1996 GS500 Free Bike Cafe Build

[TheGreenWeenie]

Well first off; Hello, my name is Joshua. I'm currently holed up in the Northern Virginia area, just south of Washington D.C.  I'm a full time student, work full time, and married with two kids so most of my work will be done after bedtime in my backyard/basement area. I've never rebuilt a bike before, so I am learning as I go. if you see me do something real dumb (which is likely) just let me know. No need to be polite about it either.

So, this bike I got for a steal. In fact, as the title says; it was free. Obviously there was a reason for it. She isn't pretty.  Don't let those distant shots fool you. What's left of the PO's custom paint job is pretty trash. But i'll cross that bridge when I get to it. More importantly, it doesn't run. To be honest, this thing barely rolls. the chain is rusted, the brakes are rusted, the tank is probably rusted, the frame is...well, the frame is in pretty decent condition really. Chalk that up in the win column!

I am also building this mainly for my wife in hopes of sparking her interest in 2 wheels a little more. She's tried to ride with me previously but the ZX-6 i had was ungodly uncomfortable, and my V-Star that i have now only has room for one. So here I am, slaving away in the hopes that we can ride together again someday. and if not, then ill have a cool little cafe style for myself when I'm feeling sporty.

Anyhow, on the the build. I wasn't planning on doing a build thread, so pictures up to this point probably aren't as in depth as one would hope. I'll try to score some better ones from here on.


Here she is the night I got it home. it's hard to see but it was lowered significantly. at this point i had already removed the  seat and fairings. they are pretty trash, but if anyone can use them just pay for shipping and they're yours.


Front view
the levers were broken, the fender is melted. everything is awesome 

after digging around in the carbs and fuel lines for an hour, I actually got it to turn over. but it would'nt fire. tried to bump start it. nothing. Did some reading and thought it could be the clutch sensor. BINGO! that thing was all chewed up. so i took it off, and closed the circuit. now it will at least turn over on command.

took the tank off and fed fuel directly into the carbs via a tub-tube action. it started after messing around with the choke. Hell yeah! felt like i was getting places! check the petcocks and lines coming from the tank. they all looked good so i threw it back together and BAM... nothing again. popped the gascap and tried again. Success! Guess the OEM cap wasn't venting properly. Good, I had the OEM on and the key was barely turning on it anyway. so ordered me a new shiny keyless one.

While i was at it. I decided to do the lunchbox filter cause the OEM airbox is huge and rather ugly anyway.

Amazon has everything!

Same day a friend of mine offered up a pair of clubman handle bars after i mentioned i was looking for a pair! woo! more free shaZam!!

Just testing the look. I'd prefer to do them upside down but after having the wife sit on it, it was clear right side up was the only real option here.

My buddy who gave me the free bars also had a spare seat laying around from his cafe build. he offered that up for free.99 as well. Which I couldn't say no to. so I took that home and mocked it up. Looks like it should fit nicely with a little cutting and welding here and there.

I unfortunately cannot cut or weld metal so I have to take it to a fabricator friend of mine and have him do the fun part.

And as of today, my new main jets have arrived as well as the Delkevic slip-on. This thing is really pretty for only $209. Made in the USA too.




Hope to have updates regularly. I'll do my best to entertain you all but this is my first time doing a build like this and documenting any of it.

[Hupjai]

Joshua! Super envious of that seat.
Looking forward to watching this thing take off!   

[TheGreenWeenie]

Joshua! Super envious of that seat.
Looking forward to watching this thing take off!   

Thanks man! me too! i'm waiting on some new parts for the carbs so i can get to tuning those. then it's off to the chop shop with the tail section. maybe if i'm lucky the guy will paint my frame too. Still need to drop the rear wheel, engine, and wiring harness before i load her up for surgery.

[TheGreenWeenie]

more deconstructing today. I also found out that the breather filter i got wasn't exactly the right one. So i ended up kind of jimmy rigging it to work (hopefully). a couple clamps, double ended barb thingy, and some shrink wrap and i think it should hold up until it bother me enough to reorder the correct part.




Shot of how bad this chain is. Even with all the rust i got it to break pretty easily without having to grind off one of the roller heads.



