Suzuki Impulse GSX 400

[JJM15]

I spotted and stalked a black Impulse in the vicinity of Bedok reservoir yesterday:) inclusive of mine, that makes 3 Impulses on the road

[w7_lee]

Why 'stalk' the Impulse? Come up and say 'Hi'. Maybe it's was me you saw, if it was on Monday night. I think I was in that area just before midnight.

[JJM15]

Cos I look very suspicious! Haha:) serious? Does your Impulse have a stainless steel mudguard extension?

[something4all]

The road looks slippery

[w7_lee]

Yeap, that's mine.

[JJM15]

Cool! Did you see an Indian dude on a red vespa following you into the carpark? That's me

[w7_lee]

Sorry bro, never notice leh. So you've got a Vespa & an Impulse. Got time to ride both?

 

Cool! Did you see an Indian dude on a red vespa following you into the carpark? That's me

[JJM15]

Yes actually it's quite fun! I ride the Impulse to camp and the Vespa on weekends. I really enjoy riding both and don't have the heart to get rid of my dear old Vespa:)

 

Anyways, I need a little help. My Impulse had been running great till today. I hadent ridden it since wednesday and today while riding home i noticed i seem to have lost alot of power in relation to my pickup and my topend speed. If i really open throttle then no issues, it can hit it's usual top end speeds. But Ive never had to open throttle this much to get it going.

 

I also realised that after engine breaking, the bike seems to struggle in gears 4 to 6 once my rpms drop, like as if it's not receiving enough petrol. I end up having to drop my gears just to get the bike back into it's normal state of running. Other than the fact petrol is low and ive switched to 'reserve' i dont see how all this could have suddenly happened over the 2 days it was sitting. The battery and voltmeter show it to be at the same readings that it's always at.

 

Any help and advise would be appreciated. Ill also pop by Ah Chong first thing Monday and see if doing a top overhaul would be wise since my 100,000km servicing is coming up. I don't wanna be cheap with the bike only to have problems such as this popping up more often.

[w7_lee]

Could it just be a stuck carburettor? You should have visit the mechanic now, so what did he say?

[JJM15]

Hey man! Ok, visited Ah Chong, and it turns out to be one dead sparkplug. PHEW. I was so afraid id bankrupt myself. But either ways he did tell me something. He said that i shouldnt warm up my bike in the mornings and that i should just start and ride off. No warming up. Reason being my bike doesnt need to warm up and that letting the bike idle while it's on the side stand leaning to one side will cause all the engine oil/ petrol (im not sure which one) to drown out the sparkplugs on the left side. So he says if i want to warm up the Impulse, put it on mainstand, or dont even warm it up, just start and ride off.

 

What do you think? Sound advise? My 30 year old vespa also doesnt need to be warmed up. I dont know why haha!

[w7_lee]

I have always park mine on main stand at the end of the day and will let it warm-up (for abt 2~3 mins) before riding off (the next day). It never gave me any problem similar to yours. But the warm-up is only in the morning.The rest of the day is just side stand and ride off with no warm-up. Well, good for you that it is only a spark plug issue. CSV appears to have done a lot on her, so you should not get any big issue.

[JJM15]

Yup Chris is a good man who truly understood what it meant to restore something to a good original working condition I'm glad I hav the pleasure of taking over his '868'

 

Anyways, since we're on the topic of problems, what are the common problems you encounter? If there are any? I'm glad I've got at least one friend (you) to have such a discussion with

[JJM15]

Someone here is selling an Impulse! Noooo! Plus at a wayy below market rate price. Honestly, id buy it if I had $2100 in my bank account cos the Impulse's value is only going to appreciate in the years to come

 

Link to the ad- http://www.singaporebikes.com/used_bikes/19635/suzuki_other_suzuki_models/

[w7_lee]

I actually like the black & red design but it won't look good on my Impulse cos I hv a storage box.

His seat look nice & original design with the strap on it. And the chrome parts look shinier than mine.

Price I think is also OK but should be able to discount a little. Mine is also 97 and I bought at slightly more that 2.1K about 10 months back.

[JJM15]

The price is not ok man haha oh wells , I did go and view it btw, it isn't in as good a condition as it appears to be in... I was trying to get a friend to buy it over, but upon viewing he decided it would cost too much to restore it. Plus I don't even know how it's engine runs. But yes, I did love the original paintwork

 

Btw, my Impulse is in for it's final paint to make it look awesome!

[w7_lee]

How much for the paint job? Can post pic when done?

