Alright... I finally got it painted. I went with pearl white. The iphone photo is not doing it justice. I'll take some better shots with a real camera when I get the cowling and belly pan on. I took it for a spin today after a long winter. It wouldn't start, checked the battery and it had a charge of 12.43. I bump started it and rode around for a while. On the way back I stalled it by the garage, and it wouldn't start again at all. Just a lot of clicking. Checked the battery and it still had a charge. :dunno_black: I'll have to see if I knocked something loose or if it is an electrical issue. For now... here are some before and afters...
how it is now...
(http://erikakarl.com/GS500/white1.jpg)
how it was when I bought it...
(http://erikakarl.com/GS500/before.jpg)
MMmmmmm So nice!
Looks awesome
I like the Suzuki lettering on the tank :thumb:
-Jessie
looks great. Nice clean ride.
now. how about that back wheel? :)
:thumb: looks great!
I love it!
Even if you did steal my exact paint job. :flipoff:
Great job, well done! About that battery, check it's voltage while cranking, it could be shot.
Looks like an 89 without the pinstripes.
Cool.
Buddha.
What method did you use to remove the old paint? Any paint strippers?
SOO much better. Loving the white. I hate that yellow seat,...vomit. :icon_twisted:
Get rid of the "did it myself" Suzuki decals on the tank, and put on a set of '89 OEM pinstripes or a reasonable fascimile.
Quote from: BaltimoreGS on March 18, 2012, 04:58:15 PM
I like the Suzuki lettering on the tank :thumb:
-Jessie
x2
A number of years the tank had just "SUZUKI" and no designs. So you are OK that way. Looks good.
man that really looks great!!
i'm liking the solid color suzuki on the tank. i think that sealed it for me, i'll be doing a solid blue tank with white suzuki :thumb:
Just a bit more grunge to clean off that white rear wheel!
That bike looked gorgeous before the paint job.
That bike looks well gorgeous after the paint job.
However the easier way to have acheived the result was to contact me and trade a nice 97 blue body for a nice 89 white body ... and my white tank has been lined with POR15.
I dunno. I guess I dont believe in painting ...
Anyway nice 89 with the pinstripes always gets a second and third and 4th ... and heck if the owner wasn't round I'd be over drooling on it ...
A nice deep blue also always get my drool going.
Heck I am going to start posting photos of bikes "before and after" body swaps.
Cool.
Buddha.
Deep blue - simple SUZUKI on the tank. I forget what year. This is Trey - originally purple. Painted Ducati Yellow (someone on board bought tank & tails) then got original purple (pronator or burning as I recall) then got blue (afterbooster). So Trey has gone through a lot. Everyone loves this dark blue. It is an original paint job. Just SUZUKI in reflective silver - under the cleat coat and there are still a couple marks where the tank stickers were by the fuel cap - so that indicates original clear coat.
(http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb442/adidasguy/Assorted/indian_food.jpg)
Nice look with the white! Did that really have a yellow seat?
Maybe it was school colors? Purple/yellow or Purple/gold?
Whichever, that yellow seat was weird :cookoo:
I like the white, thats what im doing in the winter, but i'm going to do a tail swap also so i wont have any rear plastic, and i should have the newer style tank in a day or two.
Quote from: adidasguy on March 19, 2012, 02:49:33 PM
Deep blue - simple SUZUKI on the tank. I forget what year. This is Trey - originally purple. Painted Ducati Yellow (someone on board bought tank & tails) then got original purple (pronator or burning as I recall) then got blue (afterbooster). So Trey has gone through a lot. Everyone loves this dark blue. It is an original paint job. Just SUZUKI in reflective silver - under the cleat coat and there are still a couple marks where the tank stickers were by the fuel cap - so that indicates original clear coat.
(http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb442/adidasguy/Assorted/indian_food.jpg)
This blue if I recall is a 97, the other years with the deep blue pre 00 are 91 - I have one of those, just like the red and the teal but 1000 times nicer than either, and 98 - the year the yellow flooded the market. It had a nike swoosh type stiker on the tail missing the curved bottom part of the swoosh.
Suzuki in some years floods the market with 1 color and totally rations out the other color. 89 may be the only year with a 50-50 of the 2 colors.
Anyway the seat is an easy thing to change color, spray it with trim paint ... any color of your choice ... it will soak in and become that color and that in fact rejuvenates the vinyl and makes it softer and last longer. I had a molecubond brand, the best darned vinyl paint there ever was, spray and it is good as new.
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: steezin_and_wheezin on March 19, 2012, 01:37:21 PM
man that really looks great!!
i'm liking the solid color suzuki on the tank. i think that sealed it for me, i'll be doing a solid blue tank with white suzuki :thumb:
Just a bit more grunge to clean off that white rear wheel!
