Not Really a Bob, Not Cafe, GS300 Suzuki

Mine can't be retrofit with points. The magnetic pick up is in the stator housing, and there are no exposed cam ends to graft anything to. And the case is too thin to fit a kicker, even if I could find an appropriate parts donor.

One of my friends is supposed to be picking up a KZ650Csr that he wants to mod up. He also happens to be in lust with my 650 Suzuki... I'm going to try and straight swap with him before he does something stupid with the KZ.
 
Yep, it does. I'm also transferring the hand crank components from my 218 cid Plymouth L6 to my 230 cid Plymouth L6 for my 49 Dodge truck lowrider. I like having options. And when that fossil is roadworthy, I'm crushing my electronic ignition, efi daily driver. I'm even swapping the perfectly running points fired 318/727 combo from my 69 Dodge truck out for a points fired 390/C6 combo, I loathe rear mounted distributors...
 
Do you already have the Ferd motor? If not, the big block mopar, 383/400/440 has a front mounted distributor. Although those would use a 727 tranny, the bellhousings are different. The 390 Ferd is a dang good motor. Perfect for a truck.

I little known trick outside the automotive world for small block mopar distributors. They drive with a simple tang. There's a special wrench to get to the clamp bolt. Inexpensive to buy, or one can be made from an old box end wrench. The drive gear/oil pump drive stays in the block when the distributor is removed. Make a mark on the distributors bottom flange to coincide with a mark on top of the block, and just pull it out when it needs service. Just remember which way the rotor is pointing. Even so it will only go in two ways, straight, and 180 out. You still have a 50/50 chance of getting it right even if you forget which way it was pointing. Drop it back in, align your marks, and fire it up. Simple.

I have MSD electronic ignition control in my VW racer. I'll tell you, that if I wasn't so reliant on the two step rev limiter, I'd have put a Vertex magneto in it long ago. The racer even has "old school" mechanical fuel injection. I had EFI on it years ago, then decided to go back to my comfort zone with MFI.

"Old School rules!"
 
I've got a perfectly good 413-3/727 in another one of the toys. I grew up on FE Fords, Mopar poly V8s and L6s, and kick only Big Twins.

I do have a 72 Super Beetle rotting away in the barn, my father in law got screwed out of the 2332 twin carb that needed nothing more than timed. It now has the generic single carb out of the 68 standard Bug that needed a couple suspension bushings. Shop that did the work kept the good engine, and the 68 body as "payment" for the "critically needed" engine swap... he bought my wife the 68 and me the 72 back in early 99, and then kept the titles. We were in the Seattle area for about 9.5 years, he was here in TN and got a mite goofy. Sold 2 fish and ski boats for $800/per and sold my 85 F250HD 460/C6/10.25 cab and a half with full rear bench and a gooseneck hitch/alloy wheels/drop bumpers/running boards for $800 as well...
 
As it turns out, the fork bearing races have little indents in them. The bearings are the "loose ball" type. I reckon a new set of races are needed. There was evidence of the adjustment nut on top being worked on previously. The spanner nut slots had chisel marks on them. I thought the bearings were adjusted way too tight.

I've also decided to lower the front of the tank to straighten out the bottom line. In stock position, it kicks up at the front. I think it looks much sleeker with the front dropped down. There was plenty of room underneath, and the tank mount was an easy modification, that can be easily undone. Before and after pics of the mock-up below

Stock position...
suzuki13.jpg


Lowered position...
suzuki14.jpg
 
I put their bearings in my GS and in my CB sebinfidees. You can find them listed on e-bay with the # I gave. Usually about $35 .... but THIS GUY has them listed for $20 "buy it now" with free shipping at the moment. ;)
 
Thanks guys.
It is filling some time. I was hoping to ride it a bit before knocking it down after doing some of the modifications. Them stock carbs, as "untunable" as they seem to be, along with some electrical glitches kinda expedited the tear down time frame.

I have a bit more refining to do on the frame before powder coating. I'd also like to find some spoke wheels. Not a fan of the alloys.

back to work!
 
With them blakced out the alloys look ok, but spokes would look pretty good too. Bike looks great so far.
 
OK, this post isn't bike related. I took my Ghia out for some test runs this last weekend, trying out some changes for next year. Below is a link to one of the starting line videos. It takes a while to load, because it's full resolution 60 frames per second. Probably wanna start a new window and continue to "surf" while that loads.
Anyway, thought you guys might enjoy a peak. If you slow/mo through from about the minute and a half mark, it's pretty interesting. Copy the link and paste into the browser address bar. For some reason, a direct link wouldn't work here.

Bad thing is, I had to wait a while for that roadster in the other lane to finish his burn-out and back up.


lawlessdesigns.com/mike-l131.MP4
 
Cool project Lawless.

The drum brake mags are pretty rare (as I'm sure you're aware). But if you do decide to swap to spoke wheels, I have a rear that should bolt right in. I think the front wheel from a T500 or similar should work as well.
 
Hey Big Rich
I have seen on other posts that you have wheels for sale. I may hit you up on those down the road. I'm not really big on what's rare or what's collectible. I kinda subscribe to Boyd Coddington's mantra (paraphrased) of "Anyone can restore a classic. It take guts to cut one up."

Anyway, the thing is torn down. Stuff is ready to go to the powdercoaters, including the wheels. All "no nonsense" gloss black.
In the meantime, I ordered a VM 30 carb kit from DimeCity meant for a honda CB350. Since intake boots aren't available for this particular engine, (bolt centers at 65mm), I made adapters to fit common Honda intake boots. There is always a way around a a minor challenge. Everything fits, so it's just a matter of profile machining the adapters to finish them off. I'll need to make a tapered sleeve to smooth the transition from the 30mm carb bore to the 25mm diameter port and cut an o-ring groove on the head side. Easy stuff.
suzuki22.jpg
 
Finally, after four weeks, I got my frame, wheels and other bits back from the powder coater. All gloss black. All put together, man, that's a lot of black!
I got most of the assembly done and some things I was concerned with turned out OK. I didn't receive the new VM30 carbs before I had sent it off and since I had to make adapter plates, (you can see 'em in one of the photos) and the K&N filters were bigger, I was a little worried that it wouldn't fit. And the there was the different throttle cable to think about. The stock carbs had a shaft between the two carbs with a single cable pull. The dual cable came out good. The cable kit was a "cut to length" deal, do I had to do a little modification at the handle end. I also ended up having to relocate the starter solenoid...which I had relocated previously. It ended up touching the air filters so I had to revise the mount slightly.
I had ordered the fork bearings that Hoosier referred me too. Thanks man! Fit like a charm and very smooth. I had also milled off the stock handle bar mount bosses to clean the top of the tree up.
I still have new coils and plug wires to mount, and also get the pingle petcock situated. It's a pretty tight area and it had to be oriented a certain way to fit and work properly. I have addressed all the little problem items that were present before I tore it down. I even added a front "fender" back in. It's the stock fender that I cut down and had PC'd. More of a fork brace than a fender I reckon

All in all it went back together quickly and smoothly. The real test is yet to come. Will it run? The only thing I'm unsure of is the stock electronic ignition module. I should have the answer to that before the holiday!
suzuki23.jpg

suzuki24.jpg

suzuki25.jpg
 
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