Purchase
I bought this bike from a member on the UK GSXF Facebook group, originally as a parts bike, however, upon collection, I realised that it didn’t need much to get it up and running again, so I decided to refurbish it and return it to the road.
As can be seen, the bike wasn’t in the best condition, and with 40k miles on it, was relatively high mileage (in bike terms) but it was still worth saving to me.
Will It Run?
After getting the bike home, I decided to see if it would run. After jury rigging an ignition, as well as few other bits and pieces, I checked it had oil and we were good to go.
It took some persuasion, but it fired up!
Please excuse the aspect – it’s the only video I have of it running at this point…
I was quite surprised at this stage, but it simply concreted the fact that I needed to return it to the road!
Servicing and inspection
This is not by any stretch of imagination a “modern” engine (Carbs, Oil Cooled), but these older Suzuki ‘Oil Burners’ are pretty much bomb proof, still – an oil service was definitely on the cards, and considering the colour of the oil removed and the state of the filter housing, it was WELL overdue!
Not the worst I’ve ever seen, but definitely not in the category of ‘Well looked after’
Definitely an improvement!
Moving on the chain. Now when it comes to joining chains, there are many schools of thought, and more opinions than a little. I have my own rule of thumb on this one: 500cc or less – Use a clip link if you like. > 500cc – Use a rivet link and never anything else.
I found this.
Fortunately, I had no plans of keeping this chain anyway. (Feel free to ping me your thoughts on Rivet vs. Clips on chains – Always happy to hear other’s views).
Moving on from the chain, I had a good look around the bike. The usual suspects needed replacing – Consumable items like brake fluid, plugs, air filter, brakes, tyres etc. All in all though, the bike wasn’t in THAT bad of a condition.
At this point I thought I’d check the cam chain and valve clearances.
Lo and behold, they were both within tolerances. Very surprising considering the mileage on the bike.
Bodywork, however, was a bit rough, so I began the long journey of tidying it up. I did consider a respray, but time/cost was against me for a bike I didn’t intend to keep, so I kept it to the basics. The pictures speak for themselves really.
