Greetings.  At the beginning of this story I own and love an 82 Suzuki GS1100 and the wife owns an 81 Kawasaki KZ440. 

The GS1100 runs great and is my main vehicle.  I love it.  The wife's bike is a complete waste of metal.  Every time I manage to fix something on the bike something else breaks.  I won't go into that since this is not the story of the KZ440 but of the acquisition of its replacement.

I have a friend who has managed to acquire an 01 GS500 for cheap. It runs but needs some work including tires, sprockets, chain, etc.  He knows the love I have for my GS1100 and thought I'd be the guy to sale this to.  I call the tag/title office with the VIN and ask if a title can be acquired for the bike and what steps will need to be taken before I offer my friend $500.  All that is needed is a title bond, and a form filled out by the local police department saying it isn't stolen.  I pay my friend with the agreement that if it is stolen I will get my money back. (I work with him and trust him not to screw me.)

I drive the bike home.  I discover after it gets hot it literally pours oil from the stator/generator cover.  Over the next few weeks I buy a title bond ($100), take a vacation day at work so I can go to the police station on the 4 hour window a week that they are willing to say vehicles aren't stolen and fill out the paperwork.  Everything is going well and all my paperwork is done that the tag office needs.  I go ahead and take the rims off and to a mechanic for some new tires. I order the chain and sprockets as well. I'm about $900 - $1000 in at this point.  I am super pleased to have my wife such a nice bike for such an affordable price.

It's Friday morning. I let work know I was going to be running a little late so that I could complete the title process at the tag/title office.  I'm first inline as they open right at 8:00.  The day is definitely going my way.  I hand the customer service agent my paperwork.  She alerts me to the error on the police form (the police officer skipped five digits in the middle of the VIN).  I scribble them in and hand it back to her.  She then points to the small text at the bottom of the document that says any alterations on this form at all void it and will not be accepted.  Remember that my rims are at the mechanics and I have parts on the way. So I will need to wait until they come back and take yet another vacation day to get the police to feel the paperwork out a second time.

During the downtime of our transaction I listen to a neighboring customer service agent tell the customer the taxes that where due on his vehicle.  They were rather high because it hadn't been paid for several years by the previous owner.  Me being concerned I didn't bring enough cash, the only acceptable form of currency at the tag office, I ask once I have that paperwork done what would I owe to get the title and tag.  She starts running the numbers and runs into a problem. After she has a conversation out of earshot with her manager she informs me that my bike is not eligible for a tag.  Through further inquiries I found out that my bike is a parts only bike.

If I had known the bike was parts only, I would have just parted it out and made my $500 back.  But based on the tag office's statement on what was required to get my VIN a title met I purchased $400 in parts and a $100 title bond.  I'm now out this money. Sure I can return some of it, but not the tires which are the largest portion of those parts.  After doing some research I found my only solution is to by another frame with title and move all the parts over. I called the title bond place hoping to get a partial refund and they obliged me.  After discussing with the wife everything that had happened we decided to try and get a frame. That's when I became a member on this site and met Steezin_and_wheezin.  Steezin just happened to have a frame and title that would work with my bike.  Affordable too, except shipping. The frame, title, and few other parts and shipping cost a cool $550.  But I'm going to have a blast moving the parts over. It'll be a great learning experience I tell myself to distract me from realizing I have spent enough money now that I could have bought an 01 GS500 with title by now.

I patiently wait for Steezin to finish parting out the rest of the bike to get me my frame.  This was good, because I had to wait to raise the money anyway.  About a month later I receive the ugliest package I've ever seen.  It's the frame, it made it one piece. I'm super excited and can't wait to get started.  My excitement is short lived because it takes me almost a month to even go to the tag office to get the title transferred.  Again I call my office to let them know I'm going to be running a little late.  I go to the tag office and again am first in line.  They didn't open on time today though.  At 8:10 they finally open the doors and let the customers in.  I go happily to the agent and give her my paperwork to move the title to my name. She types away and after a few minutes lets me know there is an issue.  My computer says the VIN is invalid. 

"WHAT? You better try again." I exclaim.
"I've already tried three times sir." she calmly states.
"Oh. Sorry."

After a short discussion I find that there is a chance I will have to send the title and frame back to Steezin to correct. Keep in mind shipping was most of the cost our transaction.  I only have to send it all back to him if the error in the VIN is in the last 7 digits. If it is ahead of those digits I can just take to my local police precinct for a VIN verification.  Turns out a VIN verification is the same form as the "I'm not stolen" form.

