SOOKIE '99 GS500e

[the_63]

Hey guys,

Ive decided to set up a project thread so I somewhere to keep my ideas for the time being.

HISTORY:
I bought my 1999 Suzuki GS500 (my first bike) in July 2015 for £500. When I bought the bike the mirrors had been removed and the tachometer was working. For me these were just non-issues, but after a couple of weeks I decided to look into why the tachometer wasn't working. Ordered a new cable online, whipped the old one off, issue not resolved. I noticed there was a lot of red gasket rubber shite in the hole, so I picked it out.  Such an idiot. What I found was the drive that pokes out of the engine and drives the cable had snapped off and some dickhead had gummed it up with rubber to hide any potential oil leaks.
Fast forward a 8 months and I low sided at lowish speed, pulling engine bits off the right side of the motor. The bike was laid up for a couple of weeks while I attempted repairs. Whilst I was working on the bike I pulled the valve cover and found that the threads on the camshaft that run the tachometer were damaged. This doesn't affect the running at all, just means that in order to get the mechanical tach working again I need to fit new camshafts.

Now the bike was left out in the rain after the insurance ran out, that's a duck move on my part, the battery is done. So now I have stored the bike in the garage and started taking bits and pieces off and I think this is a good opportunity to give the bike a good going over, fixing and modifying. The M.O.T. has run out too, and there are things that I want to repair before hand and I have already been toying with some modifying and tidying up the tail.

My plans are
-to get the fork seals changed,
-I've given the jets a clean but they may need to be adjusted because I wasn't vigilant during removal, so now the cabs back in it might be out of synch
-the bike needs a new battery,
-while the fork seals are being changed I think it's a good opportunity to check and clear the front caliper and maybe some new pads,
-I want to pull the clutch cover because while it was stood outside it was seemingly dropping oil. Maybe it just needs a new gasket.
-The chain needs a clean and lubricating
-I need to pull the cam cover again, get out the tach drive that is broken and plug the hole and get a new electric tach...or put new camshafts in, replace the broken drive for a new one and hook up the old mechanical tach.
-a new exhaust isn't essential but maybe in the future a nice pretty shiny one
-visible fasteners to be sprayed the same colour as the purple parts
-the silver bits (such as frame, swing arm, top yoke etc)

I've decided on the colours for the bike, but I can't decide where I want the metal flake, I think it might look good with it in the gold, and the purple then matt. But I can't decide if the contrast between metallic and flat will be too much

-I want to trim the rear fender, show more of the side profile of the rear wheel, and reduce the length at the back but keep enough of the fender so that I can still keep things like my bungee cords under the seat.
-considering a swap of tail light, maybe the 'f', or the sv1000 tail light is quite sexy, will take a bit of fannying around but could produce something special aesthetically
-i want to get rid of the rear indicators, replace them for vn side repeaters which are mounted into the tail fairings

Any comments are welcome too 

[ShowBizWolf]

Nice beginning to a project thread!! I enjoyed reading it.

I needz pictures!!! If you included them I'm sorry lol... can't see them sometimes here at work 

Looks like you've got a pretty good list there and are headed in the right direction. Trimming the rear fender is a great idea... and I googled what the sv taillight looks like and I agree... that's a nice lookin' light.

Can't wait for updates 

[the_63]

I have successfully removed the front end and given to the stanchions to one of those mechanic types to replace the oil seals. Up next is to give the old caliper a good old clean and maybe a little overhaul.

I'm stuck on whether or not to paint the front fender as the paint is alll messed up. The issue I have is living in sunny England, it's cold, and wet, and windy... and my garage is dirty, and cobwebby and dusty and there is no lighting in there. I have also never painted before and it will be a spray can jobby too. Love a challenge though   

[The fink]

Sounds like you have good plans, but ShowBiz is right, PICTURES! You'll get a lot more interest if we can see what you have goin on. Either way, good luck 

[the_63]

So I have some pictures. Before I lowsided the bike, I did manage to take some pictures of Sookie:








Cosmetically the bike didn't really get beaten up in the crash, but we had some pretty savage rain and then the MOT and insurance ran out, so I put the bike in the garage as it was having problems starting.

I have finally got some of the front end off:



The stanchions are nasty, and need some attention but they are off at the garage getting the oil seals replaced, and at the moment I don't really have the means to tidy them up.

The front fender has lost paint where the speedo cable rubs -


and the fender bracket is also looking very tired



also going to clean all the dirt off the front wheel while it's off

[ShowBizWolf]

Awesome pics !!

