My First Crash...

[madjak30]

Glad to see you're back...I'll be posting a "Rebuild" thread with a bunch of pics and maybe a video link...but not until Feb...need to order the parts then set aside a weekend to do the work...it shouldn't be too bad...one fork, one shift lever, some sanding and painting...should be good as new 

Happy New Year too!!

Later.

[tt_four]

Sounds good! if sanding and painting didn't take so long you could have that business sorted in a Saturday afternoon! My bike has been out of commission for a while now too. My timing chain jumped from improper tensioner adjustment(oops), followed be some poor advice from the 'yamaha guru' of thumper talk on setting the timing right, which led to me having to do it over and over until one day I accidentally snapped the threads off the end of the crankshaft. I'm currently in the middle of an engine rebuild in my basement. I've got the new crankshaft in, the final hurdle is bolting up the shift mechanism right and then the rest should go back together easy as pie. The transmission would move through all 5 gears nicely but as soon as I start bolting on the parts for the shifter it doesn't want to move, who knows. At least it's winter and we wouldn't be riding right now anyway!

[madjak30]

Yup...winter is here for a few more months anyway, so no sense in trying to rush  ...but I do want to start the teardown soon just to make sure there aren't more broken bits than I think there are...plus if I buy them a bit at a time, it won't scare wifey so much...

I'm pretty busy for the next few weeks, organizing the garage, swimming competitions (daughter), motorcycle show  ...then I can start the process...as for the painting, I want to change the tank colour to black from silver as well as the front fender to black...also want to paint the air covers, since the right side got scratched & dented in the crash...it should look pretty good when I am done...

You still riding the Buell, or have you moved on from that?  I seem to remember you mentioning something about wanting to change...and now you are talking Yamaha...

Later.

[tt_four]

The silver sounds like a good plan. Those are great looking bikes either way.

I sold the Buell back in August. I was thinking about using the money to replace it with something faster, but I ended up spending all that money on truck/house stuff, so that's not really an option anymore haha. I was thinking maybe I'd buy something in spring, but I just replaced my furnace a week ago, and I think I need to redo the knee surgery my dog had last May, doesn't look like it worked because he's been limping pretty good again. Something to look forward to in the future.

Current bike is a yamaha yz426 supermoto. Definitely more fun than any other bike I've ever had, and a big recommendation for anyone looking to upgrade their GS who has that opinion of "I don't understand why you need 100hp on a motorcycle" because mine only has 45 and it's still a crazy bike that'll wheelie in the first 3 gears at least haha, plus it's only 250lbs wet.

[Phil B]

Current bike is a yamaha yz426 supermoto. Definitely more fun than any other bike I've ever had, and a big recommendation for anyone looking to upgrade their GS who has that opinion of "I don't understand why you need 100hp on a motorcycle" because mine only has 45 and it's still a crazy bike that'll wheelie in the first 3 gears at least haha, plus it's only 250lbs wet.

So, what does the GS500 have, that your yz426 doesnt, that makes it 100lb heavier?

[madjak30]

I'd say it's a technology difference along with no subframe...minimalist to the extreme...excellent bike!!     if you aren't gonna do any hiway riding, that is definately the way to go...I was looking at getting a dual sport as a second bike...but I don't think I will push my luck...but I will probably get a 50cc scooter this year for wifey that my daughter can use next summer...

I may leave the tank silver and change the colour on all the rest of the bits...I am starting the tear down tomorrow...had a swim meet today for two of the three daughters (one didn't qualify...yet), just got home...

I'll take some tear down pics and start a rebuild thread!!

Later.

[tt_four]

So, what does the GS500 have, that your yz426 doesnt, that makes it 100lb heavier?

Haha, no idea but it's pretty ridiculous. My scrawny 155lb self can just pick up the back end of the yz, that wasn't happening with the GS. Makes scooting it around the basement a lot easier.

