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mr72's '92 project - "Renegade"

Started by mr72, October 04, 2016, 08:04:27 AM

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mr72

Quote from: sledge on October 21, 2016, 10:28:04 AM
But wouldn't it have made sense to check the valves for run out before ordering any parts, particularly if they knew over a week ago there was an issue with sealing?

If they had taken this approach you wouldn't have had to wait an extra week and (probably) pay another delivery charge......right?

On the basis they have only just found it it obviously seems the possibility of a bent valve didn't occur to them when they made and gave you the initial diagnosis back on the 12th, either that or they just assumed they were all ok

I presume that is correct. The fact that the intake valves were heavily carbonized enough to explain the poor compression made bent valves unlikely, so they just made some assumptions and ordered parts accordingly. But it doesn't make me lose faith in their ability to do the job. It's a busy shop and they have a ton of other work in there to do, so when they wait on parts they get other customers' work done. They basically tore it down until they identified that it needed a top end rebuild then ordered the standard parts they need for a top end rebuild and set the whole thing aside until those parts were in, knowing that it was just a few hours work to get it finished once the parts were in hand.

Yeah I wouldn't mind if they had found this earlier and then I'd be picking up the bike today, but you know, it didn't happen that way.

I have a 25 year old motorcycle that I have invested about $900 in. This shop is on the hook to make it run right and I am confident they can and will. Whole purpose in me taking the bike to the shop is so I don't have to worry about all this. I just have to worry about paying the bill and then riding.


sledge

Your shop would leave me doubting on many levels as a result of this........not that it matters to you of course.

Let's hope your expectations are fully met  :D

mr72

Tank is beautiful again.


Still waiting for word on the repairs.

ShowBizWolf

I knew I recognized that bike from earlier in the year...!! Finally got time to search and find the thread:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70485.msg847211#msg847211

Wish there was a way I could find something like this on my GS... just curious to know what my bike has been through before I got it. Well, I know the last owner but nothing about before her.
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

mr72

#24
Quote from: ShowBizWolf on October 26, 2016, 07:33:58 AM
I knew I recognized that bike from earlier in the year...!! Finally got time to search and find the thread:

Yeah I didn't want to throw the previous owner under the bus too badly by calling him out. I am not super thrilled with some of the not-so-true things he told me, but anyway, even though it didn't end well, I do believe he was legitimately trying to get the bike working right, and only inadvertently may have caused some of the issues that I have been struggling with. What can you do? In the end I am going to get what I wanted out of it, but at twice the cost and 10x the effort I had hoped for.

The paint job is not very good and the tank was very dented in ways that were difficult to repair. There are signs of filler on the tank and I assume some paint flaw or other thing is being hidden under the San Antonio skyline decal, but who knows. I'll let the next owner of the tank figure it out. I have a new one going on, and repainted sides, and then I have to repaint the fender and headlight bucket and wheels. With that and the top-end engine rebuild, it should be in mostly brilliant condition mechanically and cosmetically.

mr72

Just talked to the shop.

Another week. This is starting to get old.


mr72

#26
Annd... a week later, I just talked to the shop again.

"A couple of days". Shop owner said the mechanic was back in town (had to leave for a week) and is actively working on my bike today, but to be sure it's ready to rock he estimated "a couple of days" to ring it out right, adjust anything that needs adjustment (carbs, idle, throttle cable, etc.).

At this point, I've been beaten down so much by this process that I just told him to keep it. I'm gonna drop off the freshly painted tank and decals. KIDDING! But I did tell them to take the time to make sure everything was 100% fixed... I mean, it's been almost a month. I can wait another couple of days if that means ensuring it's 100% absolutely fixed.

I am guessing I get it back tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, and more likely Monday. Supposed to rain all weekend anyway. And I'm going to be out of town until at least Sunday afternoon, even if it wasn't raining. So no rush, right? I mean, I already basically forgot I owned it.

I did order new LED turn signals for it, since the rear turn signals are missing and the fronts have had a lot of pavement contact. Should be here in about a month, coming from Taiwan or somewhere like that. I have some free time next week and should be able to get the tank on, decals done, seat reshaped to fit the new tank, and maybe even get around to painting the fender, front wheel and headlight. But of course I really want to ride, so I'll do paint only when there's rain in the forecast.

mr72

I got the bike home this morning. It's only 1.5 miles from the shop to my house so I only had a brief ride. We are having a week's worth of raining every day kind of weather here so I had a brief break in the rain just long enough to get the bike home without getting soaked. I'll take it out on a full on checkout ride tomorrow, weather permitting.

It was expensive, but at least in my short ride the bike runs fabulously. I did notice some interesting things. It now idles at like 1100 rpm or maybe less, and it's smooth and at no risk of stalling. It would never have done that before. Also there used to be a little touch of off-idle hesitation or very slight hint at stumbling but that's all gone. And now there's some crackling-type backfiring on decel that it never did before. I only note these things because they are often mentioned as results of carburetor work/changes/etc. but in this case the carbs were not changed at all and. Maybe poor compression or rings/valves wear can cause issues that look and feel like carburetion.

Since it is still raining today and off and on for the next couple of days I am going to pull the front wheel, fender and headlight tonight and paint them. It'll be dry enough to put together and ride tomorrow. I'll probably also swap the tank and reshape the seat, provided I can get one of the fuel caps I have to fit.

qcbaker

Glad to hear you got your bike back and that its running well. Be sure to post some before and after pictures with the work you're planning on doing.

qcbaker

Also, I believe that a small amount crackle/popping when decelerating in gear is normal, but someone else can correct me if I'm wrong.

mr72

Yeah I think the crackle-n-pop on decel is probably totally normal. I am not worried at all about the way it's running.

