1982 GS650E slowwww project

[Shwartz]

Progress so far....as per my earlier comment....




Done, now back to the bike.



Carbs have new float-bowl gaskets, o-rings, and rubber plugs after a dipping and reassembling. Next I will change the intake o-rings, and reattach the carbs (but probably not before I change the cam chain tensioner gasket, as that would a useless waste of time to wrestle them back out and in again).
Then, on to the rear brake caliper which should be quick and painless as the dis-assembly and cleaning have already been done. So assuming I have the correct seals and boots, it should be quick. The Pandora's box comes when I reattach the rear caliper, because I will be cleaning out the master cylinder prior to refilling with fluid. Who knows what gremlins that will bring forth.

I also have done nothing so far with the front brakes yet.

One piece at a time.

At this rate I probably won't have the bike ready before our new baby in May.

Christmas reno's dragged on longer than I had anticipated.

[SVSooke]

Project's can stall,my 1000 was kind of supposed to be done by now.Then the wiring burnt down,then I was going to fix it instead of replace.Then I decided that wasn't a good idea so I had to find a "new" harness.That actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but the cheque for it got lost in the Xmas mail.Yeah projects can stall

[Shwartz]

Busy night last night.

Rebuilt/installed the rear caliper, uninstalled/half-pