Old bike, new Owner.

[Macguyver]

Long story short, I just bought my first motorcycle, an `81 GS650G only to find out the `running` bike didn`t run. After purchase, I found out it was stored for years outside and then in the back corner of a body shop for a year, before the P.O. found a sucker(that would be me) to buy the bike off him.

I knew going into the sale it would not be as simple as start the bike and go, and I figured the bike would need a bit of work anyway. Reading this forum has been a great help in getting the bike running! A big Thank You goes out for everyone!

Now I was wondering if anyone might have a few ideas on what else to do to the bike, I am very interested in hearing what everyone thinks.

Here is a concept image of what I am planning to do with the bike that I did up in photoshop. I will be painting the bike with a color-shifting dark metallic green to yellow-brown irridescent paint. I am going to add maintenance markings on the bike for specific things like petcock positioning, fuel fill markings, and intake and exhaust caution markings.

I will upload pics once I have the bodywork started, which will be as soon as I have access to a paint booth arranged, I hope.

If anyone has any suggestions, cosmetic, performance, or otherwise, I welcome all to contribute. Also, if there is any specific work which should be done that other 650 owners have run into in their past, please let me know.
Thanks again to all.
---
Mac

 

[Flaggo60]

... If anyone has any suggestions, cosmetic, performance, or otherwise, I welcome all to contribute. Also, if there is any specific work which should be done that other 650 owners have run into in their past, please let me know....
---
Mac

I guess the cosmetics are pretty much up to you. Performance depends on your budget. I would try to get it running well in stock trim first. Spending additional $$ to make a 650 behave more like a 750 or 850 will likely cost you more than if you sold the 650 and bought a 750. As for 650-specific tasks, I can't think of any in particular that are unique to a 650. You should have a 650 manual to become aware of maintenance items, etc. (you can download one at

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS650GManual.pdf)

Cheers and welcome.

 

[Macguyver]

I am going for reliability over horsepower increases.

I am going for reliability over horsepower increases.

I am going to tear the bike down this winter to paint the frame and rebuild/paint the transmission and engine, so any real performance mods will wait until then. I just want to make sure it is mechanically reliable for what's left of the summer, and then the real work begins.

I'm waiting on some parts and doing what I can, when I can, and it's coming along pretty well so far.

Today I sand blasted the exhaust and painted it with high heat - low gloss black. (Mick Jagger would be proud!)
I also fixed a couple of small dings in the tank, and have the rest of the body parts ready for paint.
I also dealt with a couple broken exhaust manifold bolts that the P.O. had snapped off. Unfortunately I had to drill them out and put 2 helicoils in, but it should be ok, they were on different exhaust ports. I also replaced the 2 SAE helicoils he already had in there with the proper metric ones, so now half of the exhaust manifold bolt holes have a helicoil in them. great...
"Quick fix" P.O.' s...There should be a law or something.
---
Mac

Now if only they could get my parts here faster...

 

[Macguyver]

It's been a while...

It's been a while...

Well, after hitting several major snags in my plan to rebuild my bike over the course of the winter, I finally have the time and cash to get to it.
I have spent a lot of time on it in the last few weeks since the guy who owns the place I had it stored said he needed the space. I now have my baby running, and at home where I can finish up the minor details at my leisure. I went with an olive drab delfleet essential paint job on the body parts, tank, ammo tin storage boxes, and flat and gloss black on the engine and frame components.
Still having some trouble getting her running well, I need a new petcock(she's dumping fuel into #2 cylinder down the vacuum line), and I am replacing the intake boot orings tonight. This will hopefully have her purring like a kitten.Well, a very big kitten.
A big thanks to Basscliff for hosting the service manual on his website, it has been a world of help!
I may not be road ready yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and it looks like a GS650 headlight!
---
Mac

 

[Flaggo60]

Well, after hitting several major snags in my plan to rebuild my bike over the course of the winter, I finally have the time and cash to get to it.
I have spent a lot of time on it in the last few weeks since the guy who owns the place I had it stored said he needed the space. I now have my baby running, and at home where I can finish up the minor details at my leisure. I went with an olive drab delfleet essential paint job on the body parts, tank, ammo tin storage boxes, and flat and gloss black on the engine and frame components.
Still having some trouble getting her running well, I need a new petcock(she's dumping fuel into #2 cylinder down the vacuum line), and I am replacing the intake boot orings tonight. This will hopefully have her purring like a kitten.Well, a very big kitten.
A big thanks to Basscliff for hosting the service manual on his website, it has been a world of help!
I may not be road ready yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and it looks like a GS650 headlight!
---
Mac

Great progress so far! I like the black highlights, exhaust, casing, valve cover, etc. Keep us posted.

