New owner needs info please

C

Chase H

New member
I have just gotten a 93 VS800 Intruder that needs a little tlc. The guy said it has been sitting a year, so I figure I will rebuild the carbs, clean out the tank and ?????

What seats are avail. and cheap? what all year/ models will fit??

Any general info that you have to offer me would be GREAT! I never owned a bike before. so I will accept everything you let me in on!

Good on-line store?
Good sparkplugs??
Tires?

Thanks
Revin
 
Clean the tank, clean the carbs, clean the air filtes, change the oil and filter, change the coolant, change the rear drive fluid, clean or replace the plugs. Check the tires for dry rot or cracks, replace if needed. Check the brakes. Change the brake fluid, and the clutch fluid.

Seats are available from Mustang, Corbin, Saddleman, Granucci, and Suzuki. None are inexpensive, ranging from $350 to $600. If yours is trash, a used stock seat canusualy be found on EBAY cheap. All years are the same, so anything from 86 up to 2004 will fit. If you are clever you can fit a 2006 or 2006 S50 seat also. I found an '05 S50 seat for $35, made it fit, and removed the sissybar. Looks good.

For good cheap tires, get Dunlop 404s. They handle a ride great, last fairly well. For really great but expensive tires, get Metzeler ME880s. They handle and ride great, wear like iron.

Ronayers.com has all the stock parts, and the online microfiche to see how it all goes together. Cruisercustomizing.com, bikebandit.com, and jpcycles.com have all the aftermarket stuff you could want.

These are great bikes- completely bulleteproof. I've had three of them: an '87 750 I bought very, very used and resold; a 1996 800 that I bought new and put 135,000 miles on (visited all 48 lower states on that bike); and a 1993 I bought with only 7000 miles on it about two years ago and have put 50,000 miles on so far. My Harley is my primary bike, but I always keep an Intruder around, as they are so much fun to play in the montains with. For a cruiser, they are very quick, very agile, and a blast to ride.
 
:) Wow Dr.B !
You seem like a very nice person to answer all my dumb questions.
I will try everything you advise. Sound about right on with what I was thinking about.

Are there any "bad" or a frequent crazy things with this model?

I guess I can use carfax? to look up the vin?

I am waiting on a cd service manual, then I am diving in.
 
Yes, carfax has motorcycle vin reports also. But unless you are a subscriber, they charge you $20 for each VIN you run.

Hmmm...Problem areas:

The battery connections tend to vibrate loose due to its odd location at the bottom of the frame, so about once or twice a year tighten them up.

As with most Suzuki cruisers, the front brakes tend to squeek if you still have stock pads on the bike, but aftermarket kevlar pads (about $30) and a drop or high temp brake grease on the locator pins will stop the squeek. A previous owner may have already taken care of this.

The gas cap may rattle a little, because there is a BB inside that acts likes as a check ball to prevent gas from leaking out if the bike is on its side. If you hear it rattling around, just take the cap apart with a philips head and toss out the BB.

The clutch is hydraulic, which means that the fluid brakes down over time, so change the fluid once a year. This is good advise for any bike with a hydraulic clutch. Takes 10 minutes, costs $3.

That's about it for problem areas. Nothing major, just a few little bugs that may pop up.
 
The gas cap seems loose, any tricks on getting it tighter??

I plan on draining everything I can and "refresh" the fluids. Clutch fluid is sitting there on the shelf waiting it's turn to go in, as well as brake,oil,antifreeze, etc.

What are your thoughts on that "stuff" that you swish around in the tank to seal it? I dont think it is that bad inside, but....for good measure??
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Ahhh, das scoot! Should look pretty nice once you get the seat replaced. The driver's seat looks OK. The passenger seat is a separate piece, and last time I saw there was on on EBAY for about $15. Heck, give me a fee days, and I'll look around the shop and see if I have one laying around.

Try cutting a new gasket for the gas cap, out of auto parts store gasket material or a bit of leather.

Avoid that stuff for the tank. It is a last-ditch resort for a tank so rusty it goobers up the fuel filter or carbs, when you can't find a replacement or it would cost too much to paint a tank to match. I have never had good results with it. The way I learned to get rid of rust in the tank was what they now call and 'old school' way: take the tank off, empty the gas, put a quart of distilled water in it along with a handful of BBs, shotgun pellets, or some fine gravel, and put the cap back on. Swish it around until the BBs grind all the rust off, clean it out with more distilled water, and blow it dry with a hair drier. Put the tank back on and fill the tank at the end of each ride so you park it full, and it won't rust again.

