1982 GS300 Project - Where do I start

[hjacobmiller]

Why not use you old bearings? Were they that bad?

I'm $30 in with the new ones that the seller wouldn't take back and are better quality. I hate to get caught up on these but I'd rather have the higher quality ones in if I have them and have already paid for them.

 

[Guest]

Its in there far enough to work, Mine was similar after installing new bearings.

Did you tighten the nut down allot and back it off or just snug it up ?

What does the bolt look like when you just start to catch the threads? Is there lots of threads left ?

 

[hjacobmiller]

Pete,

you think these would work?

http://www.amazon.com/Daystar-Fork-...TF8&colid=1398W8HMD431V&coliid=I3ANYMU8NNR6M0

 

[Guest]

Can't tell without measurements...

You're going to need the fork slider outside measurement for the top inside diameter, the top of the fork lower outside measurement for the bottom inside diameter, and the fork travel for the length.

Too short and the boot will pull down, too long and the gaiter will be too scrunched up and pinch under compression...

 

[hjacobmiller]

At a little bit of a road block. The bottom allen bolt of the right fork is rounded out and I'm debating as how to proceed because I need to change the seal, polish the lower, clean etc. and without removing the slider it is dang near impossible.

Any thoughts?

Progressive springs, gaiters and seals all arrived this week. Still waiting on another order from Boulevard though. Called on Friday and they said it was going out that day. Yet to see a tracking email though...

The gaiters from Summit racing might be a bit too long but they shipped so fast! I ordered them Monday night had them Wednesday afternoon.

This is with the forks fully extended:

On a side note, I've been going back and forth with Powersport Superstore about the lack of information provided about the additional machining for the AllBalls bearings on the Amazon link. They've been extremely rude and offered me a measely 5% discount off of my NEXT order with them, which will never happen because of the service I've received.

Spent a little time thinking about the seat, but not really sure where to go. I was thinking about making a solo seat with a little place to stash the battery like so:

Don't know though.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on the rounded out bolt though - thanks folks.

 

[GSScoobie]

Take the #4 Phillips bit from your impact driver kit and beat it into what is left of the bolt head.
After it is deeply imbedded in what is left of the head, use the impact to break it loose.

 

[Guest]

Sounds like a good tip on the bolt!

Otherwise, a small cut off wheel in a dremel might let you slot it enough for a flat bladed tip in the impact driver.

Sounds like the mob with steering head bearings is better off avoiding... I hate getting bad customer service!

As for the seat/battery... if you're still going the low profile idea like in Tim Tom's mockup, that's going to be real hard to get a battery in there...

A solo seat also means you can't get your other half on the back...

 

[hjacobmiller]

So a little progress made, but still waiting on Boulevard for a couple circlips to finish up the forks. Needed some of these too and a couple of other little things:

I just went to the machine shop who did my stem and he got the bolt out for a couple of bucks. Nice guy, not busy so I think he appreciates the company more than anything.

Anyways, froze my @$$ off giving the lowers a quick polish, cleaned up everything and got ready for assembly last night:

Instead of waiting two weeks for a stinking bolt that would cost too much from Boulevard I just went to a local hardware store and picked up these. Slightly deeper head and 2 mm or so less threads. Anyone see a problem with using these? (OEM on right Replacement on left)

The shop manual calls for threadlock cement and a bond on the allen bolt (8mm that holds the damper rod). I had this laying around - is it good enough?
http://www.permatex.com/products/pr...matex--large-diameter-threadlocker-red-detail

Back to the progress. I had a crappy day at work and so I decided to "mock up" a couple of things and see how things would look. What do you all think of this?

I think it needs some superbike/low euro bars or something to give it a more classic look. Especially thinking of the fenders.

Either way I'm pretty excited about it

 

[Guest]

First up Jake, *don't use the red threadlocker!!!!!!*

While you want the bolt to stay firm, you don't want it to only come out with a blow torch later... blue threadlocker is what you want. I used the blue version of that same stuff and it's holding well on everything.

As for the replacement bolt, make sure it's the correct strength steel for the job. I'm no guru on that stuff, but I do know there are different tensile strengths etc. so make sure it's at least as strong... although I have no idea how to tell the difference...

Mock up is looking good, but yeah +1 on different 'bars, you need a low 'bar with a reasonable pull back I reckon...

 

[Guest]

And so it begins Looking good.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Thanks

I got the swing arm bearings back in - used a piece of 3/8 threaded rod and a couple fender washers and then basically tightened the bearings in towards each other.

Got a little painting, polishing, etc. done yesterday - although the gauges (which I thought were going to turn out the best) need to be redone because its too d@mn cold for the paint to set. Long story...

Anyways, I'll try to upload some decent pictures this week.

