I have a 1995 GS 500E with 6300+ miles on it thats been in storage for a couple of years. It used to be my Ex-Girlfriends bike however the bike remained long after she left. It's all stock except for the Carbs have been re-jetted along with a full Hindle Exhaust and Carbon Can along wuth a K+N Drop in filter.

With Gas prices the way they are, and not being able to afford the newest and greatest crotch rockets I decided to pull the bike out of storage.

Heres the Rub, the bike is the stock metalic Purple with White rims so in addition to detailing everything, I had planned on painting the Rims and Tank a Semi Flat Black along with removing the Chin and Headlight spoiler/bodywork.

I found GStwin.com looking for a "How To Article" on replacing a leaky fork seal, what a great resource, heck some of the members of the site even posted up pics and how to's that showed me the tool I needed to make to remove the damper rod, how cool is that. More on this in a seperate post. I made the tool, just havent tried it yet. The bottom allen bolt spins freely but won't come out of it's bore? Anyway think I just have to use the tool to get the inner portion out.


Anyway the site fortunatley or unfortunatley depending on how you look at it led me to  pictures of "cosmiccharlie" project GS, what a mind blowing bike. I plan on following his lead for most of the Mods.

What I'm really curious about is the Sub Frame/Seat Frame mod to fit the Ducati Monster seat. I have a Mig Welder, Chop Saw and all the needed tools and welding skills to complete the project however, I'd like to know if any of you have any detailed measurments of what to cut on the stock frame(Sub Frame Lugs) and measurments as to the new frame created?
Do you cut off the smaller rectangular bars and just repostion them? Or on the main frame do you cut the lugs off, that the seat frame bars weld to? If so do any of you have the measurments as to were you repositioned them to?
I suppose it would be easier to visualize what I need to make if I had the Ducati seat, I'm just hoping to get some insight beefore I take the cutting wheel to the frame/subframe.

Thank you for any info you can provide. I contacted cosmiccharlie and am waiting to hear from him.

P.S. any links to the "K+N Lunch Box Filters? With this proposed mod I'll be ditching the Stk. Airbox and repostioning the Battery Box so I need to get this so called "Lunch Box Filter" in addition to the Ducati Monster Seat(What year do I look for?)

P.S.S While searching the archieves someone mentioned DirtBike style bars wouldn't fit pre- '01 bikes? Whats the issue here, why won't a 7/8th's bar fit the 1995GS that I have?

P.S.S.S Really interested in the Plu and Play Swingarm swaps, so from what I gather early '90's Gixxer arms, wheels fit? Would I use my current shock or the GSXR one?, What about linkage if any? Bearings, Spacers? Shims? Also I gathered from reading, Katana forks fit right up as well? Are they really much better?

Anyway, Thanks to all that inspire and offer assistance, I'll keep updating the pics if any are interested.

Heres the bike pre-finding this site:


Heres the bike after viewing this site:


Heres where I'm at with the fork seal, need to finish disassembly.

Forget the cosmetic charlie's bike ... you need to check out Dgyver's bike 
Anyway. I'll sell you a whole Katana front end for $450 ready to bolt and run. Everythign you need, discs, brake system, clip on's headlight ears ... all the bits that are not GS500. PM for details.
Cool.
Buddha.

Dgyver's bike="The Sicness"

I think I'm at the point  where I need to walkaway from this site or be prepared to spend a lot of time, effort and money on the GS, Oh Damn You Internet.

Quote from: Fry on April 22, 2008, 06:30:08 AM
Dgyver's bike="The Sicness"

I think I'm at the point  where I need to walkaway from this site or be prepared to spend a lot of time, effort and money on the GS, Oh Damn You Internet.

Same thing happened to me. I was able to resist for a year or so, but eventually I got sucked in and I've dropped more money than I want to think about in to my bike.

