2000 GS500E Adventure Bike Project

[Manaenrc]

OK I said I would post some pictures and I got some goodies the other day sooo.... here you go..

I received the LED indicators the other day and they look great, even better then I imagined they would.

Here is the packaging


and here is the face of the red one. It has a very nice aluminum bevel. I tried it in the mounting hole. There will be a little bit of play but the bevel covers the hole well so I will just use a rubber grommet to take up some space between the face plate and the LED's




So here is a couple pics of the tank that I picked up on ebay. The price was right but it did need some work. I already had a POR15 kit with the 3 part treatment so I went to work a few weeks ago to clean the tank. I started with a wash and a bucket full of bolts in the tank to knock loose the rust. Then the acid wash, the primer, and finally the POR15 coating. It took way longer then I expected however I hope this lasts.

Here is the tank after treatment




Then yesterday I stopped by the local parts place and picked up the paint for the project. I know I said I was going to do a flat black with gloss highlights however I found a few other options. I just hope it doesn't come out looking like it needs a set of fuzzy pink dice....
Here's the paint..


And I saw this on the shelf which I think may look cool in the correct layout and proportions.



Anyway the paint will go like this....

VHT Flat black Ceramic 1200-2000F - Headers/ exhaust
Primer - LOL, if you don't know I'm not sayen' 
VHT Engine Metalic Black Pearl - This will be my base coat for everything Plastic and all.
Clear Coat Shimmer effect - I will use this to design the graphics over the base coat

Then the idea is that the flame tape will border the graphics.

I am not sure what graphic pattern I am going to put into the bike, I may just stick with the stock pattern with the new colors.

The jury is still out on the shimmer, if it comes off looking like something jessica simson would put on her face then it will be removed promptly.

[peteGS]

Good luck! It'll be interesting to see how that turns out...

The POR15 kit is great, did my 450 tank with it and it solved all the minor rust issues I had. The only tip I can give is too late now but hopefully you did it anyway... follow the instructions to the letter and make 1000% sure the tank is dry before the liner goes in

[Manaenrc]

Good luck! It'll be interesting to see how that turns out...

The POR15 kit is great, did my 450 tank with it and it solved all the minor rust issues I had. The only tip I can give is too late now but hopefully you did it anyway... follow the instructions to the letter and make 1000% sure the tank is dry before the liner goes in

Yeah I used an old hair dryer to circulate air in the tank for a few hours before applying the por15. During that drying process I also kept rotating the tank. It seems that this tank design is very difficult to get clean and dry. There are just so many low spots and difficult to reach areas.  I'm sure that is part of the reason that these things are rusting like this. Water is settling into the low spots and staying there since they are lower then the petcock. They must also be made out of very low quality steel to rust like this. I've just never saw fuel tanks that are this prone to rusting out in such a short time.

When I put the por15 in there I slowly rotated the tank to coat the entire surface but it is hard to tell if everything is coated. If I had it to do again I would go and get one of those mechanics mirrors. This would have allowed me to check all the surfaces and make sure I had a complete application. It took the entire can, so I assume that it is coated well inside. I may still go get one of those mirrors and check it, then order a small can of por15 to coat any areas I may have missed.

It really is an Achilles heel of the bike.

[bombsquad83]

In my experience, as evidenced in my build thread, I completely agree with you on the GS tank.

[MaxP]

Really enjoying this. Keep up the good work 

[peteGS]

Good luck! It'll be interesting to see how that turns out...

The POR15 kit is great, did my 450 tank with it and it solved all the minor rust issues I had. The only tip I can give is too late now but hopefully you did it anyway... follow the instructions to the letter and make 1000% sure the tank is dry before the liner goes in

Yeah I used an old hair dryer to circulate air in the tank for a few hours before applying the por15. During that drying process I also kept rotating the tank. It seems that this tank design is very difficult to get clean and dry. There are just so many low spots and difficult to reach areas.  I'm sure that is part of the reason that these things are rusting like this. Water is settling into the low spots and staying there since they are lower then the petcock. They must also be made out of very low quality steel to rust like this. I've just never saw fuel tanks that are this prone to rusting out in such a short time.

When I put the por15 in there I slowly rotated the tank to coat the entire surface but it is hard to tell if everything is coated. If I had it to do again I would go and get one of those mechanics mirrors. This would have allowed me to check all the surfaces and make sure I had a complete application. It took the entire can, so I assume that it is coated well inside. I may still go get one of those mirrors and check it, then order a small can of por15 to coat any areas I may have missed.

It really is an Achilles heel of the bike.

Excellent, same process I did but the 450 tank is a little less complicated.

Also, I got the motorcycle tank repair kit and they supply one of those little telescopic mirrors in the kit you use for that, it was very handy!

[J banning]

Subscribed!!!
Very cool build thread. Thanks for posting.

[NortwestRider]

Anything new on this project ??.

Here is the one I built for my wife to ride to Deadhorse in June.Not as much off road as yours but should work good in the mud and gravel.



Here are the front tires we are running.

[Big Rich]

Looks good NW! What are the side cases though?

[NortwestRider]

Seahorse 720's,about $45 each shipped !!.


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[NortwestRider]

Well our GS has covered about 800 miles of dirt so far on our 6,000 mile Alaskan trip and did great.







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