Swing arm and shock off. Swing arm will be prepped for paint and shock will likely go in the parts box. have a friend with R6 shock that i'm gonna throw on in. Still need to find out what year his is, and what years will bolt on directly





And then there was this spring. found it laying just on the ground. No real idea where it came from. if anyone has a suggestion please feel free to leave it here. I've tried to be careful about what bolts come from where and keeping every thing together as i'm disassembling. But this little guy must have fallen out pretty silently at some point. Or maybe it doesn't even go to the bike. time will tell.

[ShowBizWolf]

Wow Joshua, this is a super cool build thread !  I loved reading through and IMO you have just the right amount of pics.

I hope you and your wife will be able to ride together some day too. Is that cafe seat big enough for both of you guys?

I have never seen clubmans mounted like that... very creative! Often times in the past I've thought about getting a set but shortly after I bought my GS, I replaced my bent handlebars with the superbike kind and I do enjoy them... never could really justify in my mind spending money on another set of bars when the ones I have are so new still... and I was nervous about not being comfortable with such a drastic change in riding posture/position.

What colors are you thinking about for paint?

Good luck and can't wait to see more 

[TheGreenWeenie]

Wow Joshua, this is a super cool build thread !  I loved reading through and IMO you have just the right amount of pics.

I hope you and your wife will be able to ride together some day too. Is that cafe seat big enough for both of you guys?

I have never seen clubmans mounted like that... very creative! Often times in the past I've thought about getting a set but shortly after I bought my GS, I replaced my bent handlebars with the superbike kind and I do enjoy them... never could really justify in my mind spending money on another set of bars when the ones I have are so new still... and I was nervous about not being comfortable with such a drastic change in riding posture/position.

What colors are you thinking about for paint?

Good luck and can't wait to see more 

Thanks el mucho grande for the interest. Sadly, no. the seat will not fit us both. I don't much like riding two up anyway. so this is hopfully going to be for her to just ride next to me. And I REALLY hope I can convince her to try the clubmans in the aggressive position. If not, i might have to get a set for my VStar. as for color. we are going black frame/engine and white body. still havent decided on wheel color yet.

So far things have been going rather smoothly. I foresee some hiccups once I get to piecing it all back together though.

Ill use this as an opportunity to note that I just got an 09 R6 shock off ebay for $50. hope it freakin' fits.

[lucas]

Regarding that mystery spring

There are springs on the throttle cam on the carburetor.  There are a few there actually.  One on the idle screw and two on the carb sync screw.
http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Suzuki/Motorcycle/2001/GS500/CARBURETOR/parts.html

There are also springs on the choke needles, but yours is too heavy a gauge spring for that.

My next best guess is number 10 or 37 from this diagram.
http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Suzuki/Motorcycle/2001/GS500/GEAR+SHIFTING/parts.html

If it isn't any of those, it may have come out of the handle bar controls?

[TheGreenWeenie]

Thanks Lucas. I'm about to crack open the carbs right now. I'll check those two screws for missing springs. and it could have been from the controls too. it did take some prying to get them open for what ever reason. As for the first diagram. i don't think I've messed with anything other than the foot shifting peg from that. Will post updates on that as well as the fixings I've got for the carbs. mostly just gaskets and new jets really.

[The Buddha]

That spring also could be from headlight adjuster screw.
Yea can be carb butterfly balancer too, if so, you might want to look for the other one.
Cool.
Buddha.

[TheGreenWeenie]

That spring also could be from headlight adjuster screw.
Yea can be carb butterfly balancer too, if so, you might want to look for the other one.
Cool.
Buddha.

headlight has it's screw. not sure what a butterfly balancer is but ill see if I can't find out.

[TheGreenWeenie]

Since the rain sent me indoors, I went into the carbs. Got new bowl gaskets, vacuum seals and various hardware. adjusted floats, put the idle air screw out 3 turns, and sealed it up. hopefully I just need to put the proper jets in and the carbs will be ready to go. Highly doubtful though.


oohh. Shiny!

But, I'm an idiot and got the wrong jets for my carbs. So, if anyone is looking for some sets of 140, 147.5 or 150's for the 2001+ model years let me know. (4 pack)

You can see the difference in sizes of the head here. although it seems like they fit fine, I am going to go ahead and get the proper ones.



