So I am picking up a 89 gs500 project tomorrow. Its a project to say the least but the price is right. It does not run it was the start of a cafe racer project that was never finished. The rear of the seat frame is cut up. wiring harness is cut up. No lights, gauges, seat or gas cap. The drive train looks to be complete as well as the running gear. It looks like it was knocked over there is a dint in the gas tank no scrapes. I don't know how many miles are on it. The guy says the engine turns free. What should I check and what tools should I take with me?

My plan is to check for cracks on the case and to confirm the engine is free what else should I look for?

  where pics?

I'd take a compression tester and ensure it will turn over via starter and check the compression. You might have to hotwire the starter solenoid.

Just so you know ahead if you need to plan a top end rebuild. And it'll be nice to hear the engine turn.

I bought mine with a dead battery. Put it in second gear and rock it to see if the engine turns over. Look in the gas tank to see if it's rusted. Cleaning it out is pretty easy, just time consuming and a negotiation point.

With the frame cut and the wiring a mess I'd low-ball the seller. You don't know how bad it all is until you start tearing into it.

Quote from: cbrfxr67 on April 24, 2018, 06:52:54 AM
:dunno_black:where pics?

It's pretty scary But I have bought worse.

This is the pic from the ad believe it or not it looks better in this pic than in person.

Quote from: mr72 on April 24, 2018, 07:17:27 AM
I'd take a compression tester and ensure it will turn over via starter and check the compression. You might have to hotwire the starter solenoid.

Just so you know ahead if you need to plan a top end rebuild. And it'll be nice to hear the engine turn.

well I took one with me but did not have a way to turn it over fast enough

Quote from: alpo on April 24, 2018, 04:06:33 PM
I bought mine with a dead battery. Put it in second gear and rock it to see if the engine turns over. Look in the gas tank to see if it's rusted. Cleaning it out is pretty easy, just time consuming and a negotiation point.

With the frame cut and the wiring a mess I'd low-ball the seller. You don't know how bad it all is until you start tearing into it.

I cranked the engine over by hand it felt good but could not get a compression reading as I was to slow. I wish I had seen this post before I left. I probably could have got a reading if I pushed it.  That said it's going to need a lot more than a new battery.  The gas tank may be shot I'm not sure the inside is completely rusted and there may be a hole I will have to see when I get the layers of spray paint off of it. 

So here are the pics I just got it home my $150 1989 GS500E. I will get better pics tomorrow as I am going to go ahead a transfer the title tomorrow so I am leaving it in the truck for now.

IMAG1374 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1375 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1376 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1377 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

I have a bag over the carbs I just have it off for the pic.

IMAG1378 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1379 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1380 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1382 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

The shifter spline!

IMAG1384 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1383 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

Cover is cracked

IMAG1388 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1389 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1390 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1392 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1391 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

Well at least the spray paint comes off easy.

IMAG1393 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

$150? You got that in parts easy. I'm envious, I really wish I had a garage and a truck. Id spend my weekends running around looking for deals like this.

What's story/pics of that hot scooter? Love me a scooter

For 150 I say winning!  That shift, arm shaft (thanx alpo), might give you a headache but not hopeless.

What are your plans?  Ideas on where you want to take it??  Poor tank.  Looks sad

I hope that GS has found the right home and will be given lots of TLC to bring it back to life

Congrats on the purchase! I hope ya keep us posted

oh man. good luck. i wouldn't have taken that home even if the dude gave it to me 

Yea its missing the 1 part that was worth the $150 for an 89.
OK that shock linkage is worth 20-30. You're ahead there.
But yea, sadly gonna cost 1000 and be worth 500 when you're done. Unless you turn it into a bobber or café though, in which case it would cost 3g and be worth 500.
Cool.
Buddha.

Not bad for $150.

It looks like some corncob used vice grips on the shift shaft.

It will keep you busy for a while. 

Quote from: Torstein on April 25, 2018, 12:02:38 PM
oh man. good luck. i wouldn't have taken that home even if the dude gave it to me 

I wouldn't have taken it if they paid me to take it, unless it covered me paying someone else to take it. Just the thought of someone working on that gives me pain, but I guess I've lived long enough so far to have earned this attitude!

Oh dude - you have the 89 top plate, yea that's worth a few $$. Unless the PO drilled it out to install the weird a$$ handlebar carriers.
Then its back to being worthless.
Cool.
Buddha.

My plans for the bike are if I can get it running is to go through everything and refresh it. Do a few upgrades then do a classified moto inspired build. I love their frank build. So fare I have ordered a new wiring harness, a new clutch pedal and a 2006 Triumph Speed Triple plastic fuel tank. Hopefully I don't have to cut the frame up to much to fit it.

