Unhappily living with cosmetic damage

Gary856 · October 15, 2009, 11:47:38 AM

Ever since I low-sided my GS, I wish I could get it back close to its pre-crash shape cosmetically. The scratches lower down (engine guards, muffler, rear fender) don't bother me; actually think they're kind of cool. Fixed the gauge cluster and replaced the handlebar. Right now the biggest eye sore is the dented tank, which takes away a lot of pride of ownership. Sigh... I still like the GS enough to want to ride it, so I've been have this urge to either replace the tank, or sell my cosmetically imperfect GS and buy a cleaner looking one, just so I don't have to look at that damn dented tank.

Last night I made the startling realization that my '01 GS, which looks kind of old and tired with rust, grease and crash damages, is a year younger than my daughter, who still looks very young and fresh. I guess this means bikes live in dog years.

ineedanap · October 15, 2009, 11:56:29 AM

I wouldn't let it get you down. It adds character.

On my ninja 250 I had to make 2 giant "dents" in the tank with a hammer to fit clipons. They were each the size of a fist. People would ask me about them and we'd laugh. It was a funny conversation starter. I was actually proud of them because if you think about it, who else has the balls to take a hammer to their tank.

Pretend they're reliefs for clipons.

The Buddha · October 15, 2009, 12:10:25 PM

Quote from: Gary856 on October 15, 2009, 11:47:38 AM
Ever since I low-sided my GS, I wish I could get it back close to its pre-crash shape cosmetically. The scratches lower down (engine guards, muffler, rear fender) don't bother me; actually think they're kind of cool. Fixed the gauge cluster and replaced the handlebar. Right now the biggest eye sore is the dented tank, which takes away a lot of pride of ownership. Sigh... I still like the GS enough to want to ride it, so I've been have this urge to either replace the tank, or sell my cosmetically imperfect GS and buy a cleaner looking one, just so I don't have to look at that damn dented tank.

Last night I made the startling realization that my '01 GS, which looks kind of old and tired with rust, grease and crash damages, is a year younger than my daughter, who still looks very young and fresh. I guess this means bikes live in dog years.

I can undent and coat a tank. Unfortunately, ebay tanks are cheaper, even though they would rust out pretty fast they are cheaper. Also my undenting isn't perfect. Its bondo ready if its been creased in the dent. It turns out fine as I've been told, but I can see some ripples.
Cool.
Buddha.

tt_four · October 15, 2009, 08:35:00 PM

How bad are the dents? My tank had 3 bad looking dents. I'm in the process of bondoing them, at which point I'll just repaint, good as new.

Roguesuzuki · October 16, 2009, 09:38:43 AM

Chicks dig body damage.. lol

ohgood · October 16, 2009, 05:30:04 PM

Quote from: Gary856 on October 15, 2009, 11:47:38 AM
Ever since I low-sided my GS, I wish I could get it back close to its pre-crash shape cosmetically. The scratches lower down (engine guards, muffler, rear fender) don't bother me; actually think they're kind of cool. Fixed the gauge cluster and replaced the handlebar. Right now the biggest eye sore is the dented tank, which takes away a lot of pride of ownership. Sigh... I still like the GS enough to want to ride it, so I've been have this urge to either replace the tank, or sell my cosmetically imperfect GS and buy a cleaner looking one, just so I don't have to look at that damn dented tank.

Last night I made the startling realization that my '01 GS, which looks kind of old and tired with rust, grease and crash damages, is a year younger than my daughter, who still looks very young and fresh. I guess this means bikes live in dog years.

LOL !

this comparison is so very unfair. your daughter will forever be young, fresh, smart, beautiful, and all the other good things to be said of daughters.

the gs- it's a pile of oxidizing crap from the time it's made until it's re-cycled into tin roofing. it's crap. it really is. it's just a pile of crap you can lean over and enjoy windy roads on for now....

leave the bike alone. it's just a dent or whatever. you can't see those marks while you're riding, and GS's are meant to be eye candy. use those eye candy moments for maintenance instead

Gary856 · October 18, 2009, 10:07:44 PM

Quote from: tt_four on October 15, 2009, 08:35:00 PM
How bad are the dents?

hit by the handlebar during a lowside...

Gary856 · October 18, 2009, 10:10:44 PM

Quote from: Roguesuzuki on October 16, 2009, 09:38:43 AM
Chicks dig body damage.. lol

yeah but guys dig perfect bodies, right?

I'd be a lot happier if the dents can be pushed out and smoothed out somehwat. Don't have to be perfect, I guess, i.e., a little scarring is ok, but at least less of the "open wound" look right now. There is a PDR (paintless dent repair) place in Santa Rosa (about 1.5 hr from where I'm at - San Jose, CA) that works on motorcycle tanks. I'll contact them to see what they can do, but I have a feeling it's not that cheap.

