2000 GS500E Adventure Bike Project

[Manaenrc]

OK, so this project has been in the making for almost a year. I have been looking for a bike that I could turn into an adventure touring bike. My original idea was something more like a triumph scrambler. However this bike popped up on CL a few weeks ago, and I started to research it which led me to this forum. I quickly figured out that this bike would be the perfect platform for my project and scheduled a time to check it out. The bike looks much better in pictures than it did in person. The PO was a very nice guy, and although he tried, his mechanical skills were rather lacking. This led to a few problems I will get into later. I started adding up the repairs and we settled on $925 which was probably fair but the bike does need some TLC.

SO I figured since this forum is part of what pushed me to the purchase that it would only be fair to post the struggles, status and results of my project. But before I get too far here is the bike as purchased




List Updated 4/24/2012
So here is a list of problems and planned changes.
1) Gas tank is rusted, PO tried to POR15 but didn't prime it properly and it peeled. (going with another tank need to find one)
2) Tank petcock leaks, needs a new o-ring (done)
3) Bike does not run (I suspect carb issues)  (done)
4) Need to raise suspension (I am 6' 5") and the stock height won't cut it. Plus I need some extra ground clearance (done)
5) Missing chain guard, Maryland requires it. (done)
6) Missing rear side reflectors, MD requires them (done)
7) Rear caliper is under spec (done)
Front wheel bearings are shot (done)
9) I will add about 4" of seat foam, for extra padding and height (almost done, needs final reshape)
10) change bars to aluminum offroad bars. (done)
11) SV650 rear shock this goes to #4 (done)
12) Progressive Fork Springs, new seals, gators, and new oil (Installed and Done)
13) New Dual Sport Tires front and back (done)
14) Hand guards to protect the controls and my hands (Done)
15) Engine guards and engine pan to protect from northeast rock fields (working out design)
16) new chain, the old started to spew the read dust (done)
17) need to check and adjust valve clearance
18) going to replace the orings in the carbs (Done)
19) Ordered a new Needle for both carbs one that is adjustable so I can better dial in the midrange (on order)
20) Mounted custom flyscreen (done)

I'm sure the list will grow as I go on.


Current Bike Status: 4/25/2012: finally snapped an updated photo with all the new stuff installed
Here is the latest image of it.

[Manaenrc]

OK so first thing is first, I need to get the bike running. It didn't take much and I would have had it all done in a day if it wasn't for a wiring issue.

The problems I found

Carbs - Completely dis-assembled and found many issues. Main vacuum circuit on both carbs was clogged. Floats were adjusted WAY! too high. Slide springs were not installed correctly instead of being inserted into the slide they were in U shape which didn't let the slide operate properly. I suspect the weird petcock setup on this bike is going to cause issues but will leave it stock for now.

re-assembled everything and tried to start the bike. It would start and run horribly, if I tried to open the throttle at all it would just die. I am starting to second guess my own carb diagnostics. So I ended up spending a day pulling the carbs apart and putting them back together. Checked compression, Spark etc... everything check out WTH!!!!

Then I had a brain storm what if it's electrical, all symptoms point to either fuel or electrical. So I started pulling things apart. I found out that the main plug to the stator was corroded and was causing the spark to fire many times a stroke. I though the spark looked weak but everything else tested out. I clean the connection and wouldn't you know it the bike started right up GRRRRRR....


So with the engine at least running it is time to mock up the suspension height. I had an SV650 shock ordered and on the way. I also wanted to begin the seat mods so I am ready to do the final shaping once the shock is installed.

Here are some images of the seat mods the first layer of foam is a closed cell soft foam for more "suspension" to the seat. The top layer is a more dense layer taken from a type IV seat float for a boat, it worked out perfect.

This is the pile of foam and vinyl for the seat. I just finished gluing the layers of foam on and trimmed the edges, there has been no shaping at this point.


I started some preliminary shaping. Notice the "snow" on the bike, that's not snow it's foam. This is a messy job and the foam ends up everywhere.


This is the semi-final shape. Although until I get my new tires and shock I cannot set the final shape for comfort. Your seat needs to be somewhat level with the bike or you will either slide forwards or backwards as your riding. This will either crush your nuts (if your a guy) or hurt your back and be uncomfortable.


OK so here is the bike with the rear shock removed and the front forks pushed down in the triple clamps. This should be indicative of the final ride height I am going for. Although the new tires will raise the bike another inch or so. but this is close. Notice I cut and temporarily stapled the home made seat cover on. This will be removed again for final shaping.

[Manaenrc]

Notice in the last photo I also installed a set of alumalite bars that I had from an old enduro race bike. They worked out awesome and help in giving the bike a more aggressive look.  I will probably add a set of handguard from Acerbis or one of the hundreds of other makes out there.

