Topic: 1980 Suzuki GS1100E

[grcamna2]

Brake fluid melts the OEM factory clearcoat? How long is it required to soak ?
Those forks look very nice now.

[Kelly E]

Brake fluid melts the OEM factory clearcoat? How long is it required to soak ?
Those forks look very nice now.

It takes 24 hours in the brake fluid bath. Then I use a small brass wire brush to loosen it and wash it off with brake cleaner.

[Stev-o]

Nice job!

[Kelly E]

Today we rebuilt the rear brake master cylinder and the new front master cylinder came. Check out the level marks for the sight glass.

[grcamna2]

Today we rebuilt the rear brake master cylinder and the new front master cylinder came. Check out the level marks for the sight glass.

That's weird 

[ekpent]

Today we rebuilt the rear brake master cylinder and the new front master cylinder came. Check out the level marks for the sight glass.

Maybe one level on the center stand and the other tipped on the kick stand ?? Maybe something in an owners manual.

[Kelly E]

Today we rebuilt the rear brake master cylinder and the new front master cylinder came. Check out the level marks for the sight glass.

Maybe one level on the center stand and the other tipped on the kick stand ?? Maybe something in an owners manual.

It's a Chinese $22 new master cylinder, it's the second one we have bought but they work. It's worth the money just for the humour of it. I tried to get the first one we bought that we put on Glen's GS 1100E but Glen liked it so much he wouldn't let us replace it. I can't believe they still sell them 3 years later.

[ekpent]

Today we rebuilt the rear brake master cylinder and the new front master cylinder came. Check out the level marks for the sight glass.

Maybe one level on the center stand and the other tipped on the kick stand ?? Maybe something in an owners manual.

It's a Chinese $22 new master cylinder, it's the second one we have bought but they work. It's worth the money just for the humour of it. I tried to get the first one we bought that we put on Glen's GS 1100E but Glen liked it so much he wouldn't let us replace it. I can't believe they still sell them 3 years later.

Costs less then a rebuild kit .

[Kelly E]

Today we rebuilt the rear brake master cylinder and the new front master cylinder came. Check out the level marks for the sight glass.

Maybe one level on the center stand and the other tipped on the kick stand ?? Maybe something in an owners manual.

This is the second GS 1100E we've done and I have not been able to get a Suzuki front master cylinder apart. There's a steel piece that siezes to the master cylinder bore that I've never been able to remove. Besides having a special master cylinder is cool.

It's a Chinese $22 new master cylinder, it's the second one we have bought but they work. It's worth the money just for the humour of it. I tried to get the first one we bought that we put on Glen's GS 1100E but Glen liked it so much he wouldn't let us replace it. I can't believe they still sell them 3 years later.

Costs less then a rebuild kit .

[Kelly E]

We got the front end put back together with new tapered roller bearings on the steering stem along with tubes and seals. I also did some touchup painting to cover bare metal from the rear brake master cylinder leaking. Now I have to clean up every electrical connection before we put the rest of the bike back together.

[Kelly E]

Today we put the front calipers, wheel and fender on. Also remembered to install the rear brake master cylinder and pedal before installing the swingarm.

[ekpent]

 Fingers crossed you have a good solid charging system. Seems to maybe be a little bit of a weak spot in some of the big Suzy's.

[Kelly E]

Fingers crossed you have a good solid charging system. Seems to maybe be a little bit of a weak spot in some of the big Suzy's.

I think part of the of the problem is the crappy frame ground. The battery negative goes to the motor. The ground for the wiring harness connects to the front battery box mounting bolt. That bolt goes through a steel sleeved rubber grommet into a nut welded to the small angle iron cross bar. The cross bar is painted so the steel sleeve touches paint not bare steel. I just got done cleaning the paint off the contact point so the frame ground actually works.

[RAFster122s]

Looks nice Kelly.
Did you know McMaster-Carr carries a file designed for Aluminum? It doesn't clog up like a typical Mill-Bastard file.
A file card is always a good tool to have when doing any file work of course.

Anyone know a good method of cleaning your files that have gotten clogged up? if a file card doesn't do the job completely, is it a problem possibly with oil and dirt hardening. A file card can only do so much it seems. I cannot get a good photo or what I am seeing.

I picked up some used files and they are not cleaning up easily. They do Not appear to be worn-out.
Just not getting the material out with the file card. Maybe it is material embedded in the teeth. With possibly rust keeping it stuck to the file.
Vinegar is going to attack the metal and you don't want that etching if all the metal.
Maybe it is just more time with the file card??

My file card is an old craftsman one from the early-mid 90s with stainless steel wire.

[MauiK3]

Maybe try soaking in vinegar?

[gpzkat]

On some of the old GSs one of the AC generator wires goes through a handlebar switch.  Many bypass that and go directly to the R/R unit. 

[Kelly E]

Looks nice Kelly.
Did you know McMaster-Carr carries a file designed for Aluminum? It doesn't clog up like a typical Mill-Bastard file.
A file card is always a good tool to have when doing any file work of course.

Anyone know a good method of cleaning your files that have gotten clogged up? if a file card doesn't do the job completely, is it a problem possibly with oil and dirt hardening. A file card can only do so much it seems. I cannot get a good photo or what I am seeing.

