Cruisin' Down Under . . . no rules . . . no politics . . . just ridin' . . .

Ouch!

Over the weekend I decided to fit my newly reconditioned carbs to the GS and try and start her up, to hear the motor run for the first time. I stuck them on with no airbox or exhaust and after charging the battery, I gave it a try - it took about 4 or 5 goes, but finally she fired up!! It was great to finally know that the motor in the bike was ok - it sounded good and ran quite well. Was a little bit of fuel leaking back out of the number 3 carb, but nothing major.

Later on in the day, Dodge dropped in and so I thought I would let him hear her run. I tried to crank her over, but all of a sudden the fuel caught alight from a spark that came back through carb number 3 - shit! As I had no tank on her, I was using a makeshift plastic bottle to feed the fuel in. It didn't take long for the flames to really get going and melt the bottle making the fire even worse. Dodge moved the fuel container and my GSX out of the way while I stood there motionless for a few seconds thinking how I was going to put it out and then remembered that we had a fire extinguisher given to us at Christmas. I ran inside, grabbed it and was able to put the fire out.

Bugger - all that work on the carbs and now they were black and most probably damaged. Not only that - the fire had cooked all the wiring running along the frame from the battery. What a disappointment - but looking back on it, also very lucky that we had the correct extinguisher, cos there was no way anything else would have worked. Was a big mistake to run it with no exhaust and therefore no back pressure. Anyway, I spent Sunday and Monday night cleaning up and checking the damage. I pulled the carbs apart and was surprised to find that other than the two plastic vent tees running between the carbs, nothing else was damaged on them. The wiring was a different story - totally shagged.

Anyway, whilst searching for a replacement wiring harness, I was lucky enough to spot an almost complete GS850 going for $300 on eBay. The wiring harness alone would have cost me a quarter of that - so I bought the bike. It is a later model than mine, but has some good parts on it, including carbs, wiring, exhaust and a complete set of body panels. The guy also told me that he has plenty of spare electrical parts and other bits for it, so it made me feel a bit better after my experience on Saturday. I will be picking it up from Coffs Harbour next weekend and will continue the build there after.

Labels: GS850

GS Carburetor Reconditioning 1

Finally got around to working on the GS over the weekend thanks to the wet & wild weather. Managed to remove the carburetors and begin stripping them down - man, there is no way this bike would have run for long had I not done so. Found a lot of loose hoses, screws and fittings and even the hose clamps around the rubber intake boots were loose. There was also a lot of dirt on and around the carbs - looks as if a wasp colony had at one stage decided to make it their home and left a few of their dead comrades in the casting holes of the carbys!!

After removing the carburetors I commenced on separating the four of them from their gang plate - from this point I plan to progressively strip, clean and reassemble one at a time in an effort to keep things as simple as possible. Nearly every screw (yes, they are screws, not socket heads!!) I have tried to remove has seized or is badly rusted, so it is slow going. Have been utilising my centre punch and hammer quite a bit to free these stuck screws and they will need replacing, but there are a few (especially on the the float bowl covers) that I have had to drill out. I am yet to get the first carb open (hopefully tonight), but looking in from the outside they don't seem like they are going to take too much work - not bad for a 28 year old bike.

Really is a learning process for me as I have never done anything like this before. I have an excellent set of instructions as well as a full set of O rings for the carb reconditioning courtesy of the GS Resources site and am planning to follow them as closely as possible. Reading what other guys have accomplished with these bikes really gives you the confidence and drive to do the same!!

Enjoying it so far.

Well, after stripping carb number one (in pic above) I have to say that I am glad I decided to do so. I found a lot of black sticky residue from old fuel and the float needle was near on impossible to remove from its sleeve - permanently stuck shut, which is not good when you consider that it is supposed to slide up and down dependent on the float assembly and feed fuel into the carb. Starting to make me realise why I couldn't get the bike to kick over!!!

Labels: GS850, The Rat

The Strip Down Begins....

Had a bit of time on my hands on Friday night and so thought I would commence the strip down of the GS. I am still yet to get it to turn over, but believe that I have a problem with the starter motor, so will get onto that next. Anyway, I did manage to remove the rear guard, tank, covers and the exhaust (....I managed to shear two of the eight bolts in the process - what a prick - now I have to get them out). Once I had completed that I was able to see what I have to work with, and man, I now realise that I have a lot of work in front of me!!

It was very obvious that this bike had sat out in the weather for a fair period of time before the guy that I bought it off had picked it up, so it will need a good clean before I start to disassemble the carbs or motor. The wiring is pretty average and will need attention, the exhaust system is fairly well rusted and the carbs are filthy - and thats just a few things. Luckily, the motor doesn't appear too bad, although there is a fair bit of oil on the front, centered around the number two exhaust outlet. I am still unsure whether the oil is from a leaking gasket or it has blown out of the exhaust port - I just hope its a gasket!!

I look at this bike and I am so tempted to get stuck into the cosmetics, but my first goal is to get the motor running. After that, the carbs come off for a clean. Only once that has been accomplished will I turn to modifying the look of the bike.

My opinion so far....I think it will be a while before she is on the road!!