So I bought a 1990 gs500e. I don't know much about it other than it ran 4-5 months ago(supposedly). My goal for this build is basically to put it back together somewhat stock, but not completely. My first goal is to just do the bare minimum to make it ridable and legal. Ill post pictures and progress as it happens as well as questions which I'm sure I'll have many. These first pics are just of the bike as I got it. Since these pics its all been cleaned up a lot and a couple things here and there have been fixed.
The first problem I have is the gas tank is full of bits of rust. I attempted to just flush it out myself using gasoline and I got out a lot, but there is still a lot in there. From what I've researched it sounds like my best options are to either use a liner or take it to a radiator shop. I was quoted $50 to have it flushed by a radiator shop. I have no idea if thats a good deal or not or whether there is another way of doing this myself. If someone could give me some input on either that would be very helpful.
Lastly, I've never posted much on forums so if anyone has any advice on how to better organize this or anything about this in general please let me know.
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This second post will serve as a list of things done and things that need to be done still.
Done:
Fixed Front Brake lever
Flushed Tank
Headlight Mounted
Tail Light
Throttle fixed
Need to be done:
Fingerprint activated ignition(Not Kidding) :thumb:
Gas tank Flushed
Airbox installed
Turn signals and tail light
Tail section welded back on and passenger peg mounts welded back on I think im probably gonna just get some tabs welded on and then put on some pegs+mounts from another bike.(I'll need help with dimensions for these as I will explain in a later post)
New front master cylinder/lever(Broke one of the screws holding it on)
Choke and throttle cables need to be fixed or replaced
Mirrors
Headlight mount(original was cut to fit clip ons)
Tank Rubber cushion and molding
+ many more things that I'm sure will come up
Looks like the gasket under the tank is missing. That will bug you once riding as the tank will bounce around and make noise (as well as its probably not good for the tank).
I suppose it could be on the tank, but its supposed to go right up there by the triple tree.
Quote from: Snake2715 on July 15, 2013, 06:45:38 AM
Looks like the gasket under the tank is missing. That will bug you once riding as the tank will bounce around and make noise (as well as its probably not good for the tank).
I suppose it could be on the tank, but its supposed to go right up there by the triple tree.
Thank you I wouldn't have even known that was missing. Would you know what I should search for or where I could buy one? I tried searching tank gasket, but nothing came up
parts fiches are your friend.
I use any of these:
www.bikebandit.com
www.RockymountainATV.com
Www.Ronayers.com
Or my local one which wont do you any good.
Hit OEM parts, put in brand, year and motorcycle and it will pull up. Tank gasket should be under gas tank (any of the gas tank versions listed will have the same gasket.)
Let me know if that allows you to find it. I am at work so cant access it to link really.
The other thing that you may find helpful. When posting an image (http://link%20here)
I am insure if you click the image button above or manually type it. Either way add this info in the first image section:
[img =width800]http://It will reduce your images so they wont have to be panned across to see the whole picture. you can plan with different widths but I think 800 is safe for most peoples screens and should allow most everyone to view it without panning.
I am not sure how your hosting. Go to www.photobucket.com its free. upload your picture from your computer. Then get the image code and copy and paste that here in between the (//) links.
I went on bike bandit and they had one part(the front rubber piece) and they showed, but didn't carry the rubber trim. If i get the rubber piece that goes in the front do I still need that rubber trim?
And thank you for those suggestions on posting images. I was just using the forum's hosting, but photobucket seems better in the long run.
Thank you
What rubber trim? The trim that runs around the lip (weld/fold) of the tank where it meets the frame?
I dont think you need that. For $5-$6 the tank bushing or whatever up front is a no brainer. The rubber trim that I am thinking of may serve slightly as a gasket, but is more cosmetic.
You want to weld the frame back together? Would it be cheaper just to get a rear hugger to cover that rear tire up and do something about the seat? More of a custom look.
Dont get me wrong stock is fine, but yours has been cut, it may not be cost effective to try to weld it back to stock. Just a thought.
Ok ya I'll definitely get the rubber piece and see if thats enough(once its running). I suppose I can probably source the rubber trim eventually if I really need it anyways. Actually Bikebandit does carry that rubber trim I was just confused by their diagram. I'll probably see how the bike does without it first anyways as I'm on a very very tight budget, but at least its there.
As far as welding it back together, I would like to put the original seat/plastics back on and I want to be able to safely carry a passenger. Those are my main reasons for welding it back on. I'm hoping it's not too insanely expensive, but I get that its not gonna be cheap. If I could find a way to make it safely carry a passenger and look cool without going stock I'd be happy to do that too. I've been looking at some custom tails on other gs's and if a deal comes up on something I might go for a custom tail on mine.
You wouldn't happen to have a guess as to how much welding it back might be would you?(This is my first project of pretty much any kind so I have no idea about these types of things)
Where are you located? (you can add the state in your profile so others can know.
it may be easier to source a bare frame to do this and re weld the rear.. I mean if your going to re weld, maybe go a more common bikes rear.. that I have to admit is beyond me at this point... although I am in the very begining stages of planning a rebuild on my 3erd GS an 89 I picked up a few weeks ago.. if I can get the title cleared.
Tucson, AZ. I'll go add it. I'll call a shop sometime this week and ask them about welding the rear back on. If it is too expensive then I'll look into doing something else. It just sucks that the PO made more than one cut on the rear so I am basically missing a small chunk. Oooh I just realized that i didn't post the pictures in this post so maybe you didn't know, but I do have the main rear section(with all the "stuff" i guess) I just need to get it welded back on. I don't need the entire rear made from scratch.
well that's better news
Trying photobucket now, but here is what I have of the tail(you can see im missing a chunk): (http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r780/cmat1120/IMG_20130711_125732_zps598f93d3.jpg)
(http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r780/cmat1120/IMG_20130711_125732_zps598f93d3.jpg)
I adjusted with the width=800 bit. If you want to see what that looks like quote me and look before posting.
