Kiwi Canuck tries his Luck with a Six Fiddy

[Kiwi Canuck]

Nice score, I've envious. I'm pretty sure my next bike, whatever it is, will have fuel injection but I'd still trade my 850L for a 650E in a heartbeat. They look great and I have a feeling they go pretty well too.

Eli, thanks for your comments.

I look forward to getting it finished and taking it for a spin to see how it runs as I've only ridden the GS1000's lately, I did have a GS550 for a very short time back in 78 and loved it.

Newer fuel injected bikes are nice for the smoothness and pretty much push the starter and go, but there's something about using the choke and getting the engine just right before setting off.

I just realized, I now have 3 Suzuki 650's, a fuel injected 2012 VStrom, a carbed 2013 DR650 and now a carbed 1981 GS650, I'll need to get a photo of all 3 of them together.

Cheers,

David

 

[Charlie G]

The inside of that rim looks great! You shouldn't have any problem with that tire getting a good seal. I want to start mounting my own tires and need to look up a how thread posted a few years ago and give it a try.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

The inside of that rim looks great! You shouldn't have any problem with that tire getting a good seal. I want to start mounting my own tires and need to look up a how thread posted a few years ago and give it a try.

I'm using tubes so I do get a good seal, haha, these rims are not tubeless rated.

David.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Small update, got the rear rim cleaned up and the tire installed, that was a lot easier than the front.



Dropped off a few parts to get powdercoated, swing arm, side stand, center stand and seat base, should get those back next week.

The seat base is quite rusty but fortunately it's mostly surface rust and it's actually in OK shape structurally and all the mounting tabs are in good shape.
Not too sure about the cover though, it's almost OK but I'll need to see if it will go back on without any rips as it's a bit fragile.



The rest of the parts that need refinishing I'll paint with VHT spray paint once the weather warms up a bit.

Cleaning and polishing going on, a few hours here and there, dropping a few parts into the rust remover tub after I get them cleaned up, I try to get them as clean as possible before putting the parts into the solution so it stays clean and should last a bit longer.

I got a few parts from the US mail box yesterday, an emblem for the side cover, a new seat lock which I switched out the cylinder from the old one already and a generator cover, the old one had pretty bad road rash and was not worth saving.

I'll post some more pictures in the next post, my email is not receiving pictures from my phone right now as we are going through an update to Outlook Exchange and it's causing some unexpected challenges.

David.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Spent a few hours cleaning out this used parts cleaner.

I didn't realize that when I bought it used I would be in for so much work, the previous owner had let the old solvent evaporate and it left a nasty tar like substance in the bottom.

I've had a few liters of solvent sitting in there hoping it will help soften up the mess, after 2 hours it hasn't even started to work so I'll try warming the bottom of the unit with a heat gun.

I got some of the worst out with a wide putty knife but mostly just smearing tar around in the bottom of the unit, once that's cleaned up I can use it to start cleaning up some parts.



One other small job I started was looking at the brakes to see what parts I need to order, got the front reservoir apart and it's looks pretty gunked up, should clean up OK though.



It's interesting how on some bikes one part is really pristine and the same part on another bike is completely corroded or rusted out, never seen one this blocked but on my Canadian Cooley it was really badly corroded but not gunked up anywhere near this bad.


More to come shortly.

David

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

I didn't get much done on the bike over the weekend, just a bit of parts cleaning and sorting out parts and putting together another order with Parts Outlaw.

The chrome shiny bits are turning out quite nicely compared to how tarnished and rusty some of them were, here's the latest batch from the metal rescue, they were in for 48hrs. (the end caps are cast alloy and I just polished them on the buffing wheel, didn't have them in the metal rescue)



Here's the old generator cover and the "new one" $25.00 on ebay, looks rough but not a scratch on it. The emblem on it is not the correct one for the 1981 GS650E from what I can tell.





David.

 

[Vmass]

Hey David,

I have an assortment of emblems. If you have a picture of the correct emblem, post it and I will check to see if I have it. Please include the measurement.

The chrome parts look awesome!

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Hey David,

I have an assortment of emblems. If you have a picture of the correct emblem, post it and I will check to see if I have it. Please include the measurement.

The chrome parts look awesome!

Thanks Rich, here's a picture of what I believe is the correct one, 100 mm for the Generator (LH) side, and 80 mm for the RH side.

The part numbers on the Suzuki site show the same numbers, not revised or updated to a new number, but not sure what they are shipping, I've ordered a set but don't expect them to be the same as this one.



