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81 GS550T in Co Sprgs

As I said earlier, the wind was cold enough I didn't want to do anything outside today after putting the chain on. Instead I decided to sand off my side covers so I can get them ready for painting. Using 120 grit paper, the first one came off fairly easy but was time consuming. When I say easy, I mean it only had the one color on it.

Well, when I started on the second one I found that it had not just the top color (black) but also it looks like about three other colors:

Multicolorsidecover.jpg


Pretty neat coloring to say the least.

But alas, it all came off and here I am after that much.

sidecoversafter120grit.jpg


I'm going to hit them again with 320 or 400 since I'm out of my 220 and almost out of the 320. Then I'll prime them and paint the same color as the tank.

Take care.
 
Nope, it's right. The round part goes towards the front of the bike.
Click to expand...

Oooops :o, sorry, false alarm, let me rather shut up and reserve my comments to shafties.
 
You're fine Flyboy. Trust me, I did a lot of searching on here before installing it...plus the back of the chain box has a GREAT picture of the clip type.
 
cowboy, would you be so kind to give me the size of the allen bolts you have used on the carbs?
I finally got around to getting the carbs off and the screws are awefully stripped and some are even missing on the plates that connect all 4. So I plan to replace them all but wanted to get an accurate size on them. Does Home Depot carry them?
 
Your better to go to Ace than Home Depot. I believe they were both 6mm and 5mm. What bike do you have? If you look at the parts fiche you'll see the part number which will give you the bolt sizing.
 
Just take a sample along with you, just remember there are two different lengths, the bowls are longer that the tops,....or the other way around, can't remember.................I suffer from CRAFT. ;)
 
Drained about almost a quart of oil today after accidentally putting too much in yesterday and fixed a grounding location that Tom said might cause me problems. The screw holding the relay in place was too close to touching the positive battery cable while the bracket I was using to hold some other grounds was also too close to the same cable. I put the rubber cap back on the cable and put smaller screws in place.

Now I'm trying to figure out why my left front turn signal isn't working. The rear left is working great and it's not a bulb problem. I'm thinking grounding but not sure where to look since the front signal's grounds are fine. New rear lights but they are grounding fine to the frame so I'm missing something.

newelectricalgroundpositions.jpg
 
cowboyup3371 said:
Now I'm trying to figure out why my left front turn signal isn't working. The rear left is working great and it's not a bulb problem. I'm thinking grounding but not sure where to look since the front signal's grounds are fine.
Click to expand...
You have a test light? :-k

Take the lens off the signal, remove the bulb from the socket. Connect your test light clip to a good ground, turn on the key and the signal switch, verify that you have power at the terminal at the bottom of the socket. If you do, put the bulb back in, touch your test light to the outer part of the socket. If you have power there, you still have a grounding problem.

.
 
Ahhh, thanks Steve. I'll check that out tomorrow; only because I have to finish some schoolwork tonight. Course, I could let you answer the questions about SQL databases, right?:twistedevil:

Okay, I couldn't wait. I have power inside at the base of the socket but I'm unsure what you mean by outer part of the socket. Is that all the way outside of the housing or still with the lens cap off and inside where the bulb goes.

Sorry, I could actually use a picture of this if someone can show me. Thanks.
 
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So the petcock is back in the tank (I'll finish sanding the tank and side covers later) and I'll start it up tonight after work. I'm ready to ride and need some seat time before Brown County.

I'll still have to paint the exhaust pipes and change out the springs and shocks.
 
cowboyup3371 said:
Ahhh, thanks Steve. I'll check that out tomorrow; only because I have to finish some schoolwork tonight. Course, I could let you answer the questions about SQL databases, right?:twistedevil:

Okay, I couldn't wait. I have power inside at the base of the socket but I'm unsure what you mean by outer part of the socket. Is that all the way outside of the housing or still with the lens cap off and inside where the bulb goes.

Sorry, I could actually use a picture of this if someone can show me. Thanks.
Click to expand...
I'm too lazy to take a picture, but, the outer part of the socket is the part that holds the light bulb in place. The inner part is where the base makes contact. The outer part is ground, the inner is hot when the signal is activated. If there isn't a seperate ground wire and it's depending on the frame for grounding, it may just not have a good enough ground to complete the flasher circuit.
 
Put the tank back on, started it up, and gosh darn the petcock was leaking out of the bolts. I am trying to find the washers but if not I sure hope the local parts house has some replacements.
 
Painted

Painted

Well, for my first painting job the bike hasn't turned out too bad. I still have some work to do to it but I wanted to start riding again so I'll do some more fixing later on. But I thought I'd post a picture of it right now so everyone can see what I wanted to do.

PaintedBike.jpg


I'm going to air up the tires tomorrow and try to get out this weekend for a ride before riding into work next week. I have a couple of spots I need to touch up, a stator cover and fenders to paint, and I'm still wanting to paint the pipes. I also will replace the shocks and springs when money frees up.

Take care.
 
LOL. Nope, that was an oil leak from when I drained the oil last year and just never cleaned it up. I get on the kids so much about doing half-ass jobs and then I go and screw it up.

I forgot to mention that I figured out (with help of course) why my front left turn signal is not working. It seems a ground is missing so I will fix that this weekend.
 
Yea, sorry for the shakiness...was the cell phone and not the new camera. I'll get a better picture this weekend.
 
So after grounding the front turn signals and replacing the rear master cylinder reservoir today, I tried to go for a short ride out to the base so I could do some practicing in a parking lot. Although the ride was good, I encountered an issue shifting into second gear from first (almost like I had to double-clutch it) and it bogged down on an uphill a few times. I'm already going to test a theory given to me earlier to see if I have a vacuum issue (changed the type of vacuum line used) with the petcock tomorrow if the weather will hold off a bit. Otherwise, I'll ride the bike into work on Monday and test it then.

I'm glad to be back on the road but wish everything could have worked seamlessly.
 
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