Taking ol' sh*tty apart.

[bombsquad83]

Nice man... I can dig that paint scheme.  Probably runs a lot better with the piston on the right way.

[Funderb]

Well, a little update for all concerned. She's running well, and the school motorcycle club went out on a ride the other day, and I tagged along. We decided to do a fun twisty ride, and the new front suspension was phenomenal. It felt 100x better and I can't wait to get out again.
Most recently I put in an '03 kat600 shock. Got it in wonderful condition, it looked clean, almost unused. Its firmed up the tail unbelievably. Also, I dropped the Front end (raised the forks) about 3/4"
I am going to look at a 1988 FZR1000 this weekend, but this little GS is so much fun, I don't think it'll be replaced by the yammy.

We did have a guy with a camera out there, and he's got his own little photography setup on FB, and he snapped this shot of me on the bike through one of the fun corners.



All in all, I don't think the GS will go anywhere any time soon, barring total engine failure/fire. 

[cbrfxr67]

Great pic Fun!   

[bombsquad83]

Nice picture man.  You should get some riding gloves though!

Your lesson learned with putting the piston in backwards saved me the other day.  I was helping rebuild a Honda EX400 quad engine and I remembered your issue and noticed that he had put his piston in backwards too!  We got it back together and it runs great.

[mabrio]

I like the combination color black with white and red stripe, well done job mate

[Funderb]

thanks mabrio, after all the painting frustration, it came out okay.
and bomb-  just got a pair of gauntlet style gloves the other day, can't wait to put them to use.

as for the bike, update:

New fork brace. I got brave and ordered a couple chunks of aluminum 1/2" bar stock to make a new brace for myself,
with a lot of elbow grease, a chop saw, band saw, and drill press, i carved out the new brace and it doesn't look horrible.
turns out a 2.5" hole saw (i think it was 2.5) cuts the perfect radius on the ends. as with most things in life, lots of lube.
here she blows:



The machine screw is in the center for dramatic effect - i got creative, and threaded the brace to accept 1/4x20 machine screws, (what i had in the garage) and I use those giant pan heads from underneath to hold the front fender on. Works like a charm! the screws come exactly flush with the top surface of the brace. perfection.

I bet the bike will go 300mph now.  This pretty much completes the project. I have nothing left to do other than ride it.
Sh!t. What now?

[bombsquad83]

Nice... What kind of gloves did you get?  I'm in the market for some gauntlets for the cool fall temps.

[jestercinti]

Dude, that paint is bad ass!

[Funderb]

thanks jester, it looks way better than it used to for sure.

I got a pair of teknic leather gloves, they've got little steel palm studs and stuff to keep the skin on. picked them up for 16 bucks on electronic bay. just gotta wait around for a good deal!

[Watevaman]

 It's awesome you did that stripe. I was wondering how an older GS would look with one as I was thinking of putting one on mine (stripped some paint taking off the warning label).

Looks really nice.