*** *** GS500 overhaul *** LOTS OF PICTURES *** ***

[ni_mike]

Hi all, Im from Northern Ireland and I own a 89 GS 500.  Over the past few months in my spare time, my friend and I have decided to fully restore my nearly 20 year old bike.  Here is a quick blog of what all has been done during the strip down process, along with a few photographs.

Cheers

NI_Mike

Firstly, the bike as it began.  Its doesnt look too bad when its altogether but alot of rust , wear and tear are hidden underneath it all.  As the project progresses, I did ask myself several times is it worth it all?


Even the stainless steel exhaust looks old and knackered.  Its going to take alot of effort, sweat, pain, blood, spit, elbow grease and polish to bring it back to its former glory.


What exactly is the side fairings there for?  To make the bike look good or to hide whats underneath?


Nowhere on the bike is safe from weathering.  Even hidden areas such as under the tank isnt safe.  Alot more wear is found here too.  Remember the locating for the throttle and choke cables.  If your beast is running high revs when you turn, check the location of them.

As there are alot of nutts and bolts on the bike, its always a good idea to remember what goes where.  As you can see, the wiring on the bike isnt the best.


Alot of WD40 was used which reminds me, I must get onto them and get some sort of adorsement deal.  Rear end took alot of WD40, as the rust had really set in.  Next, as by magic the rear end just disappears.



Oh and its a gonna!



With the rear end out, you guessed it!!! Even more rust and bad stuff!

Next up was the removal of the engine mounting bolts and especially the one which sits right at the front of the end.  The other ones came out with very little effort but there is always one!


We tried WD40 on it, heat and it wasnt going to shift.  Under all that pressure we were putting on it, that section of the upper crank cover cracked.  Its not visible on the pics.


Next up was the removal of the front end and the wiring loom.





Next the biggy job.  Removing that front engine mounting bolt.  One thing for it, the GRINDER!  But first we had to get the engine out of the frame.  The BOLT was left for another day!


And then all that was left, was an engine!

Frame, bear and covered in the orange bad stuff.


Next, was the removal of the stands and these things were a wee bit solid.  Plenty of copper grease to get them moving and then whack them off.




Next job, was to sort out all the pieces that were to be sent away for shot blasting and powder coating.




With the bits to be sent away all sorted out, next up with the removal of that BOLT!




Next up was a tungston carbon drill bit which removed the rest of the bolt and casing from the upper crank case cover but that section had cracked under the stress of it being removed.  Job - locate another upper crank case cover.  That bit comes later.

Bits away to get shot blasted and powder coated.  New bearings and other rebuild bits ordered up.  Fun begins, trying to remember where everything went.



More of the stripdown photos can be found here  -  http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/7995256

[The Buddha]

Please tell me you're not going to sand and paint that tank. Simply gorgeous it looks. How bad is it ... inside and out. it looks great in the pic though.
Cool.
Buddha.

[beRto]

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to post this! 

[ni_mike]

Please tell me you're not going to sand and paint that tank. Simply gorgeous it looks. How bad is it ... inside and out. it looks great in the pic though.
Cool.
Buddha.

Buddha.  just wait until you the progress of it all and then you can tell me if it was all worth it or not.

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to post this! 

No problem.  Will be doing up something similar for the rebuild process this week.

[The Buddha]

Yea man.
BTW after you blast off all the rust, the bike will be like 20 lbs lighter. Rust can take up a lot of volume and in its layers it can take in water and dirt and really be very heavy.
Cool.
Buddha.

[ni_mike]

Yea man.
BTW after you blast off all the rust, the bike will be like 20 lbs lighter. Rust can take up a lot of volume and in its layers it can take in water and dirt and really be very heavy.
Cool.
Buddha.

Very true and as well as that, all of the nutts and bolts are now stainless - that should save a bit more on the weight lol.

[Yev]

Can't wait to see this progress.. 
Thanks for the photos.

[Mdow]

very nice i plan on doing somthing similar this winter.

