82 GS850GL reboot

[RobC]

After purchasing this old bike for next to nothing last year, I got it to run enough to ride it up till I had some room and time for another project. I finally got my shop cleaned and organized enough to be able to get the bike inside and started.

Figure I would start off with the end of the shop I've designated for the bike barn.


Next is the bike as the afternoon began, I only had the seat removed so had just gotten started.


All I can say here is GOODBYE 27 year old wiring harness.


Still in teardown mode, and this is how the bike sat as I called it a night on day 1.


Tomorrow I hope to get the motor and forks off so I can get started on my shadetree blasting area to beadblast the frame.

Plan is to basically unbolt everything I can, clean, paint,measure, and rebuild everything that needs to be redone. Currently first thing is to strip,make a few mods around the battery area, and paint the frame. Then basically go from the ground up.

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. RobC,

Oh boy! This is going to be fun. I'll enjoy watching this thread. Keep up the good work!



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[RobC]

Ok here is where I am at during my lunch/supper break. My camera is on the charger so had to take a couple shots with my phone.

Here is my pit crew, figure you can't get em started too young.


Here is the frame cleaned and ready for blasting, with two camera hogs that would not move once I pulled the phonecam out.


Ill replace the frame shot later with a less blurry shot, now that the camera is charged up

[bwringer]

Glad to see you've got a good supply of toilet paper back there...

[RobC]

LOL well I did just finish the bathroom(and stocking it) out there right before pulling the bike in, figured I might need to be ready considering all the crap I get myself into

[RobC]

Ok I've done some searching, prob couldn't figure out the right search parameters. I can NOT get my rear tire to remove from the swing arm, I have the axle bolt out and it appears it is seized on the drive gear. Does anyone have any idea on how to get this SOB to release.

I originally tried while it was on the bike, with no luck. I then removed the arm and tried to stand on the wheel to rock it, alternating around the tire in about 30 degree spacing. I have also supported the arm and beat the crap out of the wheel assy. with my 5lb sledge (using a block of wood to keep from tearing up the wheel).

[kilog55]

youre trying to get the shaft drive off the rear wheel right?

mine just kinda fell off onto my toe as i was changing the rear tire when i flipped it over. i was told by a friend that it is sealed on much to his and my surprise it is not good thing i had steel toes on and no damage to anything occured.

not sure why yours wont come off but i can see some of the oil on your rim in the one picture

did you get the parts off the opposite side? (throttle/disk side) IIRC you have to remove that stuff first

[RobC]

Yeah I'm trying to remove the rear wheel from the final drive unit, I've unbolted everything it just won't let go. I have the rear calipers, spacers and everything removed. The oil is pb blaster I've sprayed, or tried to spray inside the unit to try to get it to break free.

[kilog55]

ahh alrighty thought maybe it was leaking.

hmm not really much that holds it on there dunno what i did with my manual or i could look in there even bikecliff''s says just wiggle and jiggle and it will come right off.

[RobC]

I finally got the blast cabinet built, and started on blasting the frame. I know the cabinet is ugly as hell, but it works heh. I first thought about buying one, but to buy one the frame would fit in would bankrupt me.



Here is another shot of the frame. I knew there was a lot of rust, but upon removing some of the paint a lot more was revealed.



Tested the top of the triple tree to see how it would stand to blasting under lower pressure, and thought I wonder how it would look polished. Has anyone bothered polishing this or should I just finish cleaning it up and painting? I only quickly hit it with some compound just to see if it would clean up decent.

[Richharr]

Tested the top of the triple tree to see how it would stand to blasting under lower pressure, and thought I wonder how it would look polished. Has anyone bothered polishing this or should I just finish cleaning it up and painting? I only quickly hit it with some compound just to see if it would clean up decent.

I've seen a couple polished, it looks good. just remember you'll have to do the bottom on also and that will add a lot of hours to the project if you plan on riding this summer

[RobC]

I've decided I'm just going to paint the triple tree, too many nooks and crannies to try to shine up. I took a phone pic once I decided to call it a night, and my wife wont let me keep the good camera out there while I'm spraying go figure . I know that one color is a bit loud but I wanted a contrasting color from the rest of the bike, which will be a cobalt metallic blue.



The amount of rust that had formed under the old coating was incredible, so I started stripping a bit, treating the rust, priming and then spraying a coat of black. Once I get the whole frame finished it will get another 2 coats of final color to even it all out.

[four_shot]

The Blast cabinet actually looks really good! Im sure you know to keep the engine and stuff covered while blasting so Im not gonna tell you...(had a friend smoke a really nice small block chevy he built cause he didn't keep the dust under control in his shop.) seriously though, I look forward to stealing ideas...errrr...watching the progress.

[RobC]

The Blast cabinet actually looks really good! Im sure you know to keep the engine and stuff covered while blasting so Im not gonna tell you...(had a friend smoke a really nice small block chevy he built cause he didn't keep the dust under control in his shop.) seriously though, I look forward to stealing ideas...errrr...watching the progress.

Yeah, you can't really see it, but the sheeting behind the painted frame and swing arm is covering the table with the motor. Once I get the small stuff finished the motor is being torn down too, so I can measure and clean any sludge that might have formed in its 27 year history.

[RobC]

In an effort to create more storage spaces on the old bike I have been working on a mod to create more space under the seat. From the measurements I took before removing everything I should still have just enough room to install the stock airbox. Once I get the new battery box made should give me a noticeable increase in space.



And a shot from the rear of the mod.



Once everything is finished, I will be making sure the terminals will be isolated.