 

[Macguyver]

Well, as any long term owner of any vehicle can tell you, the exhaust takes a beating from rust.(Unless you have shelled out major cash for a stainless steel setup, or are using a sacrificial anode that is.)

I am attempting to give a semi-complete overview of what we can do about that for a GS650 G, short of buying new pipes.

Tools you need: Welder, Welding mask (safety first!), wire brush, mechanic's wire, and something to cut the old pipe with
-dremel rotary tool with a diamond blade, reciprocating saw with a metal blade, metal cutting band saw, a herring, whatever you have at hand ;O)

Step 1: Remove the pipes from bike, assess the damage and find replacement donor pipe
-For all of us Canadians, Canadian Tire part #548-520 1-1/2" ID to 1-3/8 OD adapter worked well for me since it is already flared out nicely :O) ~$5 each

Step 2: Make sure sizing is good on the parts before doing any cutting!

Step 3: Cut off offending rusted out sections and clean surface of old pipe to be welded to, as well as cut new pipe to length and clean for welding.

Step 4: Line up new pipe to old pipe, tack in place with a couple welds and make sure the fit is good, level, square, and oriented properly so the pipe will fit properly into the receiving pipe.

Step 5: Bead weld the new pipe to the old pipe. I tap the metal down with a body hammer before welding to make sure the fit is as close as possible, and easier to weld without "blowing through" the metal.

Step 6: Wire brush the welded area to clean off any flux or carbon build up, make sure to clean a good 2" from the weld.

Step 7: Spray with High Temperature exhaust paint, 2 medium build coats minimum, waiting 15 minutes between coats to allow the paint to "flash" off, any fewer coats and you will not have the required 2-3 mil. film build to seal the surface to keep corrosion from destroying your work. Also, make sure to get inside the pipes a bit too!

Step 8: Wrap the ends of the new pipes in epoxy type muffler bandage. This turns into one piece of high temp plastic when heated the first time, and seals the pipe well into the receiver.

Step 9: Install in reverse order of taking the pipe off.

I used mechanic's wire to hold the muffler bandage in place during install and removed after the pipes were fitted into the receivers, make sure if you do the same, do not leave it in place, it will only give rust a new starting point to work away at your exhaust.

There you have it, easy fix, takes about an hour and a half, and if you are lucky, you know someone who can bead weld better than I can!

Run the pipes for about a half-hour, checking for leaks and heating up the muffler bandage material, once they cool, feel free to spray the muffler bandage with high temp paint to match the rest of the exhaust.

I hope this proves helpful to people, or at least interesting reading. And now, the pretty pictures!
View attachment 6953
---
Mac

 

[Macguyver]

Btw,

Btw,

Almost forgot, here are some pics of the bike at around 85% complete.
So far:
Painted body parts and tank, recovered seat, new petcock, intake orings, intake boots, carb rebuild, valves reshimmed, new valve cover gasket, new starter, added ammo tin storage bins, LED rear blinkers, new fuel tubing, complete fluid change, full polish and clean job, bunch of other things I can't remember, and now I am on the home stretch!
Fair bit of work saving this one from going to scrap!
View attachment 6955
---
Mac

 

[redsoxvw]

Looks like you are sticking to your goal:clap:......Bike looks great, Good work!!!!

 

[toolman]

nice work on the exaust , you made the old girl look prety good. looks like she will be on the road soon .
what part of canada are you in, eh i am in southern bc
keep up the good work ....toolman

 

[Macguyver]

Thanks...

Thanks...

Yep, the old girl is almost ready to roll, thanks to all the encouragement and help from all the members of the resource!
I am in Midwestern Ontario, Formosa to be exact. As the saying goes, "There are no stop lights in the little town of Formosa", but we do have a brewery!
I am hoping to have her on the road really soon, if all things go as planned.(What's the smiliey for fingers crossed???)
---
Mac

 

[lilbilly]

From what I've heard from a few other GSer's, the 650G is only 5 HP or so less than the 850G because of the compression on the 650. Don't know that for a fact, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Welcome to the 650g club!

