ShowBizWolf's 1998 GS500E

[ShowBizWolf]

Just a written update today. Brand new headlight arrived yesterday finally, can't wait to put it on and hook it up.

Also I attached both halves of the fender and fiberglassed a rough draft center piece that will attach to the front half.

Really am itching to ride, it has been way too long for me.

[1018cc]

You are very committed! I can do wiring no problems but I really hate mucking with existing wiring and tracing it etc. Your bike looks really good and I can't wait to see the new headlight hooked up and ready to ride.

Keep up the good work.

[ShowBizWolf]

Thank you so much 1018cc!! Committed is certainly a word that can be used for me... my parents have often said I get like a "dog with a sock" when I put my mind to something I wanna do lol

The wiring was a bit tough on me mentally because I kept thinking, "Ok, you know what you wanna do with this... it needs cleaning up... but if you make even one mistake then what?? Wiring can be a real b*tch and do you really wanna get into this?" But I just took my time, did a little bit each day, and made it a "no beer" activity haha... that was prolly the toughest part

I can't wait to see it all hooked up either!! I wanted to work on it today but I promised my mom I'd make deviled eggs for Easter tomorrow. I just got that done and now I'm off to visit them like I do every Saturday.

I'm still debating on what color to paint the nose fairing and the new fender. I'm leaning towards silver for the nose fairing, silver for the front half of the fender and black for the back half. Good thing is, is that as it stands now, I kinda get to see how it will look all black if I chose that (cuz the nose fairing is a dark blue and the fender halves are black atm)... and then I'll get a preview of how it'd look in silver once I hit the parts with primer.

You'd THINK a person with a degree in fine arts/graphic design would be able to whip it up in the pc real quick... but I don't have any programs on my laptop and my versions of Photoshop are all too old now... I'm guessing I can find something free on the interwebz if I really wanted to!!

[ShowBizWolf]

Was so hard to stop working on the bike today and come in to work :grumpy:

Anyway, after a few hours yesterday and today I am many steps closer to finally riding. Yesterday I lightly sanded the 4 aluminum headlight brackets I made just to clean 'em up a bit. They are done now. I could spend a long time working them over to get 'em looking perfect but I kinda like how they look a bit raw still. I also got the fiberglass center part off of the mold and attached it to the front half of my fender. It will need more fiberglassing and a whole lot of sanding and smoothing etc... hope to get to that tomorrow. Last thing I did yesterday was Dremel off the tabs I don't need on the new headlight.

Today I was able to bake the new headlight but I guess that since it's not an actual Suzuki headlight, there was no stringy messy black seal to deal with... after I took it out of the oven, I was able to pry the tabs back easily and it just wiggled apart with not much coaxing. I'm really happy about that, lemmie tell ya.

I drilled the holes in the plastic for the headlight brackets, Dremeled bits off of the big plastic dials for the aimers (I can still aim them with either a Philips screwdriver or a 10mm socket) because there were clearance issues. Also, I removed the metal spring bits that hold the bulbs in place from the OEM headlight and put them in this new one. The ones that came with the new headlight are just... not good lol and I don't think they would have worked properly.

I'm off tomorrow and I can't wait to tighten the brackets to the headlight, put the lens back on it and actually have a headlight again. I am thinking I'll aim it the best I can in my garage (at that 19' mark) and then Wednesday if it's nice out, I could ride it to work and when I come out at midnight, use the side of the building to aim it at the proper 25' mark.

I've been taking some pics as I go along and should have 'em up tomorrow cuz it's been too long without pics!

[Suzi Q]

Sweet, looking forward to pics!

[ShowBizWolf]

PICS!

Brackets done:


Headlight on the bike:


Nose fairing on just to see what it'll look like:


Center piece first layer of glass:


More later hopefully! Going to use the evening to work on the fender. Still not sure of what color for it or the nose fairing.

[qcbaker]

Looking good so far Showbiz! IMO, the front of the bike looks much cleaner with the headlight in the GSX-R fairing now. Are you planning on painting that thing to match the rest of the bike at any point?

[ShowBizWolf]

Thank you qc!! Omg yes I can't wait to fill in the holes that I don't need and paint it. Black or silver! I can't decide!!

[Suzi Q]

sweet looking progress!

[peteGS]

Nice work as always ShowBiz, looking the goods!!

[ShowBizWolf]

Thanks for sharing in my enthusiasm everybody!

I got more done on the fender today before work and also decided to finally fix up and paint the nose fairing. As much as I wanna get out and ride, I think it's time for that stock blue color to go. Hope to start working on that tomorrow.

[Suzi Q]

Cool. What'd you decide on for paint scheme?

[ShowBizWolf]

I still have no idea.  I like how the fender looks in black... and I could do the nose in black too... but I really want to see them both in silver like the frame. When I primer them, I'll get a bit of a preview of what they'd look like in silver. Then I think I'll be able to decide.

[Big Rich]

Great work Biz!

What about a 2 tone paint job? Black & silver with a white pinstripe in between?

[the_63]

Would a 2/3 tone sweep be out of the question? Two solid colours and a third accent?

Chris

[ShowBizWolf]

These are all excellent ideas!! I have a lot to think about now... I was hoping to keep it simple but... ya guys are complicating that for me lol!! 

[Suzi Q]

You planning on rattle canning it, or your pops have a booth?

[ShowBizWolf]

I've done all my vehicles and painting with rattle can... Pops' garage is not a body/paint shop ...even though I've tried to turn it in to one over the years with my projects !!! 

[Suzi Q]

I'm still jelly. My rattle can skills are meh. Need mo practice.

[ShowBizWolf]

Thank youuuuu It always amazes people when I tell 'em I painted the Turtle Van with Rustoleum Painters Touch rattle cans from Home Depot. There's some Krylon in there too, but mainly I stuck with the Rustoleum. LOVED how it covered and how it holds up... and it was super forgiving... as in, not wrinkling, lifting etc. Let's face it... my dad's garage was never meant to be a dust free perfect place to paint!! :memories: