#gs1100e

Part I

One day I came out to find someone had knocked over my baby.  Upon closer inspection I noticed a fluid leaking all over the brake calipers and found that a fork seal was leaking.  Here is my description of how I fixed them and what not to do.

!!!PRIORITY!!! Protect the stanchion tubes.  If there are any pits, scratches, dings, etc in the travel area you'll wind up replacing the seals until you go mad, like I did, with no luck.  This was the painful lesson learned.  I didn't even notice the small pits on mine, replaced the seals using every manufacturer I could find just to have them start leaking again two miles down the road.  

The first time I attempted this procedure the exhaust off so it was really easy to lift the front up evenly and slide some stands in under the frame to secure it.  Later, with the exhaust back on its tough to get a jack under there evenly so I used my rear stand first to keep it even and then raised the bike with the jack and then removed the read stand.  Two people needed!  Make sure to remove the front fender, loosen the top fork plug the fork clamp bolts and the axle pinch bolts a bit while its down to make them easier to remove when its up.

Once up (I long for a center stand for this work) loosen the retaining bolts.  There is the main one at the top (14mm), two in the middle (12mm) and I even unscrewed the air pressure screws.  Use an allen wrench to separate the anti-dive unit from the fork.  It splits in 2 on the front side and keeps the fluid inside which is nice if you want to keep oil from draining all over.  Not that I would know.

The calipers are held on with two 14mm bolts.  Tie them to the frame to take the weight off.  There are four pinch bolts (14mm) on the bottom of the forks that once removed will allow the front wheel to be easily set aside without even messing with the axle. Set the wheel against the engine.  All 4 of my bolts were stripped and so I eventually ordered all new nuts and bolts and added some lock-tight to the lag bolts.  Undo the nuts holding the forks in and pull them down while twisting.  This took a bit of effort the first go-round as I think the rubber on the air pressure system was grabbing.  Maybe a little lubricant spray would help?  

Once both forks are out (If you are changing one you should do them both) You can begin the disassembly stage.  Place a rag over the the large top nut and remove it slowly, keeping your face away as it may spring out.  This is a 22mm nut I believe.  Once that is out set the nut, cap and spring on a paper towel.  Drain the fluid from this end.  

The next part was a bit tricky and I got a little lucky.  There is a bolt on the bottom that holds the two pieces together.  I bought a dowel from Lowes, a quarter inch I believe, and shoved it down the top and into the recces that is on the long aluminum rod thing holding everything together.  Use a #10 allen and, while holding the dowel from spinning, give the bottom nut a good twist to break it free.  If you have a nice grab with the dowel it should unscrew fairly easily.  More fork oil will drain from the bottom once the bolt is removed so get ready.  Keep an eye on the little brass washer as well.

Now the stanchion and lower forks can be pulled apart for cleaning.  Remove the dust protectors.  Grab each side and give it a few pops outwards to separate the two.  Careful, there are three small washer and a little cap inside with the connecting rod that may fly out when you do this.  How do your seals and bushings look?  Mine were thrashed!

I set everything on some shop rags and cleaned it all very thoroughly, inside and out with a degreaser.  I also took this time to repaint the lower fork legs with a satin black to match the rest.

Everyone says to do these one at a time in case you need to reference the correct way to reassemble them.  I have the repair manual which really helps with the correct order.  Now I can do it with my eyes closed but the first few times is a bit over whelming due to all the parts.  I'll included a scan of that manual pic in the next edit in case you don't have it.  

Once cleaned you can reverse the process.  After the bottom nut is secure the fork is now whole again.  If you have nice smooth stanchions you can just slide the seal down with a touch of fork oil.  Another lesson learned - The seals will pop in fairly easily if they are good.  I highly suggest using OEM.  DO NOT USE the "leak proof" seals from ebay.  Another lesson learned.  They likely wont fit and you may wind up forcing them on and damaging other parts.  Not that I would know about that either.  The trick to tapping down the seals evenly (you likely don't have a Suzuki seal tamper) is to use two pieces of PVC plumbing pipe.  I found mine at Loews and cut them vertically to fit on the stanchion and then another over it.  (see photo below, its the white tool on the right).  Layer them so that the outer pipe is longer then the under pipe and then use some clamps to secure is.  Use the movement of the shocks to tamp the seals in evenly.  Again, they should go in fairly easily with a few good tamps.

