Restoring my Dad's Suzuki GS1100 G

I would like to share with you the restoration of this lovely old bike that has been in our family since new (1985)

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You can check out my blog here: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/

Does anyone have any other ideas about removing rusty exhaust bolts? I am getting very close to snapping these off now:

See the blog: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/2012 ... ay-44.html

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I can't find a one quarter inch hex (6mm) impact driver bit. So I tried the impact driver with a few extentions and a reducer so that I could attach a 6mm hex bit but I can't get enough welly into it and I fear the bits will break.

Greetings

I have had fun with these too.

First off, go and buy a socket drive hex bit, you'll struggle with allen keys. Only a couple of quid for a single socket. You probably have an extension for your socket set that will do the job then.

Second, I wouldn't be using an impact driver, they are a bit fragile, you could even break the keepers if they are seized to the cap head

Get a load of WD40 on it and leave for a day or two, more wd40 a few times will help,

when its had a really god soak, get a load of heat into it, a simple blowtorch is very cheap and will work wonders!

Matt

That's almost the identical answer I just gave to the same question in another thread.

I have had fun with these too.

First off, go and buy a socket drive hex bit, you'll struggle with allen keys. Only a couple of quid for a single socket. You probably have an extension for your socket set that will do the job then.

Second, I wouldn't be using an impact driver, they are a bit fragile, you could even break the keepers if they are seized to the cap head

Get a load of WD40 on it and leave for a day or two, more wd40 a few times will help,

when its had a really god soak, get a load of heat into it, a simple blowtorch is very cheap and will work wonders!

Matt

Thanks for that. Really appreciated. Do you know if I can get a blow torch tool that I can fit on my BBQ gas tanks which are butane I think. They are Calor Gas bottle called Patio Gas. On Ebay they only show those mini gas torches. Maybe I am using the wrong search phrase.

Greetings

You can buy they tend to be large scale and not ideal to pin point heat. You'll melt all sorts that way.

You can buy they tend to be large scale and not ideal to pin point heat. You'll melt all sorts that way.

Oh OK. Do you think a hair drier would be hot enough? I can at least try.

Worst case scenario is that I strip a couple of heads off. Since I am doing a top end engine strip it shouldn't be too much trouble to then get them drilled out.

Greetings

You just need a small gas blow torch that screws onto the top of a small bottle. They are pretty cheapo and very useful.

Hairdryer wont even touch it, don't bother, but WD40 and a couple days soaking might do it on it's own.

The most important tool with something like that is to make sure you got an allen driver that fits really wel so it doesn't round off, and you can get some torque on it.

You just need a small gas blow torch that screws onto the top of a small bottle. They are pretty cheapo and very useful.

Hairdryer wont even touch it, don't bother, but WD40 and a couple days soaking might do it on it's own.

The most important tool with something like that is to make sure you got an allen driver that fits really wel so it doesn't round off, and you can get some torque on it.

Thanks Captain. I've just been to Halfords and got some Brake Fluid and Cellulose Thinners which apparently if mixed 50/50 is very good. Also got a juicy can of WD-40 and I eyed up the blow torches. Bout £15 for the snout and £4 for the small bottle of gas. That will be my plan B (actually we are on plan D by now). Also got a nice 6mm hex bix that fits my socket set.

Now if it would just stop raining and being cold and miserable, I would go out into my lean to and give it a go!

Greetings

I bought a small gas jet soldering torch from a Hobby shop. Flame is about 5mm diameter and 12mm long. Perfect for heating localised areas.

Summat like this;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Butane-Gas-So ... 58966d4ea8

or this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Butane-Gas-Re ... 2a1edca284

Yes, I agree with Alan, you should be able to get something for less than that. A gas soldering iron is cheap and a good idea as most the end comes off and you just get a tiny blue flame.

Thanks for that.

I have ordered the little cheapy blow torch and 4 cannisters of gas. In the meantime:

Blog entry: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/exhaust-bolts-part-2-day-54.html

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Blog entry describes the process used so far. But I am not going to be forcing them until I get the blow torch fired up.

Thanks again.

Greetings

I would suggest not forcing them at all!!! Be gentle with them, after first hitting end with a few sharp hammer blows. apply gentle pressure to TIGHTEN them first, then gently try to undo.

1. Trick - take your time. My bolts had been in for at least 25 years and it has taken me 2 weeks to get them out. Not 2 weeks of total work but a little bit every day.

2. I think the magic formula was a concoction of 50% brake fluid and 50% cellulose thinners. Brush this on twice a day. Mine came out after 3 days of this.