I would suggest at least doing something to the f/e, whether it's the kat swap or just stiffer springs, you really need to stiffen it up. Right now dgyver is working on my kat f/e and hopefully it will be on in the next few weeks, I can't wait.

check out the buell seat swap also.  I like those a lot better than the ducati seat.  Also check jim knopf's stuff if you think charlie has something.  Him, dgyver, and a few others are pieces of work to look up to 

I'm well aware of this bikes short comings, heck when I ride it hard I swear I can feel the frame flexing, probably getting some feedback from the F/E as well however my initial plan for this bike was to make a plain, non PURPLE commuter bike to save gas and not be laughed at due to the color.

I have had Giixxers in the past (95 1100 and a 96 750) and have resisted the urge (Empty Wallet) to go out and get another Race rep. So here I am just planning on Spray Bombing the thing and fixing a leaking fork seal  moving all the way to stripping the bike to the frame, throwing a Ducati Monster seat on, cutting the frame and thinking about all the other possibilities shown here.

Argh.

Oh yeah, the K&N lunchbox.

Part number RU-2970

Here's a place to get one online

http://www.ajusa.com/details/index/2/KNF/0/0/0/0/KNF%20RU-2970

You'll probably want to rejet again after installing this.

Bucks, thank you so much for the link to the lunch box, ordering that now.

When I put the Hindle full exhaust on and slip in K+N I re-jetted, think I'll need to again with the Lunch Box fitting?

Thanks again guys, I appreciate the willingness to help. This forum is the bomb, when I was into 5.0 Stangs, Corral.com was invaluable. When I got into KTM's , ktmtalk.com was also invaluable, I've made good friends on both sites and learned a ton, hope to continue that trend with this forum.

Hey ... dont blame us, we just want you to have a safe bike so you kids dont get hurt   ... just safety modifications we are making mind you. Yea right safety ...
BTW that GS FE doesn't belong in a ball point pen.
Couple years ago, someone said they put it in a ball point pen and it bottomed out when they dotted their i's.  .
Now here is another kicker ... you swap the rear shock and it will in 1 instant tell you how awful that FE is. Now if you swap the FE will you see how bad the rear shock is and which is more important I dunno, I swapped the rear 10 years ago and loved it, and am impressed with the kat FE so far but I have a GSXR shock on the rear ... but someone else can try a Kat FE with stock rear shock and post back here.

Yes K&N lunch box is a huge step up cos you're removing the airbox.  I'd go 150 mains and of course 40 pilots, 3 turns on mix screws and 1 washer under needle.
Cool.
Buddha.

SOB, Damn All of You.

O.K. So what is the preferred Shock Swap you Safety Conscious members are doing? Rough cost?

Hi there,
Just a few thoughts...
You found this free bike (sort of) in your garage and you want to use it to SAV money and here you are talking about front end swaps, swing arm swaps, this swap and that swap?
Forget it all.
Just fix the fork seal and clean the carbs and ride the gas saving GS500.
What are you thinking man?
You're not looking for a racebike. You want a bike to save on gas. It will still be plenty of fun. And it works acceptably well as it is. You're not planning on riding the wheels off of it, I imagine, and I have the feeling it will suit all of your needs as it is.
Oh, and if you want to sell the chin fairing, I'd be interested if it's cheap enough.
Just replace the fork seal, go through everything, adjust away and ride it.
That's cheap transportation.

Best wishes,
Todd

To get the fork apart (I just went through this with one of my forks) clamp the upper tube.  Pull on the lower (Hell, I put my foot up on the table so I could use it to help with the pulling) and zap the bolt with an impact gun.  Pulling on the lower will put force on the damping rod, preventing it from spinning so freely.  A couple zaps with the impact gun should release the bolt.  Us as short a bit as you can to prevent torque loss along the bit's length.

Kurlon ... well obviously no one ever told you to take off the bottom bolt or atleast loosen it with it still on the bike ... like take off wheel and loosen the bolt, the spring does the pulling for you.
Anyway if that dont work I guess we put in a vice and pull away etc etc.

And Fry - rear shock - also katana 89-98 I think, an easy and much cheaper swap than FE. $30-50 for 1 prolly. BTW that will really tell you how awful your FE is. Been there, done that, lived wiht it for 7- 8 years, had several others do it and say the same ... but I guess we all have to start somewhere. There is a few better shocks before stepping up to the remote reservoir range - sling shot GSXR, RF6/900, B12.
Anyway making mods is really going to add up ... and twrhouse is right, start upgrading stuff and its gonna cost you plenty.
Cool.
Buddha.