 

[Macguyver]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks for the help guys, and the encouragement, I am almost ready to go on the road with her, just a few things left.
Tonight I packed the pipes with real steel wool, looking to tune the sound a bit, really too close to a streetbike sound for my taste, I would prefer a lower, quieter tone to it. I guess I won't know what she'll sound like until after I get some carbs on her and rejet anyways, but I think this should make her sound better.

BTW is it just me or does it feel like a hollow win when you spend an hour removing a rust-locked bolt from the end of an exhaust pipe only to find that the other two are rust-locked too?
I guess a win is a win, at least I didn't break it off. It did require a bit of welding to put one new nut in, and to seal the inner endcap properly. I think I just might smooth the inside recess of the end of the pipe with JB Weld to make sure she's sealed and there are no holes for any blow-by to get through.

I firmly believe that there is no rusted bolt that can't be removed as long as you apply enough profanity. ;O)
---
Mac

 

[Macguyver]

Progress report

Progress report

Well, last night I started tearing down the old carbs for my bike. I flat blacked the top cap and fuel bowls, and I am planning on flat blacking the gang plate, and the other associated hardware that holds the carbs together in preparation for when I get a new set of carbs to tear apart and rebuild using the "good" hardware I have from the current set.
I will upload pics when they are reassembled with good carb bodies.

Can anyone recommend a good cleaner for the engine block that will remove the faded look from the engine block? I have tried using armor all engine cleaner, but all that did was clean off the road grit, just like soap and water with a scrub brush would have. I am tempted to try super clean, but am hesitant since I know it will remove paint as well, and it is slightly reactive with aluminum.

Open to ideas, suggestions, what has worked well for others?

 

[Macguyver]

Petcock Question

Petcock Question

Hey guys, just a quick question.
I just bought a new petcock on ebay and was wondering if anyone had swapped the endcap with the vacuum line on one to orient the proper way?(facing forward)
I can't see any reason why I can't do this, but I decided to ask just in case anyone had any problems doing this.
Here's the pic of the one I purchased:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...K:MEWNX:IT&item=360165327941#ebayphotohosting

My stock one faces the vacuum line forward, not to the rear.
I will likely change it unless anyone has a horror story about this.
Thanks,

 

[Macguyver]

Seat pan reinforcement

Seat pan reinforcement

Well guys, here are some photos from the reinforcement of the seat pan for my 650.
The P.O. had had the pan sandblasted and painted it with red oxide primer(the cheap version, not even epoxy primer) and it had rusted again, surprise, surprise, eh?

I was a little concerned about the resilience of the pan since it had been sand blasted before, I was going to do it again, and if felt "thin". So I decided to coat it in fiberglass to reinforce it, and seal it.

I had the pan re-blasted and coated it with fiberglass resin, and overlayed fiber mesh and recoated it with resin again to seal it up. The colour under the fiberglass is mainly the remnants of the red oxide primer that was left in the pitted surface of the seat pan.

There was some rust left on the pan in the deeper pits, but I wasn't too concerned with it since I baked the pan in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour before I applied the resin to get any moisture out of it to make sure it did not degrade any further, and to make the surface "thirsty" to accept the resin.

I know, I know, you're saying to yourselves "Just buy a new seat already", but I try and reuse everything I can, I'm wierd like that OK.

When doing this, it is essential that the surface have a coat of resin on it before you stretch the mesh over it, to ensure good adhesion. When draping the mesh over the surface, use a bristle brush (cheap dollar store paint brush) to push the mesh into the resin. Tap the mesh in using the end of the bristles, try not to drag the brush across the mesh, this will pull your mesh out of alignment and you will have to massage it back into position.

Once the mesh is all pushed into the resin, it should take on a translucent state which allows you to see through it to the surface below, now you can add the next coat of resin. Be sure that the entire surface of the mesh is pressed down to the surface of the metal and there are ideally no air pockets or bubbles. This ensures proper bonding and makes it stronger.

When mixing the resin and activator, make sure to get the proportions right, and if unsure, mix a touch activator heavy to guarantee the resin will harden. This will cut down the working time of the activated resin though so be quick and make sure it is exactly where you want it because there is no second chance with this stuff.