I ordered the rear and front tires this week. A set of Shenko 244's 5.10x17 rear and 4.60x17 front. These are tube type tires but I will be sealing them and installing them without tubes. The rear already came in here's a pic


So I also ordered the following this week.
1) rear rotor
2) new POR15 kit with primer and prep
3) Brakes front and back
4) Reflector tape to make a custom rear reflector
5) stick on wheel weights to balance the tires when I get them both
6) front wheel bearings/seals

[holyfighter117]

I cant wait to see this when its done!

[Manaenrc]

OK so I had some time to ride the bike a little. It is starving for fuel big time. If I bypass the stupid octopus of a petcock it works fine. So instead of going with a vacuum system I am going to put a manual shutoff on the bike. I lucked out and found this item from MFG Supply that is actually for a dual tank lawn mower but it will work perfectly for the GS project and will retain the stock reserve.

http://www.mfgsupply.com/20-11273.html

At less then $20 this is a great option for those that want to remove the stock vacuum shut off.

Here is a picture of the two valves side by side


Here I am cutting the aluminum for the cover plate.


Here are the finished parts for the install. Notice the longer bolt and the shim that will hold the plate out from the mount welded to the frame.



OK and here is the final install with all new fuel lines. Down is off, front is main tank, and back is reserve. Eventually I may engrave it into the aluminum plate but for now It works fine.


When I tested the fuel flow I could not believe how much better it was without all that restriction from the stock petcock. I am waiting to get my other tires and bearing to really test the flow.

[Manaenrc]

I cant wait to see this when its done!

Me too LOL....

[Big Rich]

Cool project! Have you looked around on ADVRider yet? I believe there's a couple GS500's there as well.

About the tires: if the manufacturer recommends tubes, I would run them. I think the bead surface is different between tube type and non-tube tires. Plus, it's just one more layer of rubber before you get a flat.

[Manaenrc]

I know the whole tube / no tube debate is an old one. I am concerned about running tubes for long periods on the highway. Plus this bike will never see offroad like I used to ride with my race bikes. I am looking at 90 street and 10 fire road / light trail. Since my wheels are already setup with beads for tubeless tires. I've matched up the  beads with the tires and it looks like it's going to be a great fit. If I was running tubeless tires on tube style rims I would be more concerned. But I think these things are going to be fine. Or maybe I will eat my words and run tubes after I fail miserably. Lol  but I don't think so....






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[daski-emt]

 

[Big Rich]

Hopefully you understand I'm just concerned about your safety:

But tube tires have been withstanding highway speeds (and even endurance racing speeds) for a long time now. Tubeless mag wheels didn't even come around til when........late seventies/ early eighties? Tube tires are made to fit the bead on corresponding wheels - so it's generally bad practice to try to get them to mount to tubeless wheels. With no tubes like your current setup, if the bead separates at speed you have a flat (hopefully that's the worst). With tubes, you could just slip the tire on the wheel (not good, but better than a flat).

Like a said man, I'm just concerned about your safety. Tires are the first thing to keep your skin off the road........

[Manaenrc]

It's cool, and I appreciate the feedback. when I seat them for the first time I will be checking them close. If there is any question I will go with tubes, after all I ran them for 20 years of offroad so i'm not opposed to them. hopefully my other parts will  come in this week and I can get the bike inspected and all the papers transferred.


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[steezin_and_wheezin]

Awesome project!! Definitely something new, i like where its going!

[Manaenrc]

not much new to report today, I am still waiting on parts. The new front tire came in today here is a shot of the old versus new. Man that is gonna look awesome when it's all mounted.



I sent an email to Race Tech today to find out more about thier spring and emulators for the front. From my research on thier website it looks like this

The bike weighs about 387lb dry plus my 180lb for this application they reccomend Spring Part #  FRSP S2938080 .80kg/mm (way stiffer then stock) 

The Gold Valve Emulator is part number FEGV S3801

They say to set the oil level to 110mm however they don't recommend the viscosity. Also I wanted to give them the details of the project to see if I should go up one step in spring stiffness since this application goes a little beyond the normal. My concern is I don't want to have a buck board on the road.

We'll see what they come back with, and maybe some of you guys can weigh in on the whole emulator / spring setup.

[steezin_and_wheezin]

Those things are beast! You going to put a big dirt bike style front fender on?

Here a race tech emulator write up:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=59261.0

[Manaenrc]

Those things are beast! You going to put a big dirt bike style front fender on?

Here a race tech emulator write up:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=59261.0

I am not sure how much I want to change the front fender. I like the stock look, kinda reminds me of the alps style offroad bikes. It will defenetly be raised up an inch or so, and maybe shortened a bit in the back. But I will either keep it stock looking or replace the thing all together with something like this.

http://www.chaparral-racing.com/Product/acerbis-universal-supermotard-front-fender/257-8033.aspx

thanks for the link I will read through it.

[mysterious_rider]

Those tyres are road legal? Would you mind linking me to some please mate. 


Project looks good. Although I'm not a massive fan of the strangely large seat, the rest is nice.

[Manaenrc]

Those tyres are road legal? Would you mind linking me to some please mate. 