I have to take a vacation day to do this again. Though, this time I can't drive the bike there because bare frames don't drive so well.   I don't have a truck either.  Turns out I have a new neighbor that happens to be a police officer.  I was told that if I knew an officer they might be willing to do it at the house.  I go introduce myself to the guy (he never comes outside so we haven't met yet).  I offer him $20 to come verify my VIN.  He tells me the money isn't needed and he will send someone the next day to do it for me.  I thank him and leave.  An hour later a cop shows up at my door to verify.  I show him the bike and hand him the form to fill out.  He finishes up, there wasn't a single problem. I'm excited I didn't get ripped off by Steezin and show the officer the door.  I go to the tag office the next day to realize while I'm waiting for them to open that this officer corrected the form in not only one place but three different places all relating to addresses and phone numbers. I know there is no way they will take it and head off to work disappointed.

Not willing to harass my neighbor again I wait until Christmas holidays to take it back to the police station so my friend with a truck doesn't have to take a day off (he doesn't let others drive his truck).  I told him it would only take a half an hour or so since I know it isn't stolen already.  The officer at the precinct is on the ball and meets us at the curb for the verification.  He proceeds to call in and find out the frame is indeed stolen.  I'm now concerned I'm going to be arrested along with my friend for receiving/being in possession of stolen property.  The officer says not to worry yet that they have to confirm the VIN with a different computer to double check.  Apparently the computers make a lot of mistakes. It comes back as stolen from the second source as well.  The officer also runs the original VIN on the title (the wrong one) and it comes back as stolen as well.  By this time the officer has told me not to leave while he goes to help others.  It's been about two hours now. 

He comes back to me and says that the detective will want to talk to me so I should not leave.  But not to worry that I won't be arrested since I clearly didn't know it wasn't stolen.  He also tells me that a verification has never taken this long before and he wants to triple check some things and heads inside the precinct.  Half an hour or so later he returns and lets me know that my frame isn't stolen. I can't express how relieved I am.

The officer called the reporting agency that entered the information in the computer. Turns out their system had glitched and was reporting several VINS as stolen when only one was.  My frame was one digit off from the stolen bike.  He fills out the paperwork and gives me the reporting agency info incase this ever comes up again.

Needing closure I immediately go to the title office and get a new title. Finally! I have a legit frame and title to start moving parts too.  Steezin having heard of my troubles offers a partial refund for my troubles.  I gladly accept.

And this is where the build part of this thread comes.  I'm going to have a lot of questions and a lot of pictures. Be sure to subscribe so you can keep me updated.  I haven't done anything beyond replace the sprockets, tires, and removed the stator cover to replace the gasket. 

Removing the gasket on the stator cover was no easy feat. It took roughly 10 minutes each weekday for three weeks to get that old gasket off using a gasket remover solvent.  The previous owner had used some kind of sealant that made it more difficult than normal to remove.  I've tried to put it back but broke three bolts tightening them to the correct torque. (I thought the torque was 12-15ft lbs).  I've gotten all of the broken bolts out and purchased 10 new bolts for the entire case stator cover.

What torque should these be tightened too?

A great story, leading to the BIG QUESTION!

What torque should it be!

Lmfao, glad you got it all sorted out, and glad steezen was a stand up guy who offered you a partial refund. Welcome to the looney bin!

Newb question, not selling my GS500 ever.. as it has given me so many problems, once I fix them, won't be worth selling it. cause I know I won't get any money I invested into it back. there for.. my question to you xunedeinz Is the GS1100 easy to ride if lets say you go from the GS500 to the GS1100, I really LOVE the look of this bike.. and had considered buying one after a year or so of being on my GS500. So would you say it's okay to jump 600cc's? or is the bike to big, I want an honest answer.

Good story, I'd recommend 10ft lbs on the bolts. That's what all of the bolts in my yz426 motor are and they hold.

What a great intro to a build!  (nominated!)
"He proceeds to call in and find out the frame is indeed stolen." -i almost fell out of my chair!

One thing though: "It took roughly 10 minutes each weekday for three weeks to get that old gasket off using a gasket remover solvent."  If this is going to be the pace, you're going to make even cosmiccharlie's project look like a speed of light build! (no offense sir)

I hope you follow through and make good progress.  This is the best place for anything GS!  Great story again and can't wait to see some pics!  Welcome!!