David

 

[Nessism]

David.

FWIW: emblems like this can be salvaged and reconditioned into decent pieces. Some heat on the inside of the cover will soften the adhesive and allow you to pry off the emblem using a knife. Then sand the surface to prep for paint and fix/fill any dents. When done hit the emblem with some satin black paint. When dry sand the top of the lettering using a piece of sandpaper with backing board to remove the paint. Emblems done this way will pass the 6 foot test and save you a bunch of money since these emblems have gotten quite expensive these days.

 

[BigD_83]

Thanks Rich, here's a picture of what I believe is the correct one, 100 mm for the Generator (LH) side, and 80 mm for the RH side.

The part numbers on the Suzuki site show the same numbers, not revised or updated to a new number, but not sure what they are shipping, I've ordered a set but don't expect them to be the same as this one.



David

David,

I might have a couple of spares like those kicking around my parts shelf, that were ordered and never used. I'll check when I get home tonight

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

FWIW: emblems like this can be salvaged and reconditioned into decent pieces. Some heat on the inside of the cover will soften the adhesive and allow you to pry off the emblem using a knife. Then sand the surface to prep for paint and fix/fill any dents. When done hit the emblem with some satin black paint. When dry sand the top of the lettering using a piece of sandpaper with backing board to remove the paint. Emblems done this way will pass the 6 foot test and save you a bunch of money since these emblems have gotten quite expensive these days.

Hey Ed, thanks for following along and your comments,
I wish I had the skill and patience to restore these emblems, I certainly have tried but it usually leaves me disappointed.
So far my best is good from 10-15 ft, so as long as I can find the correct ones for sale, I guess I'll be spending the $$'s.

There are a few parts that really need to be done well on a restoration and I think the tank, seat, instruments, front fender, exhaust and engine emblems, in that order, need to be very good to give a good impression.

If one of those items fall outside of the quality of the others it drops the overall appeal, so that's how I go about my decisions when justifying/rationalizing buying new or fixing damaged parts.

A few years ago I got a spray paint set-up and spent probably 20 hours on a Honda CT110 tank repairing a few dents and prepping it for paint and after failing to get a satisfactory finish, I was almost ready to quit the whole motorcycle restoration hobby, it was pretty demoralizing at the time, so I now know that to save my sanity I'll send that work out no matter what the cost, it's worth it for me. ( I ended up finding a near new one on CL Portland for about $100, I was so happy to retire from body work)

OK, now I better get back to some paying work.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

David,

I might have a couple of spares like those kicking around my parts shelf, that were ordered and never used. I'll check when I get home tonight

Thanks,

Appreciate the quick response.

 

[Vmass]

Sorry, David. The style you pictured is not one that I have.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Sorry, David. The style you pictured is not one that I have.

OK thanks for looking Rich.

I did buy that exhaust system you found for me on ebay, it's at my mailbox in Lynden WA waiting for pickup, hopefully it's as good as the pictures showed.

Cheers,

David.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

I took the tank, front fender, tail piece and side covers to the painter yesterday for a look over.

Looks like I need to purchase a new fender as the original one is a bit too bent and has a split in it, so less expensive to buy a straight one and have it repainted than repairing this one, and now he will have a sample to copy the pin striping, which is a bonus.

I will need to seal the tank as it had a small tell tale leak in the seam near the petcock, pretty small but I don't want to find out I should've lined it after having it painted.

Hopefully he can get my stuff painted by mid April as he's pretty busy with his regular clients (mostly custom bike builders and bike shops that use him) he did the fender on my GS1000S a few years ago and did a very nice job.

I've been finding quite a few NOS OEM parts for this bike, tempting to buy but I'm trying to stay a bit disciplined and hopefully get them later if I absolutely need them.

An example, I found a NOS housing for the center console, all the nice white lettering and perfect plastic, the one on this bike has got a bit of damage, probably from extra keys on the keyring bashing around and marking up the face of it.

When I rebuilt my GS1000S I bought a new Ignition just for the new cover because the old one was beat up and faded, it was expensive (at the time) but I have never regretted it, in fact that one piece really made a difference to the rebuild, as my eye would always go to the defect and it annoyed me. I'll let you know if I can't stand the pressure and I cave in and hit "Buy it Now"

More soon.

