My 1980 Suzuki GS850G

[BARLOW]

so, i picked this up about 8 years ago ... before i picked it up (for $200) it sat for 13 years ... i cleaned the tank and coated it with red kote then cleaned the carbs and rode it for part of the summer and the regulator/rectifier died ... could not find one for under $100, and with no job i just did not have the funds to fix it ... then about a year ago i found a universal one for $16 on ebay and snatched one up ... about 2 weeks ago i went down state to my dads and fetched it out of the weeds ... that was on a saturday ... on sunday i pulled the carbs and shot a bit of fuel in the intakes and it fired right up (after i hotwired it because i lost the keys years ago) ... knowing for sure it was going to run, i set out to learn to make a key for it, so i bought a blank and some files and made my key ... once i got the tank open to look inside, it looked bad, but it was not ... it was just that the red kote was showing the rust through it ... next problem was that the "rubber tubes" that go from the carb to the airbox were dry and shrunk and it just wont run with the carbs open in the back, so i used an old shirt and made some makeshift filters for it and for the first time in over 7 i rode it, not far, but i still rode it ... a list of thing it still needs : tires, a front brake cylinder/reservoir, cone filters, oils changed and an oil filter, paint on tank/finder, and a battery ... after sitting outside for over 7 years, the durabrand stereo still worked

[dpl096]

Way to go Barlow

[FastDoc]

"Quick nurse, give that motorcycle some love, stat!"

The shaft drive your cooled Suzukis of that era are some of the most reliable motorcycles on the road. I hope you enjoy many tens of thousands of miles of good use out of it.

[BARLOW]

Originally Posted by FastDoc

"Quick nurse, give that motorcycle some love, stat!"

The shaft drive your cooled Suzukis of that era are some of the most reliable motorcycles on the road. I hope you enjoy many tens of thousands of miles of good use out of it.

right, it is almost payday ... i will get primer/paint and filters at least

[FastDoc]

I forgot to mention, those constant velocity carbs usually do not do so well with pod filters. I would recommend, if you can possibly find it, a stock airbox off of eBay. This is doubly the case, since that bike is still blessed with its original exhaust system, and probably has not been jetted for pod filters. I would be very inclined to find a stock intake system if you possibly can

[FastDoc]

Visit gsforums.com for a veritable wealth of information. I was a regular there when I had my GS750. By the way, my first real motorcycle, was a 1980 GS1100 E model. One of the most magnificent motorcycles ever sculpted.

[BARLOW]

well, i have all the stock air box parts, and at some point i will put it back on, but it is $90 for the tubes i need, and only $20 for pods ... before summer is out, i plan to go back to stock for next season, but with the other things i need i cant swing the extra $70 right now ... and you are correct, it has stock jets ... i am the second owner, and it only has 27k miles on it ... only things not factory, were dealer add ons other than the $20 tape deck (it had sparo-o-matic in it when i got it ... i was thinking some foam on the outside of the pods may help, what do you think

[FastDoc]

It will run OK with the pods, it will be lean, and these bikes are jetted lean to begin with, so it may be a little glitchy. It will get you around though, and shouldn't present too much of a problem. I certainly don't think that it will hurt anything.

If you were to add some foam on the outside of the oiled fabric pods, you would increase the resistance, which would help correct for an overly lean condition. If it does not run well with just the pods, that might be a good thing to try. I would start off with just the pods, you might get lucky.

Have you dropped the bowls from the carburetors and cleaned the jets? I would be (pleasantly) surprised if you do not have at least one or more blocked idle jets.

[FastDoc]

By the way, that is the first I have ever heard of somebody making their own key using a blank, a file, and some ingenuity. That impresses the living heck out of me

[Darkrider]

Originally Posted by FastDoc

By the way, that is the first I have ever heard of somebody making their own key using a blank, a file, and some ingenuity. That impresses the living heck out of me

Dare i say that is some Macgyver level tactics there

[BlackBike]

Are you going to paint it purple in honor of Lil Sweet, uh the artist formerly known as Prince?

['16 TT250]

I DIY a lot of unimaginable stuff but haven't made my own key yet, very cool.

That is a cool bike and it's a good thing it'll be resurrected.

[BARLOW]

Originally Posted by BlackBike

Are you going to paint it purple in honor of Lil Sweet, uh the artist formerly known as Prince?

*looks at you with stern face* not even close mister ... lol, you would not be the first to say that though ... and to make a key is quite easy ... drill next to the pins that hold everything in so you can slide them out and let everything slide out of the housing, then take the cylinder out without letting any of the pins fly out ... slide the blank key in and hit the tallest pin with a hammer just hard enough to mark it, then file it a little at a time till the pin is flush and repeat with the next tallest till each pin is flush ... then round all the corners that the pins need to slide over ... i bet in total it took less than 20 minutes of work from start to finish, but i only did one side ... i will keep the key i made as spare, and use it to have another 2 sided key made

[zingshoen]

great bike! good you are putting her back to duty.

you could also make a enclosure for the air intake out of an icecream tub or sth, just to reduce the air intake a bit. plastic coke bottles cut up to fit onto the pods and then wrapped in black duct tape could also work.