The only thing it really doesn't have is a 2nd cylinder. Since it's an offroad bike the exhaust weights a good couple lbs less than a stock GS exhaust, It does have a subframe it's aluminum, plastic gas tank instead of steel, I'm sure the wheels are way lighter, aluminum swingarm. Other than that it might not be what one bike doesn't have compared to another, but just the weight of the same parts in general. My engine has a few magnesium parts, less steel brackets. Ooh, of course no battery, no electric start(although my friends wr450 has those things and is still pretty light). The GS just hasn't really been updated since it was made, the yz426 was yamaha's top of the like dirtbike 10 years ago, so anything from the suspension to the frame was made lighter. Frame and engine are probably the biggest weight difference though.

Haha, dual sport would make a good 2nd bike for you, but you'll have to wait until the timing is right. I didn't ever assume I could justify a 2nd bike(even though it's my only bike now), but once my wife saw a puppy she just had to have when we already had 2 dogs, it was pretty easy to use her argument for another bike. Scooter sounds like fun, I bet you'll have a good time on that one too haha.

[Phil B]

My engine has a few magnesium parts, less steel brackets. Ooh, of course no battery, no electric start(although my friends wr450 has those things and is still pretty light). The GS just hasn't really been updated since it was made, the yz426 was yamaha's top of the like dirtbike 10 years ago, so anything from the suspension to the frame was made lighter. Frame and engine are probably the biggest weight difference though.

Sigh. I'd love to see a modern update of the gs500. Lighter-everything, but still cheap, and NOT more power. I dont want to have to buy a more powerful bike, to get a lighter (freeway worthy) bike of the same caliber.  ...
grmblegrmble...

[tt_four]

Sigh. I'd love to see a modern update of the gs500. Lighter-everything, but still cheap, and NOT more power. I dont want to have to buy a more powerful bike, to get a lighter (freeway worthy) bike of the same caliber.  ...
grmblegrmble...

You could just buy a supermoto. Even a DRZ400sm or wr250x(fuel injected!) if you want something lighter and aren't looking for a giant power boost and don't want to deal with converting an RMZ or a YZF. They're still seriously fun bikes, even if you're not looking to go offroading or goofing off, and you get a serious upgrade in brakes and suspension.

If I had more money, space, and fabricating abilities(although more money really haha), I'd LOVE to get a dirtbike, get it registered for the street, get some bodywork for it from one of those super single kits so it had a more sportbike styled tank and tail, shorten the suspension, and use it for a city/around town bike. It would be absolutely perfect. Super light, good handling, reasonable power, low maintenance.

To be honest, they look better than your normal supersport/superbikes anyway...




sorry this one is so big, I couldn't find it in a smaller version, but it's exactly what I want for street riding only with dirtbike bars, and obviously cleaned up a little bit but 45 hp in a bike that's less than 250lbs wet would be amazing...

[Kijona]

Sigh. I'd love to see a modern update of the gs500. Lighter-everything, but still cheap, and NOT more power. I dont want to have to buy a more powerful bike, to get a lighter (freeway worthy) bike of the same caliber.  ...
grmblegrmble...

You could just buy a supermoto. Even a DRZ400sm or wr250x(fuel injected!) if you want something lighter and aren't looking for a giant power boost and don't want to deal with converting an RMZ or a YZF. They're still seriously fun bikes, even if you're not looking to go offroading or goofing off, and you get a serious upgrade in brakes and suspension.

If I had more money, space, and fabricating abilities(although more money really haha), I'd LOVE to get a dirtbike, get it registered for the street, get some bodywork for it from one of those super single kits so it had a more sportbike styled tank and tail, shorten the suspension, and use it for a city/around town bike. It would be absolutely perfect. Super light, good handling, reasonable power, low maintenance.

To be honest, they look better than your normal supersport/superbikes anyway...


[img removed]

sorry this one is so big, I couldn't find it in a smaller version, but it's exactly what I want for street riding only with dirtbike bars, and obviously cleaned up a little bit but 45 hp in a bike that's less than 250lbs wet would be amazing...