 

[Nessism]

I strongly suggest fully derusting the tank and then sealing before painting. The derusting process must be done despite the suggestion by the sealer companies that it's not critical. Don't believe it. Phosphoric acid is the best stuff to derust with prior to sealing since it etches the metal and provides a good surface for the sealer to stick to. Por-15 is excellent if you don't have any big holes. If the metal is weak though Caswell's sealer is much thicker so it's the best stuff to use since it will plug the holes and reinforce the metal.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

I strongly suggest fully derusting the tank and then sealing before painting. The derusting process must be done despite the suggestion by the sealer companies that it's not critical. Don't believe it. Phosphoric acid is the best stuff to derust with prior to sealing since it etches the metal and provides a good surface for the sealer to stick to. Por-15 is excellent if you don't have any big holes. If the metal is weak though Caswell's sealer is much thicker so it's the best stuff to use since it will plug the holes and reinforce the metal.

Hey Ed,
I know you've used Caswell's before as I used that on my GS1000S, Canadian Cooley after reading about you using it.

I recently used a POR 15 Motor Cycle kit on a CT110 tank I did for a friend and had a really bad case of flash rust over the entire surface of the inside of the tank after the degreasing and etching solutions were done.

I tried using a heat gun but couldn't get it dry quick enough as I was trying to keep the paint undamaged and it flash rusted even the parts that were pretty clean before, don't want that happening on this tank.

Have you used the POR 15 kit before?

The tank on the GS 650 is actually very nice inside except for the bottom left side, which is a bit rusty.

Do you think it's possible to just do the bottom and half way up the sides without covering the middle hump and leave the rest unlined, as I would rather have the nice clean look of pristine metal tank when open the cap.

Unless I can get a perfect finish it always seems to look like a liner has been installed.

I'll see if I can get a picture from the inside of my tank, just to verify the actual condition.

Here's what happened to the CT tank.

Kit I used.




Cleaned and prepped.



After getting it dried out.




That never happened on the Cooley tank but I didn't use the same cleaning chemicals, I believe I used one of those rust converter products, but cannot remember what it was.

David.

 

[Nessism]

Hi David,

I'd coat the entire tank, not just parts or the edges could peel back.

In your first photo it shows some rust remaining down into the rust pits. I'd leave the phosphate sauce in a while longer to get rid of all the red rust. The phosphate leaves behind a coating on the metal which helps ward off flash rust too (to some extent), so a little extra dwell time is good.

Flash rust forming is an issue. I've never had as much as you show though. Typically the metal takes on a light brownish haze is all. At any rate, after dumping out the phosphoric acid followed by a good water rinse, I follow up with a bottle of IA and good healthy shot of WD-40. That should stop the worst of the flash rusting. After you get the tank good and dried out you need to go back and get the WD-40 out using more IA or some acetone or similar. The tank won't flash rust then though because all the water will be gone then. This process has always worked well for me anyway, and I've done several tanks that way.

Good luck

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Hi David,

I'd coat the entire tank, not just parts or the edges could peel back.

In your first photo it shows some rust remaining down into the rust pits. I'd leave the phosphate sauce in a while longer to get rid of all the red rust. The phosphate leaves behind a coating on the metal which helps ward off flash rust too (to some extent), so a little extra dwell time is good.

Flash rust forming is an issue. I've never had as much as you show though. Typically the metal takes on a light brownish haze is all. At any rate, after dumping out the phosphoric acid followed by a good water rinse, I follow up with a bottle of IA and good healthy shot of WD-40. That should stop the worst of the flash rusting. After you get the tank good and dried out you need to go back and get the WD-40 out using more IA or some acetone or similar. The tank won't flash rust then though because all the water will be gone then. This process has always worked well for me anyway, and I've done several tanks that way.

Good luck

Thanks Ed, I'll need to practice on something to see if I can do better than the last effort.

I did try and get a picture of the insides of the tank but my camera would not work on this shaped tank, I did however take a closer look at the area in question, it's not that bad actually so I may just test it with fuel and lightly pressurize it to see if there is a leak or not.

The inside of the tank is very clean except on the left side at the bottom, it has a very lightly rusted surface, it doesn't look like it was rust that caused the leak, maybe a bad seam if was even leaking.

Here's a picture of the outside after cleaning a bit of hardened goop off, the tank still had maybe 10 liters or more in it and was not actively leaking, so not sure now until I do some more testing.

 

[Fjbj40]

Once you etch it that spot will probably leak!

After I water rinse I immediately follow up with a multiple of acetone or MEK rinses, this removes all water so the flashing doesn't happen. I often use a gallon of acetone or MEK to do this.