That's true, but for under $100 you can completely upgrade your suspension, front and rear. Progressive springs up front and a kat 600 shock in the rear. I got my shock for $25 shipped, seems to be the common rate, although there was one recently on katriders.com that went for free. Progressive springs are around $60. I would look in to those two mods at the very least.

I agree with Bucks.
I'd at least do the Progressive fork springs, which I have on my GS500. I haven't yet installed the Katana rear shock I bought because I don't want to raise the back end of my bike (short legs, sigh...). I keep thinking I'll find a way to resolve that issue.
But new springs and fork oil are a WHOLE lot easier and cheaper than swapping front ends, which is NOT easy due to the steering stem issues, etc. It's a lot of work, and I'm sure it is better, but is it worth all of that to you for what you want this bike for?
I'd say no, and go with the Progressive springs and new oil, and a Katana rear shock if you want to.
Best of luck,
Todd

No, once you get the whole kit and kaboodle setup for a GS a Kat FE swap will be easier than a fork seal and spring job on a GS stock FE. I'd compare them as 1/4th the work for the FE.
I can swap the FE in 15-20 mins. A spring swap and seal job on a GS FE will be atleast 2 hours. Not including the time spent in these things getting soaked to be cleaned and assuming the platisc PVC pipe etc is all at hand. More stuff to get into place for the seal and spring job as well as more work. The Kat FE swap literally is just grease for the neck bearings. Also the kat 600 top plate is 1 piece instead of 2 piece like the GS so future removal is easier. The Kat also has a better fork design that you dont have to make that funky ass tool to take off the damping rod bolt.
A Buddha modded kat FE is on and off in 1/4th the time of a stock GS seal and spring job.
Cool.
Buddha.

When I swapped the Gix front end onto my old GS it only took about 45 minutes and I had no clue what I was doing, twas back in the days of noobhood.  Of course, the FE I bought had already been modded to fit the GS..........

Right. Werase can convert them to the GS in 1 hour, when he did mine though last year I did a whole bunch of new stuff and it took longer.
My new set of instructions for my machinist also look like a 1 hour job to convert.
A swap from the stock into one that is converted though is literally 15 mins and much easier than fork seals on the stock one.
Literally the job of opening up the stock one and the springs and seals and what not and cleaniing them, installing seals and dust covers and replacing the springs and filling and measuring the oil and pumping it and measuring and putting the caps back on is all replaced by, removing the dash and moving it forward 1 inch, removing the headlight ear carrierss and swapping with the ones I modded, removing the handle bar and the fittings on it, removing the top triple plate bolt, then removing the top plates, the removing the bearing, the collar and removing bottomg triple. Then you fit the kat lower triple, put the bearing and collar back on. and put the kat top plate back on, then fit the dash on ... oh yea forgot, remove lock and swap that to kat triple. Anyway its simple and easier than installing fork seals.
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: The Buddha on April 22, 2008, 08:39:46 AM
Kurlon ... well obviously no one ever told you to take off the bottom bolt or atleast loosen it with it still on the bike ... like take off wheel and loosen the bolt, the spring does the pulling for you.
Anyway if that dont work I guess we put in a vice and pull away etc etc.

That was my first try, I had to resort to the vice and pulling after that and a few other methods failed me on that leg.  The other leg came apart and went together beautifully.  The problem leg fought me the whole way.  When it was apart I wire brushed the bolt, and couldn't find any bad threads, debris jamming the works, etc.  I used a small round wire brush to clean out the threads on the damping rod, and even after a few times threading the bolt in and out and cleaning up anything that came out, it was still always a very dry fit.  It was almost like the hole in the damping rod was undersized.

Oh ... OK that free spinning damping rod design is a special torture suzuki has reserved for beginner bikes ... which will more than likely be bought by broke young un's who also will be beginner mechanics. Lovely design feature dumbasses 
Cool.
buddha.