Hey, just thought I'd bounce a couple of questions around here relating to some work I want to do in the future. I bought my '03 GS from a guy who lived on a coastal plateau north of sydney, probably 500 metres from the beach. Goes without saying she is wearing a bit of rust still. One day I will be able to afford/organise taking her off the road long enough to repair, sand and repaint the frame in a matte black.
So to pull the entire thing apart; excluding preparatory work approximately how long would it take to pull everything off the bike for sanding/repainting the frame, subframe and swingarm and then re-assembly. I think I can safely assume plenty of you have done this kind of thing so any other advice for this job is totally welcome as well- products for fighting rust, painting tips or anything like that!
Cheers, A.
A GS can be pulled apart easily in 2 to 3 hours. It's nice to have a helper when pulling the engine out. Handy hints: Lift the engine up with a floor jack, rotate about 90 degrees counter clockwise and you can wiggle the engine out without removing any covers. Get some zip lock bags and a permanent marker to keep your parts organized (bolts all kinda look alike). Figure 3 times your dis-assembly for careful re-assembly.
-Jessie
Also take lots of well-focussed, well-lit pictures. Take pictures of everything - you won't know until you are trying to get it back together which parts you can't remember how they go together. With digital cameras, more pictures don't really cost more, since you never need to print them if they are just for reference when sticking things back together - take a bazillion, use what you need when assembling, delete the whole batch.
If your garage (or wherever you are working) floor is not nice, get some large cardboard to work on, and it will help you not lose small parts you drop.