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   All Spray Cans!

   The bike's my wife's '92 Suzuki GS500e.  It was red with white wheels when we got it (for $700 bucks).  She wanted a darker look with the irridescent purple paint.  Found the paint in spray cans by Dupli Color.  My son & I did the whole project with rattle cans for about $150.00 including the vinyl graphic set.  Cleared the whole project with Dupli Color clear engine enamel.  Had some trouble with the clear, wanted to go on dry, or lift the black if layed on wet.  Would use another choice of clear if I did it again.  Wanted the fuel resistance & durability of the engine enamel.

   All in all, the project came out good, Mrs. Downer is happy with it.  My son & I had a good time doing it & it didn't cost much.

Other mods include: Avon Radials, rear is 150/70/ZR17.  Meyer 1/4 faring. Custom jetting.

paint looks sharp man!

Thanx weaselnoze

Very nice, Downer.  

Noticed you are running the 150/70 AV46 rear tire.  I'm running the 140/80 AV46 now and it comes quite close to the brake torque rod.  Did you have enough clearance for the 150/70 without grinding off some of the torque rod?

The 150/70 would make the rear about 1/4" lower than the 140/80 which is the best fit for the 3.5" wide GS rear wheel.  A bit lower would be better for me when I put on my 05 season tires in a couple months.

first, welcome aboard!

great job on the bike, Downer! i see that you've painted the frame, did you stip it down to the frame?

also, how did you do your wheels? i'm about to get my wheels powder coated black but your looks great too.

Thanx for the reply gsJack.
Yes, we had to "clerance" the brake arm, we simply cut a little groove in the arm where the tire would touch it.  Likewise the plastic chain guard.  Radial tire makes a huge difference in the way the bike feels & handles.  I would say it transformed this little bike!

I've always said a pair of Progressive front springs and a good set of sport touring radials will make the GS500 the closest thing you can get to a sportbike for the modest price of the GS.  OEM front springs are way too soft.

Quote from: JetSwingDowner! i see that you've painted the frame, did you stip it down to the frame?

also, how did you do your wheels? i'm about to get my wheels powder coated black but your looks great too.

JetSwing, we didn't strip the bike completely, though that would be best.  We stripped down the tins, pegs & controls, masked the engine & other remaining parts, then plastic trash bagged the fork & swing arm assemblies.  The swing arm is painted a dark metallic gray.

As for the wheels, we bead blasted the white powder coat off at a friend's shop.  Then painted them with Deltron acrylic paint.  Again, powder coat would be best, we wanted to do this project ourselves on a budget.  If powdercoating, check with your powdercoater, He will probably want to prepair the surfaces himself.

Thanx for the reply.

Well, I guess that answers the question I was about to pose, which was

"Is  $300 too much for a paint job, if I'm providing the paint (not clear coat), and taking the bike apart?"

That is one sharp looking bike.  Let us know how the paint holds up.  

In the meantime I'll go to my local car paint store and see how much it'd be for the paint and clear coat, so I can do the job myself.  They are called Finish Masters, anybody heard anything about them?

jjr_vw, I wouldn't think $300 is too much if your getting a good job. You may be suprised how much your materials will be.  You should use some type of acrylic paint.  We used the spray cans as a way to keep costs down.  It's hard to get a good finish though.

I love that paint excellent job [

Thanx MARIE11480!  We had fun doing it. :mrgreen:

Well done paint job..!!! Bike looks great..!!  I'm hoping to paint a camouflage pattern on mine this summer.  Oh...welcome to the best bike board on the net,  I no longer own a GS but i like this site a lot.      

WOW!!!

Welcome to GStwin!

Welcome...Welcome  

Excellent looking bike...great work!

a buddy of mine painted his vfr the same color. looks great man. there s alot of great information here. welcome aboard!

very nice

Downer, great looking bike. I'm not a fan of the irredescent paint but it seems to be a popular one, as I've seen several on here do it. YOurs looks top notch. I'd always wanted to paint the frame as you did as well.

Welcome and enjoy....

Thank you all for the support!  I got a lot of ideas looking at your picture galleries & message boards.  The tire size information is from gstwins.com & from pantablo's page.  You've already been a lot of help to me, I should have signed on earlier!

That really looks sharp.  Well done, man.