I would say at this point you are committed to taking this through to the bitter end. Good luck, and I'll be watching with the rest of us.

Quote from: J_Walker on January 30, 2012, 02:32:37 PM
Newb question, not selling my GS500 ever.. as it has given me so many problems, once I fix them, won't be worth selling it. cause I know I won't get any money I invested into it back. there for.. my question to you xunedeinz Is the GS1100 easy to ride if lets say you go from the GS500 to the GS1100, I really LOVE the look of this bike.. and had considered buying one after a year or so of being on my GS500. So would you say it's okay to jump 600cc's? or is the bike to big, I want an honest answer.

No clue, only bike i've ever had or even ridden is my 500.

Quote from: J_Walker on January 30, 2012, 02:32:37 PM.. my question to you xunedeinz Is the GS1100 easy to ride if lets say you go from the GS500 to the GS1100, I really LOVE the look of this bike.. and had considered buying one after a year or so of being on my GS500. So would you say it's okay to jump 600cc's? or is the bike to big, I want an honest answer.

You should ask Verboseone.

I think it would depend on your size. Riding a GS1100 isn't going to be the same challenge riding a gsxr1000 is. Your biggest hurdle is that the GS1100 is almost 600lbs wet. The 'big bike' challenges you'll run into on the GS are weight and size, not unrealistic HP.

The GS1100 (82) is a completely different feel then the GS500 (01).  Granted, I haven't driven it with good tires, chain and sprockets yet.

Does everyone agree with the 10 lbs/ft torque mentioned above?
I've taken a few snap shots for you all to get the build part of this thread started.

This is shortly after I took the bad tires, sprockets and chains off.



The new frame from Steezin.


I had what will probably become a brother in law over at my house during the holidays.  He was bored and really wanted to tinker with the bike. What the hell, we decided to start some work.  By this time the stator cover was already removed and had the gasket removed. We started with the gas tank.  I noticed the shut off valve was in a funny place and couldn't pull the hose off the bottom of it. So we decided to pull the tank and just stop up those two holes.  The tank pulled clear of all the pipe. It was suppose to have two still on it so I could stop them up with a screw. Gas is pouring everywhere.. (Of course I had filled the tank completely up before parking it.) 

We run from one container to the next trying to find something that will hold the gas.  I have a 1 gallon gas jug that is empty. It fills up rather quickly. We move to a metal bucket I use for garbage.  Someone has to hold the tank, it won't sit on the bucket without wanting to slip.  We move to my GS1100.  The gas just isn't draining fast enough. I would have had to stand there for what seemed an hour.   Hoping that we had manage to drop enough gas by now we turn it on its side hoping the gas level is low enough that it would not come to the gas cap hole or the exit on the bottom of the tank.  When we turn it over, I turn red.  There is a second shut off valve right underneath the tank.  We ran around like idiots for 30 minutes and there was an easy solution the entire time.

We move to putting the stator cover back on. I've got a PDF shop manual for the bike. It is over 450 pages long.  We look through it and find 8mm crank case bolt should be torqued to 12-16 ft/lbs.  We tighten them slowly all the way around.   Pop, a bolt breaks. Damn it, we already had three to torque too.  I back all the bolts back out.  There is just enough head on the broken bolt to pull it out with vise grips. It came easily. We put everything back and start tightening the bolts like you would on a car rim.  Pop, another bolt breaks.
Well crap, I wasn't even near torque specs this time.  We decide the bolts have been weakened by the previous owner over tightening them to try and stop the huge oil leak we are currently fixing. I decide to move on and tighten the rest of the bolts.  Pop, a third bold breaks.

This isn't going to well. I decide to leave it be and go clean up. I have ordered 10 new bolts to replace every last one of them. But have since mentioned it to a fellow tinkerer at work.  He says I torque the bolts to the wrong spec.  We look through the manual but it never specifically mentions stator/generator cover torque settings.  He tells me the crankcase 8mm was the incorrect torque.  This is where I sit now. Waiting to figure out the torque. Here's a picture of how she currently stands.

I've got the stator cover off and gas tank off, waiting to start the move until I put the cover back on. Still waiting on torque specs.


