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ShowBizWolf's 1998 GS500E

Started by ShowBizWolf, August 10, 2016, 09:06:25 PM

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Janx101


Big Rich

Biz, if you order a new rotor, keep the old one hanging around as long as it isn't warped / thinner than spec. It's always good to have a usable rotor around in case something happens to the new one, but I use old rotors for bleeding brakes too. Having the caliper & rotor separate from the wheel means you don't have to worry about getting brake fluid on any nice paint / rubber.
83 GR650 (riding / rolling project)

It's opener there in the wide open air...

ShowBizWolf

#22
Great advice (as always) Rich! Will be keeping the rotor around, for sure.

Pic of the battery area and why I wanted to clean it up.


Got home from work last night and spent about an hour cleaning up the battery box. Peeled the foam off, soaked the sticky residue with brakleen, got that all removed. Sanded it by hand, every little part of it... that took a while. Cleaned it with brakleen and let it dry overnight (wanted to primer it in the daylight). Didn't take any pics of it sanded, just forgot lol... I used rusty metal primer for this thing....


Oh yeah, here's a pic from a couple days ago when I got the gold paint on the rotor. Still have to take the masking tape off and make sure the buttons still turn. Fingers crossed cuz my van needed a lot of unexpected work in the past couple days and that means money is gonna be really tight for a few weeks.
Superbike bars, '04 GSXR headlight & cowl, DRZ signals, 1/2" fork brace, 'Busa fender, stainless exhaust & brake lines, belly pan, LED dash & brake bulbs, 140/80 rear hoop, F tail lens, SV650 shock, Bandit400 hugger, aluminum heel guards & pegs, fork preload adjusters, .75 SonicSprings, heated grips

Lbx!

This gives me inspiration for my poor beat up '09! I am fortunate, I live in the desert so i don't have to worry about rust...much. I can't wait to see more of the transformation that your bike goes through!

peteGS

Awesome work ShowBiz!!! My 450 needs some cosmetic time spent on it so hopefully once the Kats done I can get inspired by your work again and get her all tidied up. It was my first rebuild and I was desperate to get her on the road so rushed a few bits I should've spent more time on... lessons to learn with the Kat too  :thumb:
'82 GS450E
'84 GSX1100S Katana

ShowBizWolf

Thanks you guys!! Should have more updates soon... woot toot
Superbike bars, '04 GSXR headlight & cowl, DRZ signals, 1/2" fork brace, 'Busa fender, stainless exhaust & brake lines, belly pan, LED dash & brake bulbs, 140/80 rear hoop, F tail lens, SV650 shock, Bandit400 hugger, aluminum heel guards & pegs, fork preload adjusters, .75 SonicSprings, heated grips

TheGreenWeenie

Quote from: ShowBizWolf on August 16, 2016, 05:29:45 PM
Finished painting the rotor with the gold... I like how it came out so that's good. Turned each of the rotor buttons and they still move so we'll see how the front brake feels when it's all back together. Seriously thinking about putting that fancy rotor on my Christmas list....

Also decided to take out the battery box, sand and paint it. Been wanting to do that for a while now... also gathered up a bunch of rusty/fugly bolts off the bike (like under the battery and the ones that hold the grab bar on) and took them to a local truck supply place... ordered all stainless.

Still waiting for the Yoshi polishing stuff and titanium bolts for the rotor... and I have to get some pictures but I figured I'd wait until I got something done on the battery box too. Hopefully when I get outta work later I'll start working on that  :)

I like that rotor too. It's been a bit but I've been motivated lately to get back working on my GS. I think a few frustrations that I got caught up on really demotivated me. The damn Wiring is KILLING ME. It is just so messy.

Love your bike tho Biz. you've done some really nice thing. Like, your handy work it top notch
:thumb:

1996 GS 500E
2016 XSR900

smokestack

You're a badass showbiz. Don't stop being a badass.

qcbaker

I admire your workmanship, and it seems like you're putting a lot of love into this bike.

But I have to ask, what's up with the GSXR fairing? What inspired that?

ShowBizWolf

GreenWeenie, thanks for checking it out and for the kind words! Everything I do (whether it's cleaning my house or working on a project, etc) I try to do completely and as best as I can. Janx once said something on here that stuck with me... something like, there's never time to do it right the first time but there always seems to be time to re-do it... and boy is that true!!