This is my "garage" it isn't fancy, and I clearly need more space and tools. But I'm making do.  If you look closely, you can almost see a whole motorcycle disassembled in there.

[Tekime]

Awesome! Should be fun to follow on your journey here. My wifey loves to ride on my GS with me (she doesn't have her license, but it's not totally uncomfortable for a little cruising)

Look at all that free stuff. I should probably get some friends too. 

[TheGreenWeenie]

Awesome! Should be fun to follow on your journey here. My wifey loves to ride on my GS with me (she doesn't have her license, but it's not totally uncomfortable for a little cruising)

Look at all that free stuff. I should probably get some friends too. 

haha, yeah lots of friends/people I know through work. So I can almost always find someone with something I need. im debating on cutting off the passenger pegs. I'm thinking there wont be be room for 2 with the new seat.

[TheGreenWeenie]

Just a tiny update. Got home today and put the new hacksaw to use. Would have taken pics of cutting, but it actually took effort and both hands. I know this isn't a traditional Cafe type exhaust, but after seeing some of the other Delkevics combined with the price and the sound, this seemed like a cool option. Eventually ill get around to wrapping the pipes. But wrap is expensive, and I just did it on my VStar so I am just not in the mood to get all itchy again.

Anyway, here's what it looks like all together. It was a very simple mod. and couple probably be done without even taking the whole system off.

Step 1: Cut a few inches above the split for the exhaust.
Step 2: put on new slip-on.
Step 3: feel accomplishment.




And a shout out the The Buddah for hooking me up with some PROPER jets. It's a little embarrassing that I got the wrong ones the first time around. But, it will be kind of cool knowing that my jets came from the Guru Srinath himeself. (GS, Guru Srinath... see what I did there?.... ok... sorry that was super lame ).

Planned for this week is to drop the motor and wires and take it to fabrication for the tail section. While its out, if I have time i'll see about getting to cleaning the engine. If I get the frame back in a timely manner I'll start painting this week too.

on a side note, any recommendations for a classy, simple odometer and tac? I don't mine the OEM on much tbh but the light dash is horrible and needs to go. open to suggestions on this.

Carry on.

[TheGreenWeenie]

So I dropped my Frame and tail section with my buddy who welds. Told him to take his time with that since I barely pay him. I Did receive an R6 shock today. in a very shady box and only wrapped in plastic cling.. All seems well though. and yes, the shock is on my stove. Don't tell the wife.





Plans for the near future include picking up new sprockets and an AGM battery. Hitting up Home depot for new cleaning solutions and some random bolts. Additionally, i'll be stripping the tank of it's paint and cleaning out the inside. Hopefully everything checks out. May get a new tank depending on the condition of mine.

This should do the trick.

[TheGreenWeenie]

Started on the tank tonight.

this is what's on the inside. Lets see if we can't clean that out.

And this is what I siphoned out of the tank. ewwwww



I took all of walmarts white vinegar. I then learned I could use muraitic acid. I'll remember that next time I do a tank.

But first, need to take off the exterior gunk.



This is after a pressure wash just to flake off any loose paint or grime that may prohibit the stripper from doing her it's job.

first coat of stripper. You can see it eating up the paint already.


scrapey scrapey (stripper works a hell of a lot better when you apply it very liberally.


Just after my second coat of stripper and scraping.


Picking up new sprockets tomorrow aswell

[Daeouse]

Aw, the pics are broken . . . 

But otherwise, looking like good work so far!

[TheGreenWeenie]

Aw, the pics are broken . . . 

But otherwise, looking like good work so far!

yikes! looks like imgur is having some trouble. i'll see if i can correct it later on today.

[TheGreenWeenie]

okay i think i fixed it. 

[ShowBizWolf]

Yes fixed!! Woot 

Holy buckets @ how the tank looked just after a pressure wash    You weren't kiddin' when you said it was bad!

I remember the first time I used a paint stripper/remover. It was super cool to watch it bubble up like that and then just scrape it off... hell I still think it's fun to watch    I agree, it works great when you apply it heavy.

I love seeing another GS get some tlc... can't wait for more!