81 GS550T in Co Sprgs

[cowboyup3371]

Thanks Ranger and Pete. I think my daughter has picked out my color choice already for me since she grabbed the can I'm using on the carbs (carbs will match tank and side covers). I'll have a picture of them up by this weekend.

[pete]

Nice progress Cowboy! Will be nice to see it in one piece again.

One thing doing it this way... you have more time to ponder and decide on an awesome paint scheme

If you have any paint ideas that you want done, just find a picture of the color and ill do it up for you with realistic shadows and lighting.

[cowboyup3371]

Interesting thought. I'll mull it over, thanks Ranger.

Here what I did to become tired right now to sleep. I did it fast, didnt adjust lighting to make it look in the original enviornment or any other realistic effects.

[cowboyup3371]

Well, since I ran into the tax issue I now have, I decided I'd better get my bike running again sooner rather than later. Paying 20 dollars a week in gas on the bike is a heck of a lot better than over 100 for my truck so it will free up some money. Therefore, I ordered the sprockets and chain and I'll wait on my fork springs and shocks until another payday or two as I can while also paying the taxman. Also, I sped up on my painting jobs and finished doing some things.

Here are the bowls and footpeg brackets after painting (I have to touch up a spot on each bowl that I missed):



The footpeg mounts are also done and have new rubber inserts:



The swingarm is painted and waiting for a free grease nipple sample to get here hopefully next week:



And finally I started disassembling the carbs so I can paint the tops and bodies.



I intend to get the engine covers and carbs painted now and will wait to do my tank and side covers later when I have the free money. I at least want to get back on the road again though to save a little money. I know my springs and shocks need replacing but they'll do me for now. Hopefully I can come up with the money before Brown County to get them done though.

Thanks for looking. I'll have more pictures this weekend as I finish cleaning up the fuse block area and painting. I should be able to fire up the bike by next weekend.

Way to go Cowboy nice to see your making good progress. I have been stuck with the spend time with the family block this last week. I enjoy my time with them but man I miss my time. LoL. Keep it up bro.

[cowboyup3371]

Got a little bit of work done today. I put in the new valve cover bolts in that my girlfriend bought for me and installed the air box. I didn't take pics of the valve cover today nor of the new fuse block I put on since I wasn't totally ready for that but here's what I did do.

As I said earlier, I broke the mounting bracket for the air box so I bought a p-clamp (Thanks Steve) and a small mending brace to connect it that way.

Do you think it will be a problem to attach the two grounding straps to the p-clamp bolt? They were originally attached to the mounting bracket one.



Once that was done, the air box still moved way too much for me so I decided to screw it in from the battery box as well.





The battery and air filter both fit in just fine without any changes so I think it will be okay. I will try to find a way to weld on a new bracket later but at least this gets me going.

Also found a company who is sending me a 12mm grease fitting for free . They only sell in large groups to other companies but because they had one I should see it next week I hope. I already drilled out the hole and tapped it to a 12mm X 1.50 which is the size of the fitting they said they have.

[pete]

Aaah I knew I'd seen a project thread of yours somewhere! Good to see you're on your way again

And yeah, I hear ya'... some days you wonder why you ever started doing stuff coz it all just goes wrong...

The good side of that is there are other days where everything works and everything you do is just so easy you wonder why you ever got frustrated before...

[cowboyup3371]

The wind died down for a little while this afternoon so I thought I might try to do some work. So I go to put my painted valve cover on and realize the bolts look crappy so I didn't bolt it on yet. Then I tried to put the air box on and didn't like how it was going back together because the bracket that holds it to the bike frame was bent. Tried to fix it but ended up breaking it off. Figured I'd JB Weld a washer to what was left of it and that won't work because it's still too cold! Oh well, next week maybe.

Phone isn't cooperating right now when sending my picture to my email so I'll try to get it up later.

Here's the picture of the frame mount.



Thanks.

[cowboyup3371]

From what I am reading, neither of these two products stop the rust that was already in place from coming back again. Is that correct or am I missing something else when I read the pages. The bottoms of the swingarm and air box have some rust spots on them so, based on what I was told, I wanted to put a base coat down to protect them and then finish with what I'm using elsewhere. Is that still possible with these?

[posplayr]

Jim,
I'm looking at using this: http://www.por15.com/POR-15/productinfo/1GB/ with the Prep and Ready stuff then paint over with the same VHT Roll Bar and Chassis Paint I used today.

On the bar that runs from the swingarm to the rear brake, I had some runs where I have bulbs at the end of each run. How do I go about sanding them out? Do I dry or wet sand it and then do I have to repaint it?

I would shy away from that stuff and instead use this. The problem is the one above is UV sensitive and will dull. So it has to be top coated which means sanding and por-15 is hard so it is a BIACH. I had sections strip off of my frame because it would not adhere to the slick surface.

HARD NOSE is super hard and chem resistant and sprays awsome. It looks like powder coat.

http://www.por15.com/HARDNOSE-PAINT/productinfo/HNGB/

For really nice finishes I even top coat it with Clear; they are compatiable paint types.

http://www.por15.com/GLISTEN-PC/productinfo/GPCGG/

Runs can take a long time to dry(if thick) . You could use a safety razor to slice off the most of it , let it dry some more and sand. Else strip it all off again.

Most sanding should be pretty fine wet sand with say 240 grit, 400 is going to be just too fine to get a good bite with the Por-15 stuff

[cowboyup3371]

Jim,
I'm looking at using this: http://www.por15.com/POR-15/productinfo/1GB/ with the Prep and Ready stuff then paint over with the same VHT Roll Bar and Chassis Paint I used today.

On the bar that runs from the swingarm to the rear brake, I had some runs where I have bulbs at the end of each run. How do I go about sanding them out? Do I dry or wet sand it and then do I have to repaint it?

[posplayr]

If you have some type of toaster oven, alot of guys bake the parts and it makes the rattle can paint hard. Not sure I would worry about clear coating all that stuff. Engine parts will get hot enough without baking.

It is primarily a gas tank that needs clear as it is almost assured you will get gas on it. Pictures are a little crappy but what I can tell , it all looks real good.

What Por-15 product you looking to use?

[cowboyup3371]

So will i need to clearcoat everything I've done today?

I'll look at the Duplicolor for the rest of it Bill thank you. I'm using the VHT paint right now.