point. I just am starting my build page on DTT now a few weeks after starting it in real life. I did that on purpose so I could have time to write about the build apart from whatever work I am doing currently.
Make a plan and execute it and you're more likely to see a finished product. My suggestion would be to start at the carbs and work your way into the engine. Look carefully at the motor and see if you can determine where oil was coming from.
Also - if you still have the engine in the frame, you can get it running again - that'll allow you to see where the oil is coming from. Do a compression/leakdown test to find out if you need to tear the top end of the motor down or not; it may just be that you have a seal that needs to be replaced.
Job one is to get it running, and running well; no sense customizing a bike that you can't get anywhere. And taking on ten jobs at once is a great way to make sure none of them gets done (recall that there's a reason you got it on the cheap!)
This!! I decided I'd rather ride a 20 footer for now than go nuts juggling house projects a cafe' build and whatever life throws at me. Haven't had a bike for too long and can't take it anymore came into play also lol
If the leak is from the right side, it's "most likely" the oil pan gasket, clutch cover gasket, or I think there's a small seal around the end of the crank. As long as there are no cracks in the cases, or gouges in the gasket surfaces, I would just get an entire gasket set (genuine Suzuki is best, but I wouldn't turn down a Vesrah set either). With the set, you'll have any gaskets you "might" need ahead of time.
Hey!! your in Saint Paul! Thats great! Hope your doing well!! Really looking forward to this weather clearing up middle of this coming week, heard its suppose to be 37 degrees?, looking forward to the warm weather and not wearing a coat!
@Big Rich
When I got the motorcycle, I noticed that the Oil pan drain plug had been repaired using JB Weld. I asked the seller about it and he said that the person he got the bike from had attempted to dremel groves to help the oil drain better and damaged the plate. To be honest... Unless it is an original or maybe even second owner and the prior owner(s) cared for the bike, I knew it would be a possibility that someone prior had done a half hearted repair or replacement. I will not try to save money at the cost of common sense, thats the worst trade off. I went ahead and got an Oil Pan off Ebay at the time of purchase.
I also knew that the other major flop job done was the sellers gasket repair. I could see goopy gasket sealer in the cracks of the engine.. It looked like someone who had not bothered to tripple check and ask around about how to properly replace a gasket on a machined finish/engine.. blahh.. so.. I went ahead and got the Vesrah set (was going to get the stock one, but the guy before me had tried a Vesrah and in the event a gasket can be saved, I figured it would be good to keep the gaskets of same design or manufacturer.
I will be doing some more detailed inspection of the engine once I get it up into my apartment on the giant oil drip flat pan I got at walmart for 11 bucks (walmart paid me -11 dollars to say that). The one nasty fact about doing this out of an apartment and parking stall is that I don't have access to a work bench and lights. I have an old wood table in my apartment and I am taking things up there and working on them on that piece by piece. Its not ideal... but I won't make it an excuse.
For some reason I could not post my last ...umm. 'Post' on several attempts... after reading it, I noticed I said it was hard cause I don't have lights.. Ya.. I am not working by candle light or only day light hours.. I meant... I don't have electrical outlets in my underground parking stall I pay 80 bucks a month for.. So, I have to hall everything upstairs to work on it. I just dont want to try to repost that last one and have error messages again.. Blahhh.. Gonna wrench a bit tomorrow, it is the anti-stress I crave. I would rather be frustrated over a motorcycle issue then some of the other stuff going on. I had a few parts come in today and earlier this week. Clip On's, ...Simple things like.. Sand Paper variety pack, Stainless steel Zip ties, fork gators, some other odds and ends.
And good on ya for keeping on. My first garage experiences were horrid. Two bulbs in a 2 car garage, a leaky roof, stall doors that didn't shut, cracked concrete floors, etc. Makes ya grateful for what you get later......
Yes Sir! I really wanted to give that business to the amazing folks at DCC, but It was the clamps on these that I liked. They are not vintage, not extremely modern, but more fit the look of the bike. The business went to
It all comes from some little foreign 3rd world country anyways, (thanks little kids who made my Clip-Ons, Ton up, ur I mean Cheer up!)
I plan on doing lots of future spending at DCC..
Some things they don't have I will have to look else where, but soon I will be putting in a nice size order.
Originally I was going to do standard Clubman bars, maybe even drag bars.. but then I was looking at my tank.. thinking that this is in fact an 80's impression of cafe culture and Clips ons were starting to come out at that time. I also realized I could lower my front end pretty easy just by putting some clip ons on there. Boom, choice was made.
I plan on lowering the bike just a little bit after seeing some of those cool Brat Racers online. I liked their style... so I am kinda mashing it up a bit.
I forget how much you would have to push the forks up to mount those on top - I think 1.25"? Just be careful: that is going to quicken up the steering a LOT. Also, without rearsets you might get really uncomfortable very quickly using clip ons.
Ya, I am going to have to put some rear sets on the bike later. Way down the road when I get this all going, I will be spending O-So-much time adjusting the bike and getting used to its personality. I hope I am not gonna run into much issues with handling, I won't completely compromise the idea of keeping the bike safe as well as looking cool. not completely.
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