'08 Winter wrenching - minor mods

[tricky]

Hey everyone, I don't think I've formally introduced myself. I'm Travis, from Ontario. I ride a naked '08 GS500. I bought it in June of this year, it's my first bike. I've been loving every minute of it

Not sure exactly what its story is; the used vehicle information package for it says it had two previous owners (one being the guy I bought it from), and it'd only done 3700km  Poor girl had sat for quite a while I suppose. Reading through the manual, I noticed it has a feature that isn't suppose to be on the North American model  (the parking light selection on the ignition). It was made in Spain, if that means anything to any of you

ANYWHO, I have had a few things done to it already. So far:

- Race Tech .9 kg/mm fork springs
- R&G frame sliders
- Suburban Machinery SV650 Type 2 handlebars
- HEL Performance steel braided brake lines for the front and rear

Here's pics of her earlier today (I know it's pretty dirty, please don't judge me ),



And here she is after I added the new bar-end mirrors ($50 for both)



I'm not sure if I'll stick with both mirrors, I might only go for the left side if I find out I don't really use the right one (I'm a compulsive shoulder-checker)

My list of things to accomplish by next season are as follows:
- Fenderectomy
- Zip tie 1/5 throttle mod
- Rear shock (Kat?)
- Rear tire (Kat? I'd like a 150  )
- Integrated tail light
- Dominator/dual headlights
- Dynojet Stage 1 jet kit (I already have it, just gotta get it installed)
- Jardine Full exhaust

I'm also going to work on doing a bunch of maintenance this winter. I have a OEM air filter on it's way to me now, so I'm gonna change that out. I also want to check/change the spark plugs, valve clearance, etc... I might try to clean the carbs too. I am not experienced, and I have no one to mentor me, so it's always a learning experience. Hopefully I can accomplish my list of goals with the help of this site and my trusty Clymers manual.

I'll keep posting in this thread every time I get to wrenching.

See you later!

[adidasguy]

Add to list:

new brake lever
new clutch lever

They both look pretty bent. 

Too bad you already have the Dyno kit. I have one I want to sell - cheap 

All bikes have the "park" position. Goes all the way back to 1989. For quite a few years, the GS500's have been made in Spain.

[tricky]

Add to list:

new brake lever
new clutch lever

They both look pretty bent. 

Yea, I noticed they have a strange shape. The bike looks like it's never been dropped though, no scratches or dents anywhere (including the bar ends) so I figured maybe they were aftermarket?

Good idea though, I might as well switch them out. I'll add them to the list of things to do

[madjak30]

Nice mods already...I like the bars and the bar end mirrors...

Where did you pick up the mirrors?

I don't have my GS anylonger, but the bar ends would fix my mirror issue on my current bike...

Later.

[tricky]

Nice mods already...I like the bars and the bar end mirrors...

Where did you pick up the mirrors?

I don't have my GS anylonger, but the bar ends would fix my mirror issue on my current bike...

Later.

Thanks, I like 'em too. I went for a quick spin (it's 32F here, so it was a VERY quick spin) and they seem to work fine. I can barely see any of the bike when I'm riding anymore, because the SV bars put me in a more aggressive position. And now no more mirrors in my way.. it's awesome

I hope there isn't a rule about posting external links on this forum - if there is, I apologize. I picked my mirrors up off of Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KAG9J2
They can mount to a standard 7/8 bar, or come with a bar-end adapter. The adapter didn't work so well for me, so I just threw them on the end of my old bar-ends (ran the bar-end screw through the mirror mount) and they seem to be on there good.

[SAFE-T]

I can never really figure why someone would go all goofy spending money to modify their first bike. With all the money you spend making your GS better, you could have bought a bike that was a lot better in the first place.

[tricky]

I can never really figure why someone would go all goofy spending money to modify their first bike. With all the money you spend making your GS better, you could have bought a bike that was a lot better in the first place.

Because the quotes I received for 600+CC sport bikes were, at minimum, $10,000/year whereas my GS is costing me less than a third of that? 

