Topic: Don's 81 GS1100e Suzuki, Brakes & Breaks.

[Kelly E]

The GS headlight and gauges punch a big hole in the air. I can hide behind them easily.

[Don R]

  I'm getting tucked in a little too apparently.
  I jacked up the front end and now it has a straight-ahead notch in the bearings. Partzilla has the lower bearing but not the top. Ebay has thousands of sets and every one of them is All Balls, so Chinese it is. I chose the closest vendor but it always seems to be saturday afternoon when I realize that I need a part.
 And the local bearing house left town when most of the factories did. I'd have to drive an hour to look for any. I blocked under the header on the center stand. I need the exercise so I'm working on the floor not the lift. Next up Chinese rotor testing and a speedometer swap.

[gpzkat]

Napoleon bar-end mirrors are about the best for rearward view that I've had on my bikes. They're not for everyone, but I like them as I'm broad across the shoulders and tall. My '79 GS1000E had them on. Didn't know about extenders, will research.

Not a great pic but you get the idea.

[Don R]

 Those mirrors are as cool as the other side of the pillow. My extenders moved the mirrors 2 3/8" up and about that far outwards. We'll see how they work when it's warm and the road salt is gone.
 I started stripping the forks of their corroded blotchy factory coating, one is mostly done.

[grcamna2]

Those mirrors are as cool as the other side of the pillow. My extenders moved the mirrors 2 3/8" up and about that far outwards. We'll see how they work when it's warm and the road salt is gone.
 I started stripping the forks of their corroded blotchy factory coating, one is mostly done.

You plan to polish them ?

[Don R]

 Yes, my Honda forks hold their look well, I don't mirror polish them, just get them close to what they looked like new. I'm using an 80 grit interleaf flap wheel, it has red Scotchbrite between sandpaper flaps. It's worn down quite a bit so I ordered two 3x1" replacements off of ebay. I got 2 for less than the price of 1 at Airgas. I try to buy locally but I dislike Airgas. I pay double what some customers pay for compressed gas.

 What weight fork oil do you guys run in the Suzuki? The air fork system has already been disabled and the 81 doesn't have anti-dive.

[scottly]

Napoleon bar-end mirrors are about the best for rearward view that I've had on my bikes.

1+ for the Napoleon mirrors! It's nice to be able to see behind you instead of your arms.

[Don R]

 Cool, it looks like a good option for mirrors, right now I'm width limited, squeezing in between shelves and a project car that's up on stands. Hopefully that will be remedied soon. The car needs to get back onto its wheels.
 Most of those mirrors seem to be in Japan. I'll keep an eye on them for the future, the K1/2 Rat Race has the same issue, one similar mirror on CB400F bars.

[Mark1976]

Napoleon bar-end mirrors are about the best for rearward view that I've had on my bikes.

1+ for the Napoleon mirrors! It's nice to be able to see behind you instead of your arms.

   Don't get me wrong, but from that picture, it's not like your going to have to worry about it for a while.

[Kelly E]

We use ATF in the forks. I strip the old clear coat off with brake fluid. I have a tall 6" diameter can that I soak them in, I have to flip them over. For a close to factory finish I only sand to 400g but I only sand around the lower, never lengthwise.

[Don R]

 I spent the weekend rubbing the lower forks and installing the rotors. I didn't notice that I failed to index the rotors until I looked at the picture. Fudge. I told myself that they should be staggered but I'll lay awake tonight thinking about it lol.

[grcamna2]

Yes, my Honda forks hold their look well, I don't mirror polish them, just get them close to what they looked like new. I'm using an 80 grit interleaf flap wheel, it has red Scotchbrite between sandpaper flaps. It's worn down quite a bit so I ordered two 3x1" replacements off of ebay. I got 2 for less than the price of 1 at Airgas. I try to buy locally but I dislike Airgas. I pay double what some customers pay for compressed gas.

 What weight fork oil do you guys run in the Suzuki? The air fork system has already been disabled and the 81 doesn't have anti-dive.

10WT

[gpzkat]

I just bought a '75 Laverda 3C, 12K miles. An original unmolested example, just dirty, needs a full going through. No mirrors (well, one is on it but it's garbage). Otherwise, it's all there.

I knew I kept those Napoleons for some reason! Bucket list bike. I will have to sell one of my '83 1100Es to nearly break even. Yes, I'm a masochist.

