So, my friend crashed his '01 GS, and gave it to me as a gift. I bought all the stuff to fix it up and make it how I like it, and holy crap:
(http://codefarm.org/bike_cost.gif)
Total: $999.98 for parts, $120.60 for shipping
I'm not complaining. For my money I'm going to have a rejetted GS with decent suspension and Pilot Powers. This is just fair warning to anyone that might be thinking about starting a project like this. :)
With luck, I can sell my original '01 GS for about $1,100 and it will be like doing all those upgrades for free. (Hopefully more, because the other bike also has a Kat shock and Sonic springs, but only folks on this forum would appreciate that.) I will also have a stock GS rear wheel, rear rotor, and shock in perfect condition to sell. Someone will probably be willing to buy the damaged frame (looks like only subframe damage) and old sprockets (only 4,500 miles). So maybe I'll make out pretty well in the end.
I suppose I should promise pictures. The empty frame is in my garage (It only has a front wheel right now). Most of the parts are there, and a few things are being shipped. I'll update my progress as it happens if anyone is interested.
Cool can't wait to see it. :thumb:
What the spring rate on the sonic springs, if they are .90kg/mm or .85kg/mm I will take them ;)
coll0412 - They are .90kg/mm. If I sell the bike to someone that doesn't "appreciate" (ie "pay for") the sonic springs, then I'll return the bike to stock and make them available on the board. But we're talking next year, so if you're in the market go ahead and buy them directly from Sonic.
where'd you score the SV 1/5 throttle tube for <$20 shipped? I've been wanting to pick one of those up.
Quote from: Mandres on December 07, 2006, 07:58:43 PM
where'd you score the SV 1/5 throttle tube for <$20 shipped? I've been wanting to pick one of those up.
I just bought it OEM from RideNow.com along with some other stuff. You could get it from bikebandit.com or flatoutmotorcycles.com or a million other sites that sell OEM parts.
stillo, $1000 for an '01 is pretty cheap. especially with all the new parts included in that price. You could sell it for far more than $1100.
200$ for a frame? Wow! Those go for a song here, because they are usually left after the Breakers have partet out the bike.
Quote from: Mandres on December 07, 2006, 07:58:43 PM
where'd you score the SV 1/5 throttle tube for <$20 shipped? I've been wanting to pick one of those up.
Got mine on ebay for about the same price.
I know what you went through. I have a couple of bikes that started out as budget projects but have grown...and grown. Hopefully I will actually use the parts that were put aside for the upgraded ones. Sometimes ebay sucks....especially when I find the "that looks cool" part.
Yea aint it cool. BTW you did all that work for free.
I try to limit the scope of "busted" that I buy. I dont want to do much more than actual technical and hard to figure out work.
Electrical problems, carb problems and general tech. Dont care about paying more for non crashed and near complete bikes. The valve adjustments, carbs and rejet and electrical trouble shooting and fixing is all I want to do. I have most of the parts I would need, and I know enough about it to guage if I will screw myself just from looking at it. been burned by a few and I am hoping to avoid it. Still once in a while I end up with sheite that has sawed through the case with its cam chain and end up spending $100+ on stuff long before I even get it to turn over.
Like I have said, buying a cheap bike - its not for cheapskates. :laugh:
Cool.
Srinath.
Geez Chuck, we're about in the same boat when it comes to that stuff. I just started tearing mine down. I haven't done a tally..but judging by my bank account..I've almost exceeded you :laugh: Note to self: no more wrecking. BTW any apartments up for grabs anywhere over there? AJ is getting anxious...apparently she doesnt like the cardboard box plan :cookoo:
I have a house available for rent, but it might be too much $$$.
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This was the starting point. The '01 was mostly stripped, with the engine and electricals still mounted. Everything else was removed, except the twisted fork. You can see the swingarm on the desk in the background.
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Here's the '01 swingarm. It bothered me how dirty it was.
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I cleaned it with the goop I use to degrease my hands. It worked pretty well. Then, since my wife wasn't home, I washed it with dish detergent and rinsed it off in the bathtub. It came out pretty nice. I masked off the parts that shouldn't have water in them beforehand.
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The '04 frame is black, so the swingarm has to be black. First I primed it up, and set it to dry.
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While I was waiting for the primer to dry on the swingarm, I started to grind the rusty old exhaust.
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That's a before and after.
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I photographed the wiring so I'd have some chance of setting it back the way it was.
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A little more grinding on the pipes. Making progres. I only do this about 2 minutes at a time because it's really boring and messy.
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After the primer had set, I put on a coat of gloss black. I will later finish with several coats of flat black to match the frame, but I didn't feel like shopping so I used what I had in the garage.
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A lot of things happened before this picture. I read on some web site somewhere to push the bike over on a mattress and remove the mounts. This lets you basically "drop" the engine right out without damaging it. I chose to use this method because there was no one to help me and it was midnight, so I couldn't call anyone to help me. It worked great. This is going to need some cleaning before it goes back in the guest room. :laugh:
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I set the engine sort of angly to prepare to set the new frame down on it.
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And there we go. You can see from this picture that I buy my frozen waffles in bulk.
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Yeah, so basically at this point I wrestled the engine and frame, using the flexibility of the mattress to my advantage until I could get the rear mounting bolts in place. If my wife walked in at this stage, she would have divorced me for making the nasty with my motorcycle.
