Gsx1100 et out of storage after 22years

[Spelli]

Finally got round to digging the old girl out. And to my delight she is in not too bad fettle. Paintwork is as good as the day she was put away but the engine casings have suffered badly. Can anyone recommend a company for vapour basting and re coating preferably in the north of England ? Any advice on carb cleaning? They will no doubt be gummed up. How about ultra sonic cleaners ? Are they worth the investment?

in fact any advice at all on how to bring her back to her original glory would be gratefully accepted.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by Spelli

[eddiegsx]

Well that's some intro after nearly four years of signing up. Why did you keep that stunner under wraps for so long?

Lots of places providing the services that you are after, I'm sure someone on here will recommend soon. Also take a look at the traders section.

Welcome.

 

[Spelli]

Life gets in the way sometimes. Other (none biking ) projects have taken priority. But I have finally come to my senses. 

[TonyGee]

say, thats a nice bike 

[Dezza]

Looks like it just needs the usual for re-commissioning from the pictures. Please say you drained the fuel before storage......

[Spelli]

Sadly I did not drain the fuel. However it is old style leaded petrol and I Understand that is not as bad......hopefully

[cnap504]

Looks pretty good, it should come along nicely.  Metzler me99 rear and Pirelli mt28 front?  The exhaust..?                        

 

[Pudzrx]

Time warp

[Spelli]

The exhaust if I remember is a Motad. 
never really happy with it. It never gave the bottom end power and instant throttle response that the original pipes did. Wish I still had them. I only replaced them because the baffles started to rattle. And I believed to advertising waffle the the motad would be better.

Don’t suppose anyone manufactures a patten copy of the original pipes do they? 
sorry for the silly questions but I have been out of the biking loop for many years.

[Pudzrx]

Try marving exhausts 

[Stumpy]

Delkevic seem ok

[denisd]

That's nice 

[Bongo_H]

A year ago, I pulled my 84 GS1150 from "storage" after 30 years.  Also stored with NO preparation, including leaded fuel in the tank and carbs.

Had to replace the bowl gaskets and float seats/needles, but that was it for the carbs, other than cleaning.

When CLEANING the carbs, MAKE SURE you clean out the "enrichmentt passage" that runs from the BOTTOM of the float bowl THROUGH the body of the float bowl, to the upper lip of the bowl.  If plugged with ancient gas leavings, it will make for hard starting and rough-running.   (Assuming this has Mikuni CV carbs like mine)

This small passage is quite difficult to clean "manually" because it makes a SQUARE-CORNERED, 90 degree turn, o it's very tough to get a wire through the passage.

Ask me how many times I wrestled the carb-bank on and off my bike before I discovered this issue.  <sigh>

 

Ultrasonic cleaners:  One of these MIGHT have cleared the blockage I finally discovered/cleared, but you need to be cautious about dumping the entire carb into a hot, vibrating pot of carb-cleaner, unless you have replacements for every, single o-ring and other non-hard part in the carbs.

 

[mkoppeser]

On 9/4/2021 at 5:45 PM, Spelli said:

Finally got round to digging the old girl out. And to my delight she is in not too bad fettle. Paintwork is as good as the day she was put away but the engine casings have suffered badly. Can anyone recommend a company for vapour basting and re coating preferably in the north of England ? Any advice on carb cleaning? They will no doubt be gummed up. How about ultra sonic cleaners ? Are they worth the investment?

in fact any advice at all on how to bring her back to her original glory would be gratefully accepted.

 

 

 

 

 

Check out Centurionmotorcycleprojects.com for vapour blasting etc.  I would If I was on that side of the pond.  Mark

[Spelli]

Bongo-H

That is absolutely fantastic, that is exactly the sort of information I was hoping to get back. There is no substitute for experience.

So the ultrasonic + carb cleaner is damaging to the rubber parts. That is something I did not expect to hear. 

We’re your diaphragms still intact?

[Spelli]

6 hours ago, mkoppeser said:

Check out Centurionmotorcycleprojects.com for vapour blasting etc.  I would If I was on that side of the pond.  Mark

Just had a look at their Facebook page….…very impressive.
just might give them a call. Thanks very much for the valuable info.

[Spelli]

Just dug this out from the back of my bookcase. Think this just might come in handy.

[jensvonbustenskjold]

Dude, that's neat!! New old stock 

[Spelli]

Not sure how far to go with the restoration. As it is,  it is absolutely original and is only the engine lacquer that has suffered. The frame paint is basically intact apart from a couple of places that has small scuffs.. not really any rust. It seems a shame to have the frame powder coated and lose the original patina.

Would I best keeping the original patina as much as possible ?

What do you guys think ?

[denisd]

45 minutes ago, Spelli said:

Not sure how far to go with the restoration. As it is,  it is absolutely original and is only the engine lacquer that has suffered. The frame paint is basically intact apart from a couple of places that has small scuffs.. not really any rust. It seems a shame to have the frame powder coated and lose the original patina.

Would I best keeping the original patina as much as possible ?

What do you guys think ?

Yes, it's class looking as it is lad

[TonyGee]

problem with a full on resto is you don't want to ride it in case it rains and gets dirty   

[Spelli]

31 minutes ago, TonyGee said:

problem with a full on resto is you don't want to ride it in case it rains and gets dirty   

Think I will be like that anyway. That’s why the bike is in such good fettle now. 

[ral]

I would be checking wiring loom, especially the connectors they tend to tarnish and go mouldy when stood for that long,

Personally I would drop the motor out for full strip, vapour blast and rebuild with all new seals, again after so long they will have hardened off IMO.

Deep clean carbs again new seals,gaskets, same treatment to brakes.

Only think I wouldn’t be touching is paintwork.

Great bikes, BUT YOU KNOW THAT ANYWAY

[Spelli]

Thanks Ral,

I think that is good advice. 
not started the project just yet. 
think my plan it to get it running first and then go back and do the engine strip. 
 

so first job is clean tank and carbs.

would you recommend a ultrasonic clean?

[ral]

I cant advise on the ultrasonic clean as I’ve never had it done, I completely stripped mine and used carb cleaner and high pressure air line to blast through every passage main issue I had was the float bowl passageways as somebody already mentioned, they are a pig to clean out, small amount of brick cleaning acid cleared them but be warned don’t leave the float bowl soaking in it or you’ll find it dissolving away, I used a small syringe to feed the acid into the passageway and it worked a treat, just remember to flush in hot soapy water after, also applies to pilot jets, take them out soak in said brick acid for 5 mins again wash with hot soapy water and blow dry with airline, just confirm small hole right at the tip is clear otherwise it won’t tick over very well.