I can't tell you how much I understand when it comes to frustration being a motivation/enthusiasm killer. It has happened to me numerous times over the years, with my van and my car... not so much my bike thankfully!! I've found that I just kinda take a break from it and make a list of what I need to do or if that doesn't help then I go and work on some other smaller project to make me feel like I'm still being productive and then I return to the frustrating part. Much much much luck to you to get that wiring figured out and have the project be fun again!!

smokestack, thank you  :embarrassed:  :embarrassed:  :embarrassed:  :cool:

qcbaker, thanks for checking out my thread! You are absolutely correct, I love my bike... I have never regretted buying it, learning to ride, etc... and I can't imagine my life not having it. I taught myself how to ride a motorbike with this GS and I feel like it was very good to me and forgiving  :kiss3:

I'm trying to think back to when I first got my bike... and how exactly I ended up with the gixxer nose. The first time I saw the GS, the styling of it caught my eye. But I'm not a super fan of the traditional round headlight with the sporty look of the tail section. I also knew back when I got my bike that I never wanted to "end" my riding season... and here in PA, that means riding in the 40's, 30's and even down into the 20's if it's dry out.

I started looking online... ebay... found this forum too... for options to change the look of the front end. And honestly as I've been sitting here typing this, I can't remember how I stumbled on that gixxer nose on ebay. I know I got it from there and it was only like $40 because it has a small crack in it. Liked the look and then I also bought matching turn signals and went from there.

I was messing with it, seeing how I wanted to attach it... and when I did, I just left it on. I knew it wasn't "done" but it was good enough for then.

Then one day I took my bike to the garage where I get the state inspection done... needed help fixing a small leak from my cam chain tensioner. The mechanic fixed the leak for super cheap, but then about a week later it came back. I took my bike back to him and he felt bad. Called me in a few days and said he fixed the leak again and also had a surprise for me (this was like 3 years ago and I have had no leak since so woot for that!). He took some old clear plexiglas he had laying around and made me a clear windshield for the nose fairing. I was like omg thank you!! I wanted to get one but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

My future plans for the nose fairing is making it look a lot more finished. I still have to fix the crack and scratches it came with, grind down the nubs for where it attached to other things, fill in holes that I'm not going to use... repaint of course... and I'm not sure what I want to do with the air holes. Maybe just put a screen in them or maybe aux lights... probably just a screen.

It blocks a lot of the cold wind which is nice... even keeps it off my knees.  Some people like it, some people don't... it's a bit big looking for the GS but oh well. Something different.
Superbike bars, '04 GSXR headlight & cowl, DRZ signals, 1/2" fork brace, 'Busa fender, stainless exhaust & brake lines, belly pan, LED dash & brake bulbs, 140/80 rear hoop, F tail lens, SV650 shock, Bandit400 hugger, aluminum heel guards & pegs, fork preload adjusters, .75 SonicSprings, heated grips

qcbaker

Quote from: ShowBizWolf on August 29, 2016, 02:58:02 PM
...
qcbaker, thanks for checking out my thread! You are absolutely correct, I love my bike... I have never regretted buying it, learning to ride, etc... and I can't imagine my life not having it. I taught myself how to ride a motorbike with this GS and I feel like it was very good to me and forgiving  :kiss3:

I'm trying to think back to when I first got my bike... and how exactly I ended up with the gixxer nose. The first time I saw the GS, the styling of it caught my eye. But I'm not a super fan of the traditional round headlight with the sporty look of the tail section. I also knew back when I got my bike that I never wanted to "end" my riding season... and here in PA, that means riding in the 40's, 30's and even down into the 20's if it's dry out.

I started looking online... ebay... found this forum too... for options to change the look of the front end. And honestly as I've been sitting here typing this, I can't remember how I stumbled on that gixxer nose on ebay. I know I got it from there and it was only like $40 because it has a small crack in it. Liked the look and then I also bought matching turn signals and went from there.

I was messing with it, seeing how I wanted to attach it... and when I did, I just left it on. I knew it wasn't "done" but it was good enough for then.

