so yeah, took my MSF class through the local harley dealer, decided that the GS500 would be a good bike to get started on, lurked here amongst other places and I really wanted my introduction to be far more light hearted than this

short story was I was taking a riding tour of my apartment complex as I had never seen the whole place after living here for over a year.  Was on my way back, going down hill, got more speed than anticipated, was going to have to swing wide except there was a minivan in my line, so I did my best to swerve back to the left and go straight, but I didnt miss the curb.  Wasnt going more than 10-12 mph.  I did my best impression of superman landed in a planter only scraping my left ankle, ironicly the only part of me that didnt have additional armor as I was in full gear.  bike managed to end up pointing the other direction.  Forks are displaced so far to the rear that in order to push the bike back I had to zig zag as the mudflap makes a heck of a brake.  I'll post pics when I can.  There were a few other brackets damaged as well as the rear seat grab point and the cowling was smashed up pretty good.  I managed to do the maximum damage to my bike at the absolute minimum possible speed.  

I have found a couple of sets of complete forks for rather reasonable prices and I need to know if one will work.  One set is off an 06 GS500 and the other is essentially a complete parts bike from 1995.  The 06 forks wont be available much longer so I need to know as soon as possible, if anyone knows.  

After I get those parts, I will slowly assemble the various other parts I need to replace and rebuild the bike.  The next time it goes out will be after I trailer it to a completely closed parking lot away from any traffic while I learn the limitations of the bike.  

Little bit about me.  Engineer, work on cargo transports, shade tree mechanic who has been building a track car out of a merkur XR4Ti for the past 3 years with 3 friends of mine.  I can turn a wrench and prefers to do my own work if at all possible.  

thanks for any insight and help you guys can offer.  

--B_E

What do you consider "reasonable"?  If they range above a few hundred dollars I would SERIOUSLY consider a front end swap.  You will only benefit from this by upgrading if the cost allows.  Yes, it is not necessarily the easiest, but you will be happier in the long run.  Replacing a stock GS front end for "X" amount when you could have installed a Katana or better front end would piss me off.  Do your research and find what is best for you.

On a side note, don't be afraid to ride the bike.  If you transport it in a trailer and ride you are defeating the purpose unless you are towing it behind a 27 foot motorhome, lol.

Fix it and ride!!!!

Welcome and like O.C.D. said depending on how much the forks are going for you might be better off going with an upgraded front end.  Also this bike is an easy bike to work on so you should be able to do just about any service/repair/upgrade to the bike yourself with the right tools.  If you ever get stuck or have questions regarding what you are working on this site is full of information.

well, the entire replacement front end for an 06 is 250 + 25 shipping, course, I still dont know if that front end will work?  any thoughts on that?

the parts bike from 1995 (complete bike, no title tho, have to make sure its not stolen) is 450

I have a 2000 as previously stated.

What upgrade options we talking about?  I already have a project car and really just want to ride. As close to a no fuss no muss swap is what I would need

I'll sell you a kat 600 FE ready to bolt and run for 350-450 depending on what you want for extras. Like new seals some magic parts or what not.
It has an ugly ass set of guage carriers I have made and am failing at making more of, but the rest is super cool.
41 mm legs and twin disks.
You may actually have stopped instead of using the wall.

If you want something cheaper, werase643 has posted a 43mm RF FE, persuade him to get guage carriers made for it and you're good.

Cool.
Buddha.

I have forks from a 1992 in my garage. they are ugly and have a few rust flecks up high on the stanchions where it doesn't matter. Not down where the seals are. But I will look again. $40 + shipping from 03101. They will need seals. Or you can pour a little oil in and ride, and do the seals later.

A oil seal job is $150-200 locally. Or $25 in parts or so. I suck at doing seals and mine leak a little (the ones on my bike) but it rides fine. I will top the forks back up sometime. So if you don't have an inspection to pass, just throw them on, add a little oil, and ride.

Alternately, the other options $250 for known good forks, or $450 parts bike both sound ok.

With fork oil and aftermarket springs, I don't think the stock front end is awful for a beginner bike. IMO. But I am not racing.

Quote from: The Buddha on September 29, 2009, 08:05:50 AM
I'll sell you a kat 600 FE ready to bolt and run for 350-450 depending on what you want for extras. Like new seals some magic parts or what not.
It has an ugly ass set of guage carriers I have made and am failing at making more of, but the rest is super cool.
41 mm legs and twin disks.
You may actually have stopped instead of using the wall.

If you want something cheaper, werase643 has posted a 43mm RF FE, persuade him to get guage carriers made for it and you're good.

Cool.
Buddha.

I keep racking my brain on what I could have done and since I am a very inexperienced rider I want to re-hone the skills I learned at my rider's edge course.  It was a stupid panic on my part which caused a target fixation which put me into the position I am in now.  My bike only has the one caliper and rotor, how would I adapt the brake system as well as the gauge cluster.  

