GS500 'Keeduch' project

[Masterflies]

Hi guys,

Let me try to create a logbook of my current project here ) First have to describe the part which is already done (IMPORTANT - it's only 20% of all planned work is done!)

So here's the 'patient' in his original look. A little bit tired, but still strong enough. My aim is to create a kind of a 'pseudo-scrambled' on its base:





As I said its condition is good enough, but carbs are weak (seems to me), traces of corrosion are almost everywhere and there are some painting issues as well:





Tail part:

Found guys with a pipe bender and made a tail loop:



Bought a welding machine (cause I realy wanted to learn welding) and after some training period successfully (I hope) connected it with the cutted tail:



Added two 'stiffening ribs':



The seat - according to the High Science ) Fiberglass and epoxy adhesive:



Cut-adjust-repeat:



Few layers of recycled foam, some soft foam at the top:



Sewing by 3rd party, cause I don't have equipment and still can't sew )



That's it about tail at the moment, and I can continue if at least somebody is interested )

[Bluesmudge]

Nice. What else are you planning to do to the bike?
The welds look good for someone just learning.

[cbrfxr67]

   

sweee-eet to see somebody doing work,...can't wait to see more

[Masterflies]

Nice. What else are you planning to do to the bike?
The welds look good for someone just learning.

Thanks man, let me finish to describe what I already did, then I will tell you about further plans )

So,

Exhaust part:

Took the factory exhaust, cleaned tons of rust and crap, re-weld the bracing and painted with the heat-resistant paint (not sure it's solid decision but will see):





Side panels part:

As soon as I need to hide the battery and other electronic guts, I made the side panels of a sheet metal. Made cardboard patterns first:



Welded the bracing 'ears':



Cut the details and ordered the letters cutting on the waterjet machine (don't believe I could do it manually at home):





Hear it is, close to the 'older brother' )



After that I covered the side panels with 5 or 6 layers of clearcoat - should survive, but if not, will add more layers.

[Masterflies]

Front and Rear part:

I put fenders made of real metal (cause I like metal) and Сhinese lights (cause I like Сhinese lights )))





For the front fender I made raised bracings cause I'm going to buy some angry tyres:









A Moto Bag part (maybe yes, maybe no?)

I made this bag using a jerrican and some fittings, but I'm not sure I'll keep it, will see:







Fitting process:







My bike has clip-ons but I'm experimenting with changing them to some 'tracker' or 'moto' handlebar, quite not sure how will it look like with the same top yoke:

[cbrfxr67]

Got some interesting cues going on there!  My fav part it the seat.  Love me some stitching,...

Where's show when you need her .02,...

[Joolstacho]

His first ride!!! 

[Masterflies]

So the next step is to paint the frame, rims, fenders, fork and some other small parts black matte. And I'm going to do with the tank the same I did with side panels - to clear it to metal and cover with dozen layers of clearcoat.

Also in my plans - to buy CONTINENTAL TKC 80 tyres and maybe to change the rear shock to Yamaha's R6...

[ShowBizWolf]

Got some interesting cues going on there!  My fav part it the seat.  Love me some stitching,...

Where's show when you need her .02,...

I'm here!!

I love such clean work... and due to the forum's issues I've not been able to see this thread with the pics until now.

Can't get over now nice that exhaust looks!!!

Edit: I bet you'll like the R6 shock. If you enjoy getting into the real details of suspension tuning, it's absolutely the shock for you

[Masterflies]

Guys I'm thinking about sacrificing the central stand - it's huge and monstrous and I'm trying to minimize the weight. What would you say?

[cbrfxr67]

I always take them off.  If I need it I'll put it back on,...

[ShowBizWolf]

cbr is right, keep it so you can always put it back on if you need to. When I installed a different shock that raised the bike 2", I debated removing mine too since it's useless unless I have a little spacer platform under it.

Also, I'd recommend putting some coins or some old keys in between the coils of the springs, to keep them stretched. It makes it sooo easy to re-install! Same goes for the side stand if you ever need to remove/reinstall it.

[Masterflies]

Hi guys,
so here is some small update )

While everything is being sandblasting and painting (should be finished in a week), I'm washing, cleaning and recovering all the rest. E.g., the nuts holding the cylinder head were covered with rust, so just in case if smb doestn't know this 'method'... ))

Here is the initial state:


Keeping them in an anti-rust liquid:


After some mechnical cleaning...


heating them with a gas-burner:


and putting into used oil whyle they're hot (better not more then 250 degr. Celsius):


And here they are, nicely blued nuts )))


-----
Also, I've found that my rear shock is not in the best shape, even after some small recovery - thinking about buying some R6 shock... (

[cbrfxr67]

That's a great tip!  thanks for sharing!

[Endopotential]

Awesome build!  I think we share some design lines, at least with my original seat.

You'll love the R6 shock.  It was definitely one of the best upgrade I did to the bike.

Where are you located?  A fly fisher by chance?

[Masterflies]

Where are you located?  A fly fisher by chance?

Montenegro... far away I guess )

[Masterflies]

Sooo guys let me share some brief update on the current state.

Everything is almost ready - all (except tank) is painted, I've renewed carburetor and fork everything is cleaned up and greased:






There was  a complicated story with the tank - I thought mine is fine but when I removed all paint it turned out that it's covered with dozens of micro-holes. So I found a guy in Cloatia with some spare GS500 tank, bought it, went to Croatia to take it (I live in Montenegro), and now I'm busy with restoration. It mostly fine, but at the bottom it was covered with rust, which already started to create 'caverns'. So what I did:

- cleaned it as good as it was possible;
- covered with wash primer (1 layer, yellow):

- covered with 2 layers of acrylic primer (black):


- sanded, covered with 2 layers of epoxy primer (grey):


- sanded, covered with black acrylic paint, but after that I realized that the hardener was overdued, so I had to remove the paint with a thinner )) Then I just covered the tank with 2 layers of 1k of acrylic matte paint from the can - I think the bottom side is not the most important part, nobody will see it:


Now I'm looking for something to cover the rest of the tank, here's my topic regarding that.

At the moment looks like I'm nearly at the end - waiting from some goods from ebay yet, need to finish tank and electrics, cant wait to have a first ride )

[cbrfxr67]

shazam that is looking sweeee-eeet.  Really good work.  Just wrapping the frame in all that paper looks like a pain in the ,... much respect!

I used your rust prevention tip on some fork bolts for an old zx600 I'm working on.  Again, thanks for that!

[profile_deleted]

Really enjoying the thread and that bike is looking sharp. Can't wait to see the finished product!

You've inspired me to practice my welding a little more. The tail looks so much cleaner than my current project.   

Awesome work!

[Masterflies]

Guys no time for detailed updates - tank is almost ready, refreshing it with some hot lemon acid -> hot anti rust -> gasoline, can't wait for the first ride! )