I agree that clutch is more sensitive. I do like the easy adjustment of these levers depending on the type of gloves I'm wearing.
Tomorrow (ok, later today around noon) I'll put the new headlight on Trey I got from Lights4All and probably the new smoked turn signals. I really love the quality of their products. Smoke tail light just ordered as they were back-ordered for a month. Junior and Suzi already have smoked turn signals and tail lights.
Supposed to be a sunny day (yes, we do get some sun in Seattle) so might just go riding.

Quote from: Falconsun111 on March 04, 2011, 03:11:55 AM
Its not what I did today... Its what my girlfriend did... she buffed my pipes, they look really nice...

Marry that woman!! 

I rode it hard till the clutch was letting go at the full throttle in 6th, the dipstick was too hot to touch, the oil stank of fuel and I had oil droplets on my leathers.  12 hours of fun on mountain roads is hard on my old bike.

It's been suggested that I go from the OEM specified 10w40 to something like maybe a 20W50 as the oil doesn't seem to be holding up to my riding and our climate.  Obviously the (1500km old) oil in my crankcase now is toast and I'll drain it tomorrow.  Any thoughts kids?

I probably need new friction plates as well.  Aftermarket plates are cheap at least.

Quote from: Cosimo_Zaretti on March 06, 2011, 05:02:49 AM
I rode it hard till the clutch was letting go at the full throttle in 6th, the dipstick was too hot to touch, the oil stank of fuel and I had oil droplets on my leathers...

Your oil should NEVER stink like gas!  You have the classic gas-oil problem.  Your vacuum petcock or carbs are dumping fuel into the crankcase.  Since you didn't complain about any drivability problems I suspect the vacuum petcock.  Fix it before you ruin your engine.  Of course this is also a fire hazard.  That is also why your clutch is slipping and you have oil on your leathers.  Your crankcase is overflowing with oil polluted by gas that can no longer lubricate.  By the way you describe how you ride, you very well may have already done serious damage to your engine.  If not, this is a testament to how tough this engine is!  Best of luck.

Quote from: bill14224 on March 06, 2011, 09:30:01 AM


Your oil should NEVER stink like gas!  You have the classic gas-oil problem.  Your vacuum petcock or carbs are dumping fuel into the crankcase.  Since you didn't complain about any drivability problems I suspect the vacuum petcock.  Fix it before you ruin your engine.  Of course this is also a fire hazard.  That is also why your clutch is slipping and you have oil on your leathers.  Your crankcase is overflowing with oil polluted by gas that can no longer lubricate.  By the way you describe how you ride, you very well may have already done serious damage to your engine.  If not, this is a testament to how tough this engine is!  Best of luck.

Ok, I'd pictured the events in the opposite order.  My thoughts were that a full day of spirited riding in the twisties was asking too much of a lightweight oil in an old engine, so oil startst to degrade, doesn't cool as well, engine gets hotter, oil degrades further, clutch starts letting go, fuel starts bypassing piston rings, oil is now cut with petrol and has lost all viscosity and starts coming out little pinholes in the old seals (namely my shifter gasket).  What you're suggesting is that the trouble has started with the fuel in the oil and gone from there.  I'm investigating this vacuum petcock now, although I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for yet.

Quote from: Cosimo_Zaretti on March 06, 2011, 06:59:29 PM

Ok, I'd pictured the events in the opposite order.  My thoughts were that a full day of spirited riding in the twisties was asking too much of a lightweight oil in an old engine, so oil startst to degrade, doesn't cool as well, engine gets hotter, oil degrades further, clutch starts letting go, fuel starts bypassing piston rings, oil is now cut with petrol and has lost all viscosity and starts coming out little pinholes in the old seals (namely my shifter gasket).  What you're suggesting is that the trouble has started with the fuel in the oil and gone from there.  I'm investigating this vacuum petcock now, although I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for yet.

when the bike is off, and not using fuel, the fuel level in the carbs rises until it spills out of the bowl, past the valves, past the rings, and into the crank case

this is because your needles may be a bit old and they can't hold back the pressure head from fuel that is being supplied from the tank because the frame petcock is not shutting off when the engine turns off

Was working on the bike today to do a valve adjustment and found out that as I try to remove the H-shaped valve cover, all those screws had NO o-rings.... None. 5 out of 6 did not have it, hence it was screwed in extremely tight.  The center front screw was my biggest issue as I just could not get enough space to put in the hex key and turn it, and every attempt results in shredding the hex hole...  Any suggestions? *btw, valve adjustment cant be done yet since I have no ability to unscrew that top center one*....

