She-zuki

[ariwhiteboy]

Well today was a great day!  I went home, had lunch with my family, and most importantly picked up this 1996 GS500e for my SOQS.  It's a little rough around the edges, but parts have been ordered and I will hopefully have it road worthy by next weekend.  I ended up only giving $450 for it, and most importantly it has a clean title.  This will be the bike's intro and progress thread, so check back often for pics and updates.  Below are the first pictures once I got it home and unloaded, better quality pics to come soon, but it will probably be in pieces then. 

[luckylindy]

Looks like a good bike for $450.  Enjoy wrenching on it.

[WingNut]

Looks like a great little bike, and for $450? thats a steal  ... looking forward to more pics 

[Soupskin]

Looks nice and light.

What does SOQS think?

[hppants]

Bike looks nice.  Looking forward to reading this thread.  What kind of work are you planning to do on the bike?

[ariwhiteboy]

Well I've got her all torn apart and have been going through everything.  Carbs are currently disassembled and soaking in good old pinesol.    Other than that, my plans for tonight include: pulling the rear wheel and chain off, taking the handlebars and controls off, removing the front brake caliper and M?C, and just generally checking everything over.  I've decided that, since SOQS won't be wanting to ride much until it warms up, I'm going to really do this little bike right instead of just getting it running and safe.  SOQS likes the bike, but she told me "You really have your work cut out for you!"    I plan on soaking the old chain in oil this weekend (it will have to do for a few hundered miles), painting some of the scratched up parts, and giving it a good general cleaning this week.  I'll keep you guys posted and who knows, we might just have one more at the rally this spring! Below is a pic of a nekkid GS500e. 

[hockeyhawk]

Nice find Ari, your not wasting any time tearing into it. 

[ariwhiteboy]

Well, I'm done for the night. Got the carbs soaking in Pinesol, chain soaking in oil, and about a dozen things removed and ready to clean/paint. Hopefully after Sunday afternoon I will have everything ready except the parts I had to order. :)  Won't be wrenching on it tomorrow though, it's time for a ride! 

[green427]

If the motor and trans are in good running condition, then you've got yourself an excellent deal.

Congrats!

[Hangster]

Nice find and congrats to the new owner /rider ..

[fishball]

I'm going to enjoy watching your progress.  Good luck!

[SirSeanSean]

Congrats on the new addition . How was it taking it apart? Looking forward to watching it get rebuilt. 

[coffee_brake]

Tank clean inside?

I love the frames on those little GS500's....very trick-looking.

[JB1290]

$450???? Ari, you stole that bike. Nice job! 

[Brittles]

Nice find. Seems like a lot of folks getting some really great deals of late.

I've never owned a bike with that type of frame. How are the carbs removed? From the top?

[ariwhiteboy]

Yep, carbs pull right out through the top...How's this for a novel idea?  Suzuki designed the bike so that the airbox has two bolts that you undo andpivot the airbox backwards...The only bike I've ever had that was easier to pull the carbs on was my '78 Honda MiniTrail 50!  Thanks to that wide opening in the top, valve cover removal was also a cinch.  Coffee, the tank looks good inside, no trash when I drained the fuel and nice gray coating when I shined a light inside.

[highwayjamin]

Really nice bike you have there Ari    I think the wife will love it.  Is she riding to the rally with you now?

[ariwhiteboy]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.  Hwy, I don't know if SOQS will make the rally, but I have a few months to work on her.    Here are some pics of today's progress so far.  The first is of the frame bolts which were pretty rusty looking.  Left one is how I got it, right one is how they looked when I got done with them.  The second pic is the front brake rotor.  I forgot to take a "before" pic, but it was covered in rust and chipped paint (sometimes I get engrossed in my work) but it's stripped and cleaned and I've put the first coat of paint on it.  After a few more coats I'll post an "after" pic.

[Brittles]

Nice to see it has a floating rotor.

[ariwhiteboy]

Finished Brake Rotor.

[ariwhiteboy]

So I kind of stumbled onto I pennytech solution for what I think might be a common problem for older bikes. You guys know those little caps that cover the part of the frame where the swingarm is bolted in?

 I'm sure you have seen a bike with a hole like this in the frame:



 Well the She-zuki was missing one and I had pretty much written it off as somthing we were going to have to live with.  While at Lowes getting something unrelated I spotted these.



The original was light gray plastic as seen in the photo.  I picked up these chrome covers that are used to fill blank holes in sinks.  Below is the finished product, clean install and they only cost about $1 each.



Sorry for the poor picture quality, trust me it looks very good. 

[WYDOPN]

Nice job so far....

[tomb raider]

Damn good idea Old Man...

[Falban]

 

[ariwhiteboy]

Frustrating day....got the used carbs and ended up cleaning / cannibalizing parts to get a complete good set of carbs, or so I thought. Same problem with revs jumping up and hanging so I did what any wise man would do, I called a woman who knows more than I do.  Coffeebrake and I talked through possible things I had missed and as it turns out, the PO of both sets of carbs had at some point, removed the pilot screw and lost the teeny tiny washer and o-ring that seals them off.  So that's one place that would be sucking in air and causing the symptoms I have.  After a thorough inspection of the intake boots I found a very small crack where the rubber is affixed to the metal, yet another thing that might be causing the issue.  I really hate shooting the parts cannon at a bike, but this is for my SOQS and I don't want her riding anything that will give her problems / turn her off from wanting to do "serious" riding.  I called the stealer ship and they ended up being about $25 cheaper on the parts I needed than any of the sources on the web once you factor in shipping, so I went ahead and dropped another $60.     Now I have to just wait a week for those things to come in, I guess in the time between now and then I will clean my bike up and finish the front brake on She-zuki.  I'm so over this project...   (but I'm really enjoying wrenching)