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L-Jam
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Joined: 15 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: 01:33 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: First real bike. Reply with quote

This is my first 'big' post BCF style, so I don't expect any of you to recognise my name, ha!

Right, after passing my A2 and living with a moped for a year and a bit, I now own a GS 500 Smile Bought for £650, with 19,000 miles on the clock, mechanically perfect. Also, new front tyre. Cookies for me Smile

I know to you lot a GS 500 is at the arse end of shit, so click the big back button if you dont care.

So anyway, this is what it looks like the day I got it.

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo332.jpg

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo334.jpg

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo333-1.jpg

Not in bad nick obviously, but needs a tidy up and things I want to do, over time. Well I made a start on doing this tidying up ETC., so here goes.

First off, stripped the bike down to take a look inside. Everything seems okay, gave it a clean, nothing really major.

Next, drained the fuel out and took off the tank, and sanded down the frame.

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo342.jpg

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo343.jpg

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo344.jpg



Painted the frame back up same colour, looks a bit nicer now.

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo345.jpg


Changed the bar ends for some new ones my Dad had lying round off an old Gixxer he had, will do for now. Also added a screen, to keep off the shit. Oh, added a tank pad too.

Finally changed the mirrors, because you cant see fuck all out the circle ones, and I reckon rectangle ones go with the lines of the bike a bit better.

The next major job was to whack off the rear wheel - look at the state the swingarm is in Sick

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo389.jpg

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo391.jpg

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo390.jpg

Rust killed with a wire brush add on to a drill, and sanded down again and sprayed back up. I know the spraying done is shit, but is temporary so I can ride the bike around with a bit of pride before I really get to work on it.

Here's the shiny new swingarm.

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo394.jpg

And here's the bike, looking a bit better now.

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo354.jpg

Here with my Dad's CB1300S

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo356.jpg

More things to come Smile
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Fnatic
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PostPosted: 01:57 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Really nice work Thumbs Up
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 01:58 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

2 weeks and 1000 miles later, featuring one FUCKING rainy day, and I have decided to replace the rear tyre; it's quite old, a shit brand (Cougar?) and gives me no confidence to get some decent cornering done, as well as giving me constant small scares in the wet by randomly sliding under acceleration out of corners.

So, £130 later and a man my dad uses for all his tyres comes round and fits, balances etc. a brand new Continental Go! tyre to my bike, and as far as tyres go, it looks the Tits compared to the old one, I swear its wider, has a better curvature? and of the 60 miles I've now rode on it, is leagues ahead in performance. I love it, money well spent.

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo402.jpg


Also, whilst the wheel was off, I took the rear brake pad off as it was looking rusted, and cleaned it up, painted the middle too. Forgot to take a pic beforehand, but this is what it looked like right after painting.

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo393.jpg



Things still wanting to do, as time and funds allow

Arrow Powdercoat both wheels white

Arrow Get some better bar ends

Arrow In the winter, properly strip the bike down completely, full service, clean and replacing as needed.

Arrow dust cap for the front wheel, lol! Might just nick one of those off one of my mates.

Arrow Replace GS500 stickers maybe, as they look shite and old?

Arrow Replace front tyre in a lot of miles

Arrow Braided lines, Blue probably, from a decent company. Going to be done sooner rather than later.

Arrow Blue clutch and brake lever, as the ones I have currently look quite worn.

Arrow Stop doing clutchless upshifts, even though I feel cool doing it.

Arrow Get rid of the mighty new chicken strips, slowly but surely.

Arrow Stop boring BCF.


Anyone else have idea's as to what to do on zee bike?
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 02:00 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Really nice work


Cheers Fnatic, I enjoyed reading about your RS, gave me inspiration to create my own thread Karma
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 02:01 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Embarassed Double post, may aswell whore another pic then Smile

https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu53/BikerJones/Photo366.jpg
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Fnatic
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PostPosted: 03:42 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cheers Cool I really like it. Simple 'mods' if you'd call them that that made the bike look alot better. I definetly agree with tidying up a swingarm as I love them. I polished my RS one for ages.

Thumbs Up Karma
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garth
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PostPosted: 07:28 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a Cougar tyre on me goose for a while. Pretty sure they're chinese remoulds. Anywhoo, in the damp - not rain - you could spin the rear under power in 2nd gear. On 33bhp. Not good.

Plus it never, ever wore down. I took to doing rolling burnouts.
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Thom
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PostPosted: 08:15 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

The best tyre for a gs500 is undoubtadly the BT45's.

Furthurmore these bikes are an excellent base for various mods.

Change the rear shock for an SV650 shock or an RGV250 shock (The 250 can come with a remote reservoir which is quite handy)
Both add a little height to the bike.

Find an R6 link pipe and cut your standard pipework to about 6-8 inches after the collector, attach link pipe and then a slip on of choice. It's almost a perfect fit, just needs a spacer putting behind the exhaust clamp to push the lot out from the swingarm (Brute force bent everythign slightly for me!)