Easy right?  You'll get it.  Once the seal is in and the washer and clamp fit back in, slide down the dust covers.  Almost there.  This is when I put them back through the triple tree and bolted them down.  Not sure if this is the proper procedure but it worked. Fill the shocks with the correct amount of fork oil.  I bought 15W on amazon for about $12 a liter.  My GS1100E needs 248mL per legs.  I used a $1 measuring cup from the dollar store as I doubt I'll use it for cooking again.  Some people on you tube compress the forks now to work the fluid in and the air up.  I put the spring back in (careful to put the tighter curls on top) and the little spacer and then the cap nut.  This takes a little work to get it going but with the forks fully extended its possible.

Bolt everything back on, including that wheel and tighten to spec.  Pump your brakes back up.  Get some help lowering it and voila, new forks.    

Part Two

From what I've read the early 80s Suzukis were known for charging system problems.  Suzuki seems to have skimped in this area by using a smaller gauge wiring, a lack of relays and other little details which, in my case specifically, results in not enough voltage getting to the battery to even recharge it now.  

I experienced this in the first 20 minutes of ownership when the battery died completely at highway speeds and it shut down.  After a $300 mechanics fee and travel/towing logistics they handed me a melted connector and said I'd need to replace the stator and regulator.

Here is that process (Part 1)

After getting it back from the shop (I really had no choice, I was in Northern Connecticut) I set about replacing the charging system.  I measured the output voltage at the battery and it was 12.7 at 4K rpms.  Not good.  I ordered a stator and regulator from Ricks on ebay for about $170 total.  The stator is located under the crankcase cover on the left and is cooled by oil so get the drain pan ready.

The regulator is located under the left plastic cover and is secured with two bolts and a ground only.  The regualtor is a fairly straight forward replacement and the one I ordered even had the stock wiring colors making it an easy swap using the Suzuki wiring diagram in the repair manual.  Have I mentioned the repair manual yet?  If you dont have one, get one.  I was able to troubleshoot some incorrect wiring and redo almost the entire charging system with it.

Back to the stator.  

All fairly straight forward.  The charging system is simple really.  The stator makes electricity, passes it to the regulator/rectifier which passes it to the battery.  One just needs to make sure they are working properly and you have good wiring/connectors between.  The only hang ups I had were getting the gears aligned again when re-installing and feeding the wire to the regulator.  Patience solved the first problem and loosening the bolts covering the front sprocket helped on the second.  The old stator looked worn, I guess, as it should after 30 years of work.

I read several blogs that state when replacing the stator you should replace the regulator as well because the new unit tends to "blow" the old unit.  I also replaced the battery while I was at it and redid most of the connections using clip connectors or bullet connectors.  Sealed everything up and checked the voltage again.  13V! 

Well, OK not great but good enough to get me on the road.

Part 2

While sitting at a red my GS1100e suddenly died.  Totally and completely. Couldn't even pop start it.  Luckily I was only about 2 miles from home and was able to walk it back.  I chalk this up to only getting 13 volts and the GS running totally from the battery and the battery eventually totally draining.  

Back in to the wiring.  Upon inspection I found some melted wires and a few bad connections further up the main harness.  To whoever worked on this before I'd like to have a word.  So I replaced those and also found a wire that had been spliced incorrectly leading me to attach the regulator to the wrong spot.  I cleaned all this up and got it as close to spec as possible with one exception: I ran the positive from the regulator directly to the battery.  I'm assuming this is not correct as it should probably go through the fuse box first but after I did this I got 14.8 volts at the battery!  Wow, that's what I wanted to see!  So I'll find why the wiring/fuses box is causing a problem but left it at that for now.

Side note, I also discovered the headlight runs off AC directly from the stator and this was wired wrong also.  Each stator wire puts out about 50 watts of AC before the regulator converts it to DC and drops it to 14-15 volts.  I fixed that, blew the headlight, and ordered a new one.  Will update this post once I work out those little issues but for now the electrical system is back on track.

The chain of my GS1100E was making an annoying grinding noise on rotation that improved when I had the rear tire replaced and the chain tightened and lubed.  It starting grinding again after stretching a few weeks later and so I figured it was time for a replacement.  The rear sprocket was badly worn so I decided to replace everything and convert from an old 630 chain to a more modern and lighter weight 530 chain.