Since this gasket has been over compressed, should I buy a new one considering this is a prone area for leakage?  The gasket also got a little wrinkled. I had it in between two rags on the work bench. The closet rag was used to wipe off some dust, turns out the gasket was still in it. As far as I can tell the gasket looks fine and has flattened back out rather nicely.

I have put both sprockets back.  So I am making some progress.

Quote

Your biggest hurdle is that the GS1100 is almost 600lbs wet. The 'big bike' challenges you'll run into on the GS are weight and size, not unrealistic HP.

Yep, the 1100 is a heavy pig. On straight roads it was great, cornering is not it's forte. Loved the motor though, very linear power delivery and tons of torque low down. 

Old scanned pic of mine from early 90's......

Moral of the title story - QUADRUPLE check your title every time, all the time!! Those fat DMV fingers click wrong buttons daily. I just bought a SUV, and she had not only made 1, but 2 mistakes on my title!! This time I was watching and made her fix it before i stepped out of the line.

Quote from: cbrfxr67 on January 30, 2012, 02:59:35 PM"He proceeds to call in and find out the frame is indeed stolen." -i almost fell out of my chair!

You and Me both brother!!!! hahah my heart was Pounding!

Broken bolts are a pain!  I'll be following this build til she's up and running for sure.

Glad the project's wheel is moving again. I'm still kicking myself for not having all my I's dotted and T's crossed..

This is great!  I'm liking the 'story build' approach!  One (not so) wise gentleman once told me torque values are just so you don't put too much a** on the bolt.  Three bolts broke?  Never had anything like that happen.  Well you have new ones on the way so hopefully that works out and you can move on. 
Really looking forward to reading more,........

Great write up, I am glad things are starting to come together.

Remember that the side covers of the engine are not a stressed part of the bike. They are there only to compress the gasket enough to create an oil seal and do not need to be cranked down. Not to raise the dander of the torque police, but I have changed this same gasket on mine while replacing the stator, and did not use a torque wrench. These are long, thin, weak bolts that will snap easily (don't ask how I know), just snug them down, give an extra quarter turn and back away.

As for bigger bikes, a couple of summers ago I got a chance to ride my cousins Triumph Rocket III. This is a 2.3 liter triple engine in a 750+ lb bike. I was scared to death looking at the size of the tank and creeping down his gravel drive. Once out on the road, my entire perception changed. The bike was, dare I say it, nimble! It felt light and responsive, but smooth and planted at the same time. By no means "flickable", but no where near cumbersome either. I think the moral of the story is that more of a bikes feel is in it's design and geometry than the size, power, or weight.

I should be working on a rental that is currently unoccupied and in needs of renovation. But to be honest, I've been working on that rental every weekend for two months. I'm bored with it.  Time to actually make some progress on the bike.  What I call progress any.

I decided after doing a quick cleaning in the garage that I clearly needed some music  Ahh, that's better. Bon Jovi, JCM, and Bryan Adams will clearly get me moving on the bike.  Now that the ambience is taken care of lets get to work.

On my agenda today.  Make it look like I'm making progress so the wife will stop harassing me. This is her bike after all.  I clearly need to put the side of stator cover back on.  Of course I've done this before and met with disaster.  Maybe today will go better.  Lets do it right today.  Let me soak the gasket in some oil for about an hour to soften her up a bit. (She was on it when I over torqued those bolts. I'm hoping that won't matter if I take the time to soak it the oil.). 



Well damn, garage is already straightened up. What should I do why I wait for that to setup? I can't go in for I surely wouldn't continue any work.  I look over the bike trying to decide what to work on while I wait.  I examine the exhaust, but decide the bike is actually being held up via the exhaust so that won't work.  I examine the rear swing arm. Nah, I'd rather not work with the brake lines yet.  What about this front fork? Yeah, that'll be a good item to get out of the way.

Damn that's a lot of wires and hoses coming off the front.  Is that two throttle cables? I'm so confused. Why the heck do I have two? My gs1100 only has one throttle cable. Come to think of it, it only has one gas line and the gs500 has two.  I'm still not sure why. Because I'm not the quickest in getting things done I decide to start labeling things I believe will confused me later on.



The throttle cable on the front came off easy, the one in the back took about five minutes to finally get it to slide off.  I'm not in a hurry though so I'm still at peace.  Alright throttle cables and choke have been disconnected.  I remove the shifter cable too. Instead of disconnecting it like a sane person, I just remove the entire plate it was connected too so I wouldn't have to readjust it.  Hrmm.. This large plate/cover won't fit through all the holes.  Hell, I'll disconnect it from the clutch lever. Check!! Something else removed.  Now the gas tank and the front sprocket cover have been removed.  Now that's progress!

