• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

1982 GS550M Katana Rebuild

  • Thread starter Thread starter mv577
  • Start date Start date
Just FYI, I bought a brand new tank from England for mine. That's the tank on it now but to my dismay I found the tank did not have the hole for the fuel level sensor. I concluded at least UK bikes were not fitted with them from the the factory but that's based on nothing more than my experience. Not sure how widespread that may be in Europe.

Can't add anything to the reflector problem, mine has them so never had to look for any.
 
Wallowgreen said:
Just FYI, I bought a brand new tank from England for mine. That's the tank on it now but to my dismay I found the tank did not have the hole for the fuel level sensor. I concluded at least UK bikes were not fitted with them from the the factory but that's based on nothing more than my experience. Not sure how widespread that may be in Europe.

Can't add anything to the reflector problem, mine has them so never had to look for any.
Click to expand...

Hmmm interesting... well I guess we'll see! Had you looked into having the hole cut and installing the sensor?
 
I have not so far, was working under time constraints at the time that have now disappeared so still an option going forward
 
Deconstruction continues...

Deconstruction continues...

I had a chance to really dig into the bike tonight... For the most part I found what I expected... neglect... hack jobs... 34 years of poor maintenance...

Taking out the wire harness I started to see the extent of the work needed... one interesting find was sign of some sort of fire at or around the battery:



Stator wire burnt



Melted chain guard



Melted inner fender well

I'm guessing that's also why the plastic inner battery tray is missing... Getting the swingarm off took some doing as the bolt was pretty seized and the bearings of course are junk



Overall though in the 2 hours or so I had things went well... The foot peg torx bit bolts are seized and some stripped so that should be fun... I left those for another day... Here's how she sits now... quickly loosing weight!!!







Parts are piling up! ;)



Back to sourcing parts tomorrow... :cool:
 
I didn't have much time tonight to work on the bike... but I did get most of the rest of the little bits off the frame...



The bottom of the kickstand seems rotted out... should it be solid?



I decided to pull my shop crane and load leveler in the basement to help support the bike when the front end comes off... I figure I may have to also use it to raise the bike then lower it to the ground to tip the engine out...



I've been sourcing parts all week and when I come across something NOS that isn't available I jump on it... my first presents came today... Here we have a NOS headlight rim to replace the dented and repainted one on the bike



I was surprised to see it was painted silver... I thought it would be chrome... I like it!



My new front master cylinder came in today as well... and yes I know it's not OEM...



I had ordered a seat off Ebay which also came in... Mine has been redone in straight black... this one was cheap but I was hoping it was in better shape



I figure my upholsterer will now at least have the pattern to go from when I have it redone...

and last I grabbed some Dupli-Color DE1607 when I was at a local parts store for the red bits... Thank you to Sci85 for the info on that in his build thread



I had picked up a tumbler and some media thinking it would help clean bolts... I set that up tonight then read it's 2-6 hours to remove rust... I don't know if I'll keep it... that's a lot of buzzing lol... and I have a bench grinder with wire wheel...



That's it for tonight!
 
Pulled the engine out today... went smooth with an extra pair of hands or two...





Frame is just about ready to start being stripped (other then removing the steering head races and the rubber grommets for the side panels anyway) :)



I then went to work on the swingarm bearings... I returned the tumbler to Harbor Freight and picked up a blinder hole bearing puller instead



I had soaked the spacers and bearings in Kroil overnight which helped the spacers just slide out... The bearings weren't playing as nice and weren't budging with just the puller... My helping hands applied some heat and a few good wacks later the bearings were out!



That was about it for today... I got another batch of Ebay parts though!!



Which included a side cover!!! Swords are awesome! ;)

 
Wallowgreen said:
See... she's looking better already :D

Sidestand should be solid at the bottom, mine is anyway.
Click to expand...

Ya that's what I figured... and of course it's a discontinued... If by the time comes I can't find one I'll try and weld a new base to this one or something... hopefully my daily searches turn up something!

and I agree! It's refreshing to have it apart and sorting it out... a lot less daunting actually then when it was together looking like a basket case! ;)
 
Little by little....

Little by little....

So the build is going along... bit by bit... I'm starting to realize that each "little job" in my head is going to take more time in real life... but so it goes...

