A GR650 Overhual!... And Improvement!

[Chuck78]

On the forks, the ultralight BiMoTa SB2 and SB2/80 were GS750 based race chassis from 1977-1979. the bikes weighed 75lbs less than stock withthe horsepower of a GS1000, & had 35mm Cerrani forks and dual 280mm discs. Then the GS1000 based SB3 came out in 1980 and upgraded to 38mm Marzocchi forks but downgraded rotor size at least to dual 260mm fronts. Those vintage limited production superbikes handle nearly as good as many of the top sport bikes of today even. Something to think about.

The 77 gs750 forks I have measure798mm center of axle to top of fork tube (not top of cap), with me pulling it fully extended against the top out spring.the 81 GS650G forks I am running are around 788. if yours are much shorter, I can try & measure the 77 gs550b with some help. If nearly 800 is too tall, its a good excuse to run clipons on top of the triples if you wanted the 37mm forks.

 

[Jedz123]

Thanks Chuck for the information over load. I'm currently looking into a couple options right now. One being I keep the stock 35mm forks (for they work fine) and upgrade to a big single stopper. 296mm or 310 mm. I can weld ok but I'm going to price out all my options to run. I think a 296mm with a twin pot caliper and stainless lines will bring me to my goal of the 33% increase of stopping power from the front end and eliminate the mushy brake lever.

My FZ1 is the next to go in the shop. Once I decommission her from daily ride duty when the big block Suzuki comes in, she will be my knee dragging lightweight bike for those aggressive days I want to go out and be a hooligan. Already looking for a Train 11550E circle light for that project and R1 inverted forks... Naked gen 1 FZ1 with a modified 05 motor... Ivan kit, advancer, hooligan gearing, reinstall my full Muzzy exhaust system... Yeah now that's what I'll be using for the twisties...

The goal I have for the GR is to have a decent ridding machine that functions as a day cruiser but looks great. It will be set for an occasional spirited jaunt if I decided to wring the throttle out, I'm not looking for a full on performance bike, because lets face it... it's not. I want it to run perfect, upgrade bits that need replacing (rear shock, front brakes, High tinsel chain, lighting), it needs to perform well when I need it to but most importantly look GREAT!(most of the budget is going into cosmetics and paint job)... The bike will only be used on nice days (avoid rain) for long day cruises (mostly 2 up) and will not be a duty or hard ridden bike. Likely only put a couple thousand easy miles on it a year...

Dave
Thanks for the idea. I plan on looking into XS 650 pipes. Never even crossed my mind. As long as the ports match it should work. Might be bent a bit up but that's OK for I plan on running a Yoshi muffler anyway... didn't even cross my mind...

Thanks Guys.

 

[Jedz123]

Beauty is in the DETAILS!

Yesterday I spent a good chunk of time restoring bits before they went back on the bike...

First Items were the coils. Typical corrosion after 33 years...

Broke out the bench grinder and ran it for hours yesterday but every bolt, every screw is getting refurbished before she goes back on the bike
here's the polish of the coil bolts

Coils are done and ready for Install

Horn Was something to be desired... Thought about just replacing it but notice it looked to be a high quality unit...

With some brass paint on the top piece the rest polished right up nicely. It's actually a really nice Nikko Horn

The Starter Solenoid had corroded terminals... All the bolts were rusted, caked with grim and dirt

Polished everything Right up and cleaned the whole unit out Looks like new again!

Carbs are cleaned inside and so I Just decided to do a topical polish and I will be replacing all the 33 Year old rubber with new...
Dirty rack

NOW they look good! All the brass fitting and nipples are polished up, Removed all the gunk, grim and varnish... Polish and Ready for me to install the new jet kit.

Sorry picture quality sucks some... Lighting isn't the best in my shop.

Next I need to refurbish the Battery box for there is allot of corrosion and grim on it.

I'm also going to clean out the wiring harness, all the pins and connecters then re-loom it with fresh wire loom plastics. Think of swapping out the black [plastic loom with red.

Still intend on buying the R6 shock this Friday... I have a buddy who is going to try to custom build an exhaust for me (welder) for a decent price. I'm going to see how much it will cost and report when those findings come in.

It's going to be fresh for Spring!

 

[eil]

Looking good! I need to do this to my 850 in the worst way.