Lets see here.. There sure are a lot of wires going to that headlight.. Lets take a look.  This seems pretty normal. I start disconnecting everything when I find a wire that just doesn't fit in.  Nor does it have a disconnect.



Is that a cord from a light fixture in the house?  Where does it go?


This is underneath the rear fairing.   That's no help. But hey.. the bike ran. I won't worry with this for now.  Let's see how they attached it, the back looks butt-connected with shrink-wrap-tube.  (Though I only see one terminated, I didn't bother to undo the electrical here and see the other wire since I'm not ready to repair it.) 


jerryrig, on Flickr

My God... That's not to spec.   Let's mark the wires, disconnect, and move on.   It's been about an hour I think.. or at least 30. Close enough.  I put the gasket on, and You win! the stator cover on.


DSCF2403 on Flickr

Torqued the bolts to 7 or 8 lbs.  Looks good to me. Nice shiny bolts.  I wish the cover was prettier. O-well. 

I've got the front fork wire/cables all disconnect.   Not sure what to do now to actually remove the fork. I'll look that up.


DSCF2404  on Flickr

I also touched up the areas I primed on the new frame.  There was a few spots that had rust or been rubbed raw.  I used Rustoleum rust to primer and then Rustoleum flat black paint.

NOTE: The bike in the background is not an 850, I just have 850 side covers on it so I can smote the competition with my quickness. It's really the GS1100 I've mentioned before.  It only has 850 covers because the mechanic I took it to broke my 1100 covers and couldn't move the digits over because there is blue paint under the 850 and the 1100 wouldn't cover it up. 

Just put it on the center stand, block the bottom of the bike, remove the front tire, undo the 2 top and 2 bottom triple bolts, and slide them on out!

It's probably going to be easier to take the engine out of the frame before you do the front forks.

Quote from: bombsquad83 on February 05, 2012, 05:59:22 PM
It's probably going to be easier to take the engine out of the frame before you do the front forks.

I believe you are right sir.  I've begun to take the wiring harness bits off to ready the engine for pulling. I'm pretty sure I have it loose from everything but the actual bolts.  Carbs, air box, rear fender are all removed.  Exhaust has been removed. I've actually started putting a few pieces on the new frame.  I wait now though, because the supports for the rear fender needed to be primed and painted.  Hopefully that will happen this week and I'll move forward this weekend.

I removed the parking decal that ruined the seals on the left front fork.  There is a device on the left hand side of the bike bolted to the battery box.  The top screw seems stuck.  I may be drilling it out.  I also discovered the exhaust is missing one bolt.  Looks like the engine casing is actually missing a small chunk where the bolt should screw in.

Turns out the frame I bought was a little damaged.  Where the rear supports bolt on to the very back is bent.  They are both bent the same so I had no idea.  Though it was a simple fix with some pliers.


DSCF2415 by verboseone, on Flickr

DSCF2444 by verboseone, on Flickr

DSCF2443 by verboseone, on Flickr

DSCF2442 by verboseone, on Flickr

DSCF2439 by verboseone, on Flickr

DSCF2438 by verboseone, on Flickr

DSCF2432 by verboseone, on Flickr

Half of the lamp cord is unused on the other end.  The one that is used continues on to a yellow cable.  So there must have been an issue with that cable at some point.  I'll think about fixing this when I have the wiring harness remove.  Depends on if the wires are taped inside that tubing or not.


DSCF2416 by verboseone, on Flickr


DSCF2417 by verboseone, on Flickr

I want to paint my exhaust pipes black.  There is a large area where oil dripped on them.  Any suggestions or helpful links?
I do know that I need to use a high temp paint.


DSCF2412 by verboseone, on Flickr

Or maybe I should just wrap them.  The wife would want black wrap, any suggestions on brand or technique?

I know from experience that BBQ grill paint will work for about 20k miles and 3 years.  Some people use stove polish, which does not require removing the exhaust for touch-up or reapplication. 

nice! definitely making some progress

i vote this to be moved into our project/builds section!!

I've got someone coming over Saturday to help me move the engine and forks to the new frame. 

When moving the engine on a GS500 is there anything tricky like spacers that fall out and you have no idea where they came from?