Hello out there. Just got my first GS at nearly sixty and feeling my age it's ideal, light maneuverable and easy to live with. I wrote in some time ago asking for advice as to whether I should buy or not and a big thanks to all those who offered advice.
Now the down side is the colour. The basic colour is OK, but it's got factory applied (under laquer I think) flashes and stripes over the tank and the plastic side panels and they really are bloody awful to look at.. Question how can I get them off without ruining the paint underneath. When I get some money I will respray but can't afford it at the moment. Any suggestions.
The other queery is the fuel tap how does it work. The previous owner told me to be very careful as it can cause damage to the carbs???????? No I didn't understand ei ther. Anyone had problems with it.
Anyway. I am glad to have got the bike and be a party of the GS club.
Quote from: SmileyQuestion how can I get them off without ruining the paint underneath
Hello Smiley,
Welcome aboard. My '02 GS500 was purchased two years ago at age 50. It has performed very well for me and I am sure you will be very pleased with yours.
Sorry, but I do not believe there is any nondestructive way to remove the stickers if they are underneath a clearcoat.
In the April edition of "Motorcyclist" magazine there is an advertisement for reusable graphics. These things do not use adhesives nor magnets. On their website they show samples of their products covering lettering on tanks, so maybe they could cover your undesirable graphics.
http://www.cyclegraphics.com/Well, good luck.
Bob
Welcome Smiley..!! And congrats on your purchase. Finally some mature adults in here :P :P
You're in the right place. Enjoy your GS wear the right gear and ride safe. Other than that enjoy....and give it a name :thumb:
I'll welcome you too. I got mine at age 45 and I'm happy with it but I still long for something a bit quicker. Rode a lot in my younger years and then took about 20 years off. Now I can't get enough. Can't wait until summer to ride every day and not just once a week or so.
I have a red 93' with pink stickers, so I understand the desire to remove them.
The stickers on the plastic below the seat come off, but they left a nasty sticky residue on my bike. I haven't had much luck getting that off yet, but there are a lot of things that I haven't tried yet.
The stickers on the tank are indeed below the clearcoat. I took parts of them off when I used a do-it-yourself dent puller, but that was unintentional.
Good choice on a bike and a forum. Have fun riding :cheers:
Quote from: SmileyHello out there....
The other queery is the fuel tap how does it work. The previous owner told me to be very careful as it can cause damage to the carbs???????? No I didn't understand either. Anyone had problems with it.
Anyway. I am glad to have got the bike and be a party of the GS club.
There are actually two fuel taps. The first is located on the tank and is turned on and off with a flat bladed screwdriver. The only reason you need to use it is if you are removing the fuel hoses. When the slot is perpendicular to the fuel outlet it is off. When it is in line with the fuel outlet it is on. 1/4 turn from full on to full off - so, if you do not get it absolutely in line with the fuel outlet when you may have a problem with high speed fuel starvation - a frequent complaint on this board. This is one of the common causes.
As for the frame mounted petcock, I believe there are two different versions depending on when you bike was made- the only difference being where the various settings are located. Point the arrow on the handle to the appropriate setting. "On" is a vacuum controlled setting that (assuming the hoses were hooked up correctly - another frequent problem) allows fuel to flow only when the engine is running. If you have not ridden in several days there may not be enough fuel in the carbs to get the engine started and cranking may not provide enough vacuum to open the diaphragm and allow fuel flow - so you can easily run the battery down before it starts. The Prime setting is made to take care of that. It does not depend on vacuum to allow fuel flow - it just opens up the line and allows fuel to flow to the carburetors. Why not just leave it there? Because, if a bit of dirt gets in between the float needle and its seal all your gas will run out since the carbs are lower than the tank (not like a car or bike with a fuel pump where the ignition needs to be on for fuel to flow). So, use prime for five or ten seconds to get fuel into the carbs to get things started. The other setting is Reserve. The reserve setting has a fuel pick-up located a bit lower than the On setting - thus, the bike runs out of fuel in the on position while there is still quite a bit of gas - most of a gallon in the 2001 and newer bikes a bit less in earlier bikes - that you can get to with the reserve setting to get you to a gas station. This setting is also vacuum operated so the Prime setting is between the On and Reserve giving gas a chance to flow a bit as you do the switch.
If you run out of gas once you will begin to see the symptoms and can switch over while riding before the bike actually stops running.
Quote from: goatThe stickers on the plastic below the seat come off, but they left a nasty sticky residue on my bike. I haven't had much luck getting that off yet, but there are a lot of things that I haven't tried yet.
any kind of adhesive residue can be removed with a product called 'GOO Gone'. its the best. other brands make a similar product. its a citrus based adhesive removal. be sure to wax the places where u use it because it strips wax too!