Random question: after cleaning/polishing the little steel bits (bolts, carb brackets, etc), how do you keep the surface rust away? Light coat of clear? Polish/wax/happy thoughts?

 

[Jedz123]

I use a combination of chain wax and K&N filter oil... LOL It's odd but it sticks to the parts, gives them a sheen then dries and stays.

 

[Jedz123]

MOre bolts being touched up today...
Before

After

Next is to tackle the battery box.
Coating it now with spray on DIP IT. Pics tomorrow after it dries.

It's looking nicer every day!!

 

[Jedz123]

Well Had a rough day today. I started to button up the bike and noticed that the shifter lever failed to move... IT was jammed and I couldn't figure why it would do that... So since time is really in abundance on this project I decided to follow the shifter shaft under the the oil pan and into the clutch cover to diagnose what went wrong.

Along the Way I found a PO boo boo... Oil pan has no gasket and red ATV sealer had made it's way into the oil pan. Luckily the bike never leaked oil but I hate thought of that sealer getting sucked into the oil galley and starving a crucial component of oil... So I will be looking for a new oil pan gasket if possible... Hoping it is the same as some of it's brethren GS twins....

I'm not sure what happened but the retaing spring that gives the shift shaft it's spring action slipped off it's seat. (say that 10 times).
I had to fully disassemble the clutch system and the oil pump drive gear to correct the simple issue.

With the clutch out and the basket in pieces, I was reminded that the contact plates were looking a bit sore when I did the clutch job on it. It originally slipped in 5th gear while 2 up or under hard load. I ended up replacing with post factory EBC GS500F springs and new fibers. That corrected the problem. I decided in the sake of the new components I'd do a once over on the contact plates.

Here is what the plates looked like, not the prettiest in fact pretty bad:

After refurbish the are restored back to normal, cleaned off with a rag soaked in 10W-40.

Reinstalled the clutch basket and plates but I'm going to need another gasket on the clutch cover for it ripped... BUMMER!

So the bike will sit apart for a bit till I get new gaskets... A precaution that seems reasonable.

Oh, The battery box came out awesome! It should last a good amount of time.

 

[Jedz123]

Started to button the GR back together... I installed the sprocket cover and shifter to ensure that the shifter shaft won't move on me after fixing it. Cleaned up some oil around that area and ensure the clutch was 100% set.

I also installed the coils.

Incase anyone wanted to know what a GR looked like without it's clutch cover

So the bike is awaiting the gaskets for the oil pan and clutch cover. The ONLY place I could find them was PartsOutlaw.com $27 shipped... Not the best price but it's the only place that has them.

The 2006 R6 shock is also on it's way in. I'll do a measurement comparison once it arrives before the install.

Bored so I decided to tear into this...
Looks like the rings were the cause of the oil consumption.

Until the Shock comes in I'm at a stand still for I can't install the battery box and other bits until that shock is in and done.

Budget was tighter because of the gasket's. Tins get sent out in less then 2 weeks!!!

 

[Jedz123]

So I received my 23 year newer rear shock to replace the old and tired (not so functional too) "floater suspension" rear shock for my GR today.

I decided to show anyone that wanted to see the differences in the units, I figured I would measure (for measuring is to know) each unit.
Firstly the stock unit has a total length eye to eye of 325mm where as the R6 units has a total length of 290mm this should drop the GR down from it cruiser-ish posture to a lower sportier bike posture. I'm sure the R6 shock will also perform 10X better then the old stock shock.

Eye to eye measurement of the stock GR shock:

Stock 2006 R6 Shock eye to eye:

Another reason to swap out the stock shock is weight alone...
Coming in at touch over 10lbs is the stock unit:

The R6 is a feather weight at a measly touch bellow 5lbs!!!

NOW THIS IS NOT A DRIECT SWAP! So the top bushing of the R6 shock has a race bearing where the stock shock does not. Both share the same 10mm bottom bushing size. I had to manufacture a race for the top bushing so it would accept the stock GR sized 10mm bolt without movement. I used an old castle nut I had in the junk pile to fashion the race for the R6 shock.
Top Bushing without race:

The bolt assembly with the cut castle nut to be the top race for the R6 shock.

The new race installed to make a GR650 ready roller bushing in the R6 shock.