With that said, unless the tank is real bad just let it be. No point making a problem out of it.
 
I am new to riding, got a C90 Black, wanted to change the grips any sugestions on which ones and how difficult is to change them. I can do my own house repairs, but with cars and motorcycles I need a little help.
Thanks
Bob
 
Grips are a snap to install, so dive right in. I love the ISO grips from Kuryakyn, which have gel pads. they are comfortable, look good, are easy to grip in the rain, and because they are bigger around and sticker than stock grips they encourage you to relax your grip to save on hand fatigue.
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Shop around online and check for sales, and you can usually get a pretty good deal on them.
 
This is a good tip. I noticed my turn signals were acting a little flakey recently. Instead of a steady on-off-on-off, the on-time was fluctuating. Sure enough, one of the battery screws was loose. Tightened it up and problem wen't away.

Thanks again to DrBob
 
No problemo.

If you start having weird electrical problems and tightening the connections doesn't cure them, remember that with the stock battery there are actually four connections at the battery. There are the usual screws that hold the negative and positive cables to the terminal blocks, and there are also two bolts that hold the terminal blocks to the battery. The cables are usually the ones that get loose, but every now and again I'll run into an Intruder with a loose terminal block. When the stock battery finally gives out, look for an aftermarket replacement with perminantly attached terminals, rather than the bolt on ones, and you'll have one less thing that could go wrong.
 
Dr. B,
I have taken off the Batt. Box for painting and rust preventing. (por 15)

Would you suggest adding a "jumper wire" from the term. of the Batt? So IF the batt. failed you could use the jump wire to charge the batt. a little safer??? I guess it would dangle outside of the box (you know covered and tucked away)

Or do you just use the selnoid(sp) on the left side for jumping.
 
Hmmmm...I don't know about a jumper wire. I guess it would be OK, but you'd have to make sure it was very secure, and wrapped tightly so it didn't ground on anything, and that it didn't corrode by the time you need it.

I made some motorycycle jumper cables, which I keep in the little locked compartment behind the sissy bar bar, along with the tool kit. They consist of an old 2-wire extension cord with the plugs cut off and large aligator clips from Radio Shack put on. They reach the terminals just fine, and unlike car jumper cables won't carry enough current to fry anything. I've used them to jump from another bike, and from a car (don't start the car).
 
WAIT!!!!!
a tool kit is in a hidden compartment behind the sissy bar?:roll:
I have been looking for that !!! lol how do I get it open/ into it??

Good advise on the Batt.:bluethum:
 
Ahhh yes, the super-secret sissy bar compartment!

Grab the sissy bar pad and pull it forward. It just snaps onto three plastic nipples with rubber gromets. The ignition key will open the lock on the compartment, unless someone replaced the ignition key at some point. Inside there is a basic took kit, with wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, and a spark plug tool. That compartment is a great place to keep a zip lock bag with the bike's registration and insurance card, along with some 'just in case' items like a spare house key and a $20 for gas to get you home should you loose your wallet.
 
Wow what a bike! hidden compartment!! it was like looking for the lost ark or something. LOL
Popped it off and there was everything you said. I even had a old owner Ins. papers and a key chain in there.:mrgreen:

I have been busy with other things lately. Still working a little with the bike.
I did not win the rear seat on ebay:( Did you know of one cheap somewhere?
 
I'll keep an eye out for a rear seat. I thought I had one in the shop, but I think I put it on an old '96 Intruder 800 I gave away a couple months ago. I still might have one in the storage shed under all the Harley parts, but it my be the weekend before I can check. If I have one I'll sell it to ya cheap.
 
D.B
Well I finally had time to play around with the bike. Got it started! Started right up after I figured out the fuel on/off switch:roll: I put a whole 2 miles on it ( around the block a few)

Now it is on to the rear brakes that seem to be frozen up or the cable is very rusty inside. We'll see..

Hey do you know of any L.E.D.'s taillights or turn signal lights for the bike? Are they any better/ good? I saw a crotch rocket tonight with a neat one. saw him way up the road.

Oh and I won a set of seats off Ebay with backrest for $60! They look good in the pic, still waiting for them in the mail.
 
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