so i took my fairings off for the first time since i bought the bike and it seems that several of the bolts on/around the engine are rusted pretty badly any suggestions on stainless/ no rust replacements

Replace with stainless and Nylock nuts.

well i guess i wasnt specific enough where would i be able to buy them?

Its not that easy. They are all varying sizes, and some may not even be worth it. The key to getting good stainless hardware or even any good hardware is numbers.
Cheaper, easier and much much more priority it given if you buy by the 100. However it is a 100 of each size. I would also stay away from allen head, cos they tend to take in water and what not. You really want to have the same hex head with flange. Now which bolts are rusted, it may not be easy to get and not worth it.
Anyway, if there is a group buy interest, I'll call my guys and ask for it, and maybe I will do a bolt kit for the GS. Anyway, what bolts are you talking about though.
Cool.
Buddha.

Hey there,
Actually, it is easy.
There's a guy in Washington State who sells bolt sets online, stainless or whatever you want, all packaged up for any bike.
I bought stainless sets from him for my GS500.
He is a great resource.
He actually put together sets for the GS500 after a I called him and asked for them.

http://www.westcoastmc.com/store/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=3341465d46291047849bf64a894de76c&keyword=GS500

He can do it for you, too.
He is:
Burk Henschke
604-637-7854
www.westcoastmc.com

burk@westcoastmc.com

I highly recommend his stuff!
He even bagged up some stainless steel carb float bowl bolts for me by request!
His prices are reasonable and his stuff is nice.
It is $18.95 for the sidecover engine set and $5.95 for the carb screws set.
Call him and ask for prices for an engine mounting bolt set and he will put it together for you.

Good luck, and tell him Todd sent you!

Yours,
Todd

Are they aluminum ? why does he say they are all polished though, and yes allen sets are always available, they been around since the 1930's right  , and they are not really what I'd swap to.
Except for float bowls, cos there the socket has to go over the head, and you really cant fit a nice flanged bolt and the allen wrench can get under it with it still on the bike ... but everywhere else, I'd do the same style as stock.
Anyway, I doubt he's complaining about engine bolts. Random body bolts are prolly what is rotting out.
Cool.
Buddha.

Yes S*****h, <------------------------------- Just call me buddha.
They are stainless.
This guy can sell all kinds of other bolts, too, including steel, aluminum, and even titanium.  He apparently has access to it all.
And while YOU may not like Allen bolts, plenty of us do.
Remember, YOU are the one who has to replace every GS500 feverishly with a Katana front end.
What is used by one need not be used by all.
That's the beauty of democracy!
I do value your opinions, but don't be always calling everyone else names because they disagree with you.
Not everything is "sheit" just because you think so.

OK, I'm done with my lecture.
Take care.
yours,
Todd

That is the beauty of democracy isn't it. I dont have to like allen bolts on the engine cases, his problem is more so with other bolts, not just engine bolts, and even better, mm75658's Katana FE is getting prepped as soon as I get back to Charlotte.
I dont have to replace every GS500 FE with a katana FE, just for the ones that want to replace it.
I dont see any names in what I was saying in this thread.
Cool.
Buddha.

Why do I not like allen bolts.
Yes they are easier to drill if you strip the head. Definetly. You can avoid the centerpunching step as well as the need to go up progressive drill sizes. A definete advantage.
However they have smaller bases usually than the original style bolts. Torque you set the bolts to is directly proportional to seat pressure and the larger area = lesser seat pressure. So if you were cranking on the bolts till you tore up the underlying case the allen heads will be well before the flanges hex style the bike originally had. Yea yea you'd lose the threads in the case well before either happens, but you have to think in terms of installs and removes. You will start to damage the cases in a 100 tries lets say with the stock style, with allens you'd do it in 50. Just an Example.
Then here is the biggie, and its happened 2 X to me in the last year. One time at Mayoke's house when I delivered his GS, and another time on my yamaha when I loaded it in the van. You shear off the tip of the allen in a stuck allen head bolt and its freaking lights out. The one I broke in my yamaha was my welder's Matco (and even he was surprised), the one at mayoke's house was a 10 year old stanley. So not really cheap ass chinese tools either. There are some spots that are really made for allens. But all the rest I avoid it like plague.
You can put allens and never have any issue, but then again, for the same expense, I'll just get the best there is for the location.
Also in some locations where honda uses allen head bolts, they have them with huge heads. Like 3 X the bolt diameter. I noticed that when working on my nighthawk. Maybe to fit larger wrenches and have lower seat pressure.
Cool.
Buddha.

By the way, my friend, just cause you're a moderator doesn't mean you should be MODIFYING my post.
That was uncalled for.
Please don't do that again. There was nothing scandalous, incorrect, illegal, libelous or mean about my original post.
Reply to posts, don't modify them.
Thanks,
Todd

I needed to get away from using my name. That was why I changed it.
You need to respect that and not be USING my real name.
Cool.
Buddha.

Oh, OK.
Well that I can live with, and I can respect that.
We're cool.

Yours,
Todd

Cool, I usually refer to people with their handle even though I know their name - mm75658 is one of my local guys and I have spoke to him a few times, rabid-viper is also local to me but I post referring to him as rapid-viper (cos now he has a GS, he is fast), I refer to roadstergal as R'gal, sometimes I modify/abbreviate the handle ... close enough.
Cool.
Buddha.

Be very careful when using stainless or non-factory bolts in the aluminum cases. The factory bolts are designed soft, so when over torqued they will stretch and break before stripping their threads in the cases.

Huh ... I still had to drill and helicoil a few ... 2 of them just ~2 weeks ago on the nighthawk, and several, over a dozen so far mostly on the 89 I crashed 7 times, but good to know. I know the TL and the "better" bikes come with many bolts necked. Like the grip length is much much thinner than the head or the threads. Ooooo actually the case bolts especially the long ones have smaller dia shanks than the threads even on the GS ... OK cool, very very good info D.
Cool.
Buddha.

Whatever you replace them with, put every bolt on one of two products - anti-seize, or loctite. Both serve to keep other crap, particularly water, out of the thread interface. Which depends on how often you expect to take them out, how hot things get (loctitite does not take heat well) and how prone the particular spot is to vibrating loose. I now have at least two lifetime supplies of high-temp anti-seize, because I lost one for a while and had to buy another in order to find the first one...