Battery Box Refurb

The bike's been running great so that means it's time to go back and re-do a few minor details that didn't get finished to my satisfaction the first time around. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I like to make sure everything's done just right.

One of those things was the battery box. It's kind of buried in the center of the bike so I didn't mess with it when I was working on the electrical system. It was pretty rusty, though, and I was worried that the sheet metal would crack and dump my battery out onto the swingarm.

I also wanted an excuse to get one of those non-vented AGM batteries they have now, so I sold the old battery to my friend Dan and ripped out the box.

It was rusty but not all the way through - A quick soak in my favorite Phosphoric Acid solution removed the rust and left it ready for sanding and paint. My preferred rustoleum hard-hat did it's usual good job, and I threw it in the oven for an hour at 175 degrees to get it rock hard.

Back in the bike no-one can see it, but I know it's there.

New Parts Stash!

Last week I was browsing for motorcycle stuff in the Recycler and I found an ad that read "Suzuki GS1000 Wiseco Pistons, $225, other parts too". I called, and the seller was in Santa Clarita, so I took a trip up there on Saturday. He was a cool guy, and had a lot more stuff than was in the ad, including a set of clean carbs, mirrors, GS1100 aluminum swingarm, GS1100G cylinders and head, the Wiseco Pistons w/Cometic head gasket, and most importantly, an NOS front fender!

I laid down $260 and walked away with the whole pile. Some of this stuff I'll sell on eBay since I don't need it, but the Wiseco Pistons and GS1100G head will eventually find their way onto this motor. He had an amazing GS1000E of his own - bought in the 80s from the original owner who modified it with period parts. I didn't get any pictures, but it has a strengthened frame, 1100cc kit, cams, 33mm smoothbores, Kerker pipe, powder coated GS1100 swingarm, CB750F front fender and a bunch more amazing period mods. A beautilful and fast bike!

The NOS fender went straight on as soon as I got home. Wow, it really makes the front end of the bike look classy! Check back for more as I consider a new engine build to make use of the Wisecos.

Carbs Again, Minor Cosmetics & Speedo Cable

I've been putting the miles on the bike and it's been great. I've done some minor housekeeping recently, though. It ran great, but I noticed that the #2 cylinder was weak at idle - pulling the plug wire had no effect on the engine's running, but it did smooth out under load and at high speed. I suspected there was some grit in the idle jet, so I pulled the carbs again and gave them a good going-through.

The idle jets seemed OK, but there was a hint of dirt in the offending cylinder. I put the carbs back together with some polished stainless screws. After putting them back on, the engine idles much better than before, so that seems to have cured the problem. I've yet to put many miles on it, but it ran very well in the driveway.

I also swapped over the GS1000 emblem on the right sidecover from my parts bike. It's not perfect, but at least I have two matching emblems now. Also, the speedo was a little "jumpy" at low speeds so I bought a new Motion Pro cable. It seems to have cured it.

And for a touch of "bling" I put some stainless allen bolts on the handlebar clamps.

Before and After Summary

If you've been following my blog from the beginning you'll remember that I performed a thorough inspection of the bike when I got it home. If not, check it out here.

To wrap up the project I'll summarize what I've done and what it started as.

Front End
- tire old and hard New Tire (Bridgestone S11 Spitfire)
- wheel lightly corroded Cleaned and polished with steel wool and alloy polish
- fender heavily corroded Painted black
- fork tubes heavily corroded Replaced with good used set
- fork seals cracked Replaced with new OEM parts
- brake lines cracked Replaced with new aftermarket stainless braided lines; rebuilt entire brake system with new OEM seals and new fluid.
- gauge backs lightly corroded Polished with chrome polish
- switches, fork area dirty Cleaned
- headlight rim heavily corroded Polished with chrome polish (still not perfect)
- top nut and misc. hardware corrodedPolished with chrome polish or replaced with new
- levers and hardware lightly corroded Cleaned and polished with steel wool and alloy polish
- missing cushion over handlebar clamps Still missing because it won't work with the shorter superbike bars.

Tank, Seat, Airbox, Sidecovers, Wiring
- tank rusty inside Cleaned with Phosphoric acid
- petcock frozen in "ON" and leaky Replaced with NOS petcock
- one dent in tank Still there, but not bad
- grab rail corroded Polished with chrome polish (still not perfect)
- rearstand handle corroded Replaced with good used
- missing airbox and sidecover harware Replaced with new OEM hardware
- paint dull in general Cleaned, polished and waxed
- mis-matched sidecover Still mis-matched, but you won't be looking at both sides at the same time
- all four turn signals in poor, corroded shape Rears replaced with good used - front signals cleaned and polished but not perfect
- electrical panel lightly corroded; contacts corroded Panel re-painted, all connectors cleaned or replaced; late model Honda RR added.
- exhaust looks like crap - totally rusty Polished with chrome polish

Frame/Rear Suspension
- minor scratches/chips in frame paint Touched-up paint; cleaned and waxed frame.
- rear brake MC leaks Rebuilt entire rear brake system and replaced hose with new stainless braided line.
- rear wheel lightly corroded Cleaned and polished with steel wool and alloy polish
- rear brake pedal lightly corroded Polished with chrome polish
- some hardware corroded Polished with chrome polish or replaced
- rear tire old and hard New Tire (Bridgestone S11 Spitfire)
- chain dry; unknown condition Lubricated and inspected

Finally Coming Together

With the petcock finished and the engine side covers polished, there isn't much left to do but ride this thing. I gave it a quick once-over, checked the air pressure and hit the road.