Let me know if you need the white Suzuki decals, I bought a bunch of them on EBay and have quite a few white ones.
Quote from: SAFE-T on March 19, 2012, 12:54:14 PM
Get rid of the "did it myself" Suzuki decals on the tank, and put on a set of '89 OEM pinstripes or a reasonable fascimile.
Actually, those are oem decals. Do you have a link to the '89 pinstripes you're thinking of? If I like them, I'll consider it.
I'll do an overall reply for now... I had someone paint it for me because I just didn't have the place/equipment to do it in my little Brooklyn back ally garage. (for those in NYC area, he was great if you're looking... http://www.drmotor1.com/) He actually showed me a blue color like Adidas Guy's and I like the blue/white decals... but I went for something that is high-visible. He suggested a Pearl White, and I'm glad I took him up on that because it reflects all the colors around it now like a seashell. The dark purple was getting me run-down on NYC streets even with the yellow seat, and I liked the idea of having a pearly white chariot. Plus.. the guys were calling it the Barney-Mobile. Especially since it also had frog decals high-fiving on the top of the gas tank. (Yes... it belonged to another girl). I was hoping to get something for the side panels like this... http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=52900.0 , but am still looking. Also deciding on the wheels... keep it white or go black? hmm.
As for the battery, I was thinking the same thing about it being shot. Maybe it keeps it's charge, but drops when I try to turn it over. I'm hoping that's all it is, or that I have a loose connection somewhere. I'll have to check it this weekend when I get a chance. I might mention the Shorai battery again, but wouldn't want to open that can of forum-worms again. ha.
Will look for a link for you :)
I think this is what Buddha is referring to:
http://nationalmcnetwork.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/3ddc8_0b656_001af_3594524578_fee56d783b.jpg
Although I think your bike would look better with 1990 decals:
http://www.streetbikerider.us/Pics12/suzuki-gs500-90-586167.jpg
Or 1992 decals:
http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/189546/
The 1992 version from Poland:
http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/1454881/
The NOS 1989 tail plastic are available fro the guy in Israel that I get lots of NOS parts from.
Good price, too. Just no tail center. Those tail centers are as hard to find as a blue high beam plastic indicator cap.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-SUZUKI-GS500-GS-500-SIDE-COVER-LEFT-AND-RIGHT-/320732914978?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aad2be522
Quote from: adidasguy on March 21, 2012, 12:24:18 PM
The NOS 1989 tail plastic are available fro the guy in Israel that I get lots of NOS parts from.
Good price, too. Just no tail center. Those tail centers are as hard to find as a blue high beam plastic indicator cap.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-SUZUKI-GS500-GS-500-SIDE-COVER-LEFT-AND-RIGHT-/320732914978?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aad2be522
I am looking for a set like this, but in gray and black. I'm guessing I will be looking for a long time.
Erika - I do have lots of really good tails in my Bike Cave. If you can show me some pictures of what you're interested in, I can see if I have it.
You can google GS500 and get a zillion photos then PM me the links for them. When I have time, I'll get them out and photograph & catalog what I have. My tag has a link to my photos. In there you'll find a couple of tails hanging up. You might see what you want there. They're all stored now because I did the Bike Cave after that picture was taken and had to clear out everything to make the Cave.
(http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb442/adidasguy/Videos/hijacked.gif)
Quote from: adidasguy on March 22, 2012, 10:21:53 PM
Erika - I do have lots of really good tails in my Bike Cave. If you can show me some pictures of what you're interested in, I can see if I have it.
You can google GS500 and get a zillion photos then PM me the links for them. When I have time, I'll get them out and photograph & catalog what I have. My tag has a link to my photos. In there you'll find a couple of tails hanging up. You might see what you want there. They're all stored now because I did the Bike Cave after that picture was taken and had to clear out everything to make the Cave.
(http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb442/adidasguy/Videos/hijacked.gif)
Well, I'm looking for a black and gray decal like in this photo... but I'm now realizing this guy put up a black and white photo...ha. I don't have to have decals on the back. It just might be cool if I could find something like this...
(http://erikakarl.com/GS500/decal.jpg)
Yea these pin stripes are the stock 89 sky blue and deep blue ... gorgeous IMHO.
The black one had red and white, also beautiful. But see you have to be a GS500 head to appreciate that I guess.
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: adidasguy on March 19, 2012, 04:11:08 PM
Maybe it was school colors? Purple/yellow or Purple/gold?
Whichever, that yellow seat was weird :cookoo:
lakers fan maybe???
Quote from: The Buddha on March 23, 2012, 05:23:22 PM
Yea these pin stripes are the stock 89 sky blue and deep blue ... gorgeous IMHO.
The black one had red and white, also beautiful. But see you have to be a GS500 head to appreciate that I guess.
Cool.