The  scooter was for sale as well 750 miles on it. 

The tank when I removed the paint

IMAG1415 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1416 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1419 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

more holes

IMAG1420 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

So what's the most important part on the 89 gs? And what do you mean by top plate handlebar? Sorry gs and bike noob in general.

I love a good project. I have worked on worse. 

So anyways I started a build thread. Here http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=72338.0

The 1989 GS500 is the only year that had sportier "clip on" style handlebars. That year had a special top triple plate. Since the clip on bars look better and fit all '89-'99 bikes without modifications they fetch a good price.

The GS500E was sold in Europe for a long time with slightly higher clip on style bars. They are not exactly the same as the '89 US bars but look similar.
Read near the bottom of this wiki page:
http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.Handlebars

1989 was also the only year with the nicer/lighter aluminum shock "knuckle." Later models had an uglier steel version. The aluminum one can be polished and fits all years of GS500 so its worth a little bit of money as bike "bling."

poor tank,..

Quote from: Bluesmudge on April 26, 2018, 11:41:31 AM
The 1989 GS500 is the only year that had sportier "clip on" style handlebars. That year had a special top triple plate. Since the clip on bars look better and fit all '89-'99 bikes without modifications they fetch a good price.

The GS500E was sold in Europe for a long time with slightly higher clip on style bars. They are not exactly the same as the '89 US bars but look similar.
Read near the bottom of this wiki page:
http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.Handlebars

1989 was also the only year with the nicer/lighter aluminum shock "knuckle." Later models had an uglier steel version. The aluminum one can be polished and fits all years of GS500 so its worth a little bit of money as bike "bling."

I did not know that about the handlebar mounts, That explains why I could not find the clip on parts that was one of the first things I was planning on doing, That said I did find a pair in the UK I am going to see if the seller will ship them over. The shock knuckle is neet I would have never have known.

IMAG1431 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1432 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

Quote from: cbrfxr67 on April 26, 2018, 01:41:19 PM
poor tank,..

Yea I don't know what kind of tank sealer they used but it made it worse. But if the tank was in good condition I probably would have thought to try a tank off a different bike. The  Triumph tank should be here wednesday so I will get to see what I will need to modify then.

I also did a quick MS paint shop of what I have planed for the build.

  gs500e moto by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

That's a great design concept.

Coincidentally, I have both a GS and a Triumph Daytona.  The Daytona gas tank is super sexy, but I'd be very surprised if it fits the contours of the GS frame.  Plus the Daytona has a big fuel pump at the bottom, so you'll have to figure out a way to cut that out and patch up the hole.  Looking forward to seein how that goes!

In the meantime, I think Argyle did a beautiful job on his bike, and it looks pretty close to what you want.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=72336.0;prev_next=next#new

Quote from: Endopotential on April 27, 2018, 01:09:21 PM
That's a great design concept.

Coincidentally, I have both a GS and a Triumph Daytona.  The Daytona gas tank is super sexy, but I'd be very surprised if it fits the contours of the GS frame.  Plus the Daytona has a big fuel pump at the bottom, so you'll have to figure out a way to cut that out and patch up the hole.  Looking forward to seein how that goes!

In the meantime, I think Argyle did a beautiful job on his bike, and it looks pretty close to what you want.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=72336.0;prev_next=next#new

Hopefully I will be able to turn the concept into a reality. The tank I ordered is off a 06 Triumph Speed Triple 1050. I have no problem modifying the frame to fit it. As for the fuel pump I plan on making a bolt in plate to fit the Fuel Tank Petcock/ filter as the fuel pump hole is at the lowest point in the tank. Thanks for the link the attention to detail is great on that build.

So I finally got around to doing a compression test. I am really hoping it's the valves that are out of spec. On the left cylinder I only have 50 psi and the right side I have a 150 psi of compression.

I checked the valve clearance both exhaust valves where at .005 as well as the left intake valve. I did not have a shim that fit in the right intake valve.

I don't have the correct shims does anyone know what this converts to?

IMAG1443 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr
IMAG1442 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

My feeler gauge goes from .004 to .025 here is a pic of the package.

IMAG1444 by jarrod vanwinkle, on Flickr

Could the valves being out of spec cause the compression to be that low on one cylinder? I also squirted some oil into the cylinder to see if it was the rings and it only went up like 5 psi so I assume it's the valves?

If not does anyone sell a compleat engine rebuild kit? gaskets, seals, piston rings, washers and O rings?

Pull the cam and check someone has stuffed the shim size. if it is not too bad, pull the head.  At least if it is something at the top you can fix it without a head pull. The valve could be sunk into the head and need some work. Or the top could be coming off it ( not common).