How difficult is an engine swap or rebuild on these bikes?  I'm looking for a decent machine in my area but they're few and far between (and I'm impatient).  Some guy's got one for sale that looks great and shows 12,000 miles but has had an engine seizure, after which he found metal shavings (brass, he said) in the oil.  It looks like a replacement motor from ebay runs about $1000 including shipping.  The owner's asking $1000 for the bike itself, which seems really optimistic for a non-runner.

I've done a lot of car wrenching but not much bike work.  I'm willing to get my hands dirty, but only if there's a reasonable chance of success, some available tech support resources, and not too many pitfalls.  Does this bike warrant a closer look or should I run away screaming?

Cheers!

I recently purchased a '90 that wasn't runnig. The crankshaft balancer bearing was damaged and I'm presently rebuilding the engine. So far so good. Really easy actually. I have a Clymer manual and a little experience getting my hands dirty. The biggest problem has been waiting for parts to arrive after purchasing off ebay (I'm kinda impatient).

Rebuilds/replacements are easy. If you're a car wrencher, you shouldn't have problems. I'd say you can probably get an engine for about 1/2 that ebay price, from someone around here. Post in the WTB forum.

How much did you pay for the bike?  Do you have a rough estimate on what you've sunk into parts and time so far?

Thanks!

I originally paid $750 for the bike. I've put in about 2-3 hour so far and about $100 in parts. I still need to replace the friction pads in the clutch then she should be ready to go. I figure when all is said and done I will have put in about $1000 and 8-10 hour of labour.

Wow, that's a lot less time and money than I would've guessed.  Have you ever done an engine rebuild before?

I've always done my own auto repairs, but never worked on a bike before. I got the itch this winter to try something new so I bought this project bike and work at it whenever I have some free time (I'm not in too much of a hurry since there is about 2' of snow on the ground) The parts are fairly easy to find since the engine hasn't changed a whole lot since '89. I don't want to declare a complete victory though until I have it all back together and running.

Did you know that the balancer bearing was out before you tore down the engine?  Or was it just non-running and you ripped into it without knowing what the problem really was?

I ask because the seller of the bike says he found what looked like brass shavings in the oil.  Does that mean anything in particular other than a bad bearing?  Are there are any signs to look for that might indicate a completely munched engine (like a broken camchain and the resultant smashed valves/pistons/bores)?  Or a broken crankshaft/con rod/etc...  Are there any tests that might indicate exactly what the problem is before opening up the motor?

Hey thanks!

When I purchased it I was told that it just needed to have the clutch fixed. When I removed the clutch cover to do the job I noticed the balancer shaft had lots play in it so I desided to open it up. Once I opened it up, I saw lots of metal shavings. All other internal parts were still good so I purchased a new set of cases and now I'm just finishing up the lower end rebuild. This is my first GS so I'm not sure what to tell you to look for but I have heard lots about the balancer problems.

So you had to buy a new set of cases in order to fix the balancer issue?  Like, brand new?

Did you replace all the bearings, or just those for the balancer?

I had a BMW r65 and to make a long story short, I broke it, then I fixed it, but not well enough. A few thousand miles later it died on me and I decided to try and rebuild it.

When I tore it apart, I found that it had a spun rod bearing, and the crank was too far gone to grind, so I needed a new crank and a new rod, which is kind of expensive. I ended up scraping the bike.

Being a rare model (in the US anyways) made parts harder to find, and since the bike was otherwise a POS I decided it wasn't worth it.

There are tons of GS500s arround though and so it makes it easier to find parts, and costs less to work on. Anyways, just be ready for it to be more than a couple of bearings, and if it is, look for a decent used engine. I'm not so sure I would pay $1000 for a bike with a blown motor though.
good luck