Hi, new to the forum here.
So obviously right off the bat I'm going to complain. The threads here seriously need to get organized better for the tech section. Why is everything dealing with mechanical issues lumped into one category with over 800 pages? Searching for anything here is pretty much a lost cause.
Is there a way things could be grouped into transmission, chassis, carburator (sp?), engine, suspension. Or something along those lines, possibly more, to help searching for things. Maybe even to large categories like GS500 and SV650 (I mention that because I see a lot of posts about the SV650).
Sorry for posting a complaint in my only post but I got on here to find information about my new bike and it's frustrating to try and find good info.
So about my bastard-child bike. I bought a 92 GS500 a few weeks ago for cheap. Real cheap, but it's got it's share of problems. Mostly, it just needs some love. The last fool rattle canned the paint job and it's seen the pavement once or twice (or alot). The cool part of the bike are the mods. It's got a 92 GSX-R750 front fork and wheel with dual brakes and clipons. The rear is a single side swing arm off of a 89 Honda Hawk GT. Without any badges or logos anywhere on it, noone can figure out what the heck it is. Once I get the Buell XB9S windscreen mounted I'll send some pics. It's definitely different looking.
welcome to the site...be thankful you werent here a couple years ago, when we only had ONE forum. thats the way the owner, John, likes it. Try the search function, it works although it probably gives you more threads to look at than you're patience will allow. In which case, just ask.
Bike sounds fascinating, and sounds like one Mak put together. He's on here somewhere and I think he does the sssa conversion.
I'll get some pics up soon. Not done repainting it. Seems like the bike was well liked when it was heavily modified but has gone rapidly down hill since the last few owners. I love rebuilding stuff so this is going to be a fun project for me. The only hard part is figured out what parts are when I need to replace them... was this a honda, GSXR or GS500 part???? Took me a little bit of research just to figure out what years stuff were.
I got the bike from the San Fran area, no real idea on who the previous owners were or how many. Seems like a rare piece like a Honda Hawk GT swing arm was kind of expensive. Damn shame the last few owners treated it so badly.
As far as the forums go, I guess I've said my 2 cents. Suppose I'll put up with it grumble to myself at the keyboard from now on. Would be nice if it was set up something along of the lines of the Buell Bad Weather Bikers site. Easier to find what you need there.
There's also the Wiki. http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/
Our goal is to put all the "organized" information in there.
When you find the threads you're looking for, it would be really helpful if you copy it to the appropriate "organized" place on the Wiki. Then the next person won't have the same trouble you're having.
I'm about to do that about tires, as there's tons of conflicting information in the threads, and my BT-45's are wearing out it's time for me to find a replacement (Either more BT-45's or another brand/style, etc...) Once I digest all the information available, I plan to add to the Wiki page on tires.