KillerGriller
New Member
Summer (2019) I bought a 1982 Suzuki gs650e from my brother who had started to restore it but ran out of time/energy etc. I started to clean it up a bit over winter, but mostly is sat behind my shed waiting for warmer weather. In the spring I had aims to start riding again around Easter, but the world shut down and things came to a screeching halt (licensing, riding course, etc.); now I had lots of time to work on the bike but no way to ride it, so I dug in deeper beyond putting lipstick on a pig and started replacing pieces etc.
My goal was to ride in 2020, but by the time the world opened back up, there wasn't enough time to make it financially reasonable to put the bike on the road....yes, I know what you're thinking: financially reasonable <> building/riding a bike. Mostly, I mean forcing a sub-standard bike through safety and insuring it for a full year for a month of fall riding.
So where does that leave the build? Right now the bike is rideable with a few issues that haven't been addressed yet due to timing. Before taking it in for taking it for safety inspection I still needed to look at the rear master brake cylinder (won't release when the pedal is disengaged), the front master cylinder (needs some more bleeding, and one of the bolts stripped the housing upon final assembly), there's an exhaust header bolt sheared-off and embedded in the block causing a noticeable exhaust leak, and a loud clacking sound coming our of the head that I'm hoping is just a loose cam tensioner....just a few items.
Anyway, this will thread will be partly what's been done to date, and progress moving forward this fall/winter; fixing the list above but also removing/disassembling the front forks, pulling the engine, and playing with some wiring. I'm open to suggestions, this is very much an exploration/learning experience.
Starting Point & Current State
Cheers
My goal was to ride in 2020, but by the time the world opened back up, there wasn't enough time to make it financially reasonable to put the bike on the road....yes, I know what you're thinking: financially reasonable <> building/riding a bike. Mostly, I mean forcing a sub-standard bike through safety and insuring it for a full year for a month of fall riding.
So where does that leave the build? Right now the bike is rideable with a few issues that haven't been addressed yet due to timing. Before taking it in for taking it for safety inspection I still needed to look at the rear master brake cylinder (won't release when the pedal is disengaged), the front master cylinder (needs some more bleeding, and one of the bolts stripped the housing upon final assembly), there's an exhaust header bolt sheared-off and embedded in the block causing a noticeable exhaust leak, and a loud clacking sound coming our of the head that I'm hoping is just a loose cam tensioner....just a few items.
Anyway, this will thread will be partly what's been done to date, and progress moving forward this fall/winter; fixing the list above but also removing/disassembling the front forks, pulling the engine, and playing with some wiring. I'm open to suggestions, this is very much an exploration/learning experience.
Starting Point & Current State
Cheers