my project. 96 gs500e

[amcline]

well for those that dont know the deal here it it, and i may need help so please read! i will and do update as often as i can.

i found a "bike for sale" for 550 and went to look at it. it hadnt been ran in a while, sitting in the weather, guy didnt have a battery so no fireup... had bad seat, rear tire, paint, broke brake lever, no mirrors, generally rashed up...
so i bartered a bit and got him to take 210 cash and painted some french doors and a small bathroom, still about 290 in value (yes im a painter)
so i got it home, with title.
started a tear down. ended up replacing the intake boots, then carbs when i went to fire it i found they were mising half the internals... so then i had to go thru all the electrical to find the clutch switch was bad,,,
ive gotten off the forum: used signals, mirrors, one plastic side, a brake lever coming, the carbs, and the intakes off ebay..

currently i have about 500 cash into the bike  and i finally got to fire it up today, just a few min ago now...

well i found the muffler has been blown out by a plasma cutter or something,
and for some reason the bottom pan is smoking more and more as it warms up.
it obviously sounds like crap. but it will not idle, must keep above 1500rpm
and from 1500 to 3-4k rpm its really not willing to rev. bad hesitation,  it somwhat surges but that settled down after it was a bit warm and i took of the choke.
it backfires (well just kinda pops now and then)
once above 3-4k rpm it revs really, really friggin quick and sound strong as an ox. (im used to a single cyl savage 650 Really slow revving)
so hence the problem, why would it run so rough at low rpm and so mean above 3k

my train of thought:
carbs are off a 2000 i beleive. and it fired first shot with choke and didnt touch the carbs....
intakes had good looking seals in them.
stock airbox with questionable filter.(i want a couple pod filters anyway)
oil is clean-mildly clean
plugs a bit old looking
no smoke from exuast
no odd smells (didnt even notice a certain smell to the smoke from the bottom pan) could be paint or old oil?
i do have a couple freebie stock coils i could throw on but then i gotta pull the tank, (wow what a paint with the airbox-fuel line- hoses-wires, well everything in the way...)

so i dont know if this is a intake prob? carbs-intakes-fuel-etc
or ignition? cols-plugs-wiring
or internal, maybe a hole in the friggin pistons i dont know, apparently i bought nothing but a parts bike from this guy who didnt know much of anything to tell me about the bike but that his son had it runing doing wheelies "the other day" and then another son said it hadnt ran in a "while"

i think i finally got screwed but right now i just wanna find out what the deal is so i can ride it,
also ill have to find a good welder and fix the muffler, im not spending another 150-350 on a new pipe can and all...

i havent even done any paint, nuts/bolts, tires/ chain/ brakes/ on and on, and i would rather not put 2 grand into this bike when i could buy a lot cleaner bike for 1200-1800


sorry for the long post
please help if you can!


oh and here is my wanted parts thread...
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=35280.0

[nastynate6695]

if there was a hole in the cylnider you would know it.  chances are good that one of the spark plugs isnt firing.   try getting new ones shouldnt be more then $10.  put a tester on the new ones once you have them to verify that they are firing.  You could test the old ones but for what you plan on doing you are going to have to buy new ones sometime.  might as well knock it out now.

[amcline]

well... yep, that was it, that was the cheapest easiest thing to check and yes it was the plugs. 3 bux and change at discount auto...

runs much better now, may have some cobwebs still but i got it warm and idling good, rode it about 20feet 3 times in first,  wife actually did about 10ft (short legs) with me holding the back... clutch dont grab as soon as id want but could be fixed later...

definatly needs somthing done with the muffler asap and now i cant wait for that front brake lever and a trip to the tag office!
gotta take a test ride on the street... will still need tires paint seat and brake pads before a real ride is alowed but im starting to see the light at the end of the long rusty tunnel...

i do have pics just no time to post them on my site xdreamz.com
when i do they will be there... click the bikes link ont he main page,
thanks all!
matt

[amcline]

got some j-b weld on that cut muffler, gonna try that first, will post results soon...

[amcline]

results are in,,, i have a stock muffler again,
some guys like loud but my savage is really loud and i want this bike to be a bit of a sleeper. besides that i want it all pretty stock.
i noticed an odd looking thing though. the tail end is a bit um, off? looks like the swingarm is crooked, but i cant find anything that looks like a major wreck to cause this
will have to update site with pics asap to show you all...