Always extend the coating of resin past the edge of the metal surface so you have complete coverage. Once cured, trim back the mesh to the edge of the metal with your favorite cutting implement(carefully!) and make sure to cut out the breather holes on the bottom so the seat doesn't balloon up on you when you sit on it!

I also painted the top and bottom of the pan once completly cured with a high quality acrylic enamel paint to seal it before mounting the hardware back onto it.

I hope this helps, or is at least interesting reading.

 

[Macguyver]

Bike Cover Part I

Bike Cover Part I

Well, now that I am waiting on carbs and carb parts, I have little else to do but make a cover for my bike.

I started with 2 10'x12' unfinished dimension tarps, 9 1/2' x 11 1/2' finished dimension tarps from Canadian Tire. The tarps were about $14 a piece. I started by joining the tarps together to form one large sheet of tarp material. The seam was stitched, folded over twice, then double stitched for added strength and durability.

The large tarp was then draped over the bike and folded to make a rough shape of what the final cover was to be and secured with small clamps for marking all of the folds with marker. NOTE: if you plan on doing this, make sure the cover material is upside-down at this stage so any extra marker lines will be hidden on the finished piece.

Once all lines are marked out, the tarp was unfolded and laid out on the ground, and all lines were checked to be straight, parallel, and symetrical from side to side. In the following image I used photoshop to roughly outline the marker lines on my material for illustration purposes.

 

[Macguyver]

Bike Cover Part II

Bike Cover Part II

Once the outline had been marked out, the tarp was cut, leaving about an inch around the outline marks for seams. Then quite a bit of time was spent at the sewing machine with movies on in the background to keep me from going crazy. BTW has anyone else seen "The Rise of Leslie Vernon"? Good flick.
Once the seams were stiched once to join them, the big moment, the test fitting.
This is when any alterations should be made since it is easiest at this point before anything is double stitched, cause you don't need to double stitch it, then test fit it, only to find it needs to be tucked in a bit, or let out a bit, and leave extra holes in the material and compromise it's water proofing.
Here's the test fitting pics.

 

[Macguyver]

Bike Cover Part III

Bike Cover Part III

I was happy with the test fitting results, so I went ahead and folded over the seams twice and double stitched them. This will tend to snug the cover up a bit, so make sure that the fit is a little loose so this will not make the fit too tight if you have pointy bits hanging off your bike that could tear the cover.

Once everything is double stitched, try the cover on the bike again to make sure nothing went wrong. If all went well, then you can add a reinforcement band around the bottom of the cover if you so choose, or simply fold the bottom over and stitch it to make the cover sit level.

I chose to use the grommetted side pieces I had cut off of the tarps to form a reinforcement band on my cover. I used a marker attached to a yardstick, set at 1" off of the ground to make a nice level mark all the way around the cover for use as a guide line for attaching the reinforcement.

I folded the cover over at the mark and stiched it to give it a uniform bottom, then double stitched the reinforcement band over the double layered bottom. This is good if you plan to use bungie cords to secure the cover, or if you plan to put tent stakes through the grommet holes to keep the cover down if you will be storing your bike outside during the winter to keep snow from blowing up under the cover.

The finished results:
I hope this helps, or is at least interesting reading.

 

[lilbilly]

That actually looks really good! What did your total $ and time come out to?

 

[Macguyver]

Cover summary

Cover summary

Thanks for saying so, I am very happy with the way it turned out.
One more thing off the list of stuff to do for the bike. Next I think will be a magnetic tank bag.

I would estimate the total cost of materials as:

2- 10'x12' Tarp @ $14 each = $28
1- Spool of decent quality thread = $3
--------------------------------------
Grand Cost Total of $31 materials

and estimate the time involved as:

Joining tarps: 1/2 hour
Initial Fitting and Marking including cutting out pattern: 1/2 hour
Initial Seaming: 1 hour
Test Fitting and Double Stitching: 2 hours
Adding on Reinforcement Band 1/2 Hour
--------------------------------------
Grand Total Time of 4 & 1/2 Hours

This is using a sewing machine to do all of the stitching, and I recommend taking your time to do the fitting and marking phase.
I did all of the sewing while watching/listening to two movies. It could likely be done faster by a pro, but I wouldn't recommend rushing any of it.

I will be taking about 1/2 hour to go over all of the seams from the outside and then the inside the following day with a good quality camping tent waterproofer. So about 5 hours total start to finish I would say.