Hey guys

I've got a beautifully and tastefully modified GS500. It's been set up as a sports tourer but still has great agility for the corners I ride. The brakes are fantastic and give great feedback. I think it's one of the best GS's around and am very grateful to the previous owner for setting up such an amazing machine. When originally choosing bikes I rode the stock GS500 and frankly it was pretty bad, especially the brakes and front forks. So instead I bought a Honda Hornet 250 which was a great 250cc machine and I miss it. Good thing is though, sold it to a mate who enjoys it.

A bit about me. I'm a student who is on a restricted license (hence the 500cc twin) for three years so I was looking for something with longevity.. After riding it, I don't think I will EVER upgrade (yes, I've ridden bigger more powerful bikes as well). The previous owner had only sold this one on as he had a Honda Blackbird 1100 which I can concede is probably a bit better Plus, the 500cc keeps the speeds below 'walking-home' territory (well not always).



Anyways, to the fun information, here's how it looks:




Here is the mod list:
Suspension:
- USD forks from 2007 GSX-R 1000
Fully adjustable
- 2009 Yamaha R6 rear shock
Again, fully adjustable. Huge upgrade from stock and looks quite cool too.

Brakes
- 320mm Suzuki Hayabusa brakes and 4pot K9 Tokico Calipers
Installed along with ABM Radial Master Cylinder and custom braided brake lines

Intake and exhaust mods:
- Airbox replaced with K&N lunchbox air filter
- Musarri slip on exhaust with removable baffle
- Carbs rejetted and dyno tuned
Makes 45hp at the wheel, dyno tuned at Motorcycle Weaponry in Mona Vale for any Aussies in NSW. Cannot recommend their shop enough, excellent shop and work while still very competitively priced.
Induction noise is very nice, with the exhaust baffled it's not that loud either. Remove it though and it's quite a loud bike.

Wheels
- White GSX-R front wheel with Metzeler Z-6 tyre (120/70 r17)
- White GSX-R rear wheel with 160 Z-6 tyre
As both wheels are white, it makes the bike look very smexy. Also allows the use of better, high end tyres, if you so choose. Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsas? No problems..

Veypor Digital Dash Computer System in billet Ali housing.
Due to the replacement of the front forks there was no way to measure the speed so a new dash which could was required. This one reads the speed from the rear wheel and can determine the gear you're in from comparing the RPM and speed. It is really a remarkable piece of kit. Gives very accurate speedo reading on a large, bright, LCD screen. Can time 0-60mph, 1/4 mile, braking runs etc. Great mod by itself.

ABM fat bars, grips and quick throttle tube mounted to custom billet aluminium top yoke
Fat bars make the bike more comfortable and easier to countersteer hard into corners
Quick throttle makes 2/3 throttle now mean WOT.
Top yoke allows the bars to be fitted, reduces vibration, improves riding position and looks damn cool. Check out these blokes if you're in the market... http://www.topyokes.com/

Dark black tinted touring screen from Eagle Screens
Changes the look into a sport tourer a lot. Great at keeping the elements off as well. The looks will be subjective but I like the look myself.

HID headlight conversion
Recommend this mod a lot. This headlight is BRIGHT. Makes riding at night easy. Great visibility.

New sprockets and chain
The front sprocket has one tooth less than stock for better low speed acceleration whilst still keeping a reasonable RPM at higher speeds. (Legally limited to 90kmph then to 100kmph due to license, so about 60mph for the overseas riders) Still does well at the higher 'track' speeds too

Raarsk rear sets used relocate foot pegs up and back
Stock ones scrape, fixed with this and helps the riding position immensely.

SW-Motec rear rack with 46 liter Coolcase box
Fits my uni books/laptop or two helmets. Great box.

Stebel Nautilus 139dB air horn fitted and wired
If you ride here in the city this is a necessity due to the brain dead c-words who drive the taxis. Very, very loud.

Don't take this the wrong way but it seems like an awfully large investment in what, at the end of the day, is still a GS500. Don't get me wrong, I love my bike to death and I've gone over nearly every inch of it cleaning, lubricating, tightening, replacing and repairing but unless the majority of those parts were very inexpensive I can't see how it would make much sense to do what's been done to it.

This coming from the guy who's going to frame up rebuild his 1994 this winter for sh!ts and giggles.

Sure is, but the engine is a great match for the majority of my riding. I'm not out to ride the road like a track and a large amount of ass/seat time is riding to Uni. Not to mention the price I paid for it from the second hand owner was very good. As said, I don't think I will upgrade to another bike even after my restrictions are over, so it's not like it's just going to be a bike I keep for a few years then get rid of. Also, the thing is, it's no longer a GS500, the mods have transformed the bike into something else.

I'm buying a second hand 600cc track bike with a mate for track day cravings so this will just be my road machine.

Hopefully it makes a bit more sense now

Awesome!  Any chance to see some other angles including a pic of the dash?

Did you forget to mention the frame sliders?

Raask: Did you find the brake side just as confusing as I did when I installed them on Trey? Being Sweedish, I'd think they would have better diagrams along the line of Ikea. A blurry poor photo didn't help much. I do plan to redrill a hole on the mounts to get the brake pedal to sit a little higher up. Its at the closest possible and still a little low and too much travel. I'll post a pic when I do it.

Trey is getting a shock change from Kat back to stock; going from purple to blue so I might as well fix the Raask brake lever while he's in the bike cave. (I LOVE working in a clean, bright bike cave. Makes me want to do more AND keep things clean.) I'll post pics when I do that.

Great bike mate. Can you post more pics?

Here's one of me on the local twisties - the Old Pacific Highway in Sydney, Australia:


Since having the Metzeler Z6's I've changed to Pirelli Rosso II's. Very good tyre - highly recommended for sporty riding.


At the famous Wollombi tavern in the Hunter Valley - where we have all the viticulture and wineries that we export to you yanks No test sipping while riding through though...

From the requests, here's what the dash looks like:




Here's a short clip of the sound of the K&N box combined with the Musarri exhaust w/o baffle through a nice tunnel. Check out the video of my mate's VFR400 as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIkT23C9WHQ

Hope you guys enjoy

Quote from: toadcat on August 14, 2011, 06:24:33 PM
Hey guys

I've got a beautifully and tastefully modified GS500. It's been set up as a sports tourer but still has great agility for the corners I ride. The brakes are fantastic and give great feedback. I think it's one of the best GS's around and am very grateful to the previous owner for setting up such an amazing machine. When originally choosing bikes I rode the stock GS500 and frankly it was pretty bad, especially the brakes and front forks. So instead I bought a Honda Hornet 250 which was a great 250cc machine and I miss it. Good thing is though, sold it to a mate who enjoys it.

Wow... that is FANTASTIC.

Love what you've done to it.

My kind of project bike, where all the mods are tasteful and represent a tangible, functional improvement over stock.

beautiful art work!! nice job man!

Nice bike mate! Whoaa you have a top speed restriction over the water!?? On my licence in the uk im restricted to 33bhp for two years after pass date. So my gs is restricted but still does 105mph. Not sure what that is im KM, maybe about 170? Being stuck at 60 would suck.

It's not a speed restrictor set on the actual bike, it's just against the law to go above 100... Not that it's obeyed at all though