My fork/fender brace looked similar to that when I bought my GS... was going to clean it up but then saw the thick aluminum ones in the for sale section here on the board and I was like oh count me in for onea those! You should look into that too !!

It's crazy how much abuse these front fenders go through... damage from the cable or melted from the pipes... my original fender that came with the bike was cracked and missing pieces.... I'm rambling lol

Very cool update, carry on 

[the_63]

My fork/fender brace looked similar to that when I bought my GS... was going to clean it up but then saw the thick aluminum ones in the for sale section here on the board and I was like oh count me in for onea those! You should look into that too !!

That's not a bad idea. Than you.

I'm really struggling to put the bike back together. I've given the front wheel a wipe over and put the stanchions back on. I gave them a look over before fitting them and noticed some pitting which is annoying.

Today I'm going clean off the front rotor and fit the front end back together. My problem is though as I do put things back, they're just not good enough. I need to do more. I've order caliper seals and I'm going to give the brakes a good old cleaning, check the pads too.

Is it worth upgrading the caliper? Any recommendations?

I'm caught inbetween being eager to get the bike running and driving again and cleaning it up. 

[ShowBizWolf]

I don't really have an opinion on the caliper thing... but others have done it!! If nobody replies, try searching for stuff like 'caliper upgrade' and 'caliper swap'

And I completely understand what you mean about wanting to ride and wanting to keep the momentum going while the bike is taken apart. That's why my "just paint the front rotor" project turned into a two month thing with a hundred other things getting done as well 

[the_63]

After I lowsided the bike I needed a new timing rotor cover, which was quite beat up when I bought it, and it was black so I sanded it down to bare metal and didn't give it another thought.

When I first bought the cover:


I forgot to get a picture of the bare metal. This is primered:

There are some imperfections in the metal which I should have filled but was being lazy.




Since I took these pictures I clear coated it, and then dropped it (wet face down) onto a dirty old rag 

Not to fret, onto the front fender!! I decided to paint the area under the fender bracket as a tester to see if I could tackle larger areas.

Before:


Believe it or not I spent three hours sanding and an hour swearing to get to this point!


I masked off my area:



I had no newspaper so I used printer paper which is all I had to hand

You can't tell from this picture but this is one coat and there were teeny bubbles, so I used 1000 grit and took them off.


This is after the second coat. I'm so pleased with how it the colour turned out. I'm reluctant to clear it because I like how flat it is. The areas around the bolt holes are imperfections I didn't fix because it's hidden under the fender bracket.

I took off the masking and this is the result:


The adhesion promoter had sprayed onto the masked off paper area, and stuck the paper to the paint and lifted the paint off the fender, so when I peeled off the paper, I peeled off the paint 

This is the fender bracket when I took it off the bike:



I sanded the area down the best I could:



I forgot to get a picture of the bracket in primer, so here it is after a second coat. It doesn't do the finish justice:
The finish is very sparkly. That is until I put it in the oven to exppose it to a little heat to help with drying/curing. So I've devised a plan of attack to solve all of it! I'm going to pile it all neatly in the driveway and set it on fiyyyyah!! 

So yeah, that has been the constant fail that is my Tuesday. Thanks for tuning in.

[mr72]

That all looks really good, but it pains me to see the troubles you are going through with paint. It's a familiar challenge. What are you painting with? If you are using rattle can paint I think it will potentially be worth your while to switch to catalyzed urethane. Way easier to get a smooth coat that will stick without having to keep it from being contaminated for hours. If you don't have a compressor then there's always preval. Should be enough for motorcycle parts. If you need >1 can quantity then the price (assuming you have the spray rig and place to paint) is really no more and the quality of paint and finish is way, way better.

[the_63]

That all looks really good, but it pains me to see the troubles you are going through with paint. It's a familiar challenge. What are you painting with? If you are using rattle can paint I think it will potentially be worth your while to switch to catalyzed urethane. Way easier to get a smooth coat that will stick without having to keep it from being contaminated for hours. If you don't have a compressor then there's always preval. Should be enough for motorcycle parts. If you need >1 can quantity then the price (assuming you have the spray rig and place to paint) is really no more and the quality of paint and finish is way, way better.

I am rattle canning it. I can't afford to the job done properly. The metal parts have been sorted, I used some steel wool to buff out the dirt on the timing rotor cover and resprayed throughout today. Just got to add the clear tomorrow. I started to sand off the old paint on the fender too. thinking a liquid stripped might be a better idea than scrubbing away with scraps of emery cloth and sanding block. 