Project looks good. Although I'm not a massive fan of the strangely large seat, the rest is nice.

The seat is not final, I have some more shaping to do so stay tuned for that. I just need to get everything fixed and inspected and the title transferred before I do the major mods. Not that anything I am doing is not legal I just want to make sure there are no snaggles when it comes to inspection and transfer. I just hate dealing with the DMV. Anyway once that is complete I will mount the new tires, modify the front fender, create a much stronger fork brace, set the suspension hieght, then finish shaping the seat.

yeah they are Shinko 244 DOT approved dual sport tires, the best price I found was on amazon. They look a lot like the Kenda's I used to run on my XR650L they worked awesome both on road and offroad. The jury is still out on the Shinko's but I will let you know.

http://www.amazon.com/Shinko-244-Dual-Sport-Front/dp/B001CD6JOK/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1333111804&sr=8-10

http://www.amazon.com/Shinko-244-Dual-Sport-Front/dp/B001CD8PLU/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333111715&sr=8-1-spell



So an update, Today I GOT BALLS!!!!!


I promptly installed them, the front wheel is so much better without the extra 1/8" of wobble. One big difference with these new bearings the seals are way better then the ones that were in there. The stock ball bearings only had seals on the outside of the bearing . This would have been fine if the inside was packed with grease. The factory decided this was trivial and did not pack them. There is nothing stopping the grease from slinging from the stock bearings and the bearing running dry. If I was you guys I would be sure to pack the inner hub with grease to preserve the stock bearings.

The new bearings are sealed on both sides, like an offroad bearing so there are no worries with dirt and grease.

Update: I wanted to point out that the two seals above are not for this application, I am talking about the seals in the bearings themselves.

[bombsquad83]

IMHO spoked wheels would be sweet on this concept bike.  Also, I like what you are doing with the seat, but I think the back end should be flatter.  More towards this...


This is a really interesting concept for a GS.  Some more ideas might be a taller rear shock, and black fork boots.

Fork braces maybe you could get from another forum member.   There are a couple of threads selling beefed up aluminum braces.  Maybe they could even make you one without the holes in the middle for the fender, and you could make yourself bracket for a super motard type fender higher up.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=57028.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=59323.0

One last thing...did you mean to chop your chain guard off in the back?

[Manaenrc]

IMHO spoked wheels would be sweet on this concept bike.  Also, I like what you are doing with the seat, but I think the back end should be flatter.  More towards this...

This is a really interesting concept for a GS.  Some more ideas might be a taller rear shock, and black fork boots.

Fork braces maybe you could get from another forum member.   There are a couple of threads selling beefed up aluminum braces.  Maybe they could even make you one without the holes in the middle for the fender, and you could make yourself bracket for a super motard type fender higher up.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=57028.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=59323.0

One last thing...did you mean to chop your chain guard off in the back?

lots of good ideas and info. 
Taller rear shock is already in there and I have it adjusted up almost as high as it will go. I took an sv650 shock and did not cut down the bracket. I needed to modify the mount a bit to make it all work. I have about another 1" I could get out of it, but then I need to look into balancing the front which means finding longer forks. Honestly I would rather have a well working suspension then just going for height.

black fork boots are on order LOL, we think alike !

I will definitely check into those fork braces, it's always easier to buy, although I first need to get the front tire mounted and measure things up and figure out the direction I want to go with it all.

The chain guard is a sore topic, the PO decided to remove it. I didn't give it any thought until I took it to be inspected. So basically that was one reason it failed so I had to buy / make one that will allow me to pass. I looked around to shop and found an old tool tray made of heavy duty fiber reinforce plastic. After taking the sawzall to it and the grinder I formed it into a super guard LOL 

Anyway here is the custom guard. It's a work in progress, I want to carve the suzuki "s" into it and shape the edges into more angles. Work keeps getting in the way of my bike progress.


So you mentioned a longer shock here is my sv650 shock. I drilled another hole just above the stock sv650 hole. after testing it with the full length I decided to drill another hole. This lowered the rear about and inch. I did this because the front did not have enough to balance out and I don't want the bike leaning forward. However I purposely kept the stock hole just in case I decide to find a longer set of front shocks.


Also here is a great fuel filter I found at autozone. I don't know the application but it has the perfect size connectors and has a 90deg bend on the one end. This helps to eliminate the hard bend that happens when the line comes from the petcock. It is also much larger and flows much better.


Keep the ideas coming...

[Manaenrc]

Oh and I agree about the spoked wheels, it's just not in the immediate future. I need to watch my budget (for now) and get this bike on the road.


I wanted to also clarify about the sv650 shock. It is currently sitting about 2 1/2" higher then stock. The center stand was removed since it was about 2" too short. The side stand barely works I will be removing and extending it soon (probably tomorrow). I may leave the center stand off for weight. It also adds a risk of failure on dirt that I don't need.

tomorrow I am going to start thinking about some type of aluminum pan to protect the engine case. I may also make a set of engine guards since this engine sticks out so far.