ohhh tempter

i picked up my first bike in a long time a few months ago. i rode awhile back, got in an accident, havent really got back on the horse. just wanted a project bike to play around with, make how i want. guy offered me his old one for free if i took it off his hands. so i did. i wasnt too keen on my old bike knowledge.

its a tempter.
1983. duh, only year.

after doing some research, apparently its a bastard bike. when i got it, allllll the wiring was frayed or disconnected or just..crap. didnt trust it for a minute.

guy said it needed a starter :sigh: got a starter, straight wired it to see if it would turn over, the starter works, but now the motor doesnt turn over. called this mechanic downtown he said its a sprag clutch? and he'd work on it but its a damn arm and a leg for that stuff.

my couple questions, does anyone have/no where i can get a reliable harness or if someone can make me one (id pay of course)?

and how hard is it to do a sprag clutch replacement/repair?

Ok! Ok, a 1983 Bastard! Can you narrow that down a bit? :D I think I had one but it was from 1982. :) Specifically mine was the 82 Kawasaki KZ750M CSR twin. It had a crapped out sprag clutch, too. Kaw dealer had to get it from Japan. It cost as much as I gave for the bike. It also came with the custom dog chew toy seat and brake lines, rusted accelerator cable, Telly Sevalas racing slicks...God I think I need a Tylenol just remembering this....

my bad, 1983 suzuki gr650 tempter. i still love it, im just messin around making it look good until i get the thing running. im more familiar with car mechanics and not to big on motorcycle mechanics. id like to have it wired up to just a kill switch and a button with the key ignition since the harness is..well..crap. getting rid of the big starter button/kill switch box on the handlebars. also gonna pick up a set of clubman bars on ebay for real cheap. i just have some mountain bike straight bars on there for now for looks. i just need this electrical crap done, i dont have the time right now and damn, its still hella hot for almost september in south carolina. any help/advice would be much appreciated..

iamgumby, yea. ive been through my fair shair of tylenol with this thing.

A sprag clutch is a one-way roller clutch. If you know about automatic transmissions both Ford and Dodge used sprag clutches for low gear (in 'D' and a belt in 'L') - and it was all the way in the back of the tranny. A good 'nuetral drop' would blow a sprag clutch to bits - sometimes bust the case. Yep, made some money.

Anyway, it will have a 'bowl' for lack of a better word; that makes up the outside circumference. (generally this is the part that your starter motor gear drives) Then it will have a hub in the middle that should only be turned one direction. (your crankshaft - or a gear to the crankshaft) The clutch is located in between. There will be several roller bearings (not ball bearings) that stand between the inside of the bowl and the outside of the hub. The hub will have ramps cut into it. Some accordian springs in a cage hold the rollers into the deep end of the ramp (so that it free-wheels in 'normal mode'. When the 'bowl' is turned by the starter the rollers are forced down the ramp, wedge to the hub and and transfer the motion to the engine. When the engine starts the hub over-runs the rollers back up into the ramp and the springs take over holding them up.

These are precision parts. The PO on my Kaw tried some 'redneck engineering' and none of it worked - actually caused more damage. If things aren't torn up to bad the rollers and springs can be replaced (well, maybe) as a kit (most sprag clutches can anyway). Finding one is gonna be the challenge. I had to replace the whole shebang. lucky me.

i guess ill just save up a little money on the side to take it to someone, eh? ive got a few other priorities to take care of. new dslr, insane insurance (sr22), and well..my tattoo addiction. but yea, im not gonna try to do that myself. sounds pretty nitty gritty. thanks for your help sir. i wish this bastard had a damn kickstart.

You're welcome! Mine did have a kick start. Not that it would - just that it did!

good luck with this bike, i've had a silver tempter for a bit over a year and a half now, and while I love it, i hate it. As soon as i think everything is good, something else goes, all problems of a 25 year old bike. My most recent is the speedometer makes a loud high pitched whine that increases with the rpms. if you need parts, a lot of gs650 parts are compatible. and if you need a repair manual for the bike, i have an electronic copy id be willing to share with you

duhh the bike was made from 1983 to 1989. knowing that it was only shipped to the states in 1983. but there is a great forum called GRiders.com that has ton of info that could really help you.