so k, it's my first post, yay!  here is the deal. i bought a gs500 this summer, my last bike was a 1972 honda cb 350 four, yeah. so i bought this bike as  a warm up to a larger bike. but i fell in love with the gas mileage, lightness and cheap insurance prices that this bike offers. i, as many do, thirst for more power. plus the broke-ometer on my bike is going into the red.

Problems:
Clutch= shot

Recently the electrical system has been weird, bad connection in the sidstand switch and the neutral switch.

My tach is rounded out, so it lags and is not at all accurate.

The previous owner stripped the oil pan drain.

Questions:
Will other engines fit in the 500 frame with little to no modification? perhaps a late 80's air cooled gsxr engine? (I plan on doing some serious distance riding (read as cross continent) and have heard that a 500 would suffer excesive wear to make a trip that long)

since my clutch/ tach are shot i thought that if a different engine would fit it would not be a good idea to replace thoes things and then dump a new engine in.

I can't find a vin plate on my frame, shouldn't it be attached to the rivits on the right side near the top front?

My frame is painted black, i think the previous owner did this, not the factory. could account for the missing vin plate?

i've been slinking around a few gs500 sites for a little while and like the idea of a gsxr front fork and rear wheel, but for my purposes a gsxr engine would be nice. i know it would be a sacrilege to make a gstwin into a gsxrfour, but it still tempts me.

Enough rambling from me, great site, love the bike! once i get a camera again (last one was stolen) i will toss up a few pics of my bike and garage!

Ok..... well, i guess some posts just weren't meant to have replies. I was mostly just wondering if there were any known engine swaps, like maybe a bandit 600, or an old gs750? It looks like nobody knows. I'm ordering a new clutch soon and may repaint the bodywork this winter, as well as fab some kind of crazy new "dash" for it. after all, need a new tach, why stop there? i'll post pics when i can.


ps thanks for not flaming me for suggesting putting a 4cly in my twin!  

someone will come around to answer this..

im clueless on what exactly you want.

But here is the deal.

For the tach, you can get a replacement tach, check FS/FT

You can rebuild your clutch, check above to buy your repair manual. If not you can take the friction pads and change the order it will work for a while.

For the stripped oil pan bolt, try using a vice grip to take it off. Its steel, it shouldnt strip that easy, unless the guy cross threaded it on the way in. Get some leverage (put an extension on the vice grip handle and turn)

As for the electrical system, someone else should give you a hint on it.

sorry i wasn't 100% clear, I already have a clymer manual. I found a replacement tach from a local salvage place, $150. that isn't too bad. i found a new clutch at bikebandit.com for aboyt $56, new springs to go with it $8. also not too bad. the threads on the oilpan it'self are stripped, the bolt looks good. new oil pan on bikebandit.com $44.

My main thought was that if i could find a bigger engine that would fit the frame, then i wouldn't really want to put money into the one i have.

I know where to get the parts to make it all work again, but i'm not sure if it would be best in the long run. since my original post i have read a few more threads that say a 500 is perfectly acceptable for cross country rides. sounds good to me, i like good milage and a light feeling bike. but i'm a big guy, about 240lbs. and not too much of it is fat. i would just like my bike to keep up with my friends bikes for the cross country trip and beyond.

so, i'm trying to figure out if there are any feasible engine swaps that anyone knows of.

any help or suggestions will be apprieciated.
thanks!

150bucks for a tach.. rip off.. check ebay or FS/FT.

Or get an electronic tach.. check the other thread.

you can redo the threads on the oil pan, srinath can give the details.

I dont think you can install another engine in the bike, more so it will be an insurance issue, there are 2 serial #'s on bikes, an engine and a frame.