Sue - '81 GS1000G

[Dragonkarr]

Now I know it's not a car... But it's muscle, right?

I call him Sue*, he's a 1981 Suzuki GS1000G and he needs A LOT of TLC before I can get him back onto the road. I'm sure there are a few bike-loving folks on here so decided I'll make a topic of him too
Stripped him down, cleaned him up a bit, tried to clean his carbs... only to end up tossing the original set aside due to No.3 carb's idle jet being so stuck (and by now, demolished) that it can't be saved. Got replacement carbs, hoping they work. Spark plug wires are fried, brakes are in need of overhaul, gauges don't always work, shaft rubber is in bad shape, and all kinds of little things. Oh, an din desperate need of a front fender!
But he's so close to original that I don't want to change anything too drastically. I did end up painting the covers, fuel tank & tail piece an insane gold though
The photos are of the carbs I got him with, they were insanely dirty, No.2 had its piston glued up with petrol residue.
His repainted bits (and carbs) currently reside in my bedroom. Bedroom slash display room slash parts storage...

*If you've been wondering about the name, Sue... And me saying it's a "he"... Look up the song 'A Boy Named Sue' by Johnny Cash

[paulusvrotius1]

I had a GS1000G new in 1981. It was a fantastic bike.
Mine is the one on the right with Kerker 4 into 1 pipe.
The identical one on the left belonged to my friend Ashley from East London.
The pic was taken outside Joburg Zoo in 1984 when we came up from the Cape to watch the bike GP at Kyalami.

SJXI8730.jpg (430.77 KiB) Viewed 2966 times

[Dragonkarr]

I had a GS1000G new in 1981. It was a fantastic bike.
Mine is the one on the right with Kerker 4 into 1 pipe.
The identical one on the left belonged to my friend Ashley from East London.
The pic was taken outside Joburg Zoo in 1984 when we came up from the Cape to watch the bike GP at Kyalami.SJXI8730.jpg

Awesome bikes! Ironically both Sue and Skortie are older than I am But no modern bike really beats the character and feel of the old rumblers.

Question: Sue has a square headlight. As far as I've seen the '81 GS1000G has a round light. So I've been wondering whether the previous owner swapped headlights for whatever reason... The '81 GSX came out with the same square headlight if I'm not mistaken.

[paulusvrotius1]

Yes the GS1000E, Gs1000S and GS1000G all had round lights where the GSX range had square lights, Katana also.
Your headlight is probably from a GSX and was a popular modification in the day.
The bike in between our GS's in the pic is a GSX 750 and has the square headlight.

[Dragonkarr]

Yes the GS1000E, Gs1000S and GS1000G all had round lights where the GSX range had square lights, Katana also.
Your headlight is probably from a GSX and was a popular modification in the day.
The bike in between our GS's in the pic is a GSX 750 and has the square headlight.

Thanks! Nobody could answer me before, now I know too

[carelo.koekemoer]

I had a GS1000G new in 1981. It was a fantastic bike.
Mine is the one on the right with Kerker 4 into 1 pipe.
The identical one on the left belonged to my friend Ashley from East London.
The pic was taken outside Joburg Zoo in 1984 when we came up from the Cape to watch the bike GP at Kyalami.

SJXI8730.jpg

What a cool pic! I had a GS750 with the Kerker pipe, K&N filters and some ‘hot’ cam.

Still miss that bike. They are (virtually) indestructible