With my new race installed I measured to find the shock was too wide (where the eyes are on the R6 shock there is a wider flange, where on the stock shock there wasn't). So to mount the R6 shock into the top bracket of the GR650 sing arm assembly, I had to grind the shock down so it flush with the rest of the pillion. The goal was with the bushing ends installed on the shock the unit would fit flush in its proper positon on the GR650. I got everything machined so it would fit perfectly... It did take some shaving of the bushing ends but everything was flush and perfectly matched and fit like a glove.

I cleaned everything up and installed the unit successfully onto my GR650. Looks really nice with that newer R6 shock on there. Extra perk is my FZ1 spring adjuster works on this unit too!!! It's set at mid level for now... I will know which way to go when Spring comes and I ride it.

So as for the gaskets... I got an email from Partsoutlaw.com saying they had my items and they are now on their way. It just took a bit to get them into inventory on their end. Hope to button up the rest of the bike in the next couple of days. Christmas and an unexpected expensive car repair has dwindled the GR budget for the next couple of weeks. So I may have to think about creative ways to finish the project without dipping too much into my savings. I did find some oil filters at a steal; 3 for $12 shipped, so I bought them... Fits the GR650.

They are Volar's, I think I ran this brand once on my GS 750... Should do ok I'd think.

I'll keep you guys posted as progress continues.

 

[Jedz123]

BRAKES!!!!
OK so because of a huge budget crunch from an unexpected $700 repair bill for my car I had to re-access on what my GR650 budget is... I have to say it is going to receive some cuts. I decided that I will be utilizing the stock brake to keep this project in it's budget. I will be augmenting the bike's stock stoppers with a new rotor (the stock one is grooved and warped) and a stainless steel brake line.
Today I restored the caliper and master for they were looking pretty tired. They function fine but decided to dress them up so they look new.
Caliper when it came off the bike:

I broke the unit down completely. The rubber bits were still in great shape and the piston showed no sign of rust or pitting. No rust in the brake fluid and the pads are still looking in good shape.
I polished the bolts, decided to paint the caliper body gold and put the restored and clean unit back together. It's ready for service!

The master also worked well but looked horrid... Here's a pic of it on the machine.

Luckily most things on the bike are still in good working condition. I inspected everything and it was all in working order. Broke it down to clean every bolt every facet for restore. Upon removing all the bits it was nice to see clean and well lubricated parts...

I detailed cleaned everything and decided to strip the paint off the master and give it a nice polish. Took more time then I thought it would but I say it turned out very nice.

So I will order the stainless line and rotor once Christmas is over and I can spend a little more on myself. I know Chuck flooded my rebuild with lots of front disc conversion info (and maybe it will be useful to others) but I won't be budgeting out of a front disc conversion now during this rebuild however if I'm not satisfied with the stock stopper with the stainless line I will likely upgrade in the spring...

So next items to grab is the stainless line and rotor. I will also be looking and pricing out my new tires. Tins will be heading out soon, since this rebuild is mostly a cosmetic one I will still be planning to spend money on the tins.


Keep you Posted!

 

[Jedz123]

Well I'm Back! Hope every one had a great holiday this year. I had 9 Christmas events over the course of 14 days and 1000 miles of traveling. Throw in my 1 year anniversary with my girlfriend and my 31st Birthday. I haven't had much of a chance to get out and work on the bike till this week... Whew.

So to start off PartsOutlaw's shipment came in. I installed these bad boys right off the bat. These are SGPs (Suzuki Genuine Part) and it was nice to see they had these readily available for my machine.

They fit perfectly and the motor is buttoned back up! Engine should be set and I don't need to split anything else.

So I decided not to run with 450E tail or seat. Once the I got the parts I knew right away they weren't going to work well. Fitment issues are definitely the run in. The E seat leaves an ugly gap between the seat base the top of the side cover. Also it's too long.

Here's the mock up.

So with that done and tried I've decided to run with the stock tail and seat to maintain the stock look...

Because it is January I'm ever closer to give the ole' GR a fresh paint job...
...So I had to ready the body bits for their trip to the body shop for painting.