Anyway that shouldnt be too bad. It will be easier to get an estimate if the welder works with email for pictures or you can bring the bike to them.
You do or dont have the rear pegs and tubing for that?
also where is the airbox? Is it just out for pics or did it come without it? Before welding etc get it running then do what you want, once you know what your working with.
Thank you, I tried it and couldn't get it to work. Now I get it.
@Snake for some reason I never noticed the text under that pic until now. But yeah I don't have the rear pegs, but I decided that I'm going to actually buy a set of pegs for a different bike that bolt on(honda cbr or something) and just have tabs welded on to attach them to. The airbox was missing, but I got one now. And ya im going to make the bike street legal and running without being welded then go from there. I may end up going with a custom tail anyways.
So onto my recent progress:I fixed my throttle(it was just rubbing on the tube too much so I sanded the inside of the throttle a little. I removed the choke cable which needs to be replaced. I removed both the speedo and tach cables as I am going to be putting in a digital speedo(I'm going to try one of those cheap chinese ones on ebay). And a bunch of other little things(finding screws and cleaning stuff etc.)
Onto the bigger things: I got my airbox + air filter(might need a new filter though). As I was trying to attach it to the carbs I realized there was some gunk coming out of the carbs so I opened them up and cleaned them out following some tutorials/instructions on here and youtube. Unfortunately the pilot jets was stripped really bad and after I got it out my attempts at fixing the jets only made it worse so I'm going to have to get some new ones. I think I am going to try and get 40's. Mine originally has 37.5(USA), but it sounds like 40 is the better size stock. I plan on adding a lunchbox filter later anyways and the wiki says they should work for that too.
(http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r780/cmat1120/IMG_20130721_201007_zpse7a73bc8.jpg)
I also got the headlight mounted up using some universal mounts I got off of ebay. I'm not entirely sure they are the right fork size but they'll work for now.
(http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r780/cmat1120/IMG_20130721_201031_zpsd116ce44.jpg)
(http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r780/cmat1120/IMG_20130721_201023_zpsbec9c55a.jpg)
Oh I also re-taped the seat with white duck tape cause I thought it would look better than the grey tape. I'll be replacing the entire seat soon so I don't really care how bad it looks. I also attached the brake light with zip ties.
(http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r780/cmat1120/IMG_20130721_201019_zpsf286be29.jpg)
My chainguard is in the mail and I am ordering turn signals and mirrors. Hopefully the bike will be running and maybe even ready to hit the road this week.(and by hit the road I mean slowly drive around my neighborhood as I learn how to drive a motorcycle for the first time lol) :woohoo: I never realized how much I would enjoy working on my bike. I am starting to realize this is going to be a very very long project as I know I am going to continuously be changing things.
Edit: I also forgot to mention that the tank got flushed by a shop and so I'll be picking it up within a day or two. Hopefully I will get to see whether or not the bike runs within the next couple days. I'll be back to post the results when I do.
YARGH!!! .. white tape seat !! .. yes i see you are going to replace it and i know it doesnt matter! .. but still .. YARGH!! ;) :cheers:
.. good on you though for getting into it and showin the old girl some love!! ... you have more patience than me!! .. :thumb:
Haha yes, it seemed like a better idea when I was grabbing a roll at walgreens :dunno_black:. I figure I'll have to justify it with the reasoning that it will get less hot than a black seat down here in Arizona(still probably not enough of a justification). I've got my eye on some seats on ebay so a replacement should be here soon.
So I got the tank back from the shop where it was cleaned(they also stripped a lot of paint resulting in an ugly red tank). Unfortunately the petcock filter was broken there too, so I need a new one of those. Anyways I got the jets I needed and some new fuel lines(didn't get enough though so I'll have to get some more) and put everything into the bike.
(http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r780/cmat1120/IMG_20130722_103744_zps1e202e89.jpg)
And......It started! :woohoo:
(I have no tach right now so I have no idea where it's idling)
Unfortunately it then cut out after maybe 45 seconds of idling. It has gas and I can see it flow into the lines when I turn it to prime(I also saw some particles and stuff in the line so that may be an issue...) so I know theres gas coming out of the tank. If anyone else has any suggestions for troubleshooting/fixing this new problem please tell me. I am now looking for a new filter for the tank petcock and hopefully the carbs didn't get dirty again, but I don't think the petcock filter would be causing it to cut out. Thanks for looking and/or helping!
Oh also it has no oil :icon_eek: ... so I'm definitely going to need to fix that before I try and start it again.
I don't actually know if it has oil or not cause I left it on the kickstand when I checked(first bike ever lol). I'll check again when I run it next time. I'm guessing it has oil as there are no leaks anywhere.
One other thing, does it matter which carb the vacuum hose goes to? On my bike it was attached to the right carb so I just left it there.(the left carb is capped)
New video: Maybe someone can identify the issue from that? Also I think its running rich(Black plugs, a little black smoke and it runs without the air filter as good or better)
Also I definitely seem to have an issue with fuel getting to the carbs because if it starts dyeing I can "revive" it by turning it to prime...
Sorry, I don't have an answer for you but just wanted to add that your bike looks and sounds pretty mean as it is now (in a completely bad ass way!)
Haha thanks I appreciate it. I've actually gotten a lot further since I last posted on this build(I'm stuck on engine work right now), but hopefully I'll have some updates for here soon. The exhaust on it right now was there when I bought it, but the brand is VooDoo. I'm assuming that is the main factor in it's sound.