Some more progress

Plasti-Dipped my windscreen


Test-fitting the cowling


Testing the CCFL angel/devil eyes on the HID projector


I also cut the tool bag elastic holder hook out of the chopped fender and epoxied that onto the undertail


Got in a heavy duty exhaust pipe stretcher (loaner tool from Advance Auto failed to swedge the hardened header)


Swedged out the end of the header pipe


Test fitting the exhaust






I really like the fact that this exhaust doesn't stick as far out the side as the stock; also loving the way the HID is working out.

Nice job on the exhaust. Jacob is glad to know his parts are going to good use.

I want to see it with the exhaust painted an installed! lol. Make sure you use a real good quality high temp paint, or some people (Adidas) use stove polish which holds up longer than high temp paint.

The manager of my local airgas is going to weld the bracket for the centerstand stopper (cut off of the headers) onto the tailpipe; he'll have that ready for me tomorrow.  Once I have the pipe back and verify fitment I'll be painting the headers and tailpipe with flat black VHT flame proof header paint (rated to 2000 F).

Today I also picked up matched colors for the undertail (Pearl Splash White), which the PPG store has in their system; they couldn't shoot it with their camera since it's a tri-stage paint (base, pearl, and clear).

Then it's mostly down to re-assembly.

Got the bracket for the centerstand stopper welded onto the tailpipe


Installed LEDs on the lower bracket cover


Installed LEDs on the lower cowls


Exhaust sprayed with VHT silica ceramic coating


Exhaust installed


Installed control switches for the lighting; the blue switch on the left controls the blue LED underglow and the red switch controls the angel/devil eyes on the HID projector.

Big update today; got her all put back together

I decided to join the "League of Extraordinary Horns" aka "those who wouldn't be allowed to test their horns in the West Seattle Bike Cave."  This sucker is rated at 135dB.  These will be totally hidden by the fairings, so people won't be expecting a big horn sound.


Compressor, horn relay, and small trumpet on left.


The longer trumpet is on the right.


Also added LEDs on the passenger peg stays and under the battery box.


Painted the undertail.


Installing LEDs in the taillight housing for the plate illumination.


And LEDs on the plate mount


Got the tail installed






Installed a better set of switches for the LEDs and the CCFL devil eye and angel ring (in the HID projector).


Installed the carbon/smoke flushmount turn signals


LEDs in the cluster and testing the HID low beam


And finally a gallery of the finished product:

Right side


Front


Rear siometric


Front isometric


Lights turned on


Front isometric all lights


Right side


Rear right isometric


Rear left isometric


Marker light only


Marker and devil/angel eyes


Plate illumination


I did get her fired up and she sounds amazing.  It's quite a bit louder than stock and has a deeper, throatier exhaust note.  I did find that with the 20/60/142.5 jetting (perfect for the K&N drop-in without restrictor and stock exhaust) the bike was lagging a lot when twisting the throttle.  After swapping out the starter and main jets to 20/62.5/145 she now is very responsive.  when the weather gets a bit nicer I'll get her out on the roads and see how she's performing and if she needs any more adjustments to the jetting.

Quite impressed! 

Quote from: adidasguy on February 02, 2014, 05:35:20 PM
Quite impressed! 

Thanks, I'm so glad you talked me into the Balu undertail; that turned out a lot more elegant than an über-fenderectomy would have.

Got her out on the road yesterday.  She's running a bit lean overall, particularly at idle; so I'm going to try a bigger pilot and probably need to go up 1-2 sizes on the main.  Oh the joys of carburetor jetting.

That is one sweet bike, show quality. I would like to know what your final jetting is and how fast she'll go. I love my GS but I feel the need speed when I'm on it. Great job on the bike, it looks like a quality job. Ride proud bro.

Quote from: ron freeman on February 07, 2014, 06:51:04 PM
That is one sweet bike, show quality. I would like to know what your final jetting is and how fast she'll go. I love my GS but I feel the need speed when I'm on it. Great job on the bike, it looks like a quality job. Ride proud bro.

With the stock exhaust, stock gearing, and K&N drop-in filter (without the restrictor ring) I was jetted to 20/60/142.5 1 washer, and 2.5 turns on the mixture screws.  I only had her up to 95mph, but she was still pulling hard and accelerating; went from 70 to 90 in a flash just by rolling on the throttle.  It pulled hard with WOT at any RPM  up to redline and perfectly smooth transitions across the rev range without any holes or jumps.  It also started easily when really cold; maybe only needed 1/2 choke

When I first fired it up with the new exhaust and revved it with no load, I found that it was hesitating a lot; so I put in a 62.5 mid-main and 145 main.  That took care of the hesitation, but it still feels a bit lean especially at idle; albeit a bit more low end power.  It was so lean that  after sitting at around 35 F temperatures it has a bit of trouble starting even with full choke and once running didn't respond to the throttle (or bogged) until it was warmed up a bit.  I've now ordered some 22.5 pilots and 147.5 mains; should have the pilots by Tuesday evening, so we'll see how that works out.

Great bike! Looks damn awesome

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

Quote from: radodrill on January 13, 2014, 07:45:54 PM
A few months ago I upgraded from a 2007 Ninja 250 to my current 2009 GS500F I acquired with 2678 miles on it.  At first I was very underwhelmed by the power (not as much as I was expecting); so within a week I set about re-jetting it; installed a K&N drop-in filter and settled on 20/60/142.5 jets resulting in a very spirited bike that's fun to ride. .

I also just recently got a 2009 GS500F with 2890mils on it! To the 2009 GS500F!

I will probably be following your blog closely

How is your electrical system holding up to the HIDs?

Also where did you get the angel eye  ?... If you don't mind me asking?

Quote from: Shinji on April 22, 2014, 09:26:02 PM
How is your electrical system holding up to the HIDs?

Also where did you get the angel eye  ?... If you don't mind me asking?

Other than at first using a 10A fuse for the horn and needing a 20A fuse, the only minor hiccup I had with the electricals was a slightly loose crimp connection on a spade terminal for the switch powering the angel ring and devil eye; but that was an easy fix.  I bought the projector kit with angel ring and devil eye pre-installed from chinaBay for $62.50 free shipping.

On another note: I've now got the jetting finalized at 22.5/62.5/142.5; IIRC I'm at 2.75 turns out, but will have to double-check that.  I'll try to get a soundbyte of the bike and horn (everyone loves the horn).