Rode a neighbor's '91 Suzuki GSX600F back from a distant seller; several issues.

[CZroe]

A neighbor friend of mine just purchased a GSX 600F with a problem that seems to be typical of these bikes: No second gear. You have to skip to third, which doesn't always work, or you can release the clutch for a moment after attempting second and then shift to third. The engine will rev and you might get a bit of clatter sounds if you try to use second gear. I rode it home like this from 70+ miles away in the rain because his permit was expired.

As I understand it, we will need to replace the shift forks and there is some kind of spring you can install that helps prevent shift misses so that the problem does not return. It doesn't seem to have a positive neutral finder like our bikes unless that is another thing that doesn't work right (positive neutral finder is what lets you use a firm lift to enter neutral from first when stopped; no half-lift required). I suggested that he buy a second engine to perform this on but it looks like a common enough problem that there is a chance that it may also do this.

That's obviously the most serious issue. Other than that, his blinker controls often stick without activating, the carbs could use a good cleaning, the fasteners are all clearly cobbled together, he's missing one weighted bar-end, his clutch safety switch on the clutch lever is difficult to engage, he needs new turn signals (one is missing a lens), his fuel gauge doesn't work (I see two dangling wires that may be related), it needs a re-upholstered rider seat, his exhaust dangles (loose further down the pipe; not sure what's supposed to hold it from spinning), he needs to work out a plate mount and light, and his high-beam indicator doesn't light (I saw it light when playing with the blinkers even though the hi-beam was off).

In addition to addressing all of those issues, personally, I want to black out the windscreen, cut holes in the fairing to expose the clutch and stator covers (the lumps in the fairing are ugly), paint all the plastics, and cover the rear seat with a body-colored seat cover. Oh: And it needs tires.

Other than under 3 minutes off-road with my brother's KLR650, it was my first time riding anything bigger than the 250, so I might as well write up my impressions too. I seemed comfortable but realized just how sore I was about half way home. My left hand soreness was from the tough clutch switch and all the extra clutch grabbing to figure out how to ride it with no second gear, but my right arm was so sore I could barely move it. That's partly because I am really out of shape, but I am no stranger to long rides (crossed the country on the same Ninjette that I rode 680 miles home from the dealer). I was pretty light on the bars. I did like having the passing power in pretty much any gear, but I did not want to take an unfamiliar and demonstrably unreliable bike any faster than the slow lane allowed. Also, I had lost my friend and had no cell phone (raining) and he never caught up because he didn't see me pass him on the side of the road earlier. I didn't like how small the gauge lettering is and the dash indicators aren't nearly bright enough. Perhaps blacking out the windscreen will help with that. The mirrors vibrate a lot more than the Ninjette and I had a lot of time recognizing the cars behind me (looking for my friend). They look so well braced that I thought they would be a lot better! All in all, it was fun, but there is no way I'd trade my Ninjette for one.

[dirty nasty]

Sounds like you were just on a clapped out pile. I'm sure one that was taken care of couldn't be as bad as I'm imagining from your description. Sounded like an interesting ride though! Nothing like machines with weird quirks. My truck has got so many I've given up letting other people drive it except for my close friend's who know them all from watching me drive it all the time.

[CZroe]

Well, we plan to change all that.

I got a call from him yesterday and found out that he had "broken down" nearby and needed help. I asked if he might be out of gas and he insisted that he wasn't so I left the gas can at home. I still suspected that he was simply out of gas and unable to find and start in reserve. The petcock was on prime but the markings were painted over and I didn't know what the other positions were (Off? Reserve? On?). I tried to start it in the other two positions with no luck and it was clear that the battery was already pretty weak. We went back for the gas can so that we wouldn't have to fool around to find reserve only to finish running the battery dead without ever being sure (it could have been something else entirely). On the short drive home (less than a mile), a silver pregen 250 passed us. When we returned to the bike, we saw the pregen in the very next driveway. The owner was already inside and probably had no idea that my friend's bike was stranded. Even after adding enough fuel to not require reserve and returning the petcock to prime, I still couldn't get it to fire until the starter just wouldn't turn over anymore. I started walking it and letting go of the clutch and could swear that I heard one cycle fire, so we walked it to another long driveway with a slight downhill slant and finally got it to bump-start.

What a relief! All that from not knowing where reserve is.

Anyway, while looking for the petcock positions online, I lattempted to look up some other info I know we need. I came away decidedly disappionted in the KatRiders wiki, where you can't even find basic info like the chain size. I even found threads discussing it where the OP asks for sprocket tooth couts, chain size, and chain link count, and then thanks everyone for their inconclusive answers for link and teeth counts and says he got exactly what he was looking for despite not a single reply mentioning the chain size! I see a 520 conversion kit online, so I assume that it's larger than 520 (525? 530?). I'm even more disappointed in the official service manual, where they ONLY list the chain brand and model! You'd think I'd be able to look it up by seeing what size that chain model is, right? Nope. The only result on Google for the exact D.I.D. chain was the same service manual. I removed parts of the product name that I thought were superfluous (IIRC, I was left with "D.I.D. 50VA") and came up with seller after seller selling that chain without specifying the size. I went to ronayers.com and got no results for chains on this bike. I went to d2moto.com and found their Volar chain only to see that the size was not mentioned in the huge list of specs. This is getting ridiculous. The tensile strength spec is the same as their 530 chains, so I'm going to assume that it's a 530 chain unless I find some other indicator, but I need to be sure before we order. I'm going to see what JT Sprockets has to say.