For a 20 year old in Ontario, your first bike isn't what YOU want - it's what the insurance companies impose on you. The rates on the GS500 are among the lowest, so that's what I got. I genuinely love it, though. I won't be able to afford the insurance on a bigger displacement bike until I turn 25, when the rates get halved. That's another reason for me to mod the bike, it has to last me 5 years, so I might as well make it my own. Most of the mods I've listed are pretty cheap, too, I think all in all I can come in under $1000.. it's just the exhaust that's killer.

I've also been toying with the idea of tracking the bike when I get a new one down the line

[adidasguy]

I can never really figure why someone would go all goofy spending money to modify their first bike. With all the money you spend making your GS better, you could have bought a bike that was a lot better in the first place.

Because it is  a lot of fun to do it and have a bike you can call your own 

[SAFE-T]

Most of the mods I've listed are pretty cheap.. it's just the exhaust that's killer.

Check out the big brain on Trav 

Forget about the exhaust and don't completely hack off the rear fender. Get one of the fork braces from this thread, instead: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=57028.0

[tricky]

Forget about the exhaust and don't completely hack off the rear fender. Get one of the fork braces from this thread, instead: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=57028.0

Hmmm... you may have a point. One of the reasons I was considering a new exhaust was because my headers are looking a bit haggard, as you can see in the pic. If I strip them down and repaint, will the paint hold up? I hate rust, it haunts my dreams 

So why do you suggest I don't hack off the fender and replace my fork brace?

[adidasguy]

Use Rutlands Stove Polish in the tube on your exhaust pipes. Use a scratchy pad to remove lose rust than apply the stove polish.

[Big Rich]

Just curious: did they sell non-faired GS's in Canada?

It would make sense with bent levers and a lack of the fairing......

[tricky]

Use Rutlands Stove Polish in the tube on your exhaust pipes. Use a scratchy pad to remove lose rust than apply the stove polish.

Will do, thanks for the tip!

Just curious: did they sell non-faired GS's in Canada?

It would make sense with bent levers and a lack of the fairing......

I don't think they did, which is why I'm curious of its history. If you are suggesting it was in an accident and the fairings were removed, I don't think that's the case.. the UVIP and Carfax came back clean, and there are no indications that the mounting brackets for the fairings were ever there. The rest of the bike's rock solid apart from those levers

Also, adidasguy, I just broke out the owner's manual, and on page 2-6 for me it says "Canadian and Australian models of the GS500 do not have position light." in regards to the parking light. A little bit of a mystery then? I guess it's probably from the US

[adidasguy]

It might be referring to the tiny extra light in the headlamp. Most "E" model headlights (the plain naked round one) do not have it. European headlights have it. My 1992 is Canadian - has PARK but headlight had a dead end brown wire for the park light in the headlight. The "F" fairing headlight has a parking light in the headlamp.
All GS500's I have ever seen or read about have the "park" position of the key.
there were naked GS500's in Europe. I think in Canada and Australia, too. US had only faired models starting in 2004. 2001 and 2002 models were "F" style tank and plastics and were naked (everywhere in the world). There was no 2003 model (that I am aware of).
The fairing mounted to the frame. If there is no mount on the frame, your bike was always naked.

Oh, if the speedo has only KM, it is Canadian. My 1992 has only KM and a Canadian sticker on the frame. US models have KM and MILES on the speedo.

[madjak30]

In Canada the naked version was sold straight through to 2009 (no pause in 2003), in the States the 2002 was the last year for the naked, then the fared version came out in 2004...so the 2003s are Canadian models...2010 was the last year for the fared version in Canada...kinda waiting to see if they come out with something to replace it in 2012...we'll see...

As for the "why build mod a GS...", I totally understand the insurance issue for guys under 25...as long as you stay under 650cc and it isn't a supersport your insurance is reasonable (incomparisson)

Later.

[tricky]

Cool - glad that's all settled

A little update, I have ordered my integrated tail light (Clear Alternatives). While that's on its way, I'll be planning out my fenderectomy so I can get the tail section done in one go. My issue is I don't have access to any metal or metal working tools (and I do all my work in a condo parking garage ), so I can't easily fab a new license plate mount. I'll have to double check the GSTwins fenderectomy tutorial and see what that suggests.

