Project ‘97 Suzuki Across Project

Hey everyone, I made a very short post outlining what happened to me and how I got this Across, I won’t type it all out again so give it a quick read here > https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...uzuki-Across-project-intro.9817/&share_type=t

I’ll be posting any issues I have with this project, as I’ve only been riding since August last year I’m no expert so I’m just learning as I go lol. Hopefully I can meet some cool people on here with some good advice.


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Thanks


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Okay so here’s my first post about the actual project of this bike.

So the guy delivered it on Wednesday, I wasn’t here, only my roommate was so I didn’t get to see it until the afternoon. It was in worse condition than I thought but nothing I couldn’t fix. The rotors are so damn rusty you could use them as a nail file. I asked the guy I got it off via text how long he’d had it sitting and he said only 2-3 weeks but he lives near the beach so that’s why there’s a rust buildup. (yes that is putty in the exhaust. Previous owner thought he’d drill holes in it to make it sound fast and then it didn’t sound fast so he tried to block it up.. silly..) Judging by the condition of the chain, the screws and bolts, brakes and discs, it’s definitely been sitting for at least a couple of months, but no biggie I have an entire Across in awesome condition (besides the effed up stator case/flywheel).

So this new bike didn’t start, nothing at all not even a click when I pushed the starter. I put it in 6th gear and tried to push it forward, rear wheel just locked up and it wouldn’t move. What was odd though was that I could push the bike backwards while it was in gear and it would move fine.. I thought maybe the engine had seized, in which case I thought I’d just wasted $450 for a bike I couldn’t be bothered to fix if that was the case. So I sat and thought about it for a bit, tried to push start her and the wheel just locked up when I tried. I thought maybe the solenoid needs replacing so I pulled the solenoid off my accident bike and swapped it, still nothing. I then swapped out that little clip near the clutch lever, 2 prong plug things attach to this clip, it was connected to the solenoid I think so I thought I’d swap that for the one on my accident bike. Tried to start but I actually got a click from both the solenoid and the starter motor. By that point it was dark so I went inside to try again the next day. I thought I’ll check the stator just in case. Drained the oil out of the flywheel, opened her up and sure enough, one of the magnets had totally broken and bits of magnet were all through the flywheel, one piece was blocking the stator from spinning, which in turn was blocking the start motor from turning the engine over. So I cleaned out the broken pieces of magnet, closed it back up, fired the bike three times before she finally came to life. I was so beyond happy I could of cried lol. Took it for a little ride to the end of the street and back, and there was a lootttt of vibration, which I would say is because there’s one magnet missing, now the engine is off balance? Correct me if I’m wrong.

So now that I fixed the main issue, there’s a few other things I need to fix also. I need to switch both tires from my accident bike to the project bike, the accident bike has a brand new two day old rear tire and 2 week old chain and sprockets and the tread on the front tire is better than the tread on the project bikes front tire so it’s easier just to swap both tires instead of just bits of the tires, plus the discs on my accident bike are in great condition. I need to drain all the oil in it because the oil that came out of the stator was black as all hell it must be a couple of years old at least. I need to bleed the brakes, top up all the fluids, hook up all the electricals again too. I have a new flywheel coming which should be here by Monday so hopefully I will have this bike back on the road in no time. It’s also still registered until May 5th so that’s a bonus my main problem now though, is there is a fuel leak I believe right where the nut is where the fuel sensor goes into the tank. Now it’s really hard to get to and I’m not a small guy, I can’t fit my hands underneath there to see if the nut is just a bit loose and is causing a leak. I’m not sure where to even start to remove the tank because with the Across bikes, the tanks are under the seat and the bikes frame is practically surrounding it so that’s my biggest issue I need to fix ASAP.
I’m really excited to fix this bike on my own and accomplish something because the last couple of months haven’t been great.

I’ll attach some photos, I’m keeping the orange fairings from my accident bike as they didn’t really get damaged at all, plus I don’t like the purple fairings on the project bike so keep those colours in mind when viewing the photos



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So I waited for it to cool down before I came outside. Thought I might start with taking the fuel tank out of the accident bike.. safe to say I’m totally stumped on how to do this and every damn screw or bolt I try to take out ends up getting stripped coz it’s in there so tight


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The tire really shouldn’t have taken me so long to take off but at least it’s off the old bike. Now I need to figure out how to take this tank fuel tank out. I read somewhere the shock needs to be taken out and I really hope that’s not the case..


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Thanks man


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So I found all the screws mounting the fuel tank, I disconnected the fuel lines and everything I had to, now I can pretty freely jiggle the tank around in the frame of the bike but the shock/spring is preventing the tank from slipping downwards so I cant pull it out. In the manual it says to remove the swing arm but my rear stand is holding the bike up via the swing arms so how the hell am I supposed to get the tank out? This bike will be the death of me lol.


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So I need to swap the fuel tank in my bike, I’ve undone all the bolts holding it in, wouldn’t come out at all and then I read the manual and it says I have to take the swing arm off.. now my question is how the hell am I meant to take off the swing arm if I have a rear stand holding the bike up? I don’t have a front stand and I don’t have a car jack either so those are out of the question. Is there anyway I can slide out the tank without having to take the swing arm off?


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Managed to find the fuel leak in the new bikes tank. Blink and you’d miss it. Such a pain in the ass having to change over the entire tank just for a tiny pinhole leak


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My advice to anyone that’s going to ever buy a Suzuki Across; don’t ever, I repeat, ever, buy one without checking the fuel tank for leaks because trust me you do not want to have to replace that . I had to remove the rear tire, brake light, mud guard, rear fender, carbies, airbox, rear shock, AND the swingarm, and unplug the fuel and brake lines just to get the fuel tank out.. managed to replace them just now, it took 3 hours but it’s done and I discovered that the previous owner put f**king blue tack on the tank to plug up a fuel leak... unbelievable but yeah if you ever buy an Across, check the fuel tank entirely because even if you get a good deal, it’s honestly not worth the work on replacing those tanks lol. But it’s done now, I’m happy about it. Now just have to wait for my pay to come in from the one shift I did at work last week and I’ll have to buy the actually flywheel puller made for my bike. $45 but don’t really have much of a choice lol.


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Also, I just put my rear stand under the frame where the engine is so it was kind of like a centre stand, worked a treat


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Oh no I didn’t see that. Does that 100% definitely fit the Across? I just don’t want to buy something that won’t fit lol. And that PayPal option is awesome I’ll definitely buy this one if it 100% will work with my bike haha


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