[img removed]

HOLY CRAP! That thing is SEXY! Now I know what I'll be buying next.

[Phil B]

Sigh. I'd love to see a modern update of the gs500. Lighter-everything, but still cheap, and NOT more power. I dont want to have to buy a more powerful bike, to get a lighter (freeway worthy) bike of the same caliber.  ...
grmblegrmble...

You could just buy a supermoto. Even a DRZ400sm or wr250x(fuel injected!) if you want something lighter and aren't looking for a giant power boost and don't want to deal with converting an RMZ or a YZF. They're still seriously fun bikes, even if you're not looking to go offroading or goofing off, and you get a serious upgrade in brakes and suspension. ....

Wow!  what are those things, *exactly* ??
oh wait, images.google.com to the rescue
....

http://www.motorcycle.com/products/450-super-single-project-68605.html


I'm guessing they dont fit my "like a gs500" criteria of "good(reasonably comfy) for commuting", though.
Or price :-} or availability, for that matter. sigh...

(plus they're single cylinder...)

[tt_four]

Wow!  what are those things, *exactly* ??
oh wait, images.google.com to the rescue
....

http://www.motorcycle.com/products/450-super-single-project-68605.html


I'm guessing they dont fit my "like a gs500" criteria of "good(reasonably comfy) for commuting", though.
Or price :-} or availability, for that matter. sigh...

(plus they're single cylinder...)

haha, yeah I was mostly just giving my idea of an ideal bike for my situation. Just for anyone else who isn't sure what we're looking at, these two are the same exact bike just with the conversion kit:



I think they'd fit your criteria well, all aside from the availability. Dirtbikes are everywhere, and they can be had dirt cheap, but of course the title issue is the main barrier. KTMs are pretty easy to register street legal, and I have a friend who just got his WR450F registered without too much of a hassle. I bet you could find a decent dual sport for less than $2000, spend the money on the tank and tail, and having the suspension lowered, and you'd still come in less than or equal to the price of a used gs500.

As far as commuting, I bet they'd be amazing. Single cylinders are great for traffic, a 450 will have plenty of power, comfort is all about the seat and handlebars you go with.

[Twisted]

I have seen one of these kitted bikes on the track. I think it was some kind of 350 single. The dude was over taking the litre bikes up the inside on the bends!

[Phil B]

so are basically all 4stroke dirt bikes, single cylinder? which is why they're so cheap and light?

[Twisted]

so are basically all 4stroke dirt bikes, single cylinder? which is why they're so cheap and light?

Yes

[tt_four]

The only dirtbikes I remember seeing that aren't single cylinder are some of the aprilias, which have a Vtwin them. They sound pretty mean.

[Phil B]

Ah. like
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/571/2902/Motorcycle-Article/Aprilia-MXV-450-Twin-to-America.aspx

but I dont like how dirtbikes sound, anyway. So, oh well.

[tt_four]

but I dont like how dirtbikes sound, anyway. So, oh well.

I understand the feeling, but to be honest I don't really like the sound of any motorcycle, people are just too obnoxious with all of them, whether it's a sportbike, harley or a dirtbike. At the same time though, listen to this aprilia, if you don't feel like watching the whole video at least listen to the part from 1:10-1:25. it sounds awesome. It's the same feel you get from seeing a buell xb, just a bike who's sound doesn't match up with what it is at all.

http://youtu.be/r9LT3DqzKQo

[madjak30]

Yup...me likey...but I enjoy the sound of bikes as long as they actually have a muffler, straight pipes suck...IMHO...

Here's a good sounding bike...hehehe

Yamaha MT-01

Later.

[mister]

Yup...me likey...but I enjoy the sound of bikes as long as they actually have a muffler, straight pipes suck...IMHO...

Here's a good sounding bike...hehehe

Yamaha MT-01

Later.

I'm sure my neighbors would appreciate me riding that at 4am.

On the other hand, a nice collection of sounds to be used as foley sounds for some footage Hmmm..

Michael