I picked up some used files and they are not cleaning up easily. They do Not appear to be worn-out.
Just not getting the material out with the file card. Maybe it is material embedded in the teeth. With possibly rust keeping it stuck to the file.
Vinegar is going to attack the metal and you don't want that etching if all the metal.
Maybe it is just more time with the file card??

My file card is an old craftsman one from the early-mid 90s with stainless steel wire.

Soak the files in EvapoRust, it won't hurt the file at all. Sometimes I clean out stubborn deposits from the file with a brass wire wheel on the 6" bench grinder.

I'm using a 6" file out of a 5 piece set from NAPA. There's two flat files and on aluminium the course file works the best. On inside contours where I need a round, square or a triangle shape a smoother file works best. In the last four years we've resurrected a couple dozen bikes and I've gotten good at filing and smoothing out aluminium parts. I don't like using power tools in the process, it's too easy to accidentally take off to much material.
Hopefully we don't have any issues with the charging system. I take apart every wiring harness connection and ground point to clean out and reconnect with dielectric grease. Wiring harness connector maintenance solved all of the electrical issues on my 72' MGB GT. I do it to every bike we go through with excellent results.

[ekpent]

On some of the old GSs one of the AC generator wires goes through a handlebar switch.  Many bypass that and go directly to the R/R unit. 

I'll pass that along to a friend who is currently troubleshooting a problem.

[grcamna2]

I have a GS750 and have removed the OEM 'shunt style' rectifier/regulator(it takes all the excess wattage created by the stator after the battery reaches peak voltage and feeds it directly back into the stator,cooks the stator,imo) and replaced it with an electronic 'series type' rectifier/regulator which is OEM from a Polaris 4-wheeler.This 'series type' rectifier/regulator has a good size heat sink which absorbs all the excess voltage created by the stator once the battery reaches full charge;it also electronically monitors the output of the stator and voltage of the battery until it's called-on to charge the battery up again,then it turns the output of the stator up through the system to accomplish that task again:a type of 'smart charger' component that I'm very pleased with.
The Series Type rect/reg. is a Made in Japan Shindengin SH775 and you can sometimes find them used on Ebay for a very reasonable price;I purchased a few of them over the years this way and all the used ones I purchased checked out fine.

This one(bypass the harness wires)hooks up +Pos. to the battery post and also -Neg. to the battery post on the 2-spade connectors inside the black port;the 3(usually yellow)wires from your stator go directly to the grey port and hook up to all three of those spade terminals,done. 

[seanbarney41]

On some of the old GSs one of the AC generator wires goes through a handlebar switch.  Many bypass that and go directly to the R/R unit. 

I'll pass that along to a friend who is currently troubleshooting a problem.

don't bother Eric...no new info found here yet,  In fact, everything talked about here in had already been done when my charging system failed for the second time.

[scottly]

Anyone know a good method of cleaning your files that have gotten clogged up? if a file card doesn't do the job completely, is it a problem possibly with oil and dirt hardening. A file card can only do so much it seems. I cannot get a good photo or what I am seeing.

The best way I know of is to flatten the end of a spent brass rifle case, and push it into the file at an angle, like sharpening a wood chisel on a stone. Go with the "grain" of the file teeth, so to speak. The teeth will cut into the brass after a few strokes, shaping it so it fits into the bottom between teeth, where the wires of a file card can't go. This works very well on fine mill files to remove built up aluminum and gunk.

[RAFster122s]

Scott and Kelly and Steve;

I will try the ride case, gee gotta go the range! Darn, 1/2 day shot at the range is some good shooting fun, yeah I had to make a real groaner. Cannot tomorrow, friend drives up to a nice range up in Mammoth as he likes the drive I may have to go to one about 15 miles up I10 before you reach Picacho Peak...it is on Federal land and doubt I can do it in the car with only 4.5 inches of ground clearance, so I will have to take the bike. That should be interesting...the looks I will have on I10 with a .22 rifle slinged across my back. I have some spent 357 casings otherwise my current rifle is .22... Then again I have plenty of brass from the 9mm. I don't think I have a brass wheel for my buffer or the my hand held grinder. The Dremel doesn't have the horsepower and those Dremel compatible brass wheels aren't going to do much. I think Scott's idea will get used first. I can drill the primer and use some needle nose vice grips to hold the case. Probably can drive down to the Tucson Mtns park rifle range and pick up some rifle brass for free of .223 or 30-06 or 7.62...or something similar...something I won't have to risk my fingers or gloves to use on a file. Maybe I will call my friend Dave and ask him to bring me some long rifle casings that were going to get swept up and tossed.

David

[Kelly E]

Today we pulled the centerstand off to service the bushings before installing the swingarm.  Then we got the swingarm installed with freshly repacked swingarm bearings. One of the left engine cover screws is rusted in and broken. Luckily my buddy bought one of those electric discharge tools and will bring it over to blow the screw out without hurting the motor.

[Kelly E]

We installed our new Apex brake lines and finished up assembly of the rear wheel. I've also cleaned up and dielectric greased every connection on the back half of the bike. Some of the connections were so crusty I barely got them apart. We spent some time cleaning up the wheels, they required some effort to get them to an acceptable condition. Once I finish cleaning the wiring harness connections and get the headlight housing installed we'll start on installing the new carbs and exhaust system.

[grcamna2]

Kelly,those wheels & swingarm are looking nice  The tail section is intact on yours !