I visited a friend from the GS Resources to synchronize the carburetors. Thanks Ed! ON the road the new regulator works great - 13.8v at idle with the lights on, and a fully charged battery after 200 miles and sitting around all weekend.

With the carbs synced, the bike runs really well although I do notice the odd backfire and stumble. I may pull the carbs again soon to check them over, but only after I put some more miles on the bike to make sure it's not just "clearing it's throat". I'll also adjust the idle mixture screws a little too.

Other than that it's running perfectly. Being the perfectionist that I am, I might still play with a couple of small details. I don't have to, but I'd like to tweak the front suspension to perfection. I'm getting 65mm of front sag, which is about 30mm too many. And I'd like to maybe remove the passenger grab handle and plug the holes, but I haven't decided yet. In addition, the clutch cover seems to be oozing oil, but it's hard to tell because of the small amount.

Engine Cover refinishing

I removed the clutch actuating shaft, bearing and seal from the clutch housing and knocked out the sight glass. The glass was nice, but I didn't think it (or its rubber seal) would survive the polishing process.

The stator came out with a good hit from the impact driver - the screws showed signs of being replaced before, so maybe this isn't the original stator. I stripped off the remaining factory clearcoat from all three covers to make the polishing easier, and I carefully removed the black circular emblem from the stator cover.

As for the cover refinishing, I'll admit I cheated. While I'd like to say that I spent two days polishing the covers by hand, I can't. I took them to a polishing shop near my work and gave the guy $60. I figure that's a small price to pay for the hours and hours I would spend sanding and polishing if I did it myself. He didn't do the best job on them, but good enough for a rider.

I placed a new order for sidecover gaskets, a starter cover, sight glass, clutch shaft seal, and I scoured ebay for some cam caps that are nicer than my pitted originals. I also ordered a set of stainless allen bolts for all the covers from eBay. Many of the stock Suzuki bolts were rusty and corroded, and some were stripped out from previous attempts at removal. My experience has been that OEM Japanese screws are horribly soft and strip when looked at with a screwdriver.

Allen bolts may not be perfect, but they work really well for low-torque applications like the valve cover and engine case covers. I already had stainless intake bolts from my oring kit, but now I had them for the rest of the motor. At $35 they're not too expensive, either.

Now to tackle that clutch...

Cosmetics

Happy New Year Everyone! Lots more happening on the bike with all my time off this week. Now it's time to make it look nice!

This bike sat in a covered garage for the last 27 years, but that didn't spare it from the effects of corrosion. Unfortunately, the salt air in areas near the coast (like Torrance, where it lived) tends to attack exposed metal and make it get dull and rusty. All the chrome parts had a thick coating of rust on them when I brought the bike home, and all the alloy was dull. I'm not doing a full, show-style restoration here, but I am trying to make the bike look like the clean survivor that it is. The goal is to have a bike that looks really good, even up close, but still shows the character that only age and careful use can bring.

Some parts, like the gauge pods, mirrors and controls, I was able to clean up with some fine steel wool and chrome polish (and a lot of scrubbing). The chrome on these parts is nice enough for a rider, but not perfect. The alloy engine cases look better after a good bit of scrubbing and polishing, but they will have to come off to become perfect, and the starter cover is beyond salvage. None of this stuff will hold me back from getting the bike on the road, but I hope to have them fixed in the future.

A few other parts were too rusty to use, including the fork tubes (since their surface is not just cosmetic), the front fender, rear turn signals and rear grab handle. The front turn signals, passenger handle and headlight rim are marginal - I'd like to fix them if I find some reasonably priced replacements. The cleaned and polished exhaust will work for now, but ideally I will replace it with an aftermarket pipe for that "superbike" vibe.

I managed to score a nice center stand grab handle, rear turn signals and handlebar pad (the original turned up missing when the bike got home) from Kurt on The GS Resources. These parts really helped out the cosmetics.





The front fender I painted black, which will look nice with the rest of the bike. I sanded the bad chrome with 180 and 320 grit paper and then gave it a quick hit with etching primer in the can. I laid down two coats of black paint and three of clear over that. I like Duplicolor lacquer for this because it's easy to sand between coats and it dries pretty hard.





As for the paint on the tank and seat panel, I got out my favorite Meguire's products - Scratch-X, polish and wax. I gave each panel a thorough polish and wax, finishing off with a microfiber cloth. No, they're not perfect but they are much better than they were, and plenty good enough for a "rider" like this bike. The side panels are nice, though the emblems don't match, and they cleaned up very nicely with soap and water. I bought new screws from Suzuki, as well as new rubber pads for the mounting brackets on the frame.

The seat upholstery looks almost new after a thorough cleaning.

I replaced a couple of chrome dome nuts on the upper triple clamp because they were rusty - I ordered them through Suzuki, and though they aren't exactly the same as stock (go figure!), they will work in a pinch.