I've been trying to go through each area of the bike and get lists going of what I can refurbish, what I need to replace and what's all set (HA! lol)... I took a stab at the rear brake caliper since it looked the worst of them all... Here's what I started with:









Both the bleed screw and the hex bolts holding the caliper together were frozen and required heat to separate... After that it came apart ok... the pistons were good other then the top where they had rusted... I plan to replace them anyway... it took some time but I managed to get them cleaned up and ready for paint:







After that was done I took to doing some organization... OCD a little but at least I know where everything is!!!



 
Got the forks broken down today... Going to refinish the lowers, do new seals, boots, clips etc... The inner tube is a little pitted outside of the travel area but they cleaned up with some steel wool... I may keep an eye out for a NOS set or ones not pitted but I think these will be ok..



Since it will be a little while before I put them together I lined it all up as it came apart to reference later...



I'm curious... does anyone ever replace anything else inside? Like these parts...



White plastic piston ring?



The bits under the seal?

They seem ok but I want to be thorough... I plan on doing Sonic Springs during the rebuild and good oil... I thought about emulators but that may come later after the build is done...

I then got all of the pieces to be painted or powder coated black sorted... here's my pile minus the frame...



You may notice some OEM handlebars in the picture... those came today... the chrome bars on the bike were too low and hit (dented) the tank when turned... ugh...

Speaking of sourcing parts... does anyone know of a kickstand that would work on the Katana? The one for it is discontinued and mine is rough... I'd like to expand my search if possible...

Last today I refinished my first part!!! I had bought a NOS headlight ring and headlight... I cleaned and painted the bucket and internal parts... I have a few screws etc to buy for it but it was cool to see something shiny!!! lol I used Dupli-Color bumper and trim paint for the plastic... worked great....





 
Good job so far, Mike - I like your organised and meticulous approach!

I am working on a 650 Katana, so following your progress with interest!
 
Thanks! I'm having a blast... I've been wanting to do a restoration for some time... It's all I think about right now lol
 
I got my first delivery from the Netherlands today...



I've been happy with the transactions so far... I've placed more orders with them... Shipping seems to be a set 40 eur to US so I learned to bundle items... On one purchase there was an issue with an item not being available... I was quickly emailed by Dennis and told another was available in the same condition just a different color... Good customer service... and I have to say that the parts are getting here a lot quicker then I expected... Heck I placed an order with PartsOutlaw before this one and that hasn't even shipped yet... ugh

Here's the salvage yard website... I wouldn't hesitate ordering from them if they have something you need

http://www.motorsloop.com/index.php?main_page=index&language=en&zenid=l768s3pl9dnalsmq7bjsqg27o2

The airbox looks great... the tank has very light rust started inside but is still much much cleaner then the one I had...



Original tank



New tank... it looks even better in person...

FYI the tank DOES NOT have the fuel level setup in it... Guess it's a UK thing... I'm not too concerned though...
 
Got my first box of presents from Parts Outlaw... These bolts and things start to add up but I want to do it once and do it right so it's worth it...



In preparation for powdercoating I went to work on getting the bearing races out of the frame and off the steering stem. I bought this nifty tool to get the races out of the frame... Why? well I like tools and it was shiny! lol...





Welp... it didn't work lol... It's too big for the top race and because of the way the lower is set into the frame it couldn't grab onto it... Luckily I realized this before actually marking the tool up and the ebay seller has agreed to a return... So back to the old school dremil method it was!



I also tore down the rear master cylinder as it will be powder coated with everything else... I was surprised how good of shape it's in... although I'll rebuild it with new parts regardless.



Then tonight my son and I inventoried everything, loaded it up and brought it to be powder coated... Going to take a few weeks which will give me time to focus on other areas... After talking with the guy tonight I may actually have him do the red parts as well, calipers / rotors etc... think it will hold up better then paint and I'm going this far might as well!!! We'll see...

Here's everything loaded up...



And here's me making goofy faces at my 10yo and riding my bike in the living room... don't tell Mom!!! :p

 
Good that the vendor took the puller back, now you have money for a different tool.
It is great to hear your son is involved.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
1982 GS1000 Z US Version
Replies
10
Views
167
slayer61
slayer61
Zellock
That's a Texas GS450T, y'all
2
Replies
23
Views
173
Rich82GS750TZ
Rich82GS750TZ
KiwiAlfa156
750 Katana Resurrection
9 10 11
Replies
201
Views
10K
rphillips
R
HemoGoblin
'78 GS750/1000 swap resto-mod shenanigans
Replies
9
Views
392
HemoGoblin
HemoGoblin
P
New 1982 GS1100G owner
Replies
3
Views
88
rphillips
R
Back
Top