CBR600 rearsets fit with a little grinding and make the bike feel alot nicer, it also handles immensly better.

USD forks are a bit trickier but fairly simple, if you dont fancy this get some progressive springs and some 20w fork oil. I believe the entire end of a cbr600 fits straight in and also offers twin discs.

Get some 37mm clip-ons from ebay, theyre excellent and when mounted below the top yoke make the bike insane.

Advance your ignition timing, theres a guide on one of the gs500 sites.

K and N air filter - just make sure you rejet it.

I was also getting round to fitting a different swingarm to the bike but i gave up as i was spending far too much money.
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Current Bike: 1996 Yamaha TRX850 (The Japanese-Ducati One).
Previous Bikes: 1990 Honda NSR125 'Rothmans' (The smoking one), 1990 Suzuki GS500e 'Caf? fighter' (The loud one), 1987 Kawasaki GPX400r (The quick one), 1997 XJ600s Diversion (The reliable one), 2000 Kawasaki ER-5 (The spontaneously combustive one)
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Xenocide
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PostPosted: 10:44 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

I learnt on one of them. Lovely little bikes (just too small for me unfortunately).

I got told off for booting it through a area with high walls to hear the exhaust. Put a slip-on on and I bet it'd sound great. Smile
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ms51ves3
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PostPosted: 11:21 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

£130 for one tyre sounds a lot. I paid £130 for a pair of BT45s not fitted though.
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 15:09 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fnatic, we are on the same wavelength - obviously I don't have stacks of money, so just some small 'mods' to make the bike a bit better Smile

Quote:
Plus it never, ever wore down. I took to doing rolling burnouts.


Yup, shocking stuff isn't it - glad to find I ain't the only one. Haha on the burnouts mind, because before I changed mine me and my dad went out the back and nailed a massive burnout to kill the tyre, I need to get the vid off him!

Metalforever - I wish you could double karma posts, yours is incredibly helpful! I don't know stacks about tyres, so just took my Dads advice on this one, not doing loads of research. I am going to change the shock for an SV 650 one, do they look nice? And apart from height, can you tell the difference?

Also, the exhaust is a brilliant idea, and I will do this definitely - how much will a link pipe be? And then just fit a slip-on designed for an R6 I guess? I might get a stubby, haha! How much is this likely to cost?

The CBR rearsets is also on my mind, how much roughly for this too?

I'm not going to mess around with USD forks, a bit out of my depth at the moment, and expensive I guess? Same with handlebars, I am happy with mine ATM.

Is it really worth advancing the ignition timing, especially since I beleive the bike is 33bhp'd by previous owner? (It WILL not go above 100 in 5th or 6th)

K&N filter will get done when the filter needs replacing anyway.

Cheers for the advice!

Xenocide, how tall are you lol? I'm 6 ft 4 and was comfortable on a 200 mile trip.

Chives, I know I thought that too, but then the guy did come to my house with the tyre, fit and balance etc, and also fit two tyres to my Dad's CB that he had already bought, for free. Fair deal!

Covdude, It isn't as difficult as it looks - I'm only 17, although I do have my Dad helping I did all the work.

Sorry about the long post Embarassed
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Click here if you're a young biker, wondering what to do after a moped/125!
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 15:27 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
who says they have to be level.


Lmao, level is for Gheys with rollerskates they need to put on them.

I'm interested in a bike maintainance course too, its a shame they don't teach you more in the A2, considering i payed £600 for everything. It's all geared towards passing the test Rolling Eyes
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ms51ves3
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PostPosted: 15:31 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

jonesy boy wrote:
I'm interested in a bike maintainance course too, its a shame they don't teach you more in the A2, considering i payed £600 for everything. It's all geared towards passing the test Rolling Eyes


It has to be geared only towards the test as a lot of people wouldn't be interested in the maintenance side of it at all and would feel they were wasting their money.

Nothing is difficult though. All you need is a manual and the correct tools and you can't really go wrong unless you are completely incompetent.
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 15:35 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

Nothing is difficult though. All you need is a manual and the correct tools and you can't really go wrong unless you are completely incompetent.


Correctomundo! Thats why I just dived in with a little help, it's a lot of fun teaching yourself aswell - and if I do fuck up, it's only a GS Smile
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ncrn
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PostPosted: 20:19 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Get some engine bars for it, I reckon they add to the look of those types of bike. I have an ER5 which is a very similar bike to yours. Also I will say that BT45's are a great tyre for my bike so I think they would be very good for your GS too, I got a set fitted and balanced for about £160 recently.
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 20:41 - 16 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
so I think they would be very good for your GS too,


You're probably right mate, but I dont plan on changing the rear for a while yet now Laughing My next front will probably be a BT45 mind Smile

Also, engine bars dont look really sporty/cool/make you look like a noob, although I can see the (obvious) advantages. Just my opinion!
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Thom
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PostPosted: 08:44 - 17 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

jonesy boy wrote:

Metalforever - I am going to change the shock for an SV 650 one, do they look nice? And apart from height, can you tell the difference?