[grcamna2]

I just bought a '75 Laverda 3C, 12K miles. An original unmolested example, just dirty, needs a full going through. No mirrors (well, one is on it but it's garbage). Otherwise, it's all there.

I knew I kept those Napoleons for some reason! Bucket list bike. I will have to sell one of my '83 1100Es to nearly break even. Yes, I'm a masochist.

Nice Laverda 
Do you have any small pictures of your two 83' GS1100ED's ?

[Don R]

 That will be a sweet Laverda once it gets bathed and polished. Nice find.

[PeWe]

Laverda with swapped gear and brake pedal sides, right?
Brake on the left.
I loved the hard mechanical song from them. I saw some Jota back in the days.

[gpzkat]

Laverda with swapped gear and brake pedal sides, right?
Brake on the left.
I loved the hard mechanical song from them. I saw some Jota back in the days.

Yes, gear on right is 1 down, 4 up. My Norton 750 (N15CS) is 1 up, 3 down. That and the other 'normal' bikes will keep me on my toes, so to speak. Later bikes were converted with linkage and a very long, badly routed brake cable, from what I've read. Best to leave it.

[gpzkat]

Nice Laverda 
Do you have any small pictures of your two 83' GS1100ED's ?

Sure. I just repainted the blue one. I'll be selling Big Red, as there's a new Big Red in town now.

I keep forgetting this site doesn't resize. Well, what's strange is that on mine it can look fine, resized after I post, but then I go back and it's not. Sort of weird.

[Don R]

 Wow, nice Suzuki's. That's what I was looking for when my 81 found me. The red is sweet, the dark blue one trips my trigger, but the silver color is most awesome.
 I considered a peg/pedal swap to the 82/83 style when I was looking for parts to put the 81 back to unbutchered status, but I wasn't sure how big a can of worms that might be. It needed a through bolt and left side bracket.

[grcamna2]

gpzkat,is the top/dark color 83' painted a darker shade of blue than original,or is it black ?

[Don R]

 I re-read, he refers to it as blue.

[gpzkat]

Wow, nice Suzuki's. That's what I was looking for when my 81 found me. The red is sweet, the dark blue one trips my trigger, but the silver color is most awesome.
 I considered a peg/pedal swap to the 82/83 style when I was looking for parts to put the 81 back to unbutchered status, but I wasn't sure how big a can of worms that might be. It needed a through bolt and left side bracket.

My '82 Mr. Turbo was sweet in silver. Pic below, probably posted it here before tho.

The color looks darker in the photo due to it being in the shade of that tree. It's a 99% match to Suzuki's blue - Honda Pilot. It's my favorite color of them all.  Below is a pic that shows the color better. Also the wheels and engine are totally blacked out, a bit of a change from stock, that's just how I like it.

This was my first 'real' paint job, and it came out pretty good. The final stages of sanding and polishing corrected it all. It's so much work. This pic is before that. I've been fighting with a petcock so it's on the shelf for now, but I've sorted that out and will have it all together in a week or so.

[grcamna2]

Wow, nice Suzuki's. That's what I was looking for when my 81 found me. The red is sweet, the dark blue one trips my trigger, but the silver color is most awesome.
 I considered a peg/pedal swap to the 82/83 style when I was looking for parts to put the 81 back to unbutchered status, but I wasn't sure how big a can of worms that might be. It needed a through bolt and left side bracket.

My '82 Mr. Turbo was sweet in silver. Pic below, probably posted it here before tho.

The color looks darker in the photo due to it being in the shade of that tree. It's a 99% match to Suzuki's blue - Honda Pilot. It's my favorite color of them all.  Below is a pic that shows the color better. Also the wheels and engine are totally blacked out, a bit of a change from stock, that's just how I like it.

This was my first 'real' paint job, and it came out pretty good. The final stages of sanding and polishing corrected it all. It's so much work. This pic is before that. I've been fighting with a petcock so it's on the shelf for now, but I've sorted that out and will have it all together in a week or so.

I also had a champagne color GS1100EZ,liked it.
I looked for a blue ED model but couldn't find one;that paint is beautiful.

[Don R]

 This guy had the same issue with EBC rotors that I had with Niche rotors.

[Don R]

 I should get my new neck bearings today, I'm going to set up a tool and parts table in the shop and try to do this in a professional way as in take my time and get it right.
 I'm going to try to avoid a coulda/shoulda/woulda situation and get a few jobs done at the same time.