Then one day I took my bike to the garage where I get the state inspection done... needed help fixing a small leak from my cam chain tensioner. The mechanic fixed the leak for super cheap, but then about a week later it came back. I took my bike back to him and he felt bad. Called me in a few days and said he fixed the leak again and also had a surprise for me (this was like 3 years ago and I have had no leak since so woot for that!). He took some old clear plexiglas he had laying around and made me a clear windshield for the nose fairing. I was like omg thank you!! I wanted to get one but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

My future plans for the nose fairing is making it look a lot more finished. I still have to fix the crack and scratches it came with, grind down the nubs for where it attached to other things, fill in holes that I'm not going to use... repaint of course... and I'm not sure what I want to do with the air holes. Maybe just put a screen in them or maybe aux lights... probably just a screen.

It blocks a lot of the cold wind which is nice... even keeps it off my knees.  Some people like it, some people don't... it's a bit big looking for the GS but oh well. Something different.

Well, that was more of an explanation than I bargained for haha. Can't wait to see this bike when it's "done" (as if any enthusiast's bike is ever "done" lol). Have to say, I really like the look of the oil slick looking windscreen you have yet to put on there. Definitely want to see what that looks like once your front end is the way you want it. Are you planning on putting a GSXR headlight in the fairing as well?

And as for some people liking it and some people not, I wouldnt worry much if other people don't like your bike. If you like it and it makes you happy to look at it, show it to others, and (most importantly) ride it, that's whats most important. The only person's opinion about your bike that really matters is your own.

ShowBizWolf

#31
Haha I know right... long long explanation about a silly nose fairing lol

I have indeed put some thought into a gixxer headlight as well...! don't know if I want to get into all that though. As my bike is now, I designed it so if I want to make it look like a regular E again, it takes about 5 minutes. I wired the signals that are attached to the nose fairing so they can be unplugged and then I have another set of signals that plug in and mount to the fairing braces coming off the forks.

This is one of the reasons why I've not gotten around to "finishing" the nose fairing yet... too many things to consider and too many other projects in my life all the time.

I painted the battery box and cleared it. New foam added too!


Took the masking tape off the rotor and sat it on the front wheel.


I also started cleaning with q-tips and rags etc, everything I can get to on the bike now that things are off and outta the way. Started from the front and was working my way back but didn't get too far when I decided to take the front fender off and paint it finally. I'm gonna go with silver... will match the forks and the frame, etc. I'd like to get that done tomorrow before work.

Last thing I can think of to say is that I found a Bandit 400 hugger on ebay last week. Waiting for that to arrive as well so I can trim it to fit, clean it up and put that on. I'll be following the wiki for that but I'm sure I will end up going my own way with it a bit as well.
Superbike bars, '04 GSXR headlight & cowl, DRZ signals, 1/2" fork brace, 'Busa fender, stainless exhaust & brake lines, belly pan, LED dash & brake bulbs, 140/80 rear hoop, F tail lens, SV650 shock, Bandit400 hugger, aluminum heel guards & pegs, fork preload adjusters, .75 SonicSprings, heated grips

TheGreenWeenie

DAMNIT Biz... Now I want to paint my rotor.. ugh you suck. That thing looks sweet. Tell me more about those exhaust bolts? I need a new set very badly.

1996 GS 500E
2016 XSR900

ShowBizWolf

#33
LOL well I gotta wait and see how the rotor works when I put it back on... I still don't know if I messed things up by painting those button things... but I really really wanted the whole thing gold instead of just the part that was black... blah blah lol

I'm super glad you like it.

The stainless bolts are shorter than the stock ones but should still work from what I saw on my bike today. I didn't do a test fit or anything but I did eyeball it. Here's the link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUZUKI-GS-500-E-90-07-STAINLESS-STEEL-EXHAUST-STUD-S-BOLT-S-ALL-MODELS-QUALITY-/261757966795?hash=item3cf1fd99cb:g:JGUAAOSwNSxU0LwP&vxp=mtr
EDIT: these were too short to work with my aftermarket exhaust... and I've also had a :icon_idea: moment lol that they are WAY overpriced for what they are. I have since replaced my bolts with studs and nuts.

I've read on this forum that these can be tricky... here's the thread so you can decide what route you'd like to take:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70647.msg849173#msg849173
Superbike bars, '04 GSXR headlight & cowl, DRZ signals, 1/2" fork brace, 'Busa fender, stainless exhaust & brake lines, belly pan, LED dash & brake bulbs, 140/80 rear hoop, F tail lens, SV650 shock, Bandit400 hugger, aluminum heel guards & pegs, fork preload adjusters, .75 SonicSprings, heated grips

ShowBizWolf

Small update. Did some cleaning under the rear fender and under the seat... also around the swing arm where the chain guard attaches... and touched up the frame in spots. Also painted the front fender 2 days ago as planned and sprayed the clear today. I know I know, pics or it didn't happen!! Tomorrow, I should have time to get some pictures.

