That thing in the tank is strange!! I've never seen something like that before... good thing you got it out!

Ugh the stuff behind the sprocket cover... mine was like that too when I got it. I bet there are many GS500s out there like that 

I'm totally with you on frame rust... I fixed up a few spots too... and the battery box as well! I like paying attention to all the details. There are very similar pics in my project thread.

Love your updates!

Another trip to the 50 foot wall of hardware. The best display around here with a good selection of metric stainless and everything else.

I've spent a lot of time in places like that! I love stainless stuff.

I didn't get as much done as expected, but did make progress.
  Its NOT helping that a SKUNK moved into the building where the motorcycles are. It's an old horse shed with one stall closed in and a plywood floor. The rest is open on one side.  The skunk was smelling very close for a couple days now. Last night I left the light on. Tonight I left light on and the radio going on the "House of Hair" show. I hope the skunk doesn't like 80's metal and relocates to a quieter spot.

Rear tire mounted, new Arashi rotor installed and wheel balanced. The rear wheel took a little more weight at 35 grams (1.25 Oz) it was dead still at any position, so pretty good.  Both the front and rear wheel assy's run nice and straight.






Battery box re-installed. I need to figure out a battery hold down.




Definitely spent too much time on the sprocket area. It was as nasty as any piece of heavy equipment that I've worked on, just on a smaller scale. After cleaning, I removed the clutch release mechanism. Cleaned that all up, packed it with fresh grease and reassembled it.








New 15 tooth front sprocket. I read on the GS Twin Wiki that a 15 is popular. The new rider should have an easier time starting off with it.

Battery filled with acid and installed. Still need a hold down.




New X-ring "superbike series" chain.. I hope it can hold the mighty GS500E




Rear wheel and Chain installed.




One note on the Arashi wave rotor. It's 2mm thinner than the stock rotor. If you can see in the photo, it causes the outboard piston extend that much farther.

I bet that nasty bit of surprise was a dessicant pak somebody dropped in there.  Prob when they drained and stored it?


Love seeing your updates!  Rock on!

Quote from: cbrfxr67 on August 31, 2020, 10:22:21 AM
I bet that nasty bit of surprise was a dessicant pak somebody dropped in there.  Prob when they drained and stored it?

Ding, ding ding! I think we have a winner!   I think that's just what it is, a desiccant pack.

I showed that to a few people and everyone was stumped. Could've been for storage or after cleaning. Maybe someone thought it a good way to get water out of gas?

Another part of this project is the instrument cluster. I don't have a "before photo" it was functional except for the neutral light (loose bulb) but ugly and damaged. A good used replacement is pricey on a needy project. The frame was broken and missing a piece of the hoop at the trip odometer reset.

I welded in a small piece of metal there. The hoop for the tach was badly bent. Here it is straighted as best I could. It was stretched and hammered over a big tapered pipe fitting to regain the shape. Far from perfect, but way better than it was.

Painted with dupli-color silver wheel paint. I only had black labels (not clear). The checking in the paint is because I didn't wait long enough for the clear coat.

The clear coat did make the indicators look nice...







The bucket had a lot of cracks to epoxy... it should be good enough.




The gauges are in decent shape, but the rubber cushions are all stretched out. I'm waiting on a set of the rubber cushions from Suzuki so the whole deal can be reassembled and installed

Worked on the gas tank some more and retrieved the last of the silica beads from the package that was in there.

Next I treated the tank with a phosphoric acid based rust remover / rust converter.
It's much better than it was.

man this is good stuff,... Makes me want to start another thread.  Except I'm doing the Night Train.  Nobody cares about Harleys

Love seeing your daily updates!  First thing I look at when I log in at work!  Tank looking good!  I think this is going to be a cleaaaan bike when you're done!

Quote from: cbrfxr67 on September 02, 2020, 07:16:56 AM
man this is good stuff,... Makes me want to start another thread.  Except I'm doing the Night Train.  Nobody cares about Harleys

Love seeing your daily updates!  First thing I look at when I log in at work!  Tank looking good!  I think this is going to be a cleaaaan bike when you're done!

Thanks!

I like and ride Harley's among other makes, but I'd prob be criticized for being off topic for posting a photo here.

I'm trying to get this little beast done. Its not going to be real clean, more of a rat. Hopefully a fully functional and reliable little rat.

A little more progress today.

I was unhappy with the tank in the morning and gave it another treatment, this time using compressed air for several hours to dry it.

I reinstalled the chain guard and the sprocket cover, but the sprocket cover will have to come off again What's up with the cable adjuster? Mine doesn't turn independently of the cable!


I cut some spacers out of stainless tubing to replace the four nuts that somebody had used to mount the left side coil.





Removed the valve cover and checked valve clearance. Intakes are tight and exhaust are loose. I haven't removed and measured the shims yet. 

Everything looks nice and clean under the cover, with no unusual wear. The cam chain also looks and feels very good.

Love me some valve adjustin'!!   We gotta see the other bikes!??


Again great progress!

Quote from: cbrfxr67 on September 03, 2020, 06:57:45 AM
Love me some valve adjustin'!!   We gotta see the other bikes!??


