Hey everyone,

Just bought myself a 91 GS500 a few weeks ago that I plan to work on all winter...After searching around on the internet I quickly found this site and just as quickly realized it would soon turn into my best friend.  So I registered, and figured I'd make a thread about the bike and my plans for it so I dont clutter up the forum with hundreds of questions regarding different things.  I've been riding it since I bought it because I found it way too much damn fun just to tear apart already before riding season is over. 

I paid a grand for it and still dont really know if I got a deal or not.  It has a V&H exhaust, and after some research (on this site) found that the fairing that is on it is the Spec-2 (I think thats it)..The handlebars are also mounted differently as they are clipped to the forks so you lean a little farther to get to them (dont know if the bars are stock or not  ) It has 9,000 and some odd miles on it and runs awesome.  My other bike is a 500 and does not run nearly as hot as this one albeit it is a couch and not designed for speed.  60 on my honda makes it whine nasty while the Gs will hit 60 in 3rd gear easily...it's awesome.

Well, anyway I've got a bunch of pictures I plan to use as before pictures that I will post when I read around and figure out how and I will then say in more detail what I actually plan to do to the bike.  Nothing major, mostly cosmetic, but it should be a lot of fun nonetheless....

-matt

So you paid $1000, and it runs. I don't car what it is, that's a decent deal  that's what I like about this bike, it's cheap but still fun. I'm sure you'll find lots of help with whatever you decide to do on this site. Oh and clip ons didn't come stock on the 91 so those must be aftermarket. If you like them great, if you don't I'm sure you could trade them to someone for the stock bars .... like me  anyways, good luck and have fun. 

Welcome!  And I hope you gave MANY fun times on the GS.

Have you taken the MSF course yet?

K, think I got a handle on this picture thing...







No idea if I did that right or if I'm allowed to do that or whatever, if not just let me know.

Oh and I definitely love the handlebars the way they are, having them like that look spretty pimp so I'll be keeping them haha sorry..

The bike is spray painted...and it has a dent on the right tank you can see in the one picture, and the tires are bald...thats the negatives...

So far the winter plans consist of..
-fixing the tank dent (if even possible dont know yet) whether by air compression or suction cup or whatever...we'll see..
-tearing down the carbs for cleaning and to check to see what jets are in it and then possibly rejetting..I'm doing this because I have no idea whether the bike was rejetted when the V&H was put on)
-New shifter peg....very worn out and wobbly
-LED's behind gauges...blue hopefully...speedometer backlight is burnt out
-fixing some of the mounting of the fairing...one of the mounting brackets is broke and its not quite centered to begin with..
-New tires
-Exhaust sandblasted and repainted
-And finally sanding down and repainting (in the spring)...havent thought of a scheme yet but it will be somewhat simple and include silver...(My brother has some extra silver subaru car paint he doesnt need and hopefully will let me use)

Wow, thats a lot of crap to do right there, I'll be busy and probably broke too haha

Well any tips or comments or whatever I'm all ears...

thanks for looking
-matt

p.s. I have no idea why I posted the gauges now that I think about it but whatever haha..

FYI - The handlebars you've got are not stock.  In the gauges picture, you can see the two "U" shaped "cups".  Those originally held the stock bars.

Mighty purdy tho.  Of course, any GS is

Quote from: annguyen1981 on August 31, 2006, 06:47:32 PM
Welcome!  And I hope you gave MANY fun times on the GS.

Have you taken the MSF course yet?

Thanks!  Yea I've put about 200 miles on it in the week or two I've had it...

I haven't taken the course yet but I have been gathering info on it being my uncle works at Penndot and my boss took the course and gave me the scoop on it. I hope to take it this fall or at least by next may (in the spring sometime)  I just need a way to incorporate it into my college/work/social schedule haha...

thats a sweet looking ride. teh Spec2 fairings arent known for their quality but yours looks fine on there.

if the bike runs as awesome as you indicate I'm guessing the carbs were rejetted and are probably pretty close to what they need to be. There are certain established sizes depending on whats on the bike that work well, from experience here.

let me check, I might have a shift lever left over. I remember getting an extra for a project I had in mind but never got to-pretty sure I know where it is. if I have it its yours. free.

the exhaust you can paint yourself by simply sanding it and spraying it with bbq (1200* temp) black paint. thats what a bunch of people have done, myself included.

welcome to the site and congratulations on your good deal.