I'll try to be better about pictures.


mr72

#31
Now we're making progress.

Bike runs perfectly. So now it needs to start to look the part.

I mounted the new tank and repainted sides. First, reshape the seat:



Have to cut off that "tongue" on the seat, since it really doesn't fit right with a GS500F tank. First I just popped out the staples around the end of the seat fabric, then folded back the upholstery and foam. Marked the line to cut:



I cut it off with a jig saw, then cut the excess vinyl and foam and dressed the plastic cut with a file.



I didn't take pictures of the tucking and rolling, but the key here is to use 1/4" staples which are actually pretty uncommon, that keeps the staples from popping out the other side of the plastic seat base. I've done this kind of thing a time or two before, so it was a cinch. Given the 25 year old vinyl, it didn't stretch exactly as I had hoped so it has a wrinkle or two but it's really not bad.



I also mounted the shorty levers, which are not nearly as short as I expected but they are way more comfortable than the stockers.

Over the next days I will be pulling the front wheel, fender and fork brace and painting them along with the headlight bucket and hardware but I am likely to wait until I get the new turn signals in to pull that all apart, since I'll want to make sure it all goes together right and any holes that have to be drilled or filled will get fresh paint.

While the headlight etc. are apart and I put the new turn signals in, there is a lot of wiring cleanup that I need to do. Man, this thing is a huge mess. Also need to add a horn relay.

That front fender is pretty big and bold. I think I'm going to paint it black. So far I'm on the fence about gloss black or satin. Headlight bucket and hardware will likely be satin black to match turn signal stalks etc. Wheels are going to be Rustoleum "appliance epoxy" in "stainless". It kind of looks like a dark silver. Should look fine, better than that white.

Anyone have ideas on how to secure a tail bag without having to run bungee cords over the side plastics? I am not in the mood to wear my new paint.


mr72

#32
The bike's ready to ride, which I will do today.

Sorry no process pics of the fender job. I chopped the rear inch off of the fender because it was deformed or something, sanded and painted it satin black. It's not beautiful, but it'll be functional and work fine until such time as I decide to replace it. Or not. Because really, it's fine.

I was not able to remove the fork brace to paint it while the fender was off because the bolt heads decided to strip instead of coming lose. I'll paint it, but I'll paint it with it on the bike.

Still to-do:
- Headlight ... when the new turn signals come in, swap the turn signals on both ends of the bike (currently crappy integrated signals alone in the rear) and paint the headlight bucket. I'll paint the fork brace in-situ. Thoroughly clean everything and seriously clean up the wiring when I do this job... no clutch switch, no side-stand switch, no need for a lot of this wiring.
- Fix the gauge lights, which are not only not working, but the wires are cut. But the gauges need lots of work, and I don't ride at night. I might sneak this job in with the other wiring changes.
- paint the wheels. I'll wait for a week this winter when it's just way too cold to ride since this might be a moderately big job including sandblasting and drying time, the bike won't be usable for two or three days.

Here are a couple of pictures... I think it looks quite nice and is WAY better than it was when I got it.






ShowBizWolf

Dang!!! Really wanna see the pics but I can't... and it doesn't make sense cuz now I *can* see the pics in your for sale thread!!

Computers  :cookoo:
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

mr72

I updated the photo links. Can you see them now?

ShowBizWolf

I sure can!! Thank you!! From what I can see, ya did a pretty tidy job trimming the seat to work with the newer tank. I love the newer tanks, every time I see one on an older GS it makes me want one more and more lol....

What do you have goin' on with the heel guard in the first pic? (Sorry if I missed it in the thread somewhere).

Must be awesome to finally be able to ride it!!
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

mr72

Quote from: ShowBizWolf on November 12, 2016, 11:21:43 AM
I sure can!! Thank you!! From what I can see, ya did a pretty tidy job trimming the seat to work with the newer tank.

Thanks! I'm quite pleased with it.

Quote
What do you have goin' on with the heel guard in the first pic?

Was like that when I got it. I need to pick up an original.

Quote
Must be awesome to finally be able to ride it!!

Yep. Put nearly 100 miles on it in two days.

Endopotential

Nice work Josh!  That red paint job looks great.  Really clean bike.

BTW, the last set of pics are fine, but the section above concerning your seat etc still seems to have broken photo links.  I wanna see what you did!  :technical:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70953.0

2007 GS500F Cafe Fighter - cut off the tail, K&N lunchbox, short exhaust, 20/60/140 jets, R6 shock, all sorts of other random bits...

mr72

Thanks, endo. I'll try and fix the links.

Problem is with Google photos, or more accurately, my inability to correctly use Google photos.

mr72

After about 150 miles of riding over three days I discovered some reasonably obvious things:

1. I need to basically do a nearly complete electrical overhaul. I need a horn relay, need gauge lights (there's just a wire hanging out going nowhere), wire up the new turn signals when they get in, and clean up the giant mess the PO made when he hacked out the clutch switch, side stand switch, and put in LED tail light.

2. I slide downhill on the seat pretty regularly and wind up always having to push myself back off the tank. Maybe this 25 year old upholstery really needs help, even though it's not torn up at all.

3. An hour in this seat is all I can really stand. I'm open to ideas of making it more comfortable. I'd love to have a way to move the footpegs down an inch and potentially forward a little.

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