3. Don't be afraid to do some impact driving. I had hex bolts holding my exhaust in and it took me a while to find the right combination of driver bits and 3/8th inch and 1/2 inch converters. Give them a good whack. Do it a couple of times a day. Keep adding concoction.

4. Don't stick on the one bolt, try them all. I spent the first week on one bolt. Nothing moved. Then today I tried another bolt on the other side of the engine. It came out quite easily. So I did some of the others. The first bolt was the worst. See the photos and you understand why. I had spent all that time being put off because the first bolt I tried was the worst.

5. Take your time. Don't expect to do it in a day.

6. My next trick was going to be the blow torch (I ordered them from Ebay but they have'nt arrived yet) but in the end they weren't needed.

7. Trick - try tightening them as well as unscrewing them. My first discernable movement on the first bolt I got out was when I screwed it in. Even the smallest movement is good. Add more concoction and keeping screwing it up (until it's very tight) and then unscrewing it a little. For a time it seemed to me that it got tighter the more I unscrewed it. That was the sign to screw it back in and add some more concoction and wait a little.

8. From the photos you can see that the concoction penetrated the bolts by about 50% (see the darker part of the bolt) which is quite amazing.

Click on photos to enlarge:

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Day 57

Getting along nicely now.

See the blog here: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/

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Yeh! A build thread

Day 63

I am keeping up the momentum on this project - fear not. Today I continued to remove the headlamp shell, the handlebar switchgear, the instruments, wiring routing and other such stuff.

Check out the blog here: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/

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This last pic looks like someone has really gone to town on the stator wire connections. Does this taping and soldering (I can't pull them apart - so I will have to snip them) look OEM?

Greetings

Day 63

I am keeping up the momentum on this project - fear not. Today I continued to remove the headlamp shell, the handlebar switchgear, the instruments, wiring routing and other such stuff.

Check out the blog here: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/

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This last pic looks like someone has really gone to town on the stator wire connections. Does this taping and soldering (I can't pull them apart - so I will have to snip them) look OEM?

Greetings

no thats not OEM connectors but they should just be pushed together and then tapped up.the original would be a square 3 pin block like the one next to it in the picture

Day 63

I am keeping up the momentum on this project - fear not. Today I continued to remove the headlamp shell, the handlebar switchgear, the instruments, wiring routing and other such stuff.

Check out the blog here: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_0Cp9coWm30/UIK4LKTiihI/AAAAAAAABgg/yc_JZ97YCVE/s1600/P1040534.jpg

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This last pic looks like someone has really gone to town on the stator wire connections. Does this taping and soldering (I can't pull them apart - so I will have to snip them) look OEM?

Greetings

no thats not OEM connectors but they should just be pushed together and then tapped up.the original would be a square 3 pin block like the one next to it in the picture

So I am thinking that maybe we had a new stator installed at some stage. They have been problematic I believe.

Greetings

could of been either a new stator or the plug melted or got corroded so was cut out and replaced with connectors but it is more than likely to have been replaced common one for them back in the 80's and 90's was a conversion one a company called electrex near henly on thames

Day 77 Front Brake Piston Removal

I was having a problem getting the seized brake piston out of my front brake caliper. I took some advice and she came out:

Just can't believe those guys on the http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/index.php. I was able, with their advice to remove this pesky piston:

To get the pistons out hook up an airline to the hole where the banjo fits. Make it a push fit using a plastic round piece that you get in the kit for pumping up an airbed etc. Place a thick rag quadrupled over on top of the piston - it'll fly off (and keep fingers out of the way). If the pistons are marked on their sides - even slightly - throw them away. Replace using stainless steel ones and the job is done forever - I think Nick Chambers has them.

This is exactly what I did. Have to say I was pretty pessimistic that it would work. But it popped out like a champagne cork. I would have flown off and caused some damage to me or something in the garage had I not covered it as suggested with a rag.

What I did was to take a valve from an old bicycle inner tube. Cut it down and screw it into the hole where the banjo fits. Then I attached a foot pump and pumped away. It was necessary to hold the valve in very tightly and it took 2 of us to do. But there you are; done. Thanks Hampshire.

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Now the thing is can I use this caliper and piston again if I clean them up?

Greetings

Nice one. I used a large Rawlbolt once. Another time , a grease gun.

air compressor easiest way out there

just make sure you bolt a block of wood to the caliper otherwise its by by piston

Day 85 Engine Removal

This is how NOT to get a Suzuki GS1100G engine out:

http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/engine-removal-day-85.html

Greetings

Day 91 Engine Washing Preparation

Got the big job out the way (getting the engine out of the frame) now I have to prepare it to be washed, degreased, possibly paint stripped and sand blasted (or soda blasted).

Full story here: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/engine-clean-preparation-day-91.html

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Greetings