Track Bike build

[catch2otwo]

OK so i didn't want to start a thread until I was actually able to start making progress.  Got this bike for free, so I decided to turn it into a track bike so I wouldn't have to track my Tuono anymore.  Not my first gs, my gf had a gs a year ago as her first bike. 

Bike:  89 gs500

Goal:  light weight, high corner speed track mama 

Got it home, stripped down.


Ratty looking lump


After disassembly, massive cleaning of all parts being resued began.  Here is all the suspension linkage cleaned up



New and old - standard r6r shock swap


Front end:  08 cbr600rr






An interesting note about the front end.  Rather then doing the gsxr swap that seems to be popular, I looked for something with less secondary processes to make fit.  As we all know the gsxr swap requires a stem swap which means more work.  I went on the All Balls racing site and used their cross reference tool to find bikes that utilized the same stem bearings.  The cbr600rr fit the bill.  There is a pretty wide range of hondas that use the same steering stem bearings. 

Also, I bent the lower piece of welded metal on the head tube down and it now functions perfectly as a steering stop with the steering bumps on the lower triple.

The only thing I needed to make the cbr front end fit was enlarge the ID on the gs500 dust cap so that it fit over the upper bearing retainer and had to ad a 1/8 spacer.  Thats it! 

More to come in the following weeks.  Anyone have an 89 gas tank?  Id like the 89 version because i think it is smaller then the newer gas tanks. 

[cbrfxr67]

Nice write up.  Going to come back and look at this again when I'm not hounded at work.  Very interesting stuff,.....love me some cbr goodies.

[mustangGT90210]

What does it cost to get a CBR front end like that? My forks are tweaked somewhere, and I'd rather upgrade to a whole better front end if cost isn't too bad

[catch2otwo]

What does it cost to get a CBR front end like that? My forks are tweaked somewhere, and I'd rather upgrade to a whole better front end if cost isn't too bad

I picked up the complete front end thats everything from the master cylinder cap down to the wheel for 400.  All I need is levers.  I think i scored on that one.  If I were to do it again, I would go a slightly older vintage cbr like 04-06, they are ALOT cheaper and parts are alot more plentiful.  Just going on ebay I dont see too much stuff for the 07-08.  If I remember right, all balls says that the 1000rrs also work as well as some of the 9xx bikes.  If the stem bearings are the same, the only thing you are gambling with is the stem length.  Hopefully its long enough and the only work left is to space it correctly. 

[mustangGT90210]

That's not bad at all really. Just a little out of my range... Looks like my quest continues and I'll just rebuild it on the cheap with stock parts. Thank you for the information man and good luck on the build! I'll be watching for sure

[catch2otwo]

That's not bad at all really. Just a little out of my range... Looks like my quest continues and I'll just rebuild it on the cheap with stock parts. Thank you for the information man and good luck on the build! I'll be watching for sure

Seems like your unable to wait for the right deal.  Just keep your eyes peeled, the slightly older 600rr stuff is out there and just as popular as the gsxr parts.  Not sure on stem length of the older stuff though. 

[cbrfxr67]

"wait for the right deal.  Just keep your eyes peeled,"  Best advice ever on doing this stuff.  Don't get in a hurry and bid low on a few items.  Set your search parameters on a bookmark and check everyday and you will see them pop up.  Sometimes people just want to sell something so someone else can put it to good use.

I forget most of the scores I've picked up but stuff like .99 for a whole swingarm and hardware for a swap will happen.  I did have to pay twenty something for shipping.

[mustangGT90210]

For me it's not that big of a deal. It's not going to be a track bike, just my commuter across town so I don't kill my wallet driving a lifted truck. I don't want to spend $400 on a front end for a bike I paid $750 for lol

That being said, I did look around more and found complete front ends off (older) CBR1000s and such at prices in like with GS500 parts of the same vintage. Saw a couple of deals for $100 with everything, bars, brakes, wheel, tire, etc

[burning1]

I bought my GS for $500, and probably have $1500 into parts for the bike. Some stuff is worth it; the R6 shock/front end swap combo will make your $500 bike ride like a $5000 bike.

Think about it in terms of how long you plan to keep the bike, what you want to do with it, and how willing you are to part the thing out when you sell.

[catch2otwo]

What it comes down to is if your going to keep the bike or not.  My bike is not worth anything and me putting modern parts on it is a complete waste of money from a logical standpoint.  But I like to build and I plan on keeping and changing things on it for a long while..  I see it as a great base to further my fabrication skills.  When I get tired of it, ill push it into a corner and it will be part of my parts bin. 

[catch2otwo]

oook some updates, nothing exciting though. 

This weekend is more cleaning and getting ready to put the motor back in. 

Valve cover looks to have been painted at one point, the paint has been flaking and the metal has been corroding.  I decided to take a grinder with a wire wheel to it, but it was just too big and aggressive.  I ended up taking much of it off with just a wire brush. 






Further cleaning and repainting will take place later.  Question, will the valve cover be ok with normal paint or will it get so hot that I need hi temp paint?


Onto the carb cleaning.  Remember this bike has been sitting outside for a number of years.  The carbs look greasy and very dirty on the outside.  Im sure its about the same on the inside.  Taking them apart...






Bowls




Lots of little particles all over the place. 

Took the diaphragms out, one of them the rubber was stuck to the cover.  A quick inspection showed it wasnt ripped so I soaked it in a little penetrating oil and just let it sit for a few minutes before trying to separate the two.  After a few, I was able to gently pull the diaphragm off the cover. 



