I may have a Suzuki problem...

[kxpower?]

Hey all! I haven’t been around a whole lot, so figured an update is in order. I picked up two old air cooled Suzukis. An 82 GS450 TXZ and a 79 GS1000L. The 450 I got in September for a song, and after replacing the igniter box and reversing some of the “café-ing” the previous couple owners perpetrated, it’s an unbelievably sweet little bike. Maybe 5 or 10 hp more than the 250 but it’s torquey and smooth throughout the revs, and has proven pretty darn reliable (knock on wood). I've taken the 450 down the dragon 5 or 6 times now; have enjoyed this bike a TON. The pic is at the TN/NC state line on 129.

The 1000 I picked up as basically a basket case, PO had started stripping it down and lost interest. I just got it running well in the last week or so, and only out on the road one time. It was running really bad with stock jetting and no airbox but there for a brief second all 4 cylinders started firing and the bike damn near catapulted itself out from under me. I got the airbox installed last night (4 miserable hours of cursing!!!) and it revs up nice and snappy. With any luck I’ll get her straightened up enough to ride again tonight.

[choneofakind]

You shipped that 'zuki all the way from Australia??? You really do have a problem!

[RacinNinja]

Nothing wrong with Suzuki's. Both my current and last bike were Suzuki's. I don't go actively seeking them out, it's just the way it ended up.

[toEleven]

I see the problem...one of them seems to be upside down

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

You shipped that 'zuki all the way from Australia??? You really do have a problem!

Sorry about that I kept trying to fix it on my phone! Got in on the laptop and it rotated fine. Here's the pic of the 450 at on the Dragon.

[toEleven]

That green (on my monitor at least) looks great. I'd gladly take that over the Kawi shade(s).

[choneofakind]

That's almost British Racing Green from here.

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by toEleven

That green (on my monitor at least) looks great. I'd gladly take that over the Kawi shade(s).

Originally Posted by choneofakind

That's almost British Racing Green from here.

Thanks guys here's a couple closer pics of the paint. The 450 is really a sweet bike, it's just ballsy enough (that extra displacement over the 250 is TORQUE, but it still really revs well) and it's still lightweight and easy to handle. And it's been dead reliable for me. It's straight piped so LOUD, I have a stock exhaust but had jetted it just about perfect for the straight pipes and too lazy to re-tune the carbs.

[kxpower?]

Another

[greg737]

Suzuki problem? The only Suzuki problem I can imagine is not having a Suzuki in the garage. I have a '93 Suzuki GSF400 in the garage keeping my '05 Kawasaki EX250 company. Both are fuel injection conversion project bikes (both run quite well, love them equally).

What the GSF looked like when I brought it home in the Fall of 2013:



What the GSF looked like as a "work in progress" last summer (2015):

[kxpower?]

I got the 1000 out on the Dragon Sunday morning and then rode it to work on Monday. Mounted an onboard maintainer since the stator is shot and I have a few priorities above opening the case up just yet. With the headlight running I can go about an hour before the battery runs down too low to crank the engine, and after about 1.5 hours on the dragon it still ran the ignition fine and had about 11.5 volts when I got back home. Luckily it starts easily because I turned it off (not thinking!!) when I stopped to let my hands warm up and had to bump start it to head home haha!


I'm almost a little disappointed with the 1000 so far. The 450 is counterbalanced so it's super smooth, very similar to the ninjette motor. It's torquey but happy to scream, right at home bouncing off redline on the dragon. But at sustained partial throttle it has a bit of a flat spot that I suspect is due to needing the needle raised, and it's not the most comfortable at higher speeds and in the wind like you have on the way to the Dragon as you ride along Chilhowee. The 450 is happy in the twisty little back roads, just not great for covering larger distances. Luckily I live real close to those awesome twisty little roads.

I was hoping the 1000 would prove to be more capable and comfortable at higher speeds, like something I wouldn't mind taking the 200 mile interstate ride to Nashville on. But now that I've ridden it around a little, the big bike isn't all that great at higher speeds either. It's one of the very first literbikes, and when Suzuki crammed all that displacement into a bike NVH wasn't as much a concern. So no counterbalance or any of that bulldookie. With the stock 15/42 gearing it's pretty buzzy in the grips anytime you're going over 60 (about 4k rpm), but you do get blown around a lot less since it's so long and heavy.

But also, it's just not incredibly happy on the tight, twisty stuff. Partly because it has so much power that you really have to be smooth with the throttle to keep the chassis controlled, and also because I found myself shifting gears a lot to keep the motor feeling smooth and happy. And once again it's a big, long bike so it took a lot of lean angle to get around some corners.

It's a big bike with power that will rip your face off, which is exactly what I expected. But some bits of its personality just aren't doing it for me. I'll keep riding it around but for now the 450 will be my preferred dragon slayer while I get the electrics worked out and some tires on the 1000. Well at least until I get the Ninjette going again.

Originally Posted by greg737

Suzuki problem? The only Suzuki problem I can imagine is not having a Suzuki in the garage.

You said it sir.

["A"]

I have owned different models of Suzuki's. Including three Katana's, four Bandits, two Burgman 650's, one VStrom, one DRZ400, and lastly five SV650's.

They are all good values in used bike purchases, I still keep a Katana 750 and SV650 in my garage today.. and if I find a good deal on a Burgman 650, I would get another.

[kxpower?]

I got the 450 running after a bit of a debacle chasing around a serious high idle problem (for the curious: https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=261980) With the stock exhaust it's amazingly quiet, none of the clutch noise I've become accustomed to on the 1000. It looks sweet too. Great old bike. The second pic is at 3000 feet on Cherohola. After making that same climb on the 1000 a week before and never leaving top gear it was a bit off-putting to be down in 3rd and 4th (of 6) on the 450 just to maintain speed. No replacement for displacement...

GS1K got a grab bar and wrapped the exhaust just to use the wrap I had laying around. Also installed the Avon AM26 roadrider on the rear, which made it feel a lot better leaned over in the twisties.

Yes I completely stole that pic from 129 photos