Well folks, it's time I overhaul my bike. So, here's what I'm going to do. Not necessarily in this order, but this is what's on my list of things to do:
Replace, re-paint tank (got tank off of eBay)
Strip and repaint side panels
Strip and repaint front fender
Strip and repaint grab rail
Degrease motor and surrounding areas
Remove exhaust headers, sand down, paint with hi-temp paint
New (probably used Katana) grips
New bars (probably from AZ Motorsports)
New bar ends
New mirrors (probably SV650)
Slip-on exhaust can
Replace clutch cable adjuster (broken, need to replace)
Replace rubber thingie that covers clutch cable adjuster
Clear tail light lens
LED tail light inserts
Smaller (1 tooth) front sprocket
New chain
Today I had a new BT45 rear tire installed, cleaned and lubed the chain.
I'm also going to have some maintenance done:
Check valve clearances
Tighten camchain tensioner
Clean and sync carbs
New plugs
Tomorrow I'm doing an oil change, and going fully synthetic.
The color I've chosen (after much thought) is the OEM Suzuki Silver used on the SV650S (2002 etc). I'm going to order the paint from Color-Rite so it matches, and I'll get the Suzuki tank decals from somewhere, and find some cool decals for the tail plastics.
So, what do you all think? It's quite the project, and my GS will be totally different when I'm done. But I'm excited about it.
So how much do you think the repaint will cost if done at a shop? Over the winter I'll be looking into getting that done... Hopefully the shop can get that nasty scrape off my side panel.
Not sure. I'm doing it myself. Just wet-sand the plastics with the right sandpaper (nothing too heavy) and get it nice and smooth, then use a good automotive primer, 3-4 coats of paint, and a bunch (5 coats, more if you like) of clear coat.
I found the information I'm going to use here:
http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_repaint.htm
This site deals with older GS models (not our 500's) but the concepts are still the same. A little elbow grease, if you have somewhere to do the work, and you can save yourself a ton over having a shop do the paint.
Ah, okay :) good luck! I'd be concerned about the flexibility of the paint on the plastic parts... not sure how well it could hold up to some bending :(
Cam chain has automatic tensioner. Spring loaded. No adjustment required. Replacement maybe it the tensioner is no longer doing it's job.
thats a lot of work (and money!). Good luck and keep up posted with before and after shots!
Check with Color-Rite about how to paint with their paints and how to make sure gas spillage wont damage the paint. It differs significantly from the gsresources website info. Their customer service is great. the paint ends up a little soft though and chips easily since there's no hardener like you would get with a professional job. I'd look into the cost of that just for comparison sake.
For header paint make sure you use MORE than 1200* paint. Seems this isn't good enough on a consistent basis (mine has turned white from heat and is burning off slowly), depending on how hot your motor runs or how much stop and go traffic you ride in I guess. I've heard of having to use 1500* (Ceramic coating?) paint of some sort, probably not available at local auto store though.
I painted my headers with 1500 degree silicone resin paint from Wal Mart. It is made for headers. The only thing bad about it is that you have to either bake it in a 650 degree oven for an hour or put the pipe on and ride it for an hour the same day you paint the header to cure the paint, otherwise it will wipe off with your finger.
I baked my GSXR headers when my wife was in India...whoohooo...It was so beautiful...then she came back a month later and found out...how did she do that...I even cleaned the oven....then we had to move...
Cool.
Srinath.