Needle jets have this stamped on them :5DH8 are these stock?




more dirty




Found an interesting thread on ADV rider forum and guys are using Pine Sol as a carb cleaner.  Few good things about it, no heavy solvents to damage o rings and other plastic parts, environmentally friendly, and its cheap!

In there i have the carbs, all the fasteners, and some fasteners from the valve cover.   


This is one gallon of pine sol

I then topped it off with some distilled water to get everything covered, now we let it sit and see what it looks like in the morning.


 

[catch2otwo]

Last thing for today: 

Took apart the rear brake.  Last piece before I can put the rear end together.  Pistons completely stuck, not moving.  Had to use channel locks to pull the pistons out.  They were however in pretty decent shape.  Into the pine sol they go. 

[catch2otwo]

And here is what y'all been waiting for.  Pine sol... yay or nay.  HELLA YAY

Pull the parts out of the bin, few minutes with a tooth brush then a rinse with 70%IPA things are looking pretty clean.  Also blew everything out with compressed air. 








you can see parts are pretty clean.  Remember I did have to clean them up a little post dunk but there was no hard scraping or scrubbing. 

Interesting note:  I put the 4 orings that go between the valve cover bolts and the valve covers in to see if the pine sol would do anything.  The orings were pretty flat and hard going in, this morning they were back to their round shape and soft again.  We will see if they seal. 

Also there is still some oxidation left of the carb bodies, but i did not expect the solution to do much for that.  Im pretty happy with the way they turned out, only thing I wish I had was a basket.  Fishing out all the little jets and bolts was a little time consuming and hoping I did not loose anything. 

The rear brake:  not sure if its factory black or if it was painted by someone, but after dunking in the sol, the paint started to peel up.  I didnt want to leave it so i stripped it all back down to the silver.  The silver looks like a factory finish so i think it was painted by someone after the fact. 

Pro Tip:  I use egg cartons to organize all my little parts from walking away.  Great for screws, bolts, nuts, etc.  Also great cause they absorb liquid. 

Put the rear brake back together, now shes a legit roller. 




Things left to do. 

Shim the motor
Wire the bike
misc things like levers
rear brake lines
pilot jets and a misc oring i seemed to have lost

Should hopefully run in the next couple weeks. 

[catch2otwo]

Alright couple updates:

Got a bunch of odds and ends stuff.  Got a speigler rear line, my new carb jets, float and seats, bunch of gaskets, and battery. 

The shorai battery is sick.  Incredible how light and small this thing is. 
This is no giant sharpie, normal size

It also comes with a bunch of sticky back foam in order to take up the left over space of your battery box, I will not be using it as i will be stuffing some of the electronic stuff in there. 

Since I buttoned up my motor, it got put back in.  Time to wire...

Never chopped up a harness before but since this thing will forever now be a track machine, i figured what the hell, ill try my hand at modifying the harness. 

Here is what I started with.

Kind of daunting really...

So my train of thought was this, start with the wires coming out of the motor and work from there.  Since this bike is carbed, and really simple, all I need is an ignition ciruit/charging circuit.  No lights, horn etc.

By tracing the wires coming out of the bike, it gave me a good starting point to see where on the harness i should start.

Stator wires


In keeping with this train of thought, I just followed the wiring diagrams in my service manual and kept everything on the circuit.  The only things that will be left out are the kick stand safety switch wiring (no kickstand) and also the clutch safety switch.  Reason being, i am using a different clutch perch with no associated wiring. 

Pretty much left with this



going to mounting the battery like this in order to put some of the electronics in the left over space.

[Higgins13]

Is that a TL in background?

[modular]

Is that a TL in background?

Answer......

Got this bike for free, so I decided to turn it into a track bike so I wouldn't have to track my Tuono anymore.

[catch2otwo]

Is that a TL in background?

Answer......

Got this bike for free, so I decided to turn it into a track bike so I wouldn't have to track my Tuono anymore.

Ding ding winner!

2007 aprilia tuono

[Tyler.M]

Can't wait to see what kinda progress you'll be making over the winter.  The CBR front end swap is inspired.  I was looking at doing a gsxr swap eventually, but you got me convinced I was wrong all along.

[catch2otwo]

Can't wait to see what kinda progress you'll be making over the winter.  The CBR front end swap is inspired.  I was looking at doing a gsxr swap eventually, but you got me convinced I was wrong all along.

There is nothing wrong with the gsxr conversion.  With Bob's help the conversion is probably simpler then the cbr one.  Im waiting on some time to swap out the head bearings for ones i think will fit better then the stock cbr ones.  Will update once i get the details ironed out. 

[catch2otwo]

ok finally an update 

So at this point in the project, the last major hurtles to get this running is wiring, fuel, and misc crap. 

1/11/13 - wiring

The last installment I started chopping up the stock harness to rid it of all the stuff I wouldn't need.  This included everything for lights, turn signals etc.  At the time I did not have the throttle tube assembly so I could not finish wiring the starter switch.  Got a handful of awesome parts for a great price from Addidas, so here we go...

Because the clip ons are from a 600rr, there was some interference between the brake line/master cylinder and the starter button assembly.  This caused the tube assembly not to be able to fully slide onto the clip on, leaving it about .5" off. 




I guess I could  have left it, but the gap is unsightly. 

Since the wires coming out of the side were in the way i drilled a hole in the housing on the bottom and rerouted the wires to exit out of the bottom. 


Some more trimming of the housing to get some more clearance. 


Pefect fit


Keep in mind, this is a very stripped down harness.  Essentially all that is left is the ignition circuit and charging circuit.  Even the neutral safety switch and kickstand safety switch are gone.  I wanted to keep the wiring as simple and clutter free as possible. 

Some soldering, heat shrink, and zip ties later...