So, you’re asking about old Suzuki motorcycles, huh? It’s funny, I was just mucking about with one in the garage the other day. People always wonder why I bother with these old beasts when you can get something shiny and new. Well, the new ones… they just don’t have the same guts, you know? Too much plastic, too many computers. Give me something with a bit of honest metal and grease any day.
Finding the Right Kind of Trouble
I got this hankering a while back. Decided I wanted a project, something to really get my hands into. And an old Suzuki, well, they’ve always had a soft spot in my heart. My first proper bike, way back when, was a Suzuki. Nothing fancy, but it never let me down. So, the hunt began. And let me tell you, sifting through the online ads and local classifieds these days is an adventure in itself. You see all sorts. Some guys think a bit of rust is ‘patina’ and want a fortune. Others have bikes that look like they’ve been chewed up and spat out by a combine harvester.
It took a good few weeks, a lot of dead-end calls, and a couple of wasted trips to see bikes that were definitely not ‘as described’. You learn to ask very specific questions over the phone. Very specific. Like, “When you say ‘ran when parked,’ was that parked in 1982 under a leaky tarpaulin?”
The Chosen One (and the Work Begins)
Eventually, I landed on this old Suzuki GS. Can’t recall the exact model off the top of my head right now, maybe a GS550 or something from the late 70s, early 80s. It wasn’t pretty. Oh no. It had that look of a bike that had seen better decades. Dust thick enough to plant potatoes in, a seat ripped to shreds, and a smell that was uniquely ‘old neglected motorcycle’. But the frame was straight, and the engine, miracle of miracles, wasn’t seized. That was my starting point.
First job, as always, was the big clean-up. Just trying to see what I was actually dealing with under all that grime. That alone took a couple of days and a lot of degreaser. Then, it was time to dive in. The fuel system is usually where I start on these old girls. The tank needed a serious de-rusting and sealing. And the carburetors… oh, those old carbs. They are a special kind of torment designed by engineers who clearly never had to work on them 20 years down the line.
- I pulled the whole bank of carbs off. Four of them, all gunked up.
- Stripped them down to every last tiny jet and o-ring. Lost a couple of tiny springs on the floor, found ’em again after an hour of crawling around with a magnet. Good times.
- Soaked everything, scrubbed everything, blew out every passage with compressed air.
- Got a rebuild kit. Thankfully, you can still find parts for these old Suzukis, though sometimes it feels like a treasure hunt.
- Then the reassembly and the balancing. That’s an art form in itself. Took a few tries, a lot of fiddling, and more than a few muttered curses.
It’s funny, working on these old machines. It’s not like fixing modern stuff where you just plug in a computer and it tells you what’s wrong. Here, you gotta use your senses, your experience. You listen to the engine, you feel the vibrations. It’s more personal. You develop a relationship with the machine, flaws and all. It’s a proper hands-on job.
Then there was the wiring. Forty-year-old wiring on any motorcycle is a lottery. Brittle insulation, corroded connectors, previous owners’ ‘custom’ modifications which usually involve twisting wires together and hoping for the best with a bit of sticky tape. I spent a good while tracing wires, cleaning contacts, and replacing dodgy sections. It’s tedious, but if you want it to be reliable, you can’t skip it.
Got a new battery, changed the oil and filter, checked the brakes – which also needed a complete overhaul, of course. New pads, rebuilt calipers, fresh fluid. You don’t skimp on brakes. Ever.
Why Bother With These Old Suzukis?
Some folks just don’t get it. They see an old bike and think “money pit” or “headache.” And yeah, sometimes they are. But there’s a satisfaction in bringing something like this back to life. Taking a neglected, forgotten machine and making it run, making it sing again. It’s like you’re preserving a little bit of history.
These old Suzukis, they were built well for their time. Solid engines, straightforward mechanics for the most part. They’re from an era before everything got overly complicated. You can actually understand how they work, and you can fix most things yourself with a decent set of tools and a bit of patience. That’s becoming rare these days.
It’s not finished yet, this project. Still got some cosmetic bits to sort out, some fine-tuning to do. But it runs. And it sounds glorious. That’s the main thing. Every time I fire it up, it puts a smile on my face. And that, right there, is why I mess with old Suzuki motorcycles.
