Suzuki GS850G
I had two of these bikes at one time. They were going to be put together to make a killer ratbike, but unfortunately, life stepped in and took all my free time away. I ended up getting rid of them to a person who lives in the old neighborhood. Below you'll find out about how far I got on the project.
Anyway, project began with finding out what will and what won't fit on the newer bike. I made some hard decisions like sticking to the original tank even though it's pretty crumpled, paint (flat black with gloss black accents), and equipment to steal off the old bike. Since I have two runners here, I can pick and choose the best parts I have between the two bikes. There's a lot of stuff that will fit and I'm not afraid to fudge it a bit when I can get away with it.
6/3/00I removed the front end of the rat and replaced it with the nice air forks and brace from the spare bike. Mission accomplished, for the most part. I'll be needing to replace the front tire soon, but not immediately. I swapped the entire instrument cluster because the rats was literally hanging together with duct tape. The donor's was nice and a whole console. I also swapped the fork ears and headlight assembly as well. With the spare parts I have lying around, I may even be able to have a decent looking and bright headlight when I'm through. Does anyone out there have any recommendations on a higher wattage headlight bulb? I have a 55/60 right now, but I'm looking for something brighter. Next update should see me swapping the carbs out as the donor bike actually ran very nicely before it grenaded.
DONOR BIKES
1982 Suzuki GS850G
The first one, an ’82 is a cosmetic mess. My buddy Trevor had it and we eventually traded work for bike so that we could get a rotor and stator in his other bike (approximate value of trade was $270.00) Unfortunately, the other bike has passed and that’s a drag, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Anyway, the first time I saw this bike, the whole crankcase had filled with gas due to a leaky petcock, stuck needle valve and open intake valve. Ugly. We drained the crankcase and fixed (sorta) the petcock and perhaps we even cleaned the carbs and it ran just fine. The next time I saw it was when I came to pick it up. It will be the recipient of a parts swap with the other bike I have. I hope to have a lean mean machine when I’m done.
1980 Suzuki GS850G
The second one his a beautiful brown bike that my friend, old roommate and present boss Claus had. He gave it to me last summer because of a bad oil leak out the front of the engine. It looks terminal. What’s going to happen is that all it’s good cosmetic stuff, suspension stuff and carbs are going to go to my other one. This one’s a bit older (’80), so I hope it all works. I’ll be doing that sometime this spring. Hopefully.
6/3/00Well, it is terminal. There's a casting flaw between the 1st and 2nd cylinder in the front of the cylinder head. It must lead directly to an oil galley, because oil just about jets out of there. It's cosmetically nice, but upon further review, the parts I had hoped to make a nice looking bike with, are just not going to work on the other one's chassis. Nuts. This one will make a good parts bike, though.