[fred]

Very nice. Thanks for all the photos. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[kml.krk]

nice!
good luck with the project!
Can't wait for further progress and pics of course 

cheers

[ni_mike]

First job of the rebuild was to replace the upper crank case cover, as the mounting point had cracked.  Although there is no oil at that point, it would have taken the look away from the finished job.  Managed to source up a silver one, so decided to make the bottom silver and the top black.  BUT during the process of the first engine rebuild, on turning the engine over onto its back to put in the oil filter, we heard something rattling about.  Two heads had sheared off during the whole thing being torqued up and they were the 2 that sit in behind the oil filter, going through the bottom and then into the upper crank case.





Luckily these hadnt locked in that tightly, so a pair of pliers and they were out again.  Over to our local nutts and bolts place, who were able to match up a pair of replacements.



The first strip down and rebuild of the engine just took about 90 mins and of course that included tea & coffee breaks.  Second time round, as the gaskets had totally bound and they were reusable, all of the gasket compound had to be cleaned off all parts and reapplied to a clean surface.  The second rebuild took just over 40 mins to do - easy peasy since we had just done one less than an hour beforehand.  lol




Frame and everything that had been powder coated had arrived.  All bearings in the top yoke, wheels, rear suspension etc had to have excess powder coating removed and new bearings installed.  The rear swing arm bearings gave the most problem, so I will add another post on at the end on how we got them out without having to buy an expensive blind hole bearing puller. 

First up was to put the tyres back onto the rims, get the back & front end (new disc) built up, engine into the frame.







Note in the picture below, I hadnt received the silver engine covers.





Tank was in a bad state of repair but not bad for its age.  To be sorted out as it all goes along.





Next up was the strip down and refurb of the front caliper and break system.  New pads installed as well.







The biggest problem before this all started was the wiring loom/harness, as the original one was cut and joined by the numerous other owners.  Earthing and other problems were starting to happen so I managed to source a 89 one from New York.  AND of course, you need a proper wiring diagram so that you can test everything as you go along.  NO SENSE in putting it altogether to find out its just a lump of metal and nothing electrical works.













Next up, silver engine casings arrive.  Time to get them fired on.





Foot rests and stands installed with new springs.



Side plastics fitted.  Starting to look like a bike again.





One of the hardest things that I thought at the beginning to do, was the clean up of the badly weather exhaust system.  I really didnt want to go out and buy a new system.  I used a wire wheel brush on the air line, when the system was broken up.  That was good for taking off the weathering.  Next up, I used a mixture of brasso and petrol to eat down into the metal, with heavy coats of autosol.  Alot of sweat, tears, elbow grease, spit and boot polish later, the exhaust looks like new again.







Now to get the exhaust onto the bike, alot of wiggling about but we got it on.





Next up was the belly pan fitting.  The after market brackets were badly rusted, so these were cleaned up and painted black.  Forgot to take a pic of them after they were painted but you can see the pan later on fitted to the bike.



The bike rolled out so far.  Decals, belly pan, mirrors still to go on and a good clean up still needed.





Belly pan and decals fitted.  Still looking out for a nice set of chrome mirrors lol.

[dwoloz]

Wow! She looks great!

Really wish I had a chin spoiler (and the time and patience to strip my whole bike)

[Kasumi]

Thats excellent. Ive stripped and rebuilt 2 bikes like this, right down to engine rebuild and new paint all round. Nothing can put into words how time consuming and difficult some of the tasks are. But the end result is worth every minute of your time with the blow torch and WD40 trying to get stuck stuff unstuck.

Good job!

[The Buddha]

Ni-mike -you are soooo bad ... you knew and still played it coy. nice bike ... I am very partial to black for my frames. But maybe I'd do the stock color on one and check.
Cool.
Buddha.

[kml.krk]

this thread should be linked in wiki and titled "GS500 overhaul"
excellent job man!
kudos

[pronator]

Is that the stock silver color? It looks almost pearly white in some of the pics.

Either way, it's purdy! 

[scottpA_GS]

WOW.. Very nice job. Well documented. 

[mayhem]

Dude, how long did this take you???   

[fred]

That is one beautiful bike! I'd love to do something like that to my bike some day...

[mullethunter3]

Wow. The bike looks brand new! The silver engine covers are my favorite.

But seriously, how long did this take you??