Anybody have any experience with a Suzuki GS850? I'm going to look at a 1986 one this week as a potential project bike. Price is right, supposedly all parts are there, and has a good engine. Don't know much about them myself. Just curious if anybody here does. Thanks!

All I can say is....BOBBER!

Solid old bike. They weep a little oil, but you can fix that. Cam chain tesioners are an issue on most bikes of this vintage, and usually need attention. If it will run, check the charging system output.

I had a gs550 years ago. I'd imagine they were pretty much the same. Bike was fun, light, easy to maneuver, and quite honestly, a lot easier to skip out to the convenience store and back than the R*. Working on it, however, was another story. It was an inline 4, had 4 carbs that I had to rebuild at one point. Just getting them off was a nightmare. Getting them back on was hours of swearing. With the air box off, intake off, everything off, it still sucked getting them back on. I'd buy another to ride around town, but probably not if it needed work.

My first bike was an '81 GS 750. It was a fun bike and easy to work on. Not great for learning on, though. I remember the first time I was on that flat-seated bike.... I bliped the throttle, let off the clutch a little, and thank God I was holding on, because my ass went back a foot on the seat! I managed not to kill my self and thought "I'm not out growing this bike for a loooooong time."

My friend has 2 '82 GS 550's one for parts the other for riding. They are fantastic bikes and are quite reliable. Mine brought me to Sturgis.

Just a note, the 850's carbs are much easier to get out than the 550.

Building a GS850G for a customer right now.

Windjammer fairing, hard bags, removable trunk, paint, chrome, 4 into 2 exhaust,etc.

solid bikes, take forever to warm up though.

1st thing I would do is ditch the points.

I believe that the 850 was only made for a couple of years. Some motor parts might be hard to find. We've been trying (unsucessfully) to find some std. piston rings for a customer for a while now.

Well, it turns out that it is a 1980, not an '86. But that doesn't really matter to me. As long as the frame is good enough to work from, and the engine solid enough for me to make run well again, I'm going to give it a shot. I've never done anything like this before, so if nothing else there is a couple hundred bucks worth of education in it for me. So I'm going to go pick it up tonight.

BigRamsey - I haven't decided on going bobber or chopper yet, but it's definitely not staying stock!

jd750ace - I've read that the charging systems on those bikes were definite in need up an upgrade, so I'll probably be doing that. Thanks for the heads up on the Cam chain tensioners. I'll be sure to check that out too.

SouthernDarkness - What do you mean by "ditch the points"? Sorry if that is a rookie question, but like I said, this is definitely going to be educational for me.


Wish me luck boys. I'll post some pictures once I get her.

I believe Rick's makes an electronic ignition conversion for this bike. The points and condenser ignition is a pain you need not suffer through. Modification is relatively easy, so "ditch the points" and go electronic!