Well my friends Im on the way to converting my F to an E and I got my self a rusty bucket I would like to freshen up give me you thoughts or steer me towards the promise land of previous posts concerning the red/brown abomination...


I am going to just clean up and plastipdip the outside, but it is actually in good shape, no for the inside should i just plastids that as well? or is there something else i can spray in to help seal it up a little bit after i get the rust out?

Yes my light is not an actual GS500 light exactly its from a 93 VX800 they are the same mounting brackets and bucket as GS and cheaper online to find...just incase you notice, I ordered all new screws and bolts as mine are all rusty... so that will be what i do to finish putting it all together with my new light, which i posted in another post.
So if anyone will want the headlight itself, a new bulb and the rubber gasket let me know and we can work out a price.


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Have the housing sand blasted. Best way to get rid of rust.
If you're in the states I can powder coat the metal housing any color you like 

Sandblasting is a really good option. If you're going to use plastidip on the outside, it should work well on the inside as well.

Quote from: GS500Schultz on November 04, 2014, 06:17:29 PM
Have the housing sand blasted. Best way to get rid of rust.
If you're in the states I can powder coat the metal housing any color you like

where in the US are you? that may be a good route down the road, i don't know if I can be bikes to much longer I really want this project done. lol

what do you charge?

Quote from: Big Rich on November 04, 2014, 06:33:54 PM
Sandblasting is a really good option. If you're going to use plastidip on the outside, it should work well on the inside as well.

could I hand sand it? or should I just look for sandblasting?

When I did mine in the spring, I soaked the whole bucket in Evaporust for a day or two and then smoothed out the rougher areas by sanding.  Then I washed it, primed it and did the inside with brush-on truck bedliner.  I figured that if more water did get in there and sit, the bedliner would hold up pretty good.  I did the outside just with gloss black and 3 or 4 coats of clear.  I bit the bullet and bought a new chrome ring from Motosport.com and also got new screws cuz mine were rusty too.  I hate rust!!! 

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Quote from: ShowBizWolf on November 04, 2014, 07:10:07 PM
When I did mine in the spring, I soaked the whole bucket in Evaporust for a day or two and then smoothed out the rougher areas by sanding.  Then I washed it, primed it and did the inside with brush-on truck bedliner.  I figured that if more water did get in there and sit, the bedliner would hold up pretty good.  I did the outside just with gloss black and 3 or 4 coats of clear.  I bit the bullet and bought a new chrome ring from Motosport.com and also got new screws cuz mine were rusty too.  I hate rust!!! 

thanks for the tip! looks way nicer! good call on truck bed liner.

Thanks!    I have used the Rustoleum spray-on and brush-on types over the years and the brush-on kind seems to hold up better.  It is thick and the only thing I have found that will clean it up is acetone.  Had a can of it at home and figured what the heck... might as well use it for this too!

Quote from: ShowBizWolf on November 04, 2014, 07:25:18 PM
Thanks!    I have used the Rustoleum spray-on and brush-on types over the years and the brush-on kind seems to hold up better.  It is thick and the only thing I have found that will clean it up is acetone.  Had a can of it at home and figured what the heck... might as well use it for this too!

what chrome ring did you get?

mine is ok the piece I bought had been dropped so its a little bent I am going to attempt to round it back out.....but I think I will just end up coating the ring black as well

Quote from: JM500 on November 04, 2014, 07:07:30 PM

Quote from: Big Rich on November 04, 2014, 06:33:54 PM
Sandblasting is a really good option. If you're going to use plastidip on the outside, it should work well on the inside as well.

could I hand sand it? or should I just look for sandblasting?

Technically you could sand it down by hand......but take my word for it: you don't want to. Sandblasting would take maybe 10 minutes? Hand sanding will take over an hour.

Quote from: Big Rich on November 04, 2014, 07:34:11 PM

Quote from: JM500 on November 04, 2014, 07:07:30 PM

Quote from: Big Rich on November 04, 2014, 06:33:54 PM
Sandblasting is a really good option. If you're going to use plastidip on the outside, it should work well on the inside as well.

could I hand sand it? or should I just look for sandblasting?

Technically you could sand it down by hand......but take my word for it: you don't want to. Sandblasting would take maybe 10 minutes? Hand sanding will take over an hour.

how much should that cost me if i take it somewhere, just so i now what to expect, and hour might be worth it...price of paper vs the service

The chrome ring on mine had bad road rash and was pretty rusty... I wanted a perfect new one so I closed my eyes and paid the $41.16 for a #2 on the pic I attached    Also here is a link to the site for ya...
http://motosport.com/motorcycle/oem-parts/SUZUKI/1998/GS500E/HEADLAMP

That is a good idea, fixing yours up and painting it black to match the housing!  I considered that but in the end decided that I just wanted a shiny new one.  I have bought so many new parts for my bike, I like spoiling the heck out of it I guess 

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how much should that cost me if i take it somewhere, just so i now what to expect, and hour might be worth it...price of paper vs the service
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Honestly, I can't give you a good answer. NorCal and PA have very different prices for everything,  but I'd be surprised if it was more than $20. If you lived down the road from me and weren't in any kind of a rush, I'd say send it my way for free and I would do it for free next time I did any sandblasting....... For somebody that does blasting professionally, the bucket isn't a big job by any means.

I'm Located right out side of Chicago. Depending on what color you want would depend on the cost but like $20-$30 + return shipping since you're a fellow gs500 owner I wouldn't be making money on it.

They have Rust Converters (acid) that turn rust into Silica Glass (turns it black) we used it in automotive refinishing, searching for "Conversion Coating" may give you some leads also...I'm at work, limited Google time.

000 grade aka fine grade steel wool, heck it works for gun barrels. So would gun oil and a penny. But that would be time consuming. Take schultz up on his offer tnh i would, that would give you time to accomplish other tasks

Well I just went with the steel brush on the drill for the rust inside of the bucket and Plasti Dipped it for now...Easy and cost effective plus the headlights original chrome is now preserved if someone would like that for later..

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