Black Owl Update. . .

[Jake D]

Okay, for those of you that read my posts about my '89 GS, when I purchased it off of e-bay. . . it smoked.  Bad.

I rode it when I could for a couple months, but that smoke.  Yikes.

Took it to a local shop.  Mechanic says I need new rings. . . at the very least.  I had him start working on it, he pulled the Cylinders off.  Rings were basically gone, left piston destroyed, left rod destroyed.  I decided I needed to split the case and do a rebuild.  

Machine shop has had the cylinders for a week for a hone, have done nothing, but should be done today.  Thought I could re-use the cylinders, but some scratches were too deep.  Had to get used cylinder from bone yard ($250) and hone.  Head was fine.  $330 in parts.  Paid shop $200 in labor for initial tear down.  

Probably have her back together by tomorrow and running.  Also have cleaned the carbs.  Will adjust the valves tonight.  Will change the fork seals, new oil in forks.  Is 15w what I should use or follow Clymer's rec?  

Hopefully by the end of the weekend, I'll have a rebuilt motor with new rods and pistons, rings, clean carbs, new fork seals, and a Srinath Wileyco. . .


Thanks to my cousin, my brother, and my dad and my roommate and this board, I'll have one nice baby GS pretty soon.

[dgyver]

Damn you paid waaaayy to much for those parts. $250 for a cylinder? Last one I bought I only paid $10. For that price, I would have installed larger pistons and had your stock cylinder bored.

[Jake D]

Thanks!!  

Next time I need one, I'll PM you.  Accessability and time factored into that purchase.  Besides the cylinder (which is $400 new), which parts did I over pay for?  

See, at this point, I'm trying to see how much money I can put into.  Like that hotel in Japan with the solid gold $hiter, but in a more productive "you can't poop on this" type way.

Thanks for the input.  And for reminding me about the other parts I'm putting on.

New clutch perch and lever, new air filter, and new domed Suzuki sticker.

It is going to be sweet!!!!

[dgyver]

Over paid for the cylinder.

Suzuki oversize (0.5 & 1.0) piston sets are $60 each. A bore to fit them would be around $40-60, not much more money than a hone.

[The Buddha]

You should swap the whole motor in case of crap like this ... shop rates are ridiculous ... heck my slave laboir rates are ridiculous ... that savage head was gonna cost us like $500 to rebuild, another ~200 in the cyl, bore, hone, piston and rings and you're looking at a $1200 expense in a $500 bike ... I swear any shaZam! happens like that ... I part out the POS and toss what is left ...  Of course I just got in the way of Jetswing doing precisely that, but its not dead from bottom end troubles ... just valve cover and possibly camshaft with side drift ... easy fix IMHO. Lets see ... yet to crack that open ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[Zilla]

You should swap the whole motor in case of crap like this ... shop rates are ridiculous ... heck my slave laboir rates are ridiculous ... that savage head was gonna cost us like $500 to rebuild, another ~200 in the cyl, bore, hone, piston and rings and you're looking at a $1200 expense in a $500 bike ... I swear any shaZam! happens like that ... I part out the POS and toss what is left ...  Of course I just got in the way of Jetswing doing precisely that, but its not dead from bottom end troubles ... just valve cover and possibly camshaft with side drift ... easy fix IMHO. Lets see ... yet to crack that open ...
Cool.
Srinath.

Should of done that with mine. Parted it, that is. Still might. Pretty disgusted with myself right now.

[The Buddha]

Yea see I dont always take my advice ...  I am re building that broken head eli ... But OK in my defense I sold one last year for $2700, the rebuild would have been $50 for the head, 25 for shipping and 75 for gaskets and like 60 for hone and ~ 110 I think for rings ... like 350 ... however all ninja derived motors (old ninja) have soft inatkes and ended up eating them ... so improvements on a while I am in there basis = $500 ... valves, and what ever kibblewhite sells ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[Jake D]

Well, parting it out was an option.   Almost did, too.  But then I would have felt like I was defeated.  

