A day for riding old Suzukis

AJAY

Registered
Been restoring a 1982 GS1100E for a few months now. Already did tires, brake calipers, small body, polished engine covers, valves, lots of polishing and small cleanup, with a lot left to do. Carbs have been the main problem - been on and off the bike at least ten times - but they're finally right, or at least darned close. Went riding for over an hour today with my son and wife. Here's the 1100....

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Here's my son's 1985 GS550ESF, his first bike. Used to belong to oRg member MetallicMetalGod (as his first bike!).

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My son is dying to ride the 1100, but his mom thinks he's not ready yet. She's probably right.

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My brothers first bike was an 82 zuki 550es orange and silver, then he bought an 84 zuki gs750es with the full fairings and kerker exhaust.
 
:thumbsup:Luv them Ol School GS!!!
CV carbs can be a challenge at times. Once you understand them they arent so bad to tune.
Looks great!
 
Wow, that 85 brings back lots of memories of me in high school in Rialto California. Thanks for sharing bro.
 
Here's few more pics including my wife and our foreign-exchange student Dahlia from Germany. Even our dog Pogo wants to go riding!

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My first "real bike" (four cylinder) was a 1977 Suzuki GS550E, wire wheels and all. Great bike, and a big step up from the two stroke Elsinore and the Honda twins I learned on. But that 1985 GS550 is a pretty nice little scooter, not much for power, but very nice/light handling, perfectly fine for all day riding, and good at upper highway speeds. It's a big step up from what I learned on, as I keep reminding my son. :)

To round out the day, my son and I went back out without the girls, but this time I took Tenshi. The GS1100E is a nice beast, pretty powerful and a nice handler, but the Busa beats it in every way. Like night and day. Sure felt good to ride both of them today - in February!
 
Wow, that 85 brings back lots of memories of me in high school in Rialto California. Thanks for sharing bro.
Here's another shot for you! Did you notice the Hayabusa turn signals front and rear on my son's GS550? Kindly donated by two brothers here on the oRg!

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I had the exact same bike (GS1100E) except in blue. Other than the Busa, it was my favorite bike! You really have that bike looking sharp! Thanks for sharing. :beerchug:
 
Great looking rides. What kind of header is that, It didn't seem to be pointing upward enough to be a rain catcher kerker :laugh: I see the airbox has been removed.
 
Great looking rides. What kind of header is that, It didn't seem to be pointing upward enough to be a rain catcher kerker :laugh: I see the airbox has been removed.
I *think* it's a Kerker, but maybe a Vance and Hines, it's stamped on the bracket where the muffler hangs in the rear, but I forget which it is. The exhaust is not much more than a glasspack with one big open tube. I repacked it with stainless steel wool. Sounds great, but pretty hard on the ears after awhile. I would like to replace the muffler with a more modern can from a modern 1000cc sportbike.

The carbs were totally trashed when I got the bike. The seller gave me a the remains of a Dynojet kit plus a lot of extra jets and other carb parts. My guess is he never got it right and then just let the bike sit for years out back under a tarp. I did a total tear down, dip, all new o-rings, floats, fuel seats and needles, etc. The jets and needle settings took forever to make work with the pipe and pod filters. Carbs must have been off and on the bike at least ten times, but she was running pretty sweet yesterday. Still need some minor tweaks.
 
I *think* it's a Kerker, but maybe a Vance and Hines, it's stamped on the bracket where the muffler hangs in the rear, but I forget which it is. The exhaust is not much more than a glasspack with one big open tube. I repacked it with stainless steel wool. Sounds great, but pretty hard on the ears after awhile. I would like to replace the muffler with a more modern can from a modern 1000cc sportbike.

The carbs were totally trashed when I got the bike. The seller gave me a the remains of a Dynojet kit plus a lot of extra jets and other carb parts. My guess is he never got it right and then just let the bike sit for years out back under a tarp. I did a total tear down, dip, all new o-rings, floats, fuel seats and needles, etc. The jets and needle settings took forever to make work with the pipe and pod filters. Carbs must have been off and on the bike at least ten times, but she was running pretty sweet yesterday. Still need some minor tweaks.

It truly reminded me of my V&H from '79. The kerkers almost pointed up toward the passenger seat and were known for rusting out because of moisture collection. I had a '78 KZ 650 V&H header , airbox removed and velocity stakes added.........Wiesco 730 kit :whistle: Spoke Rims, from memory drum brake on rear. Great share, those 1100's were badazz.

And yes, I remember 2 stroke street bikes. The introduction of water-cooled bikes and fuel injection :laugh: No fairings in those days.
 
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