Is my flywheel fatally damaged? GS500

[Shay HTFC]

Ok, I binned my GS500 a while back and the left hand engine casing cracked badly and all the oil gushed out.
The flywheel / generator / rotor (not got my Haynes to hand so am unsure of all the terminology - never looked in this area before) is slightly damaged.

Does it 100% need replacing. I only assume that because of the revs, it will do, but it seems that replacing it is a bloody finnicky job. If it does need replacing, do I just need a flywheel puller? There seems to be 3 threaded bars coming from inside, into the flywheel so how the hell they come undone, I have no idea - unless the puller etc just sort it.

To be honest, if it needs replacing then I'll try and borrow/rent the kit from a bike shop because I ain't too keen on attacking this with some bodged threaded bar and metal levers.
Is it quite simple with the right kit?

Here's the photos anyway. The only problem I can see is the damaged magnet coating although the obvious worry is that if left, it could continue to 'peel' and start causing trouble as bits of 'stuff' fling around.


So yeah:
a) Does it need replacing - could it run for a while until I have more time to do the job?
b) If it does need replacing, how hard is the process and what does it involve? Just grabbing the Haynes pdf now
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Full Motorbike License - GS500E '95

[hmmmnz]

thats sweet as, keep using with no problems,
the onlt daage i can see is a chip out of the laminate,
that won't matter at all
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Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[BanditsHigh]

^^^ Agree, it doesn't look as though the rotor itself has been hit so it should still run true

[Syx]

As others have said - damage is minimal and the rotor is fine so you should have no problems.
Nice pics though - finally someone knows how to focus correctly!

[Paddy Blake]

Check if the other half of it is loose.If it is take it off or it could fall of and damage the coils.

Paddy.

[stinkwheel]

If you wanted to remove it to check, you'd need to pull the rotor off. To do this you undo the big bolt in the middle of the rotor (the bolt goes into the middle of the crank). Under this you'll see there is a screw thread cut into the centre of the rotor.

You screw a crank pulling tool into the screwthread, hold it in position with a spanner and screw the middle of the crank puller down. This ought to pop it off the taper with very little effort.

If you then wanted to check it for balance, I suppose the bast way would be to clamp it in a lathe and give it a spin with a dial guage on.

As said though, looks pretty much ok, make sure you get rid of any flaky bits of epoxy off the scuffed magnets that might block an oilway.

The not proper way to pull the flywheel is to loosen the central bolt a couple of turns, put a three leg puller on it, tighten it up as much as you can then give it a good smack with a mallet. You risk bending it with the puller if you do this.

I bought a proper Honda flywheel puller for less than a tenner (direct off Honda), it fits a remarkably wide variety of bikes, not sure if it fits a GS though. All depends on the size of that thread.

If you do pull it, careful not to lose the Woodroffe key (I usually stick it to one of the magnets) and remember to de-grease the taper prior to refitting or it'll spin up.
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[Shay HTFC]

My only other worry is that you can see the laminate is bulging out a bit on some of the magnets (see the photo) which makes me think if the flywheel has been squashed and bent.

I'll try and somehow get a compass (circle drawing tool, not North South thingy ) or set of calipers to get an alright idea if the shape of the flywheel has been skewed at all.

What if it has been slightly bent? Is it the end of the world, or will the bike continue to run alright? How much space is there between the stator and the magnets in case the diameter of the rotor is slightly smaller in places?

Cheers for the help guys - this news has potentially made my day

P.S. I am not after a performance machine - This bike is simply my work horse for getting from A - B, so I don't mind if it makes a slight funny noise or anything, or runs slightly down on before. Thats all stuff I can sort out when I have more time.
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Full Motorbike License - GS500E '95

[the grim reaper]

If I was you, I'd get hold of a runout guage and turn the engine over a couple of times with the flywheel in situ. It should tell you if the flywheel is out of round or if it's no longer sitting on the shaft straight.

If you can't get a runout guage, try clamping a pencil to a metal stand (axle stand might work) and position it close to the flywheel, that will also tell you by drawing on the wheel if it's not straight.

Cheers

Grim
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