Restoring, and converting to naked, my 2004 GS500F

[bertreynalds]

Original Post here: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=69254.0
Someone in the Test area confirmed my original idea that this post belongs in Projects, so I'm reposted it here. Not trying to spam, just want visibility and advice.

Hello!

Note: I'm selling a few parts: descriptions and (coming soon) photos at the bottom of the post. Can someone point me to the parts/for sale section?

Introduction
    I'm restoring a used 2004 GS500F that's seen a lot of rough years before it came into my possession. I wasn't a particularly loving owner when I first got it, as I always viewed it as a temporary starter bike not worth investing any time or money in. Well, I've changed my mind! It has been sitting around for the last 13 months without even being started.

I've already put close to 8 hours in with the help a friend of mine, who is much more experienced with motorcycle maintenance than me. I'll detail some of the things I've worked on, some of the things I plan to do, and some of the things that I need advice or recommendations for. Thanks in advance for reading, I appreciate any help you can provide!

http://i.imgur.com/pm83wwa.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/h4AkNCJ.jpg

State of the Bike

Engine Noise
https://vid.me/a8au
    I believe a mechanic referred to this as a 'ping'? I never dealt with it when I bought the bike, because it was a cheap starter bike and I realized that the poor bastard had a myriad of problems that weren't worth fixing at the time. But HERE WE ARE. Any ideas of what this is? More context provided below.

Fuel System
Petcocks
    The bike only stays on when the frame-mounted petcock was in the PRI position. The hose that is supposed to supply vacuum to the petcock is plugged at its other end, which is why the bike starves and dies when the petcock is in the ON or RES positions. I have very rich-smelling exhaust and I presume this petcock situation contributes to that.
    The petcock on the underside of the tank however, SUCKS. It is sooooo difficult to get both the On and Reserve hoses both hooked up and collared. I'm looking to get replacement 1/4" silicone thin-walled hoses to make things easier and more transparent. In the video above, you see that my friend and I rigged a gasoline-IV that dumps directly into the carburetors. I removed the petcock because a) the hoses were like, FUSED to the petcock and b) I couldn't get both the fuel hoses connected to the tank petcock.

  ADVICE REQUEST: REPLACING THE FUEL HOSES?

Vacuum
    The vacuum hoses are a disaster. If everything were to spec, I believe the frame-mounted petcock would be useful again and the bike will stay on and running when it is in the ON position. I found a detailed diagram of them before the accident, but that was on my old computer which has since died, so I do not have access to it.

  SPEC REQUEST: VACUUM HOSE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE 2004 MODEL YEAR - A diagram would be amazing.

Air Intake
    The current air filter REEKS of gasoline. I think it may have happened after the bike went down in my accident; it stayed on and on its side until I hit the killswitch 5-15 seconds after it went down. Any other theories on a gasoline-smelling air filter? I already ordered a replacement:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GMAJQG

Engine - Cylinders
    Different compression levels in the left and right cylinders. I believe right is in the normal range, but left is on the low range of acceptable?
http://i.imgur.com/rQHoI8I.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/CQcPtcn.jpg

That left cylinder is seemingly the source of engine ping referenced above, but I'm not 100% sure.

The left cylinder had a smashed, filthy spark plug (bottom, in the picture), and the right one looked used but in fine condition:
http://i.imgur.com/895FXh4.jpg

So I replaced it with a new one
http://i.imgur.com/wPkwe9E.jpg

  QUESTION: What would cause left spark plug to be so deformed?

I ran the bike with a brand new replacement spark plug, and it already looked a little gunky after just 10 minutes.
http://i.imgur.com/PVUekyl.jpg
At least it didn't get deformed right away.

Electrical System - Headlight
While the front fairing was seemingly stock, the headlight itself was a custom mod:
http://i.imgur.com/xKq4Gdm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/MzhwBBs.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5iaM61x.jpg
The light was always on, always in high-beam, and very bright, I think thanks to that little thing. I forget what it's called. What do I need to do to install a new headlight? Can anyone recommend a headlight + turn signal setup for a converted "F" model? What wiring modifications are needed to get me back to stock, and how should I go about removing this thing?

  ADVICE REQUEST: Making a 2004 GS500F naked?

Electrical System - Battery
The battery is toast. My friend speculated that it was the original battery. I don't know one way or the other, but it won't charge enough to even crank the engine; we drained a fair amount of my car battery during the idling test. I need a replacement.
  ADVICE REQUEST: New battery? Preferably one cheap option, and one ideal option
what I'm leaning towards right now: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F9LPJ8S/


Current Status
After a year of sitting dormant, we did a full oil change and oil filter replacement. We drained as much fuel from the tank as we could, and refilled it with clean fresh gasoline. However, we couldn't re-attach the fossilized fuel hoses to the way-too-close-together outlets on the tank petcock. We used an IV-style rig to get gasoline flowing directly into the carbs. Sure enough, once it was warm it ran and idled just fine (or at least, as well as it did before my accident).

We also removed all extraneous frame hardware. I have a lot of fairing bolts available if anyone is interested. Whoever stripped the side fairings off left a bunch mounting brackets in place. A bracket on the left side probably absorbed a fair amount of the road when it was sliding. Shoutout to my little "frame slider" who saved the rest of the bike from more serious damage. He's the real MVP.