I do have a great place for a workshop, the garage on my student house is incredible, but I accidentally tore the door off and there's no electricity, so there's no lights, no heat etc. But I'm nagging my landlord to get it all sorted out because I do like to do woodwork sometimes.  Still can't afford the air system to spray myself though. 

I appreciate the advice though 

[mr72]

I am rattle canning it. I can't afford to the job done properly....
...Still can't afford the air system to spray myself though. 

Well the rattle can will get expensive over time but I get your dilemma. I have rattle-can refinished probably a half dozen guitars for the same reason, and the last two I did were rattle can even though I have a good compressor and a LVLP rig etc. Just because in guitar-size quantity, the paint is much more expensive. It all depends on what paint you use, I suppose. Some paint is like $9-10 for an 11 oz can, and a quart of single-stage catalyzed urethane enamel will cover as much as maybe three or four cans like this and only costs $15-30 depending on the paint. So that's cheaper. But if you are using $4/can like Rustoleum then it's a wash or maybe even cheaper.

You can use a preval sprayer (single use, cheap air source) with catalyzed paint (single stage or two-stage polyurethane with hardener/activator) and get most of the benefits of the pro spray rig with little or none of the downside. For jobs the size of those you are doing it would probably be worth it. But you're already mostly down the road so maybe not worth it? The problems with rattle-can can be 1) it takes forever to dry (and I mean, like a month before it's fully cured) and it's possible to do bad things to the paint while it is still soft (like leave masking tape marks, for example.. or dent it with your fingernail or chip it while assembling something); 2) it is hard to get it to lay down evenly; 3) adhesion is far worse than the catalyzed paints; 4) it's not nearly as durable as catalyzed polyurethane or epoxy paint. With a catalyzed paint it is dry enough to recoat in under 15 minutes typically so you can build like 6-7 coats in an hour, and then you can sand on it and buff it 2 hours later, or assemble stuff without worrying about damaging the paint or a fly landing on it or you can tape it and paint graphics etc.

Beating a dead horse I know. Next project, maybe look into the preval stuff. But "pro" paint is a whole different world. Lots to learn. I had a real bumpy paint job the first time I did a 2-stage pro job and I had spent a couple hundred dollars just on the booth rental and over a thousand dollars on paint and materials. Now that's a job you don't want to have to redo.

BTW I am seriously considering rattle-canning my own GS500 refinish. It will cost less for paint (I'll use $4/can paint), I don't have to build a booth in my garage, I don't have to clean my LVLP gun between colors (which is a PAIN let me tell you), and I don't have to waste paint testing the tip, pattern, pressure, etc. But I am pretty sure the paint will not look nearly as good as it could. I am telling myself I don't care for the 25 year old motorcycle that I paid $900 for.

[the_63]

I pay between £12-14 per can, which is $15-18 US. Spent about £45 on cans so far. Cheapest pro job in my area is £400+. I'm torn though because the tank needs doing desperately, it's faded down to the red in areas. Tail plastics need work too, but at the moment, I'm confident I can get a result on them and the fender. But if I then take the tank to be done tidy, the colours wont match.

This bike is a pain in my ass. I just want to ride. This obsession side is 

[the_63]

Time for an update. When I left you I was having a bad day with the painting. The timing rotor cover and the fender bracket turned out great, but I needed to address the fender. I started taking the paint off, what better way than with sandpaper, it worked well on the little bit I'd already done, but it did take me days with fine grit. I decided to get a more abrasive grit. I decided to go with the 40 grit. My friend said it looks as through I'd used the pavement (sidewalk) to take the paint off. The marks make in the plastic are deep and ugly  I can't help that I am a dreadful person. I decided that rather than fix the problem, I would just hide it under my bed instead. 

I ordered a new battery which is installed and breathing new life into the bike, I ordered the small fuel line that runs from the back of the fuel tap to the carb as the old one split, waiting for that to come. While I was removing the airbox in prep for the new fuel line, it got stuck, I gave it a tug, it caught the carbs and I snapped the nipple off the cap of the right carb 



I ordered a new cap and that arrived the next day, installed it almost immediately. The diaphragm underneath might need replacing as well though. When I took the cap off I noticed this sticky residue on the diaphragm and the inside of the old cap
cap: You can see the gunk along the top edge

diaphragm:

You can't really see in this picture but the gunk is all along the outer lip of the diaphragm


Final little update was to the turn signals. I've installed 4 LED tun signals which are a work in progress
Rear:


Front:


All 4 signals turn on and remain solid when engaged, I bypassed the turn signal relay and the results were replicated so I didn't believe the fault lies with that component, until I'm writing this. Now I'm thinking that if the TSR is having the same effect as a length of wire then it's not doing what it's meant to...I think. I'm not good at electrics 

So yeah, that's it.