The front and rear sprockets for 530 are smaller so I used an online conversion tool to get the correct ratio of stock for the new 530 setup.  I kept the ratio as close to stock as possible though there is an option to change this up for more or less torque.  The GS has plenty for me and I prefer lower highway rpms, hence the stock ratio of 18-50 on the front-rear.

The kit was ordered on Ebay from JR.  A shipping delay was remedied by sending me a spare master link (well worth it as you'll see)

The Parts

Rear (Swingarm) Stand if no center stand available.  530 Chain conversion kit (front sprocket, rear sprocket, chain, SPACER).  Master link.  Chain break/chain rivet tool kit.  30mm socket.  Torque wrench.  2x4x12.  Grease.  6-pack Modelo.

The Work

For $40 I purchased a rear stand (red to match) from ebay that has padded feet the swing arm can rest on.  The center stand would have worked but it was removed at some point. I needed help holding the front straight while I raised the back. Once up it felt secure and the rear wheel was free.

I wont go into gory detail here, you can find that on YouTube and in the manual but I want to mention some things that my not have been covered, some tips and some time savers.

The most difficult part was getting the old sprockets off.  For the front remove the cover, exposing the sprocket.  There I a washer under the nut you'll need to flatten back, I used a screwdriver and tapped it a bit wit a wrench.  Oh, before I continue I should mention that I have minimal tools and have to do a lot of improvising.  Autozone luckily loans tools so I picked up the correct socket (30mm) and a large torque wrench.  As you have probably already read elsewhere this socket is a bear to get loose.  The large torque wrench (locked down) had a 2' arm!  Put the bike in gear and put a 2x4 in the wheel above the swingarm.  Give the nut a nice hard push and it should break lose.

Now you can disconnect the chain if you have a clip master link or break it if you have a rivet type chain.  Pretty straight forward, tons of videos on this too.  Mine was loose enough but you can loosen using the adjusters on the rear for more slack.  Pull that away and save it for now.  Remove the rear wheel playing close attention to where the spacers go!!  The repair manual varies slightly depending on models so pay close attention! 

With the wheel flat unfold the double washer, unbolt the sprocket, pop on the new one, torque the bolts correctly (half torque first, opposite buts then full toque, opposite nuts), bend the washer back down and reassemble rear wheel.  A couple of tips: I took this time to renew the axle grease, bearing grease, etc. based on the service manual.  I used my foot to lift the wheel while I slid the axle back in adding in spacers as I went.  Its tricky and frustrating but stick with it and it eventually goes together.  The new grease helps!  Don't tighten down the adjusters until the chain is in place.

Install the front sprocket.  If converting from 630 to 530 you'll also need to have purchased a 6mm spacer that goes on before the front sprocket.  I got mine from the same place.  Reinstall the front sprocket, torqued correctly (it wasn't much more than I could tighten normally) and bend the washer back down to lock it on.

For the chain I laid the old one next to the new one, matched up the links and chopped it to the same size use the chain breaker.  Not sure if this is the correct method as they are different chains/sprockets but luckily it worked.   I removed one more link as the old one was stretched, saggy and at the very back of the adjuster.  With one less the new one was 1/3 back on a test fit with the proper play. 

I read a lot about which is better, clip-style master links or rivet-style and just felt safer with a rivet style.  Its not that much more difficult to install, is more secure and you'll only need the chain breaker/rivet kit I mentioned earlier.

Again, thee are plenty of videos showing ho to rivet a chain I would only mention that it doesn't take as much force as you would think.  This didn't happen to me but a buddy used the wrong punch tool, forced it in to far and it became stuck requiring an additional couple of hours to get it out. So use the right punch when breaking and line up everything when riveting.  Make sure the chain still moves freely at the master link both after squishing the cap on and riveting the ends.  Don't rivet too much!  The first time I did and cracked the ends.  Luckily I had a spare master link s I redid it.  You just want the end to bevel a bit to lock it on.

This chain came greased up but I read elsewhere now is the time to clean and lube it properly.  Use chain lube!.  Now pull the rear tire back and tighten the adjusters keeping the chain at the recommended free play, around 1.5-2".  This is important as the chain needs room to move around when the swing arm moves and tight enough not to flop off or drag around.

I guess that's about it.  I had help lowering it down and rechecked all my work.  I took it for a test ride around the neighborhood.  Felt smooth and no more noise. The new chain and sprocket look great!