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I levered the bike back up onto the center stand, and braced the engine with a floor jack. I felt really good that nothing was broken.
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After this I put the side rail back on and installed all the mounts.
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I installed the shock because it was 2am and I wasn't thinking right.
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The next day (today, Sunday) I removed the shock, installed the swingarm, and installed the shock. The swingarm is now flat black. You can see I masked off the sticker that shows the tire pressures (because I forget all the time). That was really dumb. Don't do that. There's a nasty ridge there and the paint likes to peel from there. Live and learn. In a few years I'll be forced to redo it.
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This just shows how well the old paint matches the new paint. It looks different in the photo, but that's a lighting trick.
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I slapped the GS wheel in so I can roll the frame around. Also to make it look more like a motorcycle. I can't tighten the axle because the brake caliper is not there, but I'm not going to ride it, so who cares. When I get my tire in the mail, I'll mount it on the Katana rim and install that. I also have a new rear sprocket to use.
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Battery box goes in.
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Coils.
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Electronic thingies.
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Here, I ran into my first incompatibility between the '01 and '04. There is a nut welded to the frame, presumably for mounting the fairing, that interferes with the '01 horn bracket. I cut out a piece of the bracket because I figured the remaining part would be strong enough to hold the horn.
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After that, the horn went on with no difficulty. I guess on the '04 they just cheesed out and mount the horn using only one of the bolts: http://houseofmotorcycles.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/assets/schematics/Suzuki/SU-04-2005-2803.gif
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With the wiring completed, I call it a day. It's the end of day 2, and I have to work tomorrow. The electricals are all working, and I'm able to run the engine for a couple seconds by spraying some starting fluid in and touching the starter. I never want to hear anything that loud for the rest of my life. The carbs and exhaust are not installed, and it sounded really angry about it.
Quote from: MarkusN on December 08, 2006, 03:34:08 AM
200$ for a frame? Wow! Those go for a song here, because they are usually left after the Breakers have partet out the bike.
An undamaged frame with a clean title is worth a couple bucks. It took me about 4 months to find this, so I snatched it up.
Srinath:
I'm basically doing this for the experience, so I don't mind the time I'm spending. I've never done this before and I want to understand my ride better, so I saw this as a way to do it without risking my "nice" bike.
My job is technical and hard to figure out, so I rather appreciate the mindless assembly, knowing that it will work in the end. I also get to discover along the way all the little details I wouldn't have known about otherwise and wonder why it was done that way.
That matress idea for putting the motor back in was great. I have seen people sit the sub frame under the thingwith bolts etc almost liked up and they bolt that piece into the frame and slide the motor mount bolts in and they lift it back up with the motor now in the frame. No jack needed. You'd need some cool tools like a ratcheting combination wrench or somehting.
Cool.
Srinath.
You the man, man. :bowdown: Even if it doesn't work, that is an s-ton of work and experience. :bowdown: :bowdown:
I owe an update. I've been selfishly working on the bike without taking any pictures.
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This weekend I put on the tail plastics and signals while I was waiting for the paint to dry on the exhaust.
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The paint was still drying, so I lasered the old frame to see how bad it is. You can see with the naked eye that the subframe is all warped... but lasers are cool.
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A close up on the laser on the suspension mounts. The main frame is true. Maybe I'll cut off the subframe and sell the the rest to someone doing a custom tail.
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Stock carbs and airbox go on for now. There will be no rejet until I confirm that everything works right in the first place.
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Finally, the paint's dry on the exhaust. Got it in there.
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More exhaust. The black is way better than stock ugly gray and rust. However the painting process was hellish, I may not want to do it again. Once again, everything is stock until I know everything works. I will probably replace that can in the spring.
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Umm, yeah, so I forgot to mention I got my Pilot Power rear today, so I mounted and balanced it, and slapped it on there with the modified brake torque arm. I was able to bend it by heating it up with propane and hitting it with a sledge hammer (with a 2x4 between hammer and steel). I repainted that as well, and it actually looks better than the rest of the bike. (Ignore my smudgy hand print, that should wipe off.) There's 7mm of clearance between the edge of the tire and the torque arm. Happy day.
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There's the Kat wheel, with the not-so shiny new Pilot Power (it's already rolled around the garage a bit), and the new chain and sprockets (doing a modest 15/39 here). 8mm between the chain and tire. Yay. This was the last thing I'll do for the next two weeks as I move on to traveling and Christmasy stuff.
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There's the current state of things, along with a dusty Outback. As you can see, I'll next have to learn about fixing upholstery (sheesh...). I think the '01 bodywork with the black frame and gray wheels will look pretty interesting. I should have set the fuel tank on just to see what it will look like, but I didn't.
I can't wait for the update...
looks great.
Lookin' sharp, lookin' sharp... 8) I dig the black and silver look.
awesome rebuild and kudos on the writeup.
any pics of the finished product?
I sent you a pm on the frame.
would you be interested in selling the old frame? (if it has a title) O0
Yes, in fact I'm currently selling it to 3imo. Sorry. Pastrana has second dibs, you can be third. However, tntmo has a frame for sale. Or is thinking of selling it.
Hey Chuck,
Heard you were in to donate blood the other day :laugh: They got a kick out of the fact that you've never met me.
Yeah, then they kicked me out because they didn't want me to give anyone malaria. :) oh well. You should come over, I've got nothing to do today but shovel.