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Re: 82 Suzuki GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Rocking the Ikons and She No Run
Started on the Ikon progressive fork springs last night:
I didn't clean the stock springs up after I redid the forks for painting but I put fresh fork oil in at the time. Stupid move! Look at the colour of what came out last night:
Giving them a good pump this time to get rid of it and new fresh stuff going in with the Ikons.
Pick the new one:
Just worked out my measuring method this morning so hopefully tonight will be reinstall then the left leg...
Re: 82 Suzuki GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Rocking the Ikons and She No Run
Those springs can make a night and day difference in how the bike feels. I'm sure by the time you are back to riding you'll be thrilled in that by itself, but it will spoil you the next time you ride on a "stock" suspension.
Re: 82 Suzuki GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Rocking the Ikons and She No Run
Big Rich said:
Those springs can make a night and day difference in how the bike feels. I'm sure by the time you are back to riding you'll be thrilled in that by itself, but it will spoil you the next time you ride on a "stock" suspension.
Re: 82 Suzuki GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Rocking the Ikons and She No Run
And I finished getting the springs in last night too, so the front end is all buttoned up and done except I still need to do wheel bearings and tyres.
My measuring rod:
Fedex box from the Dynatek was real handy at keeping the legs straight and under the desk lamp for accurate measuring:
I followed the advice in the Ikon instructions and gave it a good number of pumps (about 15) to clear all air out of the damping circuit and the level was spot on 197mm, so right leg went back in and I started on the left.
Figured I'd best make sure I don't use the old crap by mistake:
Repeated the whole process for the left leg and back on:
Dropped the new springs in:
And ready to rock and roll... well roll anyway for the time being:
Re: 82 Suzuki GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Ikons Front and Back
Starting with 15wt and see how we go from there. Ikon recommends using stock wt and level so I'll do that and revise if needs be after it's rideable.
Definitely another hurdle out of the way!
Getting it running, tyres, front brakes, and paint are all the big things left to get it on the road. The rest is niggly finishing stuff and desirables, so the end of the year is still possible at this point...
Re: 82 Suzuki GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Ikons Front and Back
Seems I've neglected an update! Ordered some jets yesterday so should be here today/tomorrow in time for the weekend, however I did a couple of other things last night that might help as well.
First was moving the outlet from the temporary tank at someone over on the GSR's suggestion, and it's a good one too. The way it was it had to syphon fuel up before getting down to the carbs so there's potential for an air bubble in there. I'm confident that's not what was causing the fuel issue due to my mouth full of fuel and the bowls having fuel, but it probably is better to fix it now.
Move it from here:
To the bottom, so purely gravity fed now:
I also figured I'd re-check the float height while I had the carbs off and man I'm glad I did that! I used the Clymer to set them initially but I since got my factory reproduction manual, and there's 4.2mm difference between them. The Clymer lists the 1980 float height (22.4mm), whereas I need the 1981 onwards float height (26.6mm).
Before:
After (sorry about the blur, camera batteries died and couldn't get a better pic):
So I hope to give it a kick again on Saturday and I'll try it with the stock jets and the new float heights first and see what happens.
Re: 82 Suzuki GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Ikons Front and Back
Well... jets arrived but I only got about 30 seconds to look at them and compare, so while they physically look like they'll do the job I haven't been able to fit them to see for sure.
Put a bit of fuel in the temporary tank and 20 min's later finally got back down to check and no leaks so that's all good.
Looking a whole lot like Saturday is gonna be another no go day (surprise surprise) so my guess is I'll be taking a day off sometime real soon. I really need to do something about this no weekend time crap, really makes things incredibly difficult.
Running lean, hanging idle, and I think I have leaks happening with the intake boots, but I have new boots on the way.
I'm kicking myself for not playing with the mixture screws as that would've helped me work out if I need to go up on the pilots or not, but I'll have to do that another time as I've dumped the oil and filter now that it got a bit of a run finally.
I also got the front guard shaped properly:
I also started sanding the fork brace/guard mount with 800 grit to get a start on the brushed look, so it's looking much better with the guard mounted up now:
And I've finally finished sanding the tail piece so it's ready to putty:
So I can get the valves rechecked and check the torque on all the head bolts again.
I need a new R/R after checking the charging system today but at least the stator is good.
Things are looking up!
Really need to start organising a week off work for paint, and start collecting the other bits and pieces I need to finish her off.
If I can get some budget and some time then my target of before Christmas is feasible
Re: 82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - It's ALIVE!! Dynatek Rocks!
I said it on the GSR already, but it's worth mentioning again: congrats buddy! How ling have you had your head wrapped around the ignition system now?
As far as the jetting goes - if it's running ok now, I wouldn't worry much about them. They mixture will change once you get the engine under load. Any fine tuning you do know will just need re-done once you actually get to ride it.
