'83 Suzuki GR650 "Tempter"

[Pablo83]

I wanted to show it off to some friends so I put everything together that I had finished and trailered it to a small event. Of course it rained and everything that isn’t painted is now rusty. It’s time to tear it all down and paint the frame anyway, so no big damage was done.

 

[Pablo83]

 

[Big R]

What kind of paint did you use? Looks good.

 

[Pablo83]

What kind of paint did you use? Looks good.

Industrial enamel. If I would have had more time I would have sent it out for powdercoat and I'll probably regret not doing that at some time in the future.

 

[Pablo83]

Engine cleaned

and installed:

 

[Pablo83]

Getting close:

 

[Pablo83]

Done...

 

[Maritime]

Holy shit, that was one of the fastest builds ever on DTT, it must be a record. Nicew work, just need to put some more tracker style rubber on her when those wear out and it will be damn near perfect.

 

[Pablo83]

Holy shit, that was one of the fastest builds ever on DTT, it must be a record. Nicew work, just need to put some more tracker style rubber on her when those wear out and it will be damn near perfect.

The front rim's a 19" so there's plenty of tread patterns available for that wheel, but the back's a 16" which has real limited choices. I chose that tire because it was closest to a dirt track pattern and has plenty of meat. I sipped it extensively with a razor blade this morning and I'd like to get a heated tire groover soon so I can really change the pattern on the rear.

 

[Cookie]

Wow, what a spectacular bike! Nice job!

 

[Maritime]

Ahhh yes the 16" delema. I was lucky on my honda to find Avon made the roadrider in a 16 close enough to the stock size. Never looked for tracker style in 16. The tire tread cutter is a good Idea. I have used those on transport tires back years ago to regroove them once half worn.
I thought the D404 was original to the bike. Looked good so I figured you wouldn't change it until it was needed.

 

[kureus]

For those of us hacking up GR650s, do you mind giving your carb jetting changes? Mine runs like crap without the airbox, and the exhaust won't be stock much longer. Thanks.

 

[the vegan biker]

This post inspired me to continue work on my 84 Tempter.

 

[Pablo83]

This post inspired me to continue work on my 84 Tempter.

I really appreciate all the positive feedback I've gotten on this project, but I think this one takes the cake. Now get to work!

 

[Pablo83]

For those of us hacking up GR650s, do you mind giving your carb jetting changes? Mine runs like crap without the airbox, and the exhaust won't be stock much longer. Thanks.

This bike came with 42.5 idle jets and 132.5 mains. The engine on this bike didn't seem to be modified, so I'm assuming these where stock. Not having idle mixture screws on the carb wigs me out a little. The only thing I don't like about this engine so far is that weird idle port contraption.

I did not do any porting on the heads, but the new intake and exhaust should still open things up significantly. I initially went up to 45 idles, and 140 mains, but this was so rich I did not need to choke the bike at all on cold startups. I went down to 42.5 (stock) idle and 137.5 mains this morning, but I have not had the chance to test this setup yet.

Something noteworthy is that I live at 9000' elevation, so those of you that are closer to sea level will probably want one jet size larger than what I use.

 

[Pablo83]

Just checked the manual, stock jetting was 42.5 and 130.

The carb is a Mikuni BS36SS. I believe the "SS" stands for Slow System which is the weird idle circuit. I wonder if it would be easy to replace them with the BS36 and maybe get a normal idle circuit.

I also just found out that there IS an idle screw, but it's on top of the carb instead of the bottom. I'll adjust that tomorrow.

 

[Pablo83]

Has anyone ever pulled their alternator (rotor) on this bike? I can't get the side cover off. It's like it's glued on. Suzuki didn't build in any handy tabs to help pry it off . Also, the manual says to use a slide hammer to remove the flywheel. Is that the best way to do it?

 

[Pablo83]

I took the GR up Pike's Peak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDGj5RLBmA0

 

[Maritime]

Very cool

 

[the vegan biker]

Pablo, you make this trade look easy.. and you inspire me to work on my own GR.

SICK video by the way! Sounds real nice passing by.