rebuilding a GS500E

[flair.14]

Hey all!

I am pretty new to motorcycles but I have developed into a fairly handy guy after working on my car for years.

I picked up a 97 GS500E that has a bit of damage (motor scratched on right side along with various other items) and missing parts (battery, spark plugs, mirrors, lights, etc). The bike, apparently, has been sitting in warm storage for about 1 year. There does not seem to be too much rust on the chain, sprockets or rotors.

What would you people recommend be top priority to get thing bike on the road?

I am of the belief that I should remove and clean the empty gas tank (gas line from the tank has already been unhooked by previous owner). I think I should hook up a multimeter to check out if there are any shorts in the electrical before hooking up a battery and attempting to start it. Should I replace the oil in the motor before attempting to start it? What should I do to the carb?

I do have access to *some* spare parts. I am in possession of a 94 GS-500 frame, harness, gas tank, spare engine (!), carb, etc.

One last item...the ignition (key lock) seems to be stuck in the position between "off" and "on". This may be due to the extreme cold in my garage but is it a big deal to replace the key lock?

[GeeP]

Welcome!

First thing I would do is shine a light down the spark plug holes and see if the cylinders are rusty.  If so, pull the engine and hone the cylinders.  A previously rusted engine will not run for very long before losing compression.

Cleaning out and lining the gas tank with a product like Red Kote would be a good step, yes.  Rusty fuel tanks are the bane of older GS's.  A good coating job will make that problem go away.

It might not be a bad idea to visually inspect the wiring for crappy repairs, chafing, etc., though I wouldn't go as far as a multimeter unless I really expected to find something. 

I wonder if the owner had some kind of engine trouble with it, fiddled a little, then forgot about it.

What is the history of the bike?  Why is it in the state you bought it in?

Tell us more!   

[flair.14]

I shined a light down the spark plug hole but I couldn't tell if there is any rust in the cylinder / on the piston.

I have my gas tank off now and I am having a difficult time to drain all the gas from it. I thought the gas tank was empty but there appears to be a TINY bit of gasoline left in the tank. I will have to search the forums for info on what is the best way to get this tank dried and cleaned.

I got this bike in an auction along with some spare parts which I mentioned above. The bike had several owners and the last one, I think, attempted to make this one into a race bike. That would explain the lack of lights and the missing cluster. I have a feeling that I will be busy for the next several weekends!

The motor might be seized. I was unable to have the rear wheel turn while in gear. This will have to be investigated in the next little while.

[ohgood]

I shined a light down the spark plug hole but I couldn't tell if there is any rust in the cylinder / on the piston.

I have my gas tank off now and I am having a difficult time to drain all the gas from it. I thought the gas tank was empty but there appears to be a TINY bit of gasoline left in the tank. I will have to search the forums for info on what is the best way to get this tank dried and cleaned.

I got this bike in an auction along with some spare parts which I mentioned above. The bike had several owners and the last one, I think, attempted to make this one into a race bike. That would explain the lack of lights and the missing cluster. I have a feeling that I will be busy for the next several weekends!

The motor might be seized. I was unable to have the rear wheel turn while in gear. This will have to be investigated in the next little while.

make sure you're in 6th gear and the plugs are removed when trying to turn the rear wheel. the valve train gives fair resistance.

[flair.14]

Thanks for the tip!

If I was indeed in 6th gear, should the rear tire spin if I push the bike or should I make an attempt to elevate the rear wheel and try turning the tire by hand. The latter would be a bigger PITA for me as I do not have a centre stand.

[The Buddha]

With plugs out it will turn by hand. It will also be pushable.
Cool.
Buddha.

[flair.14]

The plugs are out and so is the carb. I put the engine into 6th and pushed the bike about 3-4 inches before the rear tire locks up. I imagine that is a pretty good indication that I have a major engine problem on my hand. I guess I will have to take this engine out of the frame and open it up to figure out what is the problem. I will start this project after finish cleaning the carbs and fuel tank.

I do have a spare engine sitting on the ground. Is there any way I could, without mounting it, find out if that engine is any good? I imagine a compression test is a good way to do that but any idea how I can turn the engine?

[fred]

The plugs are out and so is the carb. I put the engine into 6th and pushed the bike about 3-4 inches before the rear tire locks up. I imagine that is a pretty good indication that I have a major engine problem on my hand. I guess I will have to take this engine out of the frame and open it up to figure out what is the problem. I will start this project after finish cleaning the carbs and fuel tank.

I do have a spare engine sitting on the ground. Is there any way I could, without mounting it, find out if that engine is any good? I imagine a compression test is a good way to do that but any idea how I can turn the engine?

Take the small round cover (usually with Suzuki sticker on it)  off the right hand side of the engine. The signal generator is under that cover, and you can just take a wrench to the big nut in the center of the signal generator and turn the engine over. Should be easy to do and I think you should be able to do a compression test that way...

[Weston]

You might try hook up just the starter wiring from the engine in question to your GS and hit the start button.

[flair.14]

I managed to turn the engine on the bike by using a 19mm wrench. It was/is pretty difficult to turn it with the wrench. I attempted to check the compression of the engine but it would appear that both cylinders have little to no compression whatsoever . I can, sort of, turn the engine by pushing the bike backwards in 6th gear but it doesn't seem to cooperate when pushing it forward. Any ideas? It looks like I will have to take apart this engine and see where the problem lies.

The other engine (on the floor) is missing the 19mm nut under the cover. I assume that the crank has been taken out of the engine (grrr). I wonder how many other pieces are missing from this engine.

[flair.14]

I am thinking about running the compression test again but this time spinning the engine with the starter. I have a spare car battery laying around which I could use to give it a go. This bike was tampered with a great deal and I have no clue which is the positive and negative terminal. I see two wires coming from the back of the engine and I am pretty sure they are supposed to be hooked up to the battery.

Is the positive wire coming from the engine from the bottom back right side and the negative from the centre back? Perhaps I should take pictures...

[flair.14]

Anyone can give me some input? I am stuck for the next several hours doing stuff with the wife but I would love to get going tonight if possible

[joshr08]

http://www.manualz.info/Manuals_pdf/SUZUKI/GS500E%20Service%20Manual%20'89-'97%20ENG.pdf
this is 72 MB of download but its a complete manual for the 89-97 gs500e just let it all download then save it to your computer.

[flair.14]

Incredible! Thanks for the link

[joshr08]

not a problem.  anything to help out a fellow gstwinner in need.  hope you dont have dialup tho...it took me about 5 mins to download that fill i think with wireless net.