[JJM15]

Hey man, sorry for the super late reply! Been having a busy few weeks. Its at Yeow Motors, paintjob is done and waiting to be assembled and sure, ill post pics once it's all done up to perfection

 

Cost me $520. I might have to top up abit more cos I insisted they knock the dent out of the tank

[w7_lee]

Wow, expensive huh. I think CSV also got the paint work done while he owns it. But color is personal preference.

 

Right to knock the dent out since you are repainting it it. I would do so too.

[JJM15]

My Vespa's paintjob cost me $500 for a single colour, no primer, not sanded down to bare metal, and it turned out super bad.

 

So when Uncle Ken quoted me $520 for tri colour, sand down to bare metal and primer I was like 'SO CHEAP?!' Haha! I'm painting it the Yoshimura colours! Suzuki blue, white and black stripes. Decided to return the bike back to it's original stock glory! I also have the headlight cowl I know the 1998 model came off the factory line black, but I decided I preferred the 1996 model's tri colour + headlight cowl combination.

 

As for the dent, most people insisted I should just putty it over since no one would know but I refused! Cos it's very obvious if you knock the tank where it's solid metal and where there is putty hiding from the sound produced

 

I just hope the bike will be in a good running condition seeing as how it's been sitting exposed for the past 3 weeks.

 

How's your bike anyway?

 

 

It had better look like this once done! I'm just missing the Moriwaki Shorty Full System

[w7_lee]

Wow, I last saw this design on the road when I was a young man. It will be a head turner when on the road. Not sure how you mounting the headlight cowl but I image that if not properly re-inforced, might be flimsy at higher speed.

 

My bike is OK, as long as it runs, I am OK with it.

 

By the way, does your kill engine switch work? Mine does not and the previous owner said that he's got it that way (not working) too. So I'm wondering if the Impulse actually have kill enginer function/wiring.

[JJM15]

I hope so man. I just want people to know that the Impulse rolled off the factory line looking that amazing. What do you mean 'when you were a young man' ?

 

Yea. I was worried about that. Yeow Motors was supposed to do the brackets for me, but their head mechanic decided it was too much work. Lool! So I'm taking it to a shop in ubi to get it done. Till now, I'm still not sure where the original brackets are fitted to. Headlight? Handlebar? No idea. All the pictures I have make it look like there are no brackets at all! So I've got to figure that out. Plus now ive got to reposition my horn, front license plate and IU. Have yet to figure all that out.

 

Haha that's good. Good to be practical with bikes

 

Yes my kill switch works. But I was warned not to use it unless there's an emergency like if our throttle were to get stuck at high speeds. The only time I've used it was when CSV passed the bike over to me and was demonstrating what that switch does

[w7_lee]

'when I was a young man' means that now I'm much older. NS status is MINDEF Reserve (for a few years alrady).

 

So the Impulse has a kill switch, now I need to figure out where the fault is on mine. I think using the kill switch is fine although it's primary purpose is for emergency. When I got my Impulse, the passing high beam did not work. I took it apart, clean it and now it works fine. I figure there was too much dirt and the contacts was insulated by the dirt. So if you don't use your kill switch, 1 day when you use it, it might not kill the engine.

 

Another BTW, I recall CSV manage to purchase the manual for this bike (but I might be wrong... old man forgetful). Did he happen to gave it to you?

[JJM15]

Yup I have it! Would you like to look at it? Do note it's in Japanese, CSV highlighted the important parts, but I'm not sure if he did for the kill switch portion. We could always meet? My bike is almost done!

[JJM15]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you my Suzuki GSX400 Impulse Sadly, it is slightly under the weather and is at Planet. It has issues starting, once started it will run perfect but will randomly die. One was when I was engine braking and the other was when I was throttling in a corner. Towed it to Ah Chong who immediately said- ' PAINT SO NICE BUT CANNOT RUN WHAT'S THE POINT?' . Which are my exact same sentiments.

 

I'm just hoping all these issues will be settled once and for all. So far whenever I combine sitting for a long time without starting and rain, these problems appear.

 

[w7_lee]

Very nice indeed. Congratulation to you. IMO, I think you have really restore the GSX400.

No offence to CSV (if he's still reading here), he's done alot for the bike but had not bring out the uniqness of the bike.

 

The headlight cowl is probably that something special that makes your restoration unique and a real headturner. Now, lookers will know this is not a S4 and importantly, you do not want it to look like one either.

 

Hope Ah Chong resolve your electrical (I hope it is) problem soon.