[ian67]

I'm not an eleco. I had this same thing happen a few years ago with an old NX650.
Here's how the flash problem was explained to me and how I got mine to work.
The flasher needs current passing through it to make it work, LEDs draw less current than standard bulbs so the flash won't work right.
There's a couple of things you can do to make them work-
1. connect a resister of a calculated value in parallel to each LED to increase the current through the relay back to what a standard bulb draws. ( this worked for me on my old NX650, an electrician at work advised me what resister to buy and they were a few cents at jaycar)
2. work out the current draw of your LEDs and buy a suitable new flasher.

Ian

[mr72]

I decided to go with the 40 grit.

!!! Wow. I sanded my fender very rapidly right through to the plastic in many spots using a random-orbital and 150 grit. It's quite soft.

If you used 40grit on plastic, you are probably going to have to just chunk the entire fender and get another one. You probably gouged it way too deep so that even if you sanded it back out flat it'd be thin and have a non-even surface.

The diaphragm underneath might need replacing as well though. When I took the cap off I noticed this sticky residue on the diaphragm and the inside of the old cap
cap: You can see the gunk along the top edge

diaphragm:

You can't really see in this picture but the gunk is all along the outer lip of the diaphragm

THAT is from spraying carburetor cleaner on the carbs in such a way as to allow it to leak onto the edges of the diaphragms. Or spraying carb cleaner into the throat of the carb while the bike is running, or you have a big vacuum leak and sprayed carb cleaner on it and it sucked the carb cleaner into the carb and deposited it on the high-vacuum side of the diaphragm.

If you spray carb cleaner directly onto the diaphragm it will immediately wrinkle up and begin to dissolve. Just another warning about overuse of carb cleaner! It's good for metal parts ONLY. It will do that to o-rings you cannot even see and don't know you are destroying. O-rings are cheap but a pain to get at and replace when you have inadvertently ruined them, but that diaphragm is kind of expensive.

Interesting thing you said about the top caps. On my bike's original carbs, both of the vacuum nipples were broken off by a previous owner.

Final little update was to the turn signals. I've installed 4 LED tun signals which are a work in progress
... Now I'm thinking that if the TSR is having the same effect as a length of wire then it's not doing what it's meant to...I think. I'm not good at electrics 

That's right. It's because the way those old-style flashers work is with a bimetallic part that forms the bridge of the switch. It's a thin piece made from two different types of metal stuck together, and when it heats up, it curves due to the different expansion rates of the two pieces of metal. When it bends, it opens the relay contacts, turning the signals "off". Then it cools and bends back to its original shape which closes the contacts, then the signals come back "on" until they begin to draw some current and heat up the strip again, and it curves and opens and on and on. That works fine as long as the turn signals draw a known amount of current. When you replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs, the LEDs draw much less current and it's not enough to heat this bimetallic strip inside the relay so that part never curves to open the contacts. The signals are therefore "on" all the time. You need a different type of flasher switch that either uses a timer (electronic style) so it goes on and off at the same rate regardless of what's plugged into it, or you need one made specifically for low-current LEDs so it goes on and off at a normal rate with LEDs, but it will vary depending on exactly which LEDs (or more specifically, what size dropping resistors are used for the LEDs).

Anyway, like I said in the other thread, sort out the "diode mod" in the dash and replace that flasher with one made for LEDs and things will work as expected. 

[the_63]

Yeah the fender is pretty trashed now 

About the carbs, I pulled the cap off the other side to check on the integrity of that side, just in case it needed to be swapped over and that side is perfect. It must have been me that sprayed the cleaner onto it, I've had the bike 18 months now, and if it was PO then I would imagine it would be in a worse state. So I just need to replace that one, I will add it to the list.

I also really needed that explanation on the flasher relay. I couldn't figure out why it flashed, but now it makes sense. 
I've got the diodes which I'll fit according to Adidasguy's information tomorrow and then I can put the new flasher relay in place when that arrives.

Thanks for your help and advice.