Again great progress!

The blogging is helping motivation  .. as is a little cheerleading!

This bike for long distance at a good rate of speed... and for cooler weather riding.




This one for backroads and fun

Well the "bad influence" of GS Twin and GS wiki "forced me" to make an extra purchase.
The rear shock looked pretty crappy and I have read here about the R6 shock.  They were a little expensive for the project.   This ugly duckling was the cheapest on eBay and looked worse in the listing. I had it on my watch list anyway and then last Saturday (a sales tax holiday) the seller sent me a special offer and in a moment of weakness, I bought it.






Some spray on remover and a good pressure wash.




Looking a lot better.







The powder coat on the spring had a lot of chips.( Probably from the bike strippers). Rust kills springs so I decided to paint it. I was going to spray it, but became frustrated trying to mask it real well, and just applied the paint with an acid brush.  IDK how well it stays, but better than rust... it is just a shock.
It will be a day until it dries enough to install.

  Sweeet bikes! Thanks for sharing!

That's a great tip on the graffiti remover.  I have a zx6 swingarm with bad overspray,..  That might be much easier to get off then repaint the whole thing.

Also be sure, alot of people view threads and dont say anything.  On my basketcase thread it has over 150000 views; certainly not near that many replies!  So, anyways, maybe you have more silent cheerleaders than vocal ones but everybody likes seeing some good gs work!

Worked on this after supper and late into Friday night.

I should have done the shock when the rear wheel was out. I definitely should have pressure washed this bike before starting on it.

The R6 shock did not come with the lower spacer. (The Wiki says to use the R6 spacer, bolt and washer)

First thing I tried was drilling the spacer. Only it's not a spacer, it's a bearing race and very hard. I checked and there is a needle roller bearing in the shock link. The spacer/race is so hard that a new, good quality cobalt drill wouldn't touch it.

I also couldn't make a spacer/race from mild steel. It would just wear right out.

So the next thing was to try and make bushings for the shock.  I found a hollow split dowel of the correct size. Just one, but long enough to make two bushings.




Two from one




Drawing the bushings in using a bolt and nut as a press. A little red loctite for good luck.




After pressing


Bushings filed flush. (Looking so good that I can hardly stand it.)



Bolt and race test fitted. I had to run a 25/64" drill bit though to clean up and align the bushings ID.




Shock is in!  (And a tight squeeze... I wasn't so sure at first, but i thought, if everyone on GS Twins could get it in, I should be able to.) It wasn't close to lining up until I pryed the top eye down about an inch with a long pry bay, piston so against the battery box support and the top of the shock eye. Then the top popped in, and then I could get the lower lined up and that bolt in.  It might be a lot easier with the wheel off.




While the fender was off, it was time to cut down and shorten the back of it. (It's a little lower than the licensing plate now).  Then blast and repaint the rusty reflector bracket.

I'm at a point where I'm waiting for some small but important parts and a tool to arrive. Everything is running later than expected (delayed). I can make progress, but I'm working around what would be the best order of doing things, and handling parts more times than needed.

The rear of the bike is basically done, so I worked on the front.

The bike came with these really cool, but really bent Aluminum handlebars.
The master cylinder was broken, no mirrors, torn grips.

I'm still waiting for cushions to mount the gauges, front wheel hub cover, caliper parts.






New Emgo "universal street handlebars" , new grips, used master cylinder, I have new Emgo factory style repro mirrors, but those won't go on to the very end of the job.




I rolled it outside to clean up the bay and took a couple of photos. It looks far apart, but it will come together quick once my items arrive.

Seat Lock

The ignition key didn't work the seat lock. 

I took the seat lock apart to see what could be done. I'm not a locksmith by any means, but nothing to lose for trying.

It's a very simple lock. Two screws and it comes apart. Just have to be careful not to let the tumblers and springs fall out






This is the cylinder with no key in it and the tumblers sticking up.





The tumblers engage these slots so the lock doesn't turn.




One of the brass tumblers. The little arm pushes against a spring. You can see the spring in the vacant cylinder slot.



The tumblers are/have different sizes / slots.  They have to be level with the cylinder for it to turn.

Trying the key in the tumbers. One is good. The one farthest from the key is level with the cylinder.




Switched the two middle tumblers (swapped 2&3) and now three are level.



The last one closest to the key was only sticking up a little, just enough to stop it from turning. A few moments work with a small file and it's all level.
No tumbler is sticking out top or bottom.



Reassembled and it works.



Notes:
If you had trouble getting all the tumblers level, you could leave only one or two tumblers in, it would be less secure, but it's just a seat lock.

If you have a few locks, the assortment of tumblers makes it easier to get one working.

If you didn't want to bother with tumblers matching the key,  You could take all the tumblers out and then it will turn with any key that fit in, or even a screwdriver.

For some reason there's adhesive on the tank, some black gummy stuff and some black RTV.  I don't know why or what they were doing to the bike. I have an old bottle of "Goo-gone"'
Its working well on the gummy stuff. The RTV only comes off with a plastic putty knife.
There's not time to fix and paint the tank. (Maybe this winter). It'll get touched up and buffed for now.