[ketchboy]

I picked a 1981 gs1000gl about a month ago, in exchange for some labor. Since I was now the new owner, I went thru the bike to make sure it was road worthy. Everything was up to snuff until three days ago.

I made a left U turn and the bike wanted to lay down on me. After I got pointed in the direction I wanted to go, I visually checked the tires to make sure I didn't have a flat. Riding back home, everything was fine until I turned left into my driveway. It flopped over so bad, I had to put my foot down to keep it from falling over. In the garage, I found what I thought was the culprit. The throttle cable was binding up on the neck of the frame. Obviously, I re routed it to eliminate the bind.

Riding back home today, I turned into the driveway and experienced the same thing, only not as sever.

Here's what I have done.

Proper air pressure in tires
changed the fork oil to specs, using 10/30 wt.
checked the fall off
moved the forks back and forth to check neck bearings. It's tight like it should be.
slowly moved the handlebars lock to lock to check for bindings. Nothing.

I haven't tore down the front end yet and visually inspected the bearings. But is it possible that the neck bearings are too tight? At the moment I'm really stumped.

 

[ketchboy]

That's what I thought, Dods. I really am at a loss here. A friend of mine suggested I check the wheel bearings. They might be loose. Unlikely, but I'll check them tomorrow.

In the mean time, I'm having a Bourbon and Water. :grin:

 

[ketchboy]

No spokes, and the swing arm is tight. I'll check the front and rear wheels tomorrow. I'll also go over everything again tomorrow and see if I missed something.

 

[ketchboy]

Since the bars turn lock to lock free and smooth, my first thought was wheel bearings too (front OR rear). But it could also be rear swingarm bearings. Also loose spokes.

jag13 wins a new plastic Spork with it's own personal holder! A friend of mine came over and we both went thru the bike yesterday. I did check it just after I got the bike, but the bearings were loose on the swing arm. Today, as I sat on my antique upside down milk crate, I was going thru the steps I needed to take for the removal of the swing arm. Then I had a thought. Bearings don't just die. They will give you a warning that they need attention. And in less than a month, with very little riding, they suddenly went bad? No. No way.

I pulled the dust covers off both sides of the swing arm, and loosened the large jam nuts. Both had worked loose somehow, and the smaller nut with the shank that presses against the bearing, spun easily. With an Allen wrench, I seated the small nut and backed it off about a 1/4 turn, and tightened the jam nuts down. Problem solved! I have no idea what the specs are to set up the bearings, and I do need a little bit more tweaking to get it right, but at least I can ride it now without worrying about falling over.

Thanks jag!:grin:

 

[ketchboy]

Here is a manual for your bike. http://gsarchive.bwringer.com/mtsac/~cliff/storage/gs/GS1000.pdf
PDF page 160 has your swing arm torque spec. Here is the site I got it from. BikeCliff's Website It is a treasure trove of valuable information for Suzuki GS models and other general information that applies to most bikes.

Thanks, Rick. It will come in very, very handy.