[the_63]

Might be useful to update the old TODO list

-to get the fork seals changed - complete
-I've given the jets a clean but they may need to be adjusted because I wasn't vigilant during removal, so now the cabs back in it might be out of synch
-the bike needs a new battery, - complete
-while the fork seals are being changed I think it's a good opportunity to check and clear the front caliper and maybe some new pads,
-I want to pull the clutch cover because while it was stood outside it was seemingly dropping oil. Maybe it just needs a new gasket.
-The chain needs a clean and lubricating - Will be looking into this for tomorrow
-I need to pull the cam cover again, get out the tach drive that is broken and plug the hole and get a new electric tach...or put new camshafts in, replace the broken drive for a new one and hook up the old mechanical tach. - Ordered a replacement exhaust cam shaft so hopefully over the next week or so I should have rectified this entire thing.
-a new exhaust isn't essential but maybe in the future a nice pretty shiny one
-visible fasteners to be sprayed the same colour as the purple parts
-the silver bits (such as frame, swing arm, top yoke etc) -I can't remember what I meant by this! 

-I want to trim the rear fender, show more of the side profile of the rear wheel, and reduce the length at the back but keep enough of the fender so that I can still keep things like my bungee cords under the seat.
-considering a swap of tail light, maybe the 'f', or the sv1000 tail light is quite sexy, will take a bit of fannying around but could produce something special aesthetically
-i want to get rid of the rear indicators, replace them for van side repeaters which are mounted into the tail fairings - this idea has changed slightly, I have installed the LED turn signals and am in the process of addressing the flash problem

Jobs on the todo list for tomorrow:
-Install diodes into circuit ready for when the flasher relay arrives.
-Cleaning the chain and getting it lubed
-Busting off the valve cover, removing old exhaust camshaft, removing the broken off tacho drive from the cylinder head ready to install replacement exhaust camshaft when it arrives.

Busy day

[the_63]

On my crazy todo list from Saturday I achieved pretty much nothing. I wired in the diodes and fitted the new flasher relay, then realised on Sunday that the turn signals I've got are not E-marked, so are not road legal in this country.  I ordered a couple of new tools, feeler gauges, shim tool, measuring caliper and popped the breather cover off, need to source a new gasket for that, and got the valve cover off.

Monday I spent the day taking bits off the back, fender came off tail plastics, seat, seat lock, luggage rails etc so I could clean them up properly. Philips-head bolts holding chain guard are stuck, which is annoying. Degreased the chain and gave it a quick rag over, need to take the brush to it too. Feeler gauges came so trotted off to the garage to check clearance. Both intake and right hand exhaust clearance are all less than my smallest gauge which is 0.04mm. So for the exhaust valve at least I may need to change that.

Than I was sat, chillin', perusing the other projects and I came across a gsxr600 tail swap. That train took us to how I like the high tail with exhaust mounted underneath and single sided swing-arm. Put a pin in the swing arm but it's not the first time I've dreamt of it. Found a picture online of an sv650 with twin round taillights, kinda looked like the afterburner on a jet.

Out to the garage, get taillight lens, rear fender, tail fairings and licence plate. Covered the lens in nurses tape and cut out circles following the design embossed on the inside of the lens. Doesn't look too bad, decided to mark the fender ready for fenderectomy. Then back online to look for more design ideas...I found a cheap tail light that I've wondered about since I bought Sookie. If it works it will be epic, I'm not holding my breath at the minute though because it is a Dr. Frankenstein/atom bomb/man on the moon/Hindenburg kind of idea and I'm so far out of my depths I might as well be Tony Romo playing in the NFL (he sucks. so do the rest of the cowboys). 

I remembered what I meant by "the silver bits in my original post! the silver bits are showing rust, so need some attention to see them right. Now I've written it hear I won't forget it. 

Plan of action for Tuesday:
-I'm hoping my cam shaft arrives, but until it does it's out with the old one and figure out how to get that old tacho drive out.
-Test cut the rear fender. I don't have access to any kind of power cutting tool, so I'll be testing out the hacksaw.
-Continue with scrubbing everything until it either shines or dissolves

[the_63]

 :cry:Got the camshafts out and revealed my arch nemesis 



It looks as though one of the PO has tried to seel it 

I've so far broken 2 screwdrivers trying to poke it out with a hammer. The silver metal is quite soft, I'm guessing aluminium, I managed to dril a 4mm hole into the "aluminium from the outside of the casing but it just seems to have seized it up more, it would rotate a couple of degrees back and forth but after the drill it won't move at all.

I have officially bitten off more than I can chew.