Charmayne's rebuild of her 550L

[cowboyup3371]

What the heck is the deal with the advertising in the thread? Also, that table looks too nice to be doing brakes on!

What advertising?

Yea, in fact I finally got in trouble tonight because Charmayne sprayed enough brake cleaner that it soaked through the towel and messed up the table a bit. Oh well, it's not like it's the first time...

 

[GSX1000E]

Excellent!


http://dayton.craigslist.org/mcy/4177738898.html

Great bike to learn on and light weight. I agree with the suggestion rather than starting on a heavy middle-weight bike.

 

[Griffyn]

Great bike to learn on and light weight. I agree with the suggestion rather than starting on a heavy middle-weight bike.

I've always maintained that the GS550 is the perfect starter bike. Heavy enough to earn respect and powerful enough to ride the highway, light enough to be picked up by almost anyone who knows how and not so powerful as to be dangerous. Tough as nails and easy to work on.

 

[Flyboy]

Just saw this now, awesome thread young lady, hats off to you.
Definitely following along with interest.
Does that old man of yours even know anything at all about GS550's? I would keep an eye on him.

 

[Charmayne]

Whew, it is finally Christmas break. I have been very busy with schoolwork for the last two weeks and only had time last weekend to clean the brakes. I took apart the front and back brake, and started to clean them. They were hard to clean with just my left hand cause of my right arm being in a cast. However, it was challenging but fun. When I was cleaning the brakes from the gunk, I found I?d need to replace the seals and pistons then rebuild both master cylinders.
Well today, I went to drain the oil out of my bike. I started to work on the front where the filter was then Scott was nice enough to remind me to drain from the oil drain plug which,? thank you dad it would?ve been a mess if you didn?t stop me?. After I removed the drain plug, the oil started to come out fast and very clear. Something didn?t look right which reminded us that Scott left the petcock on prime when he picked up the bike filling the oil with gas. We managed to get most of the gas/oil into two oil pans but some did get on the floor. Well when the gas/oil was coming out, some spread onto my shoulder, I was laying down, which wasn?t fun because it made my skin BURN!
Before leaving tonight, I put a new oil filter in and will finish pouring fresh oil in later in the week.

 

[Charmayne]

Today we changed out the seal on the fuel level gauge because it was leaking. I learned how to keep track of my screws so I don?t lose them and know where they go. I found out when putting them back in the heads had stripped and I would have to replace them.

Here are some pictures:
removing the first set of screws


making notes of my screw to put them back in place:



before taking the gauge off:



We didn't take any pictures of the finished product until tomorrow.:dancing:

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

Hey those screws came out with little marring. JIS screwsrivers used?

 

[Guest]

I tend to pi$$ those phillips head screws off . When ever possible .
Replace them with S/S allen heads . Or bolts .
Or not .

See youse in May .

Cheers , Simon .

 

[cowboyup3371]

They came out okay Jeep with a number 3 socket driver on the ratchet; however, I think Charmayne might have over-tightened one when she put it back in and thus tore up the head. As they already looked bad, I decided we should use that as the excuse to replace them.

I agree Simon, my bike is mostly socket heads now and I'm going to do the same with hers as we can - this will be the first step as we picked up replacements tonight as stainless steel socket heads.

 

[Charmayne]

Yay! It is finally spring break and this weekend I was able to work on my rear break caliper, I am going to repaint the rear break caliper.:dancing:
Sorry, don?t have any pictures.

 

[Guest]

Getting ready for Brown County ?????

Cheers , Simon .

 

[cowboyup3371]

She won't make it Simon - she wants to go back to visit friends in Colorado during that same time and still hasn't gotten her permit yet. You'll get a chance to meet her before then though.

 

[Guest]

We look forward to meeting you both .
We've made lots of good friends through the GSR and we're keen to meet many more .

Cheers , Simon .

 

[CivilRock]

Love this thread.

My 6.5 year old daughter like to help turn a wrench with me in the garage. I hope someday we can take on a project like this for her.

It's good that you're taking lots of pictures. Might seem like a hassle at the time, but they'll be golden later. I take pictures of all the stuff I do on the bike. Mostly just for reference for when I need to put something complicated back together. Cheap and easy road map. Also, cupcake tins work well for keeping bolts and nuts organized while you're tearing down a bike.

Best of luck, and please keep the posts coming.

-kevin

 

[Charmayne]

Unfortunately, last night was the last day of Spring break. Therefore, I spent the last day with my motorcycle.:dancing: I got the brake calipers primed then painted black. They look good for the first time of spray painting.
I thank our family friend for teaching me how to paint the parts the correct way.
Here are some pictures:

 

[jsandidge]

Great Job!

Great Job!

Great job with the painting! I just did my calipers too. All those different angles and surfaces are tough, aren't they? Not like painting a flat panel.

 

[Steve]

Also, cupcake tins work well for keeping bolts and nuts organized while you're tearing down a bike.

Don't let Allie hear you call those tins by that name. :-k

They are MUFFIN tins.

Yes, they work really well.

.

 

[Charmayne]

My dad took the pictures. I did the painting. And thank you

 

[cowboyup3371]

Brake Work

Brake Work

I've been real proud of how hard Charmayne has worked at staying on her schoolwork but that hasn't left her any time to keep this up. However, I finally convinced her to reassemble her brakes tonight as it also tied into a school assignment she has. So, we now have her rear brakes together and received some help with installing the seal on her front caliper. I'll order some other parts (sprockets, chain, etc) this next week and hopefully she'll start putting them together about the time school ends for the year.

Installed the inner seal



Coating it with brake fluid before inserting the piston and upper seal/dust cover



Rear caliper assembled

 

[Flyboy]

Nice to see another update, expecting more when school is out.
Nice to see a good balance and the school work not taking a knock, Lord knows if it were me, schoolwork would not have stood a chance. :-\\\