I have a sense of guilt crashing/damaging my GS. When I got it in Jan 09 (two previous owners), it had some wear-and-tear from normal use and the elements, but hardly any "damage". I had intended to take good care of it, until its ready to be passed on to the next owner, perhaps another new rider who would be happy with owning a GS in good overall shape. I just hate to be the person who messed up a good and hard working bike... Well, never mind, just ranting...

Gary856 · October 18, 2009, 10:48:41 PM

Quote from: ohgood on October 16, 2009, 05:30:04 PM
this comparison is so very unfair. your daughter will forever be young, fresh, smart, beautiful, and all the other good things to be said of daughters.

yup about daughters...

the thing about bikes (and cars) is after a while they begin to feel like family members, too... maybe I'm

the mole · October 18, 2009, 11:58:41 PM

If its any consolation, I have the same colour GS with almost identical damage.
I find my dent a little annoying, but it doesn't seem to affect the performance too much!

The Buddha · October 19, 2009, 06:36:22 AM

That actually will make a good candidate for my undenting.
My undenting can be your undenting. Cut a big hole right on the under side of the tank beneath that dent. Then hammer out with mallets, metal body shop hammers, rocks, fist, first born etc ...
Then weld it back. Then coat it inside. That is it. Then bondo and paint outside. Easy. As an added benifit, you'd have a tank that never rusts inside.
I'd do it as I described for 150 (no painting/bondo though, I dont paint, undent and weld and coat only) + shipping to you.
However, coating is best done in summer, its too cold to get it cured well for right now. I'd like to be atleast 70 degrees when coating, 80+ is even better. Maybe we may manage to sneak back into the 70's in a week or 2, but 80's - forget it, not till march.
Cool.
Buddha.

tt_four · October 19, 2009, 08:55:09 AM

Hmm.... For a dent that big, maybe just as a rainy day project you could jb weld something with a handle onto the dent. Once it's dried you could dry pulling or tapping the handle with a rubber mallet to see if you can pop it back out. I have no idea if it would work, but that's a lot bigger than the dents I had, and you'd add 3 lbs to your bike if you tried using bondo!

Gary856 · October 19, 2009, 05:26:14 PM

Buddha's open-heart-surgery style dent removal gives me the chills. I was hoping for some kind of out-patient type operation.

Check out this place below. They say they work on bikes with mega-dollar (well, kilo-dollar, actually) paint jobs, so I'm not sure if they would bother with a poor little GS. I'll see if I can get a quote from them.

http://motorcyclepaintlessdentrepair.com/motorcyclepdr.html

ohgood · October 19, 2009, 06:13:37 PM

LOL @ "outpatient" motorcycle repairs. thats funny stuff

xanthras · October 19, 2009, 06:24:27 PM

Just my two cents, but assuming you are patient and have a little $ to spend, 02+ tanks are on Ebay all the time. With how much you might spend to have a shop fix it to the point where it looks stock you might find a deal there. Black and blue ones are the more common colors from what I have seen too.

Gary856 · October 19, 2009, 06:45:20 PM

Quote from: xanthras on October 19, 2009, 06:24:27 PM
Just my two cents, but assuming you are patient and have a little $ to spend, 02+ tanks are on Ebay all the time. With how much you might spend to have a shop fix it to the point where it looks stock you might find a deal there. Black and blue ones are the more common colors from what I have seen too.

That's kind of what Buddha said, that a used tank on eBay may end up being cheaper. All the ones I've seen (without dents) on eBay seem to be in the $200+ range. This brings up the question of year compatability. My GS is an '01. Anyone knows for sure if older tanks (pre-'01) and/or newer tanks ('04 on) would be drop-in-replacement for an '01? If not, what are the differences? Can they be made to fit with simply modifications?

xanthras · October 20, 2009, 06:53:22 PM

not 100% positive about the compatability of an earlier tank, but i think it would fit the frame with the added benefit of messing up how your seat fits. Either way, tanks like the one you have are much more common on Ebay. I just did a quick search for completed listings and it there were two of your vintage that went for under $100.

The Buddha · October 21, 2009, 08:56:34 AM

You already have a chunk of paint missing. Makes no sense to do paintless dent repair.
The cut and hammer method is far better than tack a pin outside and pull with sliding hammer. In fact that usually results in chunks of metal getting tore out in the wrong place ... the outside.

A ebay tank may be 200 or whatever, but you still have to coat it inside to compare to mine. Dry tanks appear to not have rust. However you put gas in it and it will show up a lot of rust all of a sudden. I have kept rust free tanks dry for a few months only to have them rust immediately upon putting gas in em.

IMHO, cut and hammer is better and safer and looks nicer than the pull from outside method ... but that's just me.
Ebay tanks - whole other animal.
Cool.
Buddha.

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Unhappily living with cosmetic damage