Current ToDo:
* Replace the fuel hoses. The old ones are just so worn out, and the two of us couldn't even connect both of them back to the tank.
* Replace the battery
* Replace the air filter
* Clean the chain and sprockets. It got pretty rusty since I left it sitting out in a backyard for a year. I may need to order a replacement, but for now I'm just going to clean them
* Replace the brake fluid
* Clean the brake rotors (rust)

If I can do all this and ride it around my neighborhood, I'll need to add on some street-legal items:
* New headlight (replacing the front fairing headlight)
* New front turn signals
* New mirrors

I think I need to replace the handlebars because they bent slightly, but I'll only do that when I know what mirror(s) I intend to get.

ANYWAY!
Thanks for reading. All advice is welcome and appreciated.

TL,DR. Please help with the following
* What's with my funny engine noise?
* Replacement fuel hose specifications / product #
* Replacement battery
* Converting F-model GS to naked
* Has anyone re-done the vacuum hose setup? Can you share a photo of the setup, or direct me to a diagram?




For Sale - will add photos tomorrow / when I know where to post FOR SALE items
WINDSCREEN - one front-fairing windscreen, with screws
MIRROR (RIGHT) - one front-fairing-mounted right mirror, with assembly
FRONT FAIRING MOUNTING BRACKET / STAY
FRONT FAIRING AIR DIFFUSER
FRONT FAIRING COWEL
I have all of these in the trunk of my car, I'll take photos and add them here.

[Al Capwn]

Welcome to the club!

I'l post what I have learned so far and try to help you out...

Engine Noise: Can't see vid, so not sure. Maybe try YouTube?

Fuel Hoses: Common replacements are 1/4" (slightly smaller) or 5/16" (slightly larger), or the original metric lines:
http://www.bikebandit.com/oem-parts/2007-suzuki-gs500f/o/m16095#sch649432

Tygon seems to be the preferred material; probably less brittle and more flexible than poly. For what it is worth, I used cheap poly 1/4" lines (Raider 714B-5 1/4" 5' Roll Fuel Line); started off blue, now they are more green in color. They are snug, but once they "wear in" they become a pressure fit and have never had to clamp them on.

Vacuum Hose Diagram: Look at adidasguy's photobucket here: http://s1206.photobucket.com/user/adidasguy/library/Technical?sort=3&page=1

That should get you sorted in terms of what the hoses to the carbs are supposed to look like. If someone has removed the PAIR (secondary air) unit, that may not be attached. In some of Patrick's photos, the PAIR system is removed and capped with a red rubber nipple. If you have your PAIR system in place, attach the PAIR hose where that red nipple would be in the pictures. If you look up "GS500 service manual", it has been published online. Pretty sure it is copyrighted, so I wouldn't be selling copies or anything, but I doubt Suzuki is going to come after you for referencing it. That should get you sorted on how all the carb hoses should be connected.

Spark Plug Damage: Either someone dropped/damaged it outside the engine, or it was hit with something. That either means insane compression (unlikely) or maybe the piston???  Is that oil on the plugs? Carbon will be black and sooty, but dry (unless there is gas on it). That wet and brown plug looks like it may have oil on it, but hard to tell from the picture.

Naked GS: Go for it? I can't help you with the electrical, but I can't imagine there is too much of a difference. Others can chime in with front signal ideas, but I am sure there are some options if you looks for the GS500E parts and how they mount up. You can either use the GS500E front head lamp, or purchase/make some headlight brackets and use the original GS500F headlight.

Battery: I am using the one you showed. No real issues with it thus far. It is smaller than the battery box, but they provided some foam spacers. May I suggest some rubber bands or create a shell to help secure the battery in the battery box.

Best of luck and keep us posted on how it goes!

[bertreynalds]

Thanks for the reply!

Regarding the bad left spark plug: in addition to the gap looking like it was smashed in by physical force, the spark plug was extremely foul. We blasted it with a blow-torch in an effort to clean it, which makes it look more dry and burnt in the photos I uploaded (didn't take a photo when it was fresh from the cylinder.

The fresh plug looking dirty was likely from doing a wet compression test: we dripped a small amount of oil into the cylinder and ran the test again, and got good compression. The photo I took was from an earlier, dry test. The oil gunk on the brand-new spark plug could just be from that, but since the old one was so fouled I think something else may still be up with that cylinder

[bertreynalds]

So on tap for this week

New parts / materials:
New Lithium Iron Phosphate battery - $100
  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F9LPJ8S/
New Dot4 Brake Fluid - $10
  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CPCRBS/
New semi-transparent, softer fuel hoses - ~$10
  http://www.mcmaster.com/#5552k25/=y1cpf3
Chain Cleaning Material - ~$25(?)
  From Home Depot: Kerosene, spray bottle, disposable gloves, soft brush (I already have a grunge brush and chain lube from last year)

ToDo List for Week 2:

• Clean the chain and sprockets to remove rust, grime, and grease
• Clean the somewhat rusty brake rotors
• Change the brake fluid
• Replace the fuel hoses
• Install new battery
• Install air filter

Then I'll start her up and take her around the block! As always, any comments, advice, cautionary tales or words of wisdom are much appreciated. Thanks for reading!

[AlexT]

1/4" tygon lines were stretch on the petcock for me and it took a lot of back and forth between a hair dryer, WD40, and cursing to get them on. I wish I would've gone 5/16" (unless someone else has tried them and they're slightly too loose on the tank petcock?)

Al Capwn, I originally bought those same blue poly lines as well and have no idea how you ever got those to stretch over the petcock. The nipples for the hoses must be at least 3/8" and the poly lines have thick walls and are pretty stiff.