I had to strip the decals and pin stripes before sending out. Also I wanted to match up the tail light mount the same blue as the rest but unfortunately its composed of a plastic base and a chrome metal wrap... It's an odd thing and it's totally trashed as I stared to "prep it" only the rotted parts of the wrap flung off leaving the non corroded parts stuck on it. No matter how hard you try, you can't sand the metal and attempting with the wire brush just ends up destroying the plastic and leaving the dam wrap... I have to find a replacement... Looks allot like an L bit so I'm sure I can find a replacement here or on the Fleabay.
Parts are now ready to go!:

The tail bits were gross... Rusting and minor pitting on the chrome. Bolts were rusted and the plastic was crudded on. I detailed this up pretty well.
Before

After

I also changed the oil filter when I dropped the oil pan to ensure all the ATV silicone was out of that area... I didn't like the black and figured I'd give some more contrast to the engine and polished out the cover.
Before

After removing the paint, brushing then a good polishing up

 

[Jedz123]

OH no it doesn't end there my friends... I did some more work!
So the tank needed to be stripped so it gave me a good chance to once over the fuel petcock... I actually have a good functioning petcock. So cleaning it up with out tearing into it was an added bonus on this project.

And after a de-gunk, detail clean and polish

The next thing I did was to take a good long look at the motor in the frame...

I definitely don't like the red valve cover (that was a; I thought it looked good then but... not so much for this build now)... I liked the look of the oil filter cover so I decided to remove the red and am borderline thinking of stripping all the paint and giving it a pure brushed aluminum UJM look.. What do you guys think? Should I strip all the paint off the motor or just do the valve cover?

You know what I'll do a poll... In the poll section.

But the motor is back on the Bench . Not very light for a twin, luckily I got two big guns up my sleeves to move it up and down and in and out of the frame...

 

[Big Rich]

Don't know how I missed this one so far...

UFO plastics makes a universal fender that fits the GR frame rather well (in case you don't want to keep the chrome tail).

 

[Jedz123]

Thanks Rich, is there a link for that? Budget is tight at the moment... I'm on the cusp of getting my B-king (or Hayabusa, whatever I come across first) Once the new liter is in then I'll have extra to spend on the GR.
I look forward to getting this one all set by spring. Parts get shipped out to paint tomorrow. I have to pack them and send them to NH. Going for a brand new look. It will look awesome for Americade!!!
So Polls don't work anymore... Dumb, so any insight guys? Brushed metal or stock black paint for the motor???

 

[Big Rich]

Here ya go, $19:

https://m.denniskirk.com/ufo/universal-mx-black-rear-fender.p614199.prd/614199.sku

It sticks more straight back than the original, but can be trimmed easily.

 

[HamamatsuSuzi]

Brushed metal or stock black paint for the motor???

I agree to lose the red valve cover. I like the polished look. Here is mine with polished valve and engine covers. The head fins come polished and respond well to refreshening. Mine has the original paint. I like the contrast that the black gives to the polished aluminum.

 

[Jedz123]

I will be keeping the block black. I think it adds good contrast as well. Any polishing techniques your willing to share? I'd prefer to get the motor all polished up while it's still on my bench!

 

[HamamatsuSuzi]

Any polishing techniques your willing to share?

What I do is remove the parts from the engine so you can handle them easily in your hand. I use a Craftsman 3D sander you hold between your fingers and has 3 separate rotating discs. This allows you to get around corners easily. I don't think you can buy it anymore. If the cases are badly corroded I use a 180 grit, otherwise I start with 220. After that I go to the polishing mop on my bench. I start with a sisal mop and black buffing bar, then move on to a polishing mop with white rouge. Nothing special really.

 

[wymple]

I admire your tenacity. Lots of us think we should do exactly this type of refresh to our daily rides, but never seem to get going. I think it will look great, as well as being something other than the norm when you are out and around. Ride to a couple of rallies (any make) and see what attention it gets. I suggest Guzzi rallies, as we have the best.....:biggrin:

 

[Grimly]

I admire your tenacity. Lots of us think we should do exactly this type of refresh to our daily rides, but never seem to get going. I think it will look great, as well as being something other than the norm when you are out and around. Ride to a couple of rallies (any make) and see what attention it gets. I suggest Guzzi rallies, as we have the best.....:biggrin:

I look forward to getting my hydraulic bench built - oh, the shine and sheen and sheer cleanliness of the bikes will be a sight to behold. As it is, right now, I can't be assed crawling around on my hands and knees, and with my back, I should cocoa.