You know what? it's entirely possible that I may have left the petcock on prime at some point and ridden it for a while like that.  I know I did that a couple of weeks ago, I just can't remember if it was before or after the last oil change.  Is it possible this is the source of my sump contamination and subsequent oil degradation?  I'm going to change the oil and keep an eye on it to see if the problem returns. 

Trey: New tires and silver rims (that were going to be used for Suzi), new billet gas cap, stainless steel chain guard, smoke front turn signals, new headlamp from Germany (with running light) new custom seat (German again), new rotor cover. Forgot to replace tach. Fork brace is frozen on so will take some work to put on the billet aluminum one. New tail, but haven't decided on tank color yet. R&G bar ends. 1989 factory bars (just to see how different they are from the lower style European ones I have on Junior and Suzi). Tail still has older turn signals as I haven't decided how I want the tail fender to look. Can't believe how much wiring crap gets stuffed into the headlight bucket. Took Trey for his first real ride since I bought him and my achilles tendon healed enough to go for a ride.


Oh, and then I let my bikes have a private party.


If I see any pocket bikes running around the yard - boy are these guys in BIG trouble!

how much did those custom seats cost you adidasguy? (the one on trey)

I disassembled her.
She's currently in lots of pieces in my garage, primed and waiting for my paint gun and air compressor to get here.

Recharged the battery and started it up. Still runs!

I bought one!

Congratulations.  I love the colour and the bars on it too.

Quote from: Cosimo_Zaretti on March 06, 2011, 08:46:46 PM
You know what? it's entirely possible that I may have left the petcock on prime at some point and ridden it for a while like that.  I know I did that a couple of weeks ago, I just can't remember if it was before or after the last oil change.  Is it possible this is the source of my sump contamination and subsequent oil degradation?  I'm going to change the oil and keep an eye on it to see if the problem returns. 

Absolutely.  Let's pretend at least one of your float valves is sticking open.  You park it in prime.  Gas can now flow freely into the engine.  It fills the cylinders, runs around the rings and into the crankcase.  It probably happened during your ride when you stopped for gas, to eat, and to go the bathroom.  Then you all sat there and shot the breeze while resting, all the while your crankcase was filling with gas.

Quote from: Anaconda on March 07, 2011, 01:55:26 AM
how much did those custom seats cost you adidasguy? (the one on trey)

I bought it here. Suzi also got a seat from him. Junior's is a Gimbel cafe seat.
http://cgi.ebay.de/Suzuki-Sitzbank-GS-500E-Komfort-Umbau-/270684519477?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item3f060dfc35

there are others doing custom sets:
http://shop.ebay.de/i.html?_nkw=gs500+sitzbank&_sacat=0&_dmpt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&_odkw=gs500+seat&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

Some recover your seat. Being in Germany, he charged me a few extra euros because it would have been too expensive to send my seat to him so he picked one up locally and recovered it for me.

Not aware of anyone in the US doing seats like these. GS500 is very popular in Europe.

Quote from: jacob_ns on March 07, 2011, 06:59:29 AM
I bought one!

Bought my girl a new battery, put the battery together and charged it over night. Now she starts without anymore annoying pushing.

Looks Great!!!

Quote from: adidasguy on March 07, 2011, 02:56:30 PM

Quote from: jacob_ns on March 07, 2011, 06:59:29 AM
I bought one!

Don't mind the dirty tyres, my lawn is softening up from the warm weather.

I've just finished changing the oil and I removed the housing for the headlight and sprayed it black. It's not back together yet because the paint is still curing but I'll grab some when it's reassembled.