The $600 98 GS......before I worked my magic...and after!

[Farakin]

It took a week or so, but when you are working in the backyard...I went the cheap route and glassed the tank and bondoed, all the paint and materials cost me around $110.  It isn't perfect but painting in the backyard at night with a flood light isn't ideal...but who can tell at 100 mph     Monday I have a 15t f/45r sprocket coming and a new chain, along with new grips.  I still have t touch up all the faded plastic, and Idefinately need to do something with the faded gauges.  I also need to get a new seat cover, but hey!



When I bought it after the clubman bars...


Now after 3 coats of midnight blue metallic, 2 coats of clear and 4 drams of Ghost Fire flake from House of Color



Full album here:  http://s584.photobucket.com/albums/ss288/Fharakin/

[Majorhavoc]

Sweet!  Painting the instrument gauges is a nice touch.

Is that a bondo job on the gas tank or did you manage to remove that dent?

Any plans for your 'screaming yellow' rear wheel?

[joshr08]

i like the yellow just looking at it makes me happy.

[Farakin]

All the dents are gone...what you see is a reflection of the shed, the 6ft high brick wall, and me taking the picture!  The tank actually looks brand new.  Check out the full album.

I am tossed on the yellow wheel...I like it somedays and not the next...I might try to match the color with some stickers

[utgunslinger13]

meh, I think the paint is in the eye of the beholder but the work looks top notch!  I personally wouldn't have my bike that color, but I would LOVE to have you do any body work I'd need done lol

Good job and keep it up!

[xncnc]

http://s584.photobucket.com/albums/ss288/Fharakin/?action=view&current=DSC03107.jpg

At that point the bike looked awesome, the flakes on the other hand 

Anyway, Im going to bug you for a detailed description of your painting process, I bought another gs500 so ill have 2 bikes that need paint in the next few months.

What paint did you use? primer? process? what color for frame? details!

[Green]

At that point the bike looked awesome, the flakes on the other hand 

I think that's just a photography issue.  One with flash is picking up flakes, one w/out flash is probably closer to what it looks like.  From the image info, it looks like the photos were taken a minute apart.

[Farakin]

It took me about an hour to pick the paint...I kept going back and forth between black and that blue.  I finally decided on blue because I thought it would look better with that damn yellow wheel   .  I wanted something to make it stand out, hence the flakes.  When you are using a 2 stage cheap paint it is very hard to add depth without a ton of work...I was going simple and cheap for this paint job.

Paint: 4th Dimension   Color code: 50413  Flake:  Ghost Fire (Silver, Green, Red depending on the angle)
Paint was $16.50 for a pint, Flake was $13 for waaay more than I used....you have to buy it in 6 oz cups and I used maybe 3 tablespoons. (So if you all want some of that flake, lol, let me know)

Everything at the paint store was $63--paint, reducer, hardener, flake, measuring cups,  etc.

The process:  If you look at the album the tank had a oh my goodness ton of dents in it and we figured it would be more cost effective to pull, fiberglass, and bondo than a new tank or having Buhdda do it.

We used a dent puller hooked to the gas cap screw holes (and a torch) to pop the top dent out.  All the big dents got filled with fiberglass (strength as a filler and in the heat out here I thought too much Bondo would crack), then we bondoed for a final countour.

Sanded it down and used sandable primer on the tank.

For the side plastic, we had to glass a couple cracks, spot filled the gouges(!) sanded, then used a flexible primer for the plastic.

My Uncle and I are great backyard mechanics...he is awesome at glass/bondo, and metalwork...I am better at finishing touches like holding the lights.

We used a regular touch up gun attached to a 5hp compressor with a stock nozzle (we wanted it to be thick as thieves for the base coat since the cheap paint)  We laid 3 coats of base down with 10 minutes of set up between them, let the last coat air for 2.5 hours, hit with 1500 grit sand paper, washed it off, let it sit in the sun for an hour, used a blow dryer to make sure there was no water on it all.

For the clear we used 1 tbl spoon of flake per 8oz of clear, same gun (nozzle was large enough to get the flake out, flake was .08) and put 2 coats with 15 min between them.  Hit it with 1500 grit, washed it down, blow dryer, then a final coat of clear at 1 am, let it set up overnight.

It isn't perfect but all the dents and body nicks are gone...the painting was hard using a led flood light in the dark, so when I painted the gauge cans the paint  is light in some spots, etc.  But for a backyard in AZ I think we did a great job.

I also polished the frame and hit it with color matching frame paint I found online for $3 a can.  I didn't like the look of polished aluminum with that color.

So $63 for paint crap, $3 frame paint, $30 for fiberglass, $15 for bondo, $10 sandpaper, and some lost sleep.

[Farakin]

At that point the bike looked awesome, the flakes on the other hand 

I think that's just a photography issue.  One with flash is picking up flakes, one w/out flash is probably closer to what it looks like.  From the image info, it looks like the photos were taken a minute apart.

Yeah we had a hard time because of the flakes, they are color changing red/silver/green so depending on the light you have a different look.  And it was cloudy in AZ go figure

[utgunslinger13]

Cloudy? Yeah that doesn't happen often! lol

[Farakin]

It's cloudy because my girl is finally flying in from Chicago....bad weather follows her.

[utgunslinger13]

Then tell her to leave!  I'm going to the indians spring training game tomorrow and I want to get a tan! lol

[joshr08]

lol no wonder its nice there in michigan today

[bill14224]

Nice job resurrecting a ratty bike!  I like the yellow wheel, (can you guess why?) but I think it'll look better if both wheels were the same color.  For the seat, may I suggest www.knoplace.com?  If you want to go cheap they can just re-cover it for $40, or I would recommend memory foam and multi-viscous, dry polymer pads.  My ass is still thanking me!    They have the lowest prices anywhere.

After that, I'd axe the stock rectangular mirror, don't like 'em.. besides, if you go with one mirror it should be the left one!

I also have a question.  How does a tank get THAT DENTED?? 

[pronator]

Nice job!  

Did you just paint the frame without dismantling the bike? Just covered up all relevant parts with paper/tape? If so, you've just inspired me, my friend!  

[LOUiE]

those aren't the stock bars are they?  they're kinda edgy and cool.

[ohgood]

rat bike ? hardly, LOOK AT THE SUBFRAME, shock, and swing arm ! it's clean as heck !

nice ride man, i really dont understand why, but i like the hot yellow wheel. rock on !

[fred]

Very nice looking bike!

[Farakin]

The bars are Clubman style..under $30..I like em for the highway, but man they kill my wrists around town.

I taped and papered for the frame paint...I wasn't about to start a tear down ( I am sure I would find more stuff to put money into), its so nice out to ride.

I stripped the frame with a non metal paint and rust stripper wheel from Autozone and a drill.  Make sure you go the same way all the way around....you can do circles (for the brushed look) or like I did and use the edge for a one way grain.

I'll check out the suggestion for the seat, thanks!

That damn wheel...What do you guys think about adding a yellow stripe with rim tape to the front to match?
Oh, and my Uncle really wants to Airbrush the tank.....he might do it without me knowing that bastard...he really wants skulls

[pronator]

Thanks for that info on the stripping and painting the frame. I guess I should start checking around for a "non metal paint and rust stripper wheel."

I'm all for upgrading the comfort of your seat, but if you just want something quick and easy, you can just get some marine grade vinyl at a fabric store and recover it.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=46591.0  (Reply #11)

I did mine based on this how to:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=39184.0

and more info:

http://www.itrocks.com/motorcycles/gel_seat.htm