I'll post the complete parts list soon.  I had to buy a lot more than just pistons/rings.  

I bet I'll have $1700 in the bike total when it is done (which is way too much), but it will have a rebuilt motor.  I figure to ride it for a summer and then sell it for whatever I can.  It should be a good bike when it is done.  Ready for another 50k.

[dgyver]

If you want to sell your old cylinder cheap, let me know....as long as the sleeve is not chipped at the base.

I have a couple of motor projects pending that will use a well over bored cylinder.

[Jake D]

Heck yeah!  I'll sell it to you.

$250 is the going rate!  Just kidding.  $10 plus shipping sound about right?  

BTW, I am 99% sure I bought a clutch lever and perch from you, so I think that I'll have your info in my personal messages, but just in case, here comes the PM.  

I'll send you picks of the old cylinder before I send it.  I still have to pick it up, as it was left at the machine shop.

[dgyver]

PM reply sent.

Pics are not really important. With the pistons I have, I will be doing a 4.5mm over bore. So a long as the damage is not more the 2mm deep. Even then, I may press out the sleeves and bore the casting for larger sleeves.

[Jake D]

Got your PM.  Will let you know about shipping costs whenever I can get back out to the machine shop to pick it up.  

I guess I'll have to find a new boat anchor!

[Jake D]

Bringing back an old thread to update my pals about the status of my money pit. . . er, I mean GS 500.

So, got the lower end rebuilt, finally got the cylinder back from machine shop.  Tried to adjust the valves and couldn't get it to spec.  Intake valves were bent.  $90 for new valves and machine work.

Got the head back after two weeks at *$&^&*$#^ machine shop.  Got the bike back together and running.

RUNS GREAT!!!!  Revs nice, idles really smooth.  Totally rebuilt motor, basically.

But the oil light comes on at about 1200-1500 rpm.

At about 2000 rpm, the light shuts off and it is pushing about 22psi at 2000 rpm.

So, I'm going to throw a new oil pump at it $80.  Should be the fix because everything specs just fine (crank on up).  The motor itself is strong.  The oil pump HAS to be the problem.

Here is where every tells me I'm crazy for working on this thing so hard.  But that is why I bought it.  And at the end of the day, when all is said and done, I'm going to have a bike that will run for another 50K.  

And if I sell it, somebody is going to get a gem.

Thanks for listening guys!  BTW, any body got a good oil pump I can buy?

[treybrad]

I actually have an oil pump I'd let go cheap. Motor had about 8k on it when the timing chain snapped for some reason. PM me if you want it.

trey

[scratch]

Check to make sure the sending unit is ok (for the oil).

Fork oil - If you weigh more than 135lbs, then, yes, 15w. While you're at it set your sag (1.4 to 1.55 inches).

[Jake D]

PM Sent, Trey.

Scratch,actually, we checked the oil presure with a mechanical gauge.  It is low presure.  Way low at Idle, and only 22 pounds at about 2000 rpm.  So even assuming the unit was bad (which was removed for testing), the pump is still not good.

[cernunos]

Also, make sure the pressure regulator isn't weak, allowing oil to by-pass at a lower pressure. If it's bad replace it. Love the White Owl, Australia (would love to visit Uluru), and this forum.

C.......

[Jake D]

Presure regulator.

Splain, if you could.

[cernunos]

In the bottom end of the motor is a pressure regulator. It's function is to allow full flow of the oil without allowing too high a pressure, such as when cold. It may be accessible by taking off the oil pan but I believe the lower half of the crank-case has to be removed. I've never done one on the Baby so I'm not sure. At any rate, it will be easier to replace the oil-pump first and then if the pressure is not good...probably the regulator. Love the White Owl, China (thank them for gun-powder), and this forum.

C........

[Jake D]

Yeah, I think it would be hard to get to the regulator at this point.  Engine is back in and running.  

The oil pump will be pretty easy to get to (clutch side, under clutch basket). Now if Trey would pm back. . .

. . . waiting, edge of chair. . .