The exhaust polishing paste finally arrived yesterday and I had a few minutes to try it out earlier before leaving for work. It's AMAZING... seriously, I am really happy with it so far. The gold color on the pipes comes off with little to no effort at all... and the darker blue/black closer towards where it attaches to the engine is lightening significantly with just a bit more elbow grease. It's gonna take me a while... a good couple of hours I'd imagine... and more than a good couple of beers haha... but it will be worth it to remove 4 years worth of discoloration and my exhaust will look spiffy again :happy days:

Also, after years of saying to myself, "No, underglow is overdone... everybody's doing it... it's unnecessary, you don't need that etc..." I figured what the hell, I'm doing all this cleaning and detail work... and LED strips are dirt cheap so... let's get a tiny bit fancy and light up the bike. I'm gonna do the front half of the bike (engine and front fender) in purple/blacklight and the back half of the bike in green. Also found a neat universal rocker switch that'll go right on the handlebars. It looks like the kill switch... except it's only an inch wide and the actual button/switch is gray.

The lights won't happen until I'm done with all this other stuff (only 3 things left, really) AND after I get my hugger in the mail, which hopefully will be next week.
Superbike bars, '04 GSXR headlight & cowl, DRZ signals, 1/2" fork brace, 'Busa fender, stainless exhaust & brake lines, belly pan, LED dash & brake bulbs, 140/80 rear hoop, F tail lens, SV650 shock, Bandit400 hugger, aluminum heel guards & pegs, fork preload adjusters, .75 SonicSprings, heated grips

peteGS

Sounds like great progress ShowBiz! Now you definitely must get those pic's up :D
'82 GS450E
'84 GSX1100S Katana

ShowBizWolf

#36
Ok so here's the front fender... cleaned, painted silver and I did 3 coats of clear. I'm happy with how it came out... probably going to wet sand and buff it this week. Hard to believe this was two halves of two different fenders that looked nothing like this current shape at one time


Spent about 6 hours on the exhaust this past weekend. I have never done anything to it except wash it in 4 years :oops:

Before...


...during...


...and after! I can certainly say that I am a fan of Yoshimura STAIN-Magic! :-*
Superbike bars, '04 GSXR headlight & cowl, DRZ signals, 1/2" fork brace, 'Busa fender, stainless exhaust & brake lines, belly pan, LED dash & brake bulbs, 140/80 rear hoop, F tail lens, SV650 shock, Bandit400 hugger, aluminum heel guards & pegs, fork preload adjusters, .75 SonicSprings, heated grips

Big Rich

 :thumb:

Lookin good Biz! What kind of paint / clear coat did you use on the fender?
83 GR650 (riding / rolling project)

It's opener there in the wide open air...

ShowBizWolf

Thanks so much Rich, means a lot !

I hadn't actually planned on painting the fender but my fork seals are leaking (again) and I thought it'd be easier for me to clean a painted/cleared fender than it is to clean one that's just primer. The primer did actually absorb/stain from the fork oil... ugh  :technical:

I started looking through my many colors/kinds of rattle can paint to see what I could use. Found a can of Rustoleum "Universal advanced formula" titanium silver with one of those big trigger lookin' things on the top instead of a spray button. I think I bought it like 3 years ago...? Used it to make a custom license plate for a Christmas present lol.... Anywho, I decided to use that. And for the clear I had a can of U-Pol "power can" clear that I can't remember what I bought for :icon_rolleyes:.
Superbike bars, '04 GSXR headlight & cowl, DRZ signals, 1/2" fork brace, 'Busa fender, stainless exhaust & brake lines, belly pan, LED dash & brake bulbs, 140/80 rear hoop, F tail lens, SV650 shock, Bandit400 hugger, aluminum heel guards & pegs, fork preload adjusters, .75 SonicSprings, heated grips

qcbaker

Wow, seems like that Yoshi paste stuff you got really worked well, your exhaust looks basically brand new again lol.

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