I really just wanted a good, inexpensive stock bike to ride

Dont take my comment too seriously, I am not deriding you, I do stupid shaZam! all the time. I just get worse I feel.
Anyway intergalactic has a good deal for you also ... except shipping from the planet zortron in the galaxy brotrogonom where intergalactic lives can be a beeeeyatch.
Cool.
Buddha.

I do appreciate all the suggestions so far but the question remains,

what year fork assemblies will work on my 2000

will the 2006 forks work?  will the 1995 ones work? will intergalactic's work?

indirectly y'all have said they will, I just want the "yes, any of these will work, now go my son, refork and crash no more"

its the engineer in me

thanks guys.  Once I get the parts, I'm sure I will have a fury of posts (after searching ofcourse) on how to actually put my bike back together. 

I don't know.

I am pretty sure they are all the same, other than subtleties on brake calipers in the mid 1990s.

I took PsyberOptix's fors and threw them in mine, FWIW.

the wiki makes no mention of any fork changes that I could see.

http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.FrontForks

HTH

Quote from: BelfryExpress on September 29, 2009, 08:45:58 AM
I do appreciate all the suggestions so far but the question remains,

what year fork assemblies will work on my 2000

will the 2006 forks work?  will the 1995 ones work? will intergalactic's work?

indirectly y'all have said they will, I just want the "yes, any of these will work, now go my son, refork and crash no more"

its the engineer in me

thanks guys.  Once I get the parts, I'm sure I will have a fury of posts (after searching ofcourse) on how to actually put my bike back together. 

89-09 close enough.
The 90's had caliper changes, but they will all fit any caliper, you only cannot swap pads or other caliper parts between the ones with the old type caliper and the newer type caliper. Whole calipers swap no problem.
Cool.
Buddha.

You guys are awesome.  I'm gonna go with the ones I found on ebay if they are still available and start the rebuilding process.  

I still need to check my wheel bearings and axle to make sure I didnt damage it

I'll get some pictures up tonight of the carnage

speaking of brakes, might as well do em while the wheel is off.  Got the bike with brand new pads

Good luck with what you decide. 

For what it is worth, Target Fixation happens to us all.  Now whether or not we all go down, well that is up to the moment and what we are doing.  When I get it occasionally I tell myself "look away" and it helps. lol 

I would go for the parts bike if you have a place to keep it. That way (hope not) but if anything else happens you will have spare parts. If not you can part most of it out and get every bit of $400 out of it.. and have your parts as well.

 

alas, I wont be in a house till next year plus the deal seems really sketchy with no title n such.  Unfortunately, I have found a new problem and will be posting it shortly

Side view of the bike


bent fork closeup


front of bike


cowl damage and bent side marker


Left engine cover damage


split peg bracket


Pillion handle damage


Right side cover damage


bent rearview mirror stalk


Displaced throttle showing bar end gap

Just flip the fork legs around, you'll have a chopper. Problem solved

ouch, but the good news is, you have one very hot lookin GS. I like it very much...good luck with putting her back together.

She really is a good lookin bike.  That's why I got her.  for a 10 year old bike with 13500 on it, I got a great deal I think.  Alas, she is going to have to go without a cowl until I can either source a new one, get my damaged one repaired or find an aftermarket one I like more.  I will restore her to her former glory, but not untill I have many more miles under my rear

Quote from: BelfryExpress on October 01, 2009, 12:52:20 PM
She really is a good lookin bike.  That's why I got her.  for a 10 year old bike with 13500 on it, I got a great deal I think.  Alas, she is going to have to go without a cowl until I can either source a new one, get my damaged one repaired or find an aftermarket one I like more.  I will restore her to her former glory, but not untill I have many more miles under my rear

That cowl isn't factory.  They stopped making factory cafe fairings in the early '90s.  Mine's a '94 and it never had one.  The damage isn't bad.  It won't be hard to fix.  You can do it yourself.  All the work you did on your Merc is harder than this.  Like Buddha said, all GS 500 forks will fit.  Some are adjustable, most are not, but they're all the same size.

Next time go slow in your apartment complex parking lot!  I know it sucks, but your bike is far from toast.  It sounds like you remember now from your MSF course the bike goes where you look when you're turning.  Fix on a point and that's where you'll end-up.  Also don't step hard on the rear brake while turning or the bike will stand-up and go straight.   You learned the hard way.  So sorry.

I had a little mishap last month.  I was taking a corner before going up a hill on a twisty country road and there were tiny pebbles in the road that killed my traction and I saved the bike from dumping and got my traction back but by then I was running out of pavement so I just kept slowing down as much as I could and ended-up going off the road into the muddy ditch.  Good thing I managed to slow down to 20 or so and rode along the ditch rather than straight into it.  All I got was muddy but I had a heluva time pushing her out of the 2-foot deep ditch!

Post a pic when you get it all fixed.  Good luck, and welcome to the board!  We won't rub salt in your wounds.  We are here to help and cheer you on!