Buddha.
You guys are making me indecisive. The 89 blue stripes are pretty. I also have the oem headlight cowling and belly pan, I'm just waiting for some bolts that were back-ordered to put them on.
Quote from: mach1 on March 23, 2012, 11:19:44 PM
Quote from: adidasguy on March 19, 2012, 04:11:08 PM
Maybe it was school colors? Purple/yellow or Purple/gold?
Whichever, that yellow seat was weird :cookoo:
lakers fan maybe???
That yellow seat is hideous, and I still have it. I can't even give it away. I thought maybe I'll take it and get it recovered with new foam. A friend of mine restores old seats and can help.
Anyone know the length of the "GS500E" decal without the stripes on the '89? I can find those, but I'm not exactly sure what the length is and they come in different sizes. Then I thought I can get vinyl in the colors I want and cut stripes to resemble the '89 look. I dig those stripes.
Have you asked a decal shop if they can make replica decals from pictures and/or taking measurements off your bike ? I see Suzuki had discontinued them.
http://www.sportbikestickershop.com/GS500E-Sticker-gs500e.htm
I got a set there. I haven't used them yet, but it says it can be cleared over. I did some eyeball measurements from pictures and got the 9".
The 'GS500E' decals should be cheap as chips and available everywhere.
A decal shop should be able to do everything though. I had a set of replica decals made for my other bike ~ cost $250 for the first full set but only $50 for the second full set.
But if you are trying to do this for under $20 yourself this will not be the way to go.
Are you thinking of doing the tank stripes as well or just the tail section ?
I like the idea of doing colors that were not stock, but only if they look OEM. Stuff that looks like it was done by someone in their kitchen just doesn't sit right with me.
I think that is what I dislike about the plain 'SUZUKI' on the tank by itself ~ it just looks bush league to me, or that maybe the factory didn't give a shaZam! that year.
Quote from: Erika on March 19, 2012, 09:39:31 PM
Let me know if you need the white Suzuki decals, I bought a bunch of them on EBay and have quite a few white ones.
not sure how i missed this, glad i was bored rereading build threads!!
i would Love a set of white zuki decals!! pm'd ya
Quote from: SAFE-T on March 27, 2012, 10:35:24 AM
The 'GS500E' decals should be cheap as chips and available everywhere.
A decal shop should be able to do everything though. I had a set of replica decals made for my other bike ~ cost $250 for the first full set but only $50 for the second full set.
But if you are trying to do this for under $20 yourself this will not be the way to go.
Are you thinking of doing the tank stripes as well or just the tail section ?
I like the idea of doing colors that were not stock, but only if they look OEM. Stuff that looks like it was done by someone in their kitchen just doesn't sit right with me.
I think that is what I dislike about the plain 'SUZUKI' on the tank by itself ~ it just looks bush league to me, or that maybe the factory didn't give a shaZam! that year.
I know how you feel. I had been riding my bf's CB350 and now that I got a different bike, he wants to cafe it and rattle can flat black it. I'm trying to buy it off of him so it will stay bare bones stock.... it has the original paint and stripes and it would be a pity to paint over that.
The GS500 is an experiment for me. I just hated that 90's paint swirl decal that goes with the 94's. I do like the 89 stripes, though, just not in blue. I did find the GS500E decals for the tail, put without the stripes. I wish I could find a pattern to follow, but may have to measure and cut myself. I did go to art school, so I'm pretty handy with design and an x-acto blade. I won't put it on if I can't get it right.
Photograph the tail with the pin stripes at a distance with a long lens to minimize distortion. Take the image into a drawing program and draw over it to get your pattern for a vinyl or other cutter.
FYI: The word "Slingshot" was added for some European models. One way to identify where a tail plastic originated.
I have an original set of decals of the check-mark type (sharp corners as opposed to the rounded Nike type swoosh decals). Also have a set of tank "SUZUKI". They are curved to match the shape of the tank. Those could be scanned and duplicated.
Quote from: adidasguy on March 27, 2012, 05:16:38 PM
Photograph the tail with the pin stripes at a distance with a long lens to minimize distortion. Take the image into a drawing program and draw over it to get your pattern for a vinyl or other cutter.
FYI: The word "Slingshot" was added for some European models. One way to identify where a tail plastic originated.
I have an original set of decals of the check-mark type (sharp corners as opposed to the rounded Nike type swoosh decals). Also have a set of tank "SUZUKI". They are curved to match the shape of the tank. Those could be scanned and duplicated.
I had thought about that, but wasn't quite sure how to deal with the curvature in the tail. I thought I could blow up a photo to bring the tail to scale, and then measure, but there are curves. Some eyeballing may need to be involved. I could at least measure the ends of the stripes in the photo and get the taper accurately. and then there's the gas tank stripes