Jdub goes there 1981 650e rebuild

[Nessism]

That's a FINE looking bike there! Congratulations!

[jdub6092]

Have had the cosmetic portion completed for a couple of weeks now and just did some polishing.
I plan on making a short video detailing the resto., but here is a shot of my stock restoration.

[jdub6092]

Wow that is amazing, nice work.

Thanks! Nice to see you check in Kiwi.

Just about ready to wrap this project up and do a final reveal video. Just one side cover to go.
Actually enjoying painting and getting better with each piece. Got lucky with color match as well.

[Kiwi Canuck]

Wow that is amazing, nice work.

[jdub6092]

Applying the two piece fender decals was a bit of a challenge because I could see the straight portions would need to be cut during installation. Not perfect (you can see the overlap up close) but after the 3-1/2 additional clear coats, the finish is immaculate. Don't think I'll need to cut and buff.

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[steve murdoch]

After scuffing up and installing decals and more clear.
Not great, but not bad for a hobbyist.

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Hobbyist? Looks great!

[jdub6092]

BTW, The Aeropro A610a LVLP spray gun is quite good. Maybe the best budget gun available. Under $100 on Amazon and comes with three tips. Sprays like butter.

Tried to get by with the HF $9 (sale) gun and had to start all over. Does primer OK. Have seen pros do a decent job with it, but its a pain to dial in for hobbyists. Wasted a half pint of PPG Deltron ($120). Ended up using Matrix Edge paint at 1/4 the price. Time will tell.

[jdub6092]

Finally my problem child.
Only used adhesion promoter and 2k primer sealer. As the primer/paint shrunk, a crack was exposed. The long peg was not broken on this cover.
So sanded down to plastic and applied plastic bonder again. This time I will patch with primer filler, then try my luck at blending. Now that the decal is on, there's no going back.

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[jdub6092]

And here's one side cover that is the worst piece so far.
Decal got a few dust bunnies underneath and bunched in one area at the top. Also I was running out of clear and has some medium orange peel. Low grit sanding and polishing should take care of that. 20250531_140521(1).jpg

[jdub6092]

That looks really good, and it's a close up shot. If all the opther pieces come out that well, (the tank is the toughest), it will be a great, professional-looking job for a fraction of the cost of a professional paint job.

The last couple quotes I got for painting old GS/KZ style bike parts with no fairings came in over $2,000.

Thankfully, I found an NOS tank, so I dont have that to worry about. I may yet paint my original though.
Here's the fender and it looks like glass. There are some reflections that are deceiving, but this is the best piece so far. Still need to scuff and apply decals as it fell and had to fill a little dent.
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[Griffin]

That looks really good, and it's a close up shot. If all the opther pieces come out that well, (the tank is the toughest), it will be a great, professional-looking job for a fraction of the cost of a professional paint job.

The last couple quotes I got for painting old GS/KZ style bike parts with no fairings came in over $2,000.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Looks good from here. Well done!

[jdub6092]

After scuffing up and installing decals and more clear.
Not great, but not bad for a hobbyist.

20250531_120344.jpg

[jdub6092]

More learning trying to paint silver metallic.
Thought I had absorbed enough knowledge to give it a go. Wrong!
First attempt was a fail. Metallics were somewhat moddled and I couldnt live with the results. So I stripped everything down again and watched another 50 videos on painting silver metallics until I was getting confused by all the can't miss methods.
Finally settled on two wet coats, with the second at a 5psi lower than the first, followed by a drop coat with air down another few psi and paint volume reduced a half turn and 8-10 inches away to 'orient' the metallics.
After about 15 minutes, applied a light coat of clear, then two wet coats.
There are a few minor flaws, but overall pleased with the results.

20250524_102200(1).jpgThe Photo doesn't do a great job of bringing out the glitter and gloss.

[jdub6092]

The GS650E side covers are much flimsier than the side covers on most other GS models. I dunno why, but they are.

Very prone to breaking. Mke sure you have soft grommets, that helps. Old hardened rubber is much more likely to cause a breakage.

Not sure if I've seen any side covers on ebay that don't have the long peg broken and often a chunk of ABS taken out where it was attached.

I replaced most grommets on the bike including the side cover ones. Put a little lube on them and they are snug, but come off with little effort. The key I think is to pull straight out and evenly on both sides.