The GS Project Runs!
Testing of Phase 1 went successful, for the most part that is. The GS did start up after a little bit of cranking. I am not for sure how long it has been since the bike has actually been started & run… but it sounds like it has been at least 4 years or so. The bike has not been on the road since ‘93, which would be 14 years ago now.
So yea, about the Phase 1 testing; if the bike wouldn’t have started & I ended up figuring out that it would take substantial money or efforts to get running, I would likely just part out the bike to get the money that I have into it back. But yes, the bike did start. Although, it didn’t run all that great. For one thing, it won’t idle. Secondly, it needed the choke on the whole time for it to run better as well. But this is not a major surprise since the bike currently has open carbs w/o an airbox or filters on them… so it is getting more air & causing it to run lean. When I rebuilt the carbs, I had no idea where the air screws should be, so I just turned them out 1 turn. Otherwise, the current jetting should be stock. Plus, the bike might be what you’d call “cold blooded”, and my revving of it in the garage for the 5 minutes might not have woken it up from its hibernation of many years.
I attribute some of this to the jetting being off, plus possibly because it has been sitting for so long, but yes, the 30 year old GS does seem like a slow revver to me, but again, I’m used to modern liquid cooled sport bikes. Hopefully when I get it running better, the motor will get a little snappier. One good thing is that I expected to hear more valve train noise then actually I did.
I did have Brandy take some video of the moment. In the video above, you can see it smoking, as well as hear the exhaust tone and the carbs sucking in air each time I give it gas.
Tags: Video
August 7th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
lol wow you have the same bike as me same color to lil rust. im at the moment of getting my on the road. ill trade you seats. i have a 4-1 exhaust in some motor work done to it, i dont know what else is done to it. but i paid 400. for it. she started up with no problem.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Hi there,
I still haven’t gotten the GS on the road, I haven’t been working on it at all for the last couple of months. Currently I have an electrical issue where it’s only firing on 2 of the 4 cylinders. I hope to get working on it again soon.
I also have around $400 into my bike at this time as well.
Thanks for leaving the comment, I appreciate it
August 23rd, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Great project and great pics!
I bought a GS850G (shaft drive) a month ago and I’ve been commuting to work for almost three weeks now. It runs good, but looks its age with a dent in the tank (tipped by a vandal) and some sun-rotted paint (Arizona). I hope to restore it someday, but for now I’m planning two tires and a carb clean/adjust next week to smooth out my commute. Even with the carbs as-is, this machine really pulls!
Meanwhile, I selfishly hope you stick with the project. I’m not a real experienced mechanic, and I need to learn from your future mistakes!
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Hi Josh,
Thanks for checking out my site & leaving a comment. As you can see from the dates on my latest posts… I’ve been neglecting my bike & this site…
But! Next week I should be having a co-worker swing by & help me troubleshoot my electrical problem… I’m really lame when it comes to electrical.
But anyways, yes, I am starting to get amped up again to start working on my GS. Actually, I’ve been starting to let my imagination run a little… I’ve been doing a little research into installing more modern Suspension (front & rear) on the bike… getting modern sportbike rims/tires on it & etc.
Since my last post I have installed some lower handlebars on it… but I don’t even have any grips on it yet. I also have fixed my front brake with a new master cylinder from ebay, a stainless-steel braided brake line & I rebuild the front caliper.
Well I should leave some of this for a new post & updated images… Well thanks again for the comment & good luck with your GS.
Bill
November 14th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Your ’slow revving’ GS750 is not firing on all 4 cylinders.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
just got the same, bike new to the old bike thing, like the bike. Has some work done on it it’s bored and stroked to a 940 kerker exhaust different jets fox shocks. Hasn’t run in 7 years any tips to starting it. Have not tried yet. drained the gas, don’t want to pull the carbs only if necessary drained the float bowls not much gas in there some sediment…. any tips will be helpful Do you know of any forms there are out there for gs lovers new and old
Scott
June 13th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Hi Scott, wow, bored & stroked to a 940cc… that sounds very cool ! I think that I had read that back in the day, ‘78… that the Yoshimura Superbikes back then were 750’s that were brought up to a 940 or so cc. As long as you can get it running reliably, your bike sounds to have more excitement to it then my stocker.
If it hasn’t run in 7 years, yet you were able to drain a little bit of gas out of the float bowls (sounds like the bike was put away with gas still in the carbs?), I’d think that the carbs could use some internal cleaning… but I suppose worth a shot to see if it runs ok w/o doing that. Does the throttle or carb slides move ok? My slides were all gummed up from sitting with gas in them & the throttle barely even moved.
Have you checked out the inside of the gas tank, is there rust in there? Take the tank off if you haven’t & shake it, can you hear anything moving inside of the tank?
The foam for my air filter was all gone on my bike when I picked it up as well… it eroded away or was eaten or something… so maybe check out the air filter… unless yours has pod filters on it & you can see them already?
I presume that oil is 7+ years old, you should get that out of there ASAP.
I guess nothing else really comes to mind, other then the basics, tires, chain, brake pads, brake master cylinders… oh, change out the brake fluid entirely.
You asked about forums for the old GS’s… I know of two great ones.
http://thegsresources.com/
http://www.oldskoolsuzuki.info/