Re: 82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - It's ALIVE!! Dynatek Rocks!
WHOO-HOO! CONGRATS!
And +1 to what Rich said, unless it's REAL obvious I would get some miles on her before trying to fine tune the mixture. Things will change under load and it gives her a chance to settle in... also she sounds like it's idling fast so that will contribute to your mixture concerns. If you can get the idle down, short burst of carb cleaner around the boots will jump the speed if they are leaking.
Re: 82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - It's ALIVE!! Dynatek Rocks!
Big Rich said:
I said it on the GSR already, but it's worth mentioning again: congrats buddy! How ling have you had your head wrapped around the ignition system now?
As far as the jetting goes - if it's running ok now, I wouldn't worry much about them. They mixture will change once you get the engine under load. Any fine tuning you do know will just need re-done once you actually get to ride it.
Definitely spent far too long playing with ignition... if I'd have known the Dynatek was going to be that easy I would've done it a loooooooooong time ago...
My concern with the jetting is that it's obviously way off, but I think the carb boots were contributing. The hanging idle is *really* bad and there is heaps of popping when letting the throttle off, so I at least need to dial those things out before the first run on the street, and I'll definitey need to get them sorted to pass the safety certificate inspection to get it registered.
Re: 82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - It's ALIVE!! Dynatek Rocks!
Hoosier Daddy said:
WHOO-HOO! CONGRATS!
And +1 to what Rich said, unless it's REAL obvious I would get some miles on her before trying to fine tune the mixture. Things will change under load and it gives her a chance to settle in... also she sounds like it's idling fast so that will contribute to your mixture concerns. If you can get the idle down, short burst of carb cleaner around the boots will jump the speed if they are leaking.
Cheers Hoosier! Definitely a happier man at the moment ;D
As replied to Rich's post, definitely need to get some of the running sorted now or I won't get it on the road, and the new intake boots should be here soon to sort that out.
It was definitely idling fast, partly me keeping it up to get heat into it so I could dump the oil, partly the notorious hanging idle which I need to get rid of.
Re: 82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - It's ALIVE!! Dynatek Rocks!
Well I got in tonight and took some measurements for Dynatek so I could update them on the success from yesterday.
While I was doing that, I realised my initial measurement of the spacer my mate made was wrong, and it's still a little too large when compared with the one Dynatek makes already. This could explain why the advance seemed to stick a couple of times yesterday, so I'll need to get the sandpaper out again and rub it back a little further. It's not much out, 0.126" instead of 0.125", but maybe it's just enough...
Either way, I did clean the advance mechanism up while I had it all out for measuring so I could lube it and put it back together properly too.
All cleaned up:
Lubed with a bit of engine oil and reassembled:
And back where it belongs:
Then I decided I'd have a closer look at the front guard and see why it's such a drama with the tacho cable.
As it turns out, I'm going to have to drop the guard 25mm.
The fork travel is 140mm, but I currently only have 120mm before it hits the trim on the lower triple clamp:
The mount for the brake line actually protrudes down below that a little, but I believe I can invert that and solve the problem that way, so if I drop it 25mm it gives 145mm of clearance:
And the guard should still to the job and should still look right as well:
Either way, it's gotta drop. I really don't want the guard/brace impacting the lower triple clamp before the forks bottom out...
My next lot of parts should also be here tomorrow or Tuesday, it apparently cleared customs here in Aus. on Friday, but it takes 2 days for that to get updated on the USPS tracking info...
I'm also starting to think about the seat and whether I'm going to pay someone to make up the padding and cover or if I'm going to attempt it myself.
I should be able to get suitable foam from this lot:
But the cover is what has me concerned. I can't sew to save my life and I'm assuming you need to do things like make the foam a little larger than the cover so the cover stretches on and compresses the foam a bit.
Any thoughts out there?
Tyres are becoming a drama too. Admittedly I haven't picked up the 'phone yet and talked to anyone, but none of the Brissie shops with an online presence seem to stock Shinko, and that's the only brand I know of with suitable 18" dual sports...
Re: 82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - It's ALIVE!! Dynatek Rocks!
Seats?
They really aren't that bad with vinyl... Practice sewing on a few scraps. Leather is a different story. Take an industrial strength machine. I will probably farm my next one out as I have some black leather scraps.
Search here for seat building tips... Tons of good info. (no punn intended)
Re: 82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - It's ALIVE!! Dynatek Rocks!
No sewing machine does make it tough for most seats... but check the long ass thread on my GL1100 "Bomber!" build, linky is in my sig. That one I streached the vinyl over the whole thing and used contact cement underneath... not a stitch in it. But I think its shape helped a lot.
Oh and PS... did you go to the "Rattle Can Bling" thread yet?
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