The Chronicles of Suzy- 82 GS850GL

[ratdude]

The handlebars part 2

Sorry made this a two parter due to pics

Patina removal





Hey , even the buffmaster has limitations



On to the money shot , not pictured was the new mirrors I picked up at Z1 enterprises and my spiffy new handgrips I picked up on Fleecebay




Later
Rat

[ratdude]

Stupid lil project #4

Short and sweet , yes I did both sides .

Rusty



Wire brushed a bit ( and blurred a bit lol )



And Painted ( rustoleum BBQ )



Hey , I get bored

Rat

[ratdude]

Stupid lil project #5

another quicky

Now you don't see em



Now you do



Through the miracle of Fleecebay I have cam covers ! ( sorry , it's one of my favorite parts of these motors )

Rat

[Steve]

... Some finished shots ( YES, the buffmaster 1000 does plastic tail lights )

Nice to see I am not the only one that has buffed out a tail light.

This was on my son's 850 when we got it.

Before:


After:


Of course, other parts had to take their turn at the wheel, too.




Others simply got more paint than they did polish:




Then we traded the wheels to another member who liked the older style wheels and we got the newer ones.


Feels good when it's all done and on the road.

.

[Dogma]

Doin' 'er justice there, Ratdude.

[Skateguy50]

Coming together nicely, looks great.

[ratdude]

Nice to see I am not the only one that has buffed out a tail light.


Feels good when it's all done and on the road.

.

Nice job on the son's bike

Yup, Learned to buff metal in high school shop class , been addicted to the smell of tripoli ever since .

But the first time I did a tailight , I heard the chorus of angels sing

We on the road, but far from done .

Rat

[ratdude]

Coming together nicely, looks great.

Doin' 'er justice there, Ratdude.

Thanks guys, means a lot

Rat

[ratdude]

The 35 buck turn signal overhaul Part 1

Sharp eyed readers that have checked out the pics of Suzy may have noticed the turn signals are less than wonderful shape , remnants of the bike's bash em crash em history I am afraid .

After more exhaustive research I figured the turn signals were built by the elves in the enchanted forest , and therefore hard to obtain . ( I have since discovered they were outsourced to the Smurf's )

Seriously , Suzuki's pricing on that item was WAY more than I figured it was worth . And the "motorcycle salvage" guys on Ebay are all smoking the same crack pipe . I perused the million or so 5 LED on a toothbrush head " custom " signals . Just wasn't feeling it.

I am weird, I know, but I LIKE the stock signals . I think they SHOULD stand out like a sore thumb. I WANT people to SEE the damn things when I hit the switch .

With that, I found a set of replacements , 14 bucks for a set of four ! they claimed to fit a GS850 ! woot !
The catch , they are Thailand aftermarket parts and cost me 20 bucks to ship to the states . I figured I had better odds with this than finding the Smurf Village , so I went for it

Guess I will make this a two parter due to my long winded intro .

The droopy signal in the rear . Seriously , do people sit on these things ? EVERY Japanese bike I have ever owned suffered from this malady . fixed the frame using the precision big honkin channel locks method .



Obligatory rear signal damage shot



And some front signal carnage



Later
Rat

[ratdude]

The 35 buck turn signal overhaul Part 2

Ok read part 1 to make sense of this , more pics

Shiny Thai signals , ooooooo



Close but no cigar



But then I had a brilliant plan .
My Thai replacements are cheap , just as suspected , they lack any weather seals. the shaft is too short , the bulb is a cheapie , but the housing and lense is a dang good substitute .

OK , top of the blue line is the actual suzuki signal dis-assembled
below is my Thai replacement



This shot I removed the bits I won't be using ( more junk for the parts box )



And clean polish and re-assemble ( Yes, its that easy the seals and what not all swap right to the replacements ) No shots of the re-assembly , If this has your interest , I am sure you will figure it out

Oooooh, pretty ( the signal , don't look at the rusty bits )



Wonder why he painted the muffler ends ?



Too much chromy goodness ( is that a word ?)



another



there ya go , 4 "new" turn signals for 35 smackers



Later

Rat

[Steve]

Yet another worthy chapter in a fine rebuild saga.

.

[ratdude]

Some GS "candy" to tease people with

Just to antagonize

A genuine Suzuki Dealer fiche !



Cost me a whole six bucks on Fleecebay .

Seriously , Micro-fiches are cheap in the computer age right now.

The readers (projectors) are a bit pricey however , but I happen to have a portable one .

Rat

[ratdude]

Yet another worthy chapter in a fine rebuild saga.

.

Thank You , and everyone in these forums . This site, and it's members, has had quite a bit to do with maintaining momentum on this thing .

It's hard to get discouraged , when you have a problem , and not only has it been covered MOST of the time there is a step by step guide on how to straighten it out .

Rat

[Macguyver]

Well done!

Wow, I haven't seen the bike in a bit, but it looks like you are definitely treating her right!

Job well done on the lollipop signals!

Pretty soon you will have her looking like she just rolled off of the showroom floor and you can seek councilling for you tripoli addiction.
By coucilling, I mean more polishing of course. Maybe there can be a GS group session? BYOP of course. (Bring Your Own Polish)

Keep up the stellar work!

[Hornswaggle]

Looking great! It's motivating to see you tackle it piece by piece, thanks for sharing your adventure.