[amcline]

http://xdreamz.sslpowered.com/pictures/bike/bike3.htm
there is a link to somepics of the GS
or go to xdreamz.com and click bike pics

[ohgood]

results are in,,, i have a stock muffler again,
some guys like loud but my savage is really loud and i want this bike to be a bit of a sleeper. besides that i want it all pretty stock.
i noticed an odd looking thing though. the tail end is a bit um, off? looks like the swingarm is crooked, but i cant find anything that looks like a major wreck to cause this
will have to update site with pics asap to show you all...

Could be the swingarm bushings if it looks like the whole rear is 'off' a little. Or it could just be a chain adjustment (axle) that would make it right-o.

Got any pictures of this projecT ?

[The Buddha]

Nice savage - I have one in yellow ... powdercoated yellow ... I also have one in a biscuit color that I am doing a off frame resto into a chopper. Stay tuned.
Savage is the GS of the cruiser world IMHO.
Cool.
Srinath.

[amcline]

any easy way to check the bushings? i didnt even think of that for some stupid reason... thanks
pics are up on site in last post

[amcline]

ok well i put it on the C-stand and banged and jerked around, seems tight, also i noticed the wheel seems square on the C-stand but the tail is twisted. again i looked but didnt find any visible damage, bends, cracked weld or anything on the rear frame,

my thoughts are this bike was stunted, the guy said his son was doing wheelies on it last time it ran...
if he had "12-o-clocked" it as stunters say, could that have twisted the rear frame?
and can it be fixed without it being a total hack job?
i would say its about 2-4degrees twisted counter clockwise (looking at it from the rear...)
Matt

[nastynate6695]

hahaha   good luck with that one....

[amcline]

good luck on what? not sure whats so funny...

anyway i got the front brake assy. today and installed and bleed it, works great, have it about 50% thru a quick black paint job then ill move on to a few other things and ride it a bit. just doing a quick paintjob so i can tag it and ride it some before going any further, not sure if i will actually go with a frame up resto now, since it is worse then i originally thought so ill just clean it up and get some use of it then sell. its definatly looking alot better already... will get pics when its done and road ready...

[nastynate6695]

if its twisted by that many degrees its going to effect the riding and SAFTEY status of the bike...getting it fixed is going to be biotch..unless you can get a new subframe.(saw a few on ebay the other day)  they i just how the the subframe bearings didnt srew up the holes when they got bent. If thats true you have to options.  Eiter aluminum weld it $$$$  or get a new frame $$$$  either way its giong to cost you...i laugh  because i find things like this funny... it makes me happy to know im not the only one suffering with small stupid problems on my bike.

[amcline]

well time to get out the tape measure and level and see where its really bent and by how much then,
1-2 degrees isnt much im saying the thing may be around 1/8" lower one side of the rear. lets say about 10"s wide. and its overall jared to one side by maybe 1/2"

is the entire frame alum or steel?
the rear seems like steel... didnt notice the front

[The Buddha]

Whole frame is steel ...
You can do that cut and fit a R6 type deal that somepeople here have done.
Cool.
Srinath.

[nastynate6695]

yea its steel...forgot.  one of the local morons around here messed up his gsxr swingarm and spen 800 welding it because he let the bearings go for to long.

[werase643]

if it is off....
tie it into the back of a truck with 4-8 tiedowns on the frame(do not tie to the subframe)
remove all plastic and wiring
mr 8 ft 2x4 is your new best friend and tweak it back

or
1/2 ain't much....ride it

[amcline]

my thoughts exactly, gonna get it ready to ride and if i keep it i may do a shorty single seater "buell" looking rear section.. dunno, till then itll be all stock

[amcline]

well i updated my parts list i need or have:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=35280.0


and the body painting is done, got the headlight, and gueages apart for some painting and to see what new parts i needed asap...
going to start trying to mod the front of the seat to make use of the good fabrice thats left, (just going to cut the front down a few inches and restaple the cover) i think

soon as i get some parts for the frontend ill put it back together and get pics to update the xdreamz.com site

[amcline]

i actually just remembered i have a couple mufflers off my wifes rebel, we put mac pipes on it then decided to mod them into a straight pipe so i have just the chrome mufflers left, may have to check the sizing and see, they are pretty small and should be real loud!.

anyone done duals? is it hard to mod the stock piping?