 

[hjacobmiller]

So a little more work. Finally got a partial order from Boulevard. Apparently the tiny circlips for the fork uppers are on backorder. Thankfully I saved the old ones (which the manual says not to reuse).

I actually had some interesting progress with the forks. So, when I posted about the red threadlock, it was already too late. I had already used it, apparently much to Pete's dismay. So, the next day I went to a mechanic shop that has done a fair amount on my car and had them free them up. Or so I thought. He did loosen the dampner rod, but the bolt was still tight in the the bottom of the rod. So with a little ingenuity, I got a LONG 3/8" extension, a hex bolt driver that fit the inner diameter of the dampner rod and chucked it so I could loosen up the bolt. So, long story for something not interesting, but thought I'd share.

So, now that the forks are 95% back together, with blue threadlock nonetheless, here is a little bit more of the progress.

Swing arm is back on, with bearings in, packed, etc. I know the bars are still wrong, which is another long boring story. I went to a dealer to see if they had any BikeMaster's in stock, but they didn't. They did have some Ducati Monster OEM bars, which I took some measurements from and found out are exactly the same as the BikeMaster superbike bars. So, ordered some through them and "they came in today". Well, they actually ordered the "euro" bars accidentally, which I tried on and they looked terrible. Might as well put the stock ones back on. So, looks like I'll be headed back on Friday to straighten this up.

I did however get the front put back together as much as I can without the forks 100% done.

I was kind of proud of myself for this next part. So, the whole AllBalls bearing kit was a fail as we all know, and one of the main reasons was because of the headlight brackets weren't going to be tight. Well I ordered new rubber bushings since the other ones were dried out pancakes, except for two which I snuck under the "grill" which I gave a fresh few coats of flat black. This took up the slack in the headlight brackets and gave me a snugger fit on the steering bolt.

Sorry for the crappy pictures but that was to prove that the BIKE WAS LITERALLY DESIGNED AROUND THE AIRBOX! The airbox will not go in with anything else in that area. It's ridiculous.

Some close up of the gaiters, grill etc.,

Did some polishing too...

Getting that brake arm through there was a pain... They didn't mask during powdercoating.

And finally for all my German followers - a picture of my recently furnished literal "man cave" with the Germany Beer map poster in the background.

 

[Guest]

Very nice work Jake! Coming along very nicely indeed

 

[Guest]

Are the headlight brackets upside down for a reason?

It looks good like that though.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Are the headlight brackets upside down for a reason?

It looks good like that though.

Yeah, you caught me I flipped them because I saw someone else do it another thread a long time ago. I can't remember if it was on GSR or where I saw it, but I really liked the look of it.

I need some help now. I cant for the life of me get the fork caps back on.

Did you put progressive springs in yours? If so, do you have the circlip type forks?

I can't get the fork cap in, hold it down far enough, and slide the circlip in. There is a lot of back pressure fighting against me and trying to do it with just two hands is impossible, or darn close to it.

 

[Guest]

Can you get your girlfriend to give you a hand with it? I didn't have that issue with mine, although there's no circlips on the 450 either, just the screw down cap bolt. I was able to exert enough pressure with the socket to get the thread started.

I'm thinking if you can get someone to hold the cap down enough it should be relatively easy to slip that circlip in...

 

[Guest]

Use a socket on a long extension to push on the cap. Use a ratchet strap from top to bottom of the fork to put some pressure on it and tighten until its low enough to put the circlip in.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Thanks guys - I found something that I think works pretty well. Let me know if you guys see any problem with this - I was a little surprised at how much preload the PVC spacer that Progressive supplied put on the springs. They're nice and stiff now though...

Fork fully extended:

Washer and spacer:

Clamping apparatus & such:

Fully seated cap:

Worked like a charm.

I was thinking about how I should tighten everything together in the front end.

Do I torque the stem bolt first or the cinch bolts on the forks? Instinct tells me to do the top cinch bolts top first, the stem bolt second and the bottom cinch bolts last.

Am I overthinking this?

Pete, ha! Good one! There's no way she'd help. I wish, but she already claims that the bike is "the other woman" in our relationship ha ha. We're both working pretty crazy hours now (she's an accountant too) so the few hours we get together I dare not suggest be bike-oriented ha ha. :lol:

 

[Guest]

Good work Jake, looks like it did the trick just nicely!

Haha figured it was worth a shot 'ey?

 

[hjacobmiller]

Hey Folks - sorry for being AWOL for a little bit. That durned thing called life...

Not terribly too much progress to report but a couple of things to tease you all.

New bars. Me likey....

A little preview of the paint scheme I'm working on with the gauges. The indicator is easy since I can remove the sleeve, but the tach is giving me a little trouble with taping and such:

Hope the tach turns out as nice...

A couple more pics for fun...

Happy Holidays!

You'll notice the mono-shock conversion