Wow, this place is indeed awesome...

Even if you can't find that lever the fact that you would give it for free is an awesome gesture and a real reflection on what kind of people post on here. Thanks a ton..

As far as the bike running awesome, thats relative.  I have no idea how its really supposed to run but it seemed like it runned good enough to be worth a grand.  The reason I want to check is because every now and then it seems to bog a little on takeoff and also it backfires like a mofo when I get off the gas....Again I have no idea whether thats supposed to happen but it seems to me that it should not bog or backfire and that that could be a jetting issue.

Thats pretty much exactly what I plan to do to the exhaust also.  I can have it sandblasted for free and its looking like I may be able to get some high temp grill paint (which is what I'm pretty sure you were talking about) for free as well.

I'd say you got one helluva deal!  The bike looks great.  Welcome to the site, I hope you see you become a "regular".

-Turd.

hey, no one congratulated me when i signed up on here or hope i become a regular .


anyway, welcome and hope you enjoy the site, ive learned alot and am pretty much in the same situation as you right now, fixing up my bike and getting running and looking good. I'll be taking the msf here in philly oct 4th.

Quote from: wildbill on August 31, 2006, 10:14:13 PM
hey, no one congratulated me when i signed up on here or hope i become a regular .

'eh...   No one likes you.   j/k

(who is this guy???)

Quote from: wildbill on August 31, 2006, 10:14:13 PM
hey, no one congratulated me when i signed up on here or hope i become a regular .

pardon our inexcusable behavior...welcome to the site. hopefully you'll become a member and not be scared away by alpha's antics....LOL..

Quote from: mattf on August 31, 2006, 07:28:14 PM
...its looking like I may be able to get some high temp grill paint (which is what I'm pretty sure you were talking about) for free as well.

yes and no. make sure the grill paint is 1200 degree paint. some of them are only 500 degree paint and will burn off immediately upon starting the engine.

*some* backfiring is going to be normal with an aftermarket exhaust, even properly jetted. Id suggest riding it as is for a while so you get a better sense of exactly what its doing...then report back.

That's amazing...you only have 9,668 miles on the odometer. That's only 650 miles a year since 91.

Yeah the guy I bought it off of said the guy who owned it before him used it as a drag bike or something.  How true this statement is I have no idea but if the guy just used it for racing stuff then that would explain the low miles.

Quote from: mattf on August 31, 2006, 07:28:14 PM
Even if you can't find that lever the fact that you would give it for free is an awesome gesture and a real reflection on what kind of people post on here. Thanks a ton..

well, I looked and can't find any of my old gs500 stuff. sorry about that. good luck...

That's cool man, thanks a lot for looking anyway...

Wow, been a while since I posted on here...

Anyway, I figured I'd post on update on this..

Today I just repainted the wheels (did not want to pay for someone else to powdercoat them when I could just use some of the paint I bought fore the rest of the bike and have it done for free.)

So they are a subaru ebony, which has tiny metal flakes of purple and blue which looks pimpin in the sunlight.  This is the same color that I'm planning on using to shadow a silver stripe along the bike.

The base color of the bike has been decided upon as red (subaru barcelona red) as my brother needed to repaint a door on one of his cars and we decided to split the cost of the paint.  One of his Subaru SVX's will now match the color of my bike which is pretty sweet.

I have been stripping the countless layers of spray paint from the fairings and will begin painting them in a week or two.  We are going to pull out as much of the tank dent we can, and then bondo to smooth it out .

I have also replaced the sprockets (and am dropping a tooth off the front, just for kicks) because the rear sprocket was pretty ugly.  I also did the blue led backlighting but have not yet put everything back together to try it out.  I'll be taking some pictures of the bike in its stripped down state here soon before I begin reassembly.  Hopefully it will be completely done by mid-may.... Happy riding 

EDIT :forgot to mention I bought a pair of sport demons to fit on those shiny black wheels and went with a 140 rear....I've probably forgot some other stuff I've got done but I'll post anything else I remember