I think tomorrow or the day after is when I'll be doing the zip-tie throttle mod, so I can soon cross that off my list.

Maintenance-wise, I am still waiting for my air filter and oil filter to get here. Once they arrive, I am going to swap 'em in and change my oil.. it'll be my first time doing both so it'll be a learning experience. After that, I'm gonna be cleaning the crap out of the bike in preparation for winter storage. I gotta pick up some fuel stabilizer soon and kerosene to clean the chain.

I was reading up today on cleaning the carbs, I don't know when I should do that. Is it a big deal if I do that in the middle of its hibernation? Also, I was having trouble finding a carb kit for an '08. Any suggestions?

[Big Rich]

Just to give you a heads up- search "broken oil filter stud" or similar. They do break from time to Tim and its really not that big of a deal.

If you put stabil in your tank and take the bike for a spin, you shouldn't need to clean your carbs at all (unless you feel it's needed). The one thing I do recommend is taking the float bowls off and making sure there are no particles hanging down there.

[tricky]

Just to give you a heads up- search "broken oil filter stud" or similar. They do break from time to Tim and its really not that big of a deal.

If you put stabil in your tank and take the bike for a spin, you shouldn't need to clean your carbs at all (unless you feel it's needed). The one thing I do recommend is taking the float bowls off and making sure there are no particles hanging down there.

I read about the broken studs a while back, so I've ordered a few extra (they are coming with my air filter) as well as a few new gaskets so I should be good to go for oil changes in the future. I figured better safe than sorry!

The main reason I want to check out the carbs is because my choke has been acting up a bit in the past few months. When I bought the bike, whenever I started up on full choke it would take me to 3500 rpm right away and then I could adjust it from there. But in the past months, starting on full choke leaves me at just under 1500rpm.. I have to twist the throttle a few times to get it to rise up above that. Any suggestions?

[Big Rich]

Sticking cable/ assembly? Maybe a little tear down and clean is a good idea.

[tricky]

An update.

Today, I got a text in the morning, my friend's Vulcan 500 had somehow sheared a bolt in his shifting assembly, so he was stuck in third gear. He road it over to my place because he knew I had some work to be done on my bike. I changed the oil, and swapped in the new air filter. I was a little worried taking the tank off, but it was a breeze and I'm much more confident accessing that area now.

I ended up taking the rear plastics off as well to see how hard it'll be to remove the fender and swap in the new integrated tail light. Seems like it should be pretty easy. I ended up diggin the look without the rear plastics on it.. maybe I can find a way to make it look more natural in the future, and keep it that way. It gives it a more streetfighter-ey look, which is what my bike has been sort of drifting too gradually.

I ended up buying a dremel today, so I'm getting set to do the fenderectomy as well as the exhaust. My new plan is to take the exhaust off, strip it, prime and paint with VHT header paint and then cut it, and run with a slip-on exhaust (probably a Yosh because they are common).

Will I need to rejet if I put on the slip-on? I'm hoping not.. otherwise I'll have to wait till the summer when I rejet 

New to-do list:
Strip and paint exhaust (install slip-on?)
Change spark plugs
Clean and adjust chain
Install integrated tail light
Fenderectomy
Probably one or two other things I'm forgetting 

Pics,
After the maintenance. I switched to just the left side mirror, I like the look better. I also gave it a quick wash, I gotta go back tomorrow and finish cleaning everything for winter storage



Here it is without the rear plastics... I will try to plan a way of cleaning it up and making it look neater. For now, though, the plastics stay on



Let's play the HELP TRAVIS game! How much of this crap at the rear end is necessary?

The green will be removed in the fenderectomy

Orange: What is this bar, and is it essential? Seems to be connected to a bracket at the rear (for the light, I think)
Red: Gotta find a way of moving the light under the seat. Any suggestions? I don't think it will be rocket science really, I will go back tomorrow and try to figure something out