Personally i went for a WP shock in the end (I think it was, it was a pruple race shock with all the adjustment you could dream of), the standard sv650 shock however is yellow so it looks alright and brightens up the underside of the bike alot, it adds about 2" height IIRC and it provides a much 'neater' ride without bobbing around everywhere. In my eyes it was an essential upgrade although the RGV shock was better than a standard sv650 shock.

Also, the exhaust is a brilliant idea, and I will do this definitely - how much will a link pipe be? And then just fit a slip-on designed for an R6 I guess? I might get a stubby, haha! How much is this likely to cost?

Ebay 'R6 link pipe' all your looking for is the mid section connecting downpipes to end can, i got mine very cheaply. A then found a slip on with the same diametre pipe and attached that. I wouldnt stubby it though, the set up even with the standard R6 can is very loud nevermind with a stubbied can.

The CBR rearsets is also on my mind, how much roughly for this too?

My rearsets where a fancy piece, they wernt the standard unit, i think they were for a 96' 600 although i dont remember, the gs500 websites will help you out. i paid about £120 from a friend for them and again, they were well worth while.

Is it really worth advancing the ignition timing, especially since I beleive the bike is 33bhp'd by previous owner? (It WILL not go above 100 in 5th or 6th)

I wouldnt bother playing with ignition timing if it is restricted (although yes it does sound as though your bike is restricted, saying that they only tend to do 110 indicated at full power) however on a full power bike it gives a sharper kick and it FEELS as though a little more power, it may be a placebo but i think it helped. I forgot to mention a quick action throttle was put on my bike as well, again this is on those mods websites.

K&N filter will get done when the filter needs replacing anyway.

The K and N alongside my race can sounded amazing, although it took alot of work to set up properly.

Just remember, this isnt going to be a quick bike, however it is alot of fun and they have an amazing handling chassis, just keep an eye on corrosion, powderocating the standard shcok/frame/fork legs/wheels and swingarm are very good investments.

A lad i used to set the bike up said the bike was likely putting about about 50-55bhp (at the wheel), so all these 'mods' didnt seem like that much of a difference. However when you think that they probs put out sub 45bhp at the wheel as standard thats quite an improvement. Although i admit i dont really believe it would have been any more than 50. Not that i care!


https://www.gstwin.com/gs_mods.htm

https://pantablo500.tripod.com/ (The best site IMO)

https://johnla2.tripod.com/mods.html

https://www.bikepower.net/gs500e-power/gs500e-power.htm
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Current Bike: 1996 Yamaha TRX850 (The Japanese-Ducati One).
Previous Bikes: 1990 Honda NSR125 'Rothmans' (The smoking one), 1990 Suzuki GS500e 'Caf? fighter' (The loud one), 1987 Kawasaki GPX400r (The quick one), 1997 XJ600s Diversion (The reliable one), 2000 Kawasaki ER-5 (The spontaneously combustive one)
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Nathanmx
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PostPosted: 18:00 - 17 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good buy mate. nice bike Very Happy
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 22:08 - 17 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Metalmassivefuckinghelp, I will post how I get on with the mods, will get them done over the next month hopefully - definitely the shock and exhaust, I wanted an exhaust and was considering a full system because I thought that was the only way you could get a decent can on - thank you so much! Karma

Rearsets are quite expensive, will try and get them done at some point though.

Nathanmx, cheers mate and welcome to the forum! You got a bike of your own? Thumbs Up
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Click here if you're a young biker, wondering what to do after a moped/125!
Skp 50 --> GS 500 --> CBR600F with custom HRC paint jobby --> GSX-R 750 K7, beautiful!
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L-Jam
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PostPosted: 18:39 - 19 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

Right Metal my boy, I'm looking at a few link pipes now on ebay, here are the links:

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VIPER-YAMAHA-YZF-R6-98-02-STAINLESS-EXHAUST-LINK-PIPE_W0QQitemZ370228785393QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Motorcycle_Parts?hash=item56335af0f1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50


https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/YZF-R6-RACE-LINK-PIPE-scorpaion-slip-on-5EB-PARTS_W0QQitemZ250460938687QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Motorcycle_Parts?hash=item3a50a2a1bf&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50


https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-R6-Link-Pipe-1998-2002-Silver-Frame-Model-Only_W0QQitemZ140334323462QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Motorcycle_Parts?hash=item20ac93d706&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50


Are any of these ideal?

Can I put any slip-on can designed for an R6 onto this?

Sorry for my noobness, but we all gotta learn somehow Wink

Thanks very much in advance.
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Ellington G
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PostPosted: 20:52 - 24 Jul 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote

looks good mate Thumbs Up keep us posted as to how it goes! Karma
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