GS500 rebuild project - 'polishing a turd'.

[Gazdaman]

The rebuild started when I bought a 2000 GS500 from Nottingham for £550.

It ran alright, and had plenty of MOT and Tax.
I bought it a new rear tyre.

About 2 weeks later the sprocket carrier bearing collapsed which junked the sprocket nuts and did a bit of damage to the swing arm.
Then I ran it out of petrol which also dirtied the carbs. I tried to clean them but all the screws rounded.
Then one headlight bracket fell off.

I started to lose confidence in the bike...

So browsing eBay one day I managed to score:
https://www.gaz-racing.co.uk/images/vehicle_366.JPG

- Frame w/ v5
- Swing arm
- Rear mudguard
- Front mudguard
- 2 x side panels
- Side and centre stands
- Front wheel inc disk and spindle
- Torque arm

For £20! Bargain

I also picked up a set of red braced Renthal bars and a Bandit 400 hugger. And a slabside 750 rear shock with remote reservoir (they slot straight in) (Thanks Jenks!).

So the swing arm has gone off to a local engineering firm to get braced similar to the attached photo.

The frame is in the same place getting a new lock stop fabricated and welded on.

Once those 2 things are done, they're being powder coated black along with the torsion bar, the centre and side stand, and the front wheel's being done white.

And today I had another eBay victory, I got:

- Pair of mint forks
- Set of carbs
- Top yoke to take the renthals

For £90 inc postage.

So once the frame and stuff are back from the powder coaters I can build it into a rolling chassis minus rear wheel. Then spend a weekend swapping everything else across from the running bike to the project frame.

Once that's done I'll think about uprating the brakes, and respraying the bodywork.

Rolling project total so far including all engineering work is:

£200
£20
£90
+ various parts, i.e top box, mounts, renthals and hugger.

around £400

I suspect I'll be able to sell some of the old parts after the project's done.

Gaz

[Frost]

Dont be fooled, turds are highly polishable!

[Gazdaman]

Yeah, I find I need to have some pride in a bike, even if it is just my work hack. And I just feel happier if I've done all the work, then there are no unknowns about it.

Still to buy:

All new bearings
Rear sprocket
Front braided hose, possibly new master cylinder, HH pads, possibly wavey disk.
New top box mounting kit (mine's a proper bodge job).

Gaz

[Thom]

Well as im on a budget i've completely rebuilt one for £700, all in, hopefully if i havent knackered the enigne by putting a bit too much oil in thats as much as it'll cost me now!

Yours however, is going to be alot nicer! and they are apparantly very nice handling bikes too!

They are apparantly money pits though
____________________
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)

[Gazdaman]

£700 including the bike?

They handle ok, nothing amazing. I have had an opportunity to ride one on a trackday albeit a poor example. Knee down is quite easy.

But I do also have a MASSIVE top box on the bike, which ruins everything nicely.

I wouldn't say they're money pits, but they do require a bit of maintenance, they are rather 'budget' bikes.

I'm surprised how expensive second hand engines are. The price of all other spares are very cheap. But a second hand engine is still over £200.

Gaz

[Purplepill]

Cool I really liked my GS
____________________
''He had the confidence of a baby-goat dared to tickle a t-rex's nutsack''

[Thom]

Aye gaz, £700 which consisted of the bike, the new suspension as well as a set of clip ons and cbr rearsets which i've still got to fit.

It sounds expensive for what i've got but i had to replace most of the bike to be fair!
____________________
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)

[Gazdaman]

Standard CBR rearsets? Do they fit?

I didn't fancy clipons, I dwarf the tiny bike anyway, so if I can sit it up a bit, and jack the back up with the longer shock then hopefully it'll look a bit better.

I just bought a brembo look-a-like front master cylinder. Tempted with some bar end mirrors. But I've gotta make sure I can still fit the bike through my back gate.

Gaz

[Thom]

the cbr rearsets dont fit directly however with a wee bit of cutting with a dremal they fit. I'll post a couple of guides in a moment.

also im 5' 10" and 60kg so i dont really have a problem with the bike being small.

CBR rearset installation

https://pantablo500.tripod.com/id46.html
____________________
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)

[Gazdaman]

Here's a photo of my recent bits haul.

Those forks were £30 and they are MINT! Not a single pit on them. Carbs were £20 and stink of petrol as does my front room.

Yokes were £25, but sadly I asked the guy for the top yoke with handlebar risers, but apparently that got lost in translation, so I'll still have to buy another top yoke. But still I needed a set of yokes for convenience when rebuilding.

The renthal bars were £20 off eBay. And my 'Brembo' radial master cylinder off eBay for £32. Looks the part!

Gaz

[Thom]

trick parts

Hopefulyl mine will be properly running by the weekend and then i need to sort out this front brake cable, its just too long

MOT and tax then its fightered
____________________
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)

[Gazdaman]

I'll be ordering a new braided hose and some HH pads when I can afford it. I'm just hoping other cables will be long enough. Can't be arsed making all new cables for everything.

Am very chuffed with the new forks though!

I must remember not to keep an accurate account of what I've spent on the bike! Because it'll be a whole lot more than it's worth!

Gaz

[MarJay]

Supercharger, turbo, something, anything!!!

If you can get the brakes sorted and make the engine healthy, then it would be a reasonable stunt machine.

A braced swinging arm on a GS500? Oh Mr Gareth you have a lot to learn!!

I'm thinking of buying a parallel twin soon as well actually...
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Gazdaman]

Just wait, it'll look cool. Cheaper than buying a different cool looking swingarm.

Would love to turbo it, just don't think I've got the skills. Or equipment, no garage, or vice or anything.

Still need to commute on it everyday.

Gaz

[MarJay]

[MarJay]

Oh Meeeester Gareeeethhhh! I have something fooooor yoooooou!

https://www.streetfighters.com.au/images/events/AFR_08/photos/large/DSCF3673.jpg

Oooh, whats that at the bottom there? Its a turbo!!
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[MarJay]

https://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?PHPSESSID=601e6455e21a3964a4cfe6b8307c7ed7&topic=42199.msg485636#msg485636
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Gazdaman]

He also made that bike fuel injected.

And even tiny crappy knackered turbos are silly expensive!
There are threads about that bike, on an australian forum. Ozfighters or something like that.

It's the holy grail of my project.

I do want to do something silly like a turbo, braced swing arm is as far as I've got.

Gaz

[Gazdaman]

P.S Look at his swing arm.

Gaz

[Moonie]

[Gazdaman]

Picked up a set of bar risers and a braided hose last night.

Been told a Bandit or SV650 rear wheel fits in without much effort. So quite tempted with that. Then I can fit a rear scrub too.

Will suit the swing arm a bit better too.

Gaz

[djr]

[djr]

Forgot to mention the race scrubs fitted are 160/60zr17's (Ones i got off Bendy ages ago).

https://pantablo500.tripod.com/id50.html may be of interest to you but you've prob already seen it .

[Gazdaman]

Only need the rear wheel. Very much doubt the front wheel will fit into GS forks.

And to be honest, it's very unlikely I'll fit it for a while, so it's very much a 'something for the future' mod.
But if it's gonna go cheap I could be interested.

Gaz

[djr]

Meh, looks like they're going for about 50 quid on ebay at the moment so doubt that's what you'd call cheap - If you know anyone who lives near sheffield and could pick one up for you https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Suzuki-Bandit-600-Rear-Wheel_W0QQitemZ230288233570QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230288233570&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 should go cheap - He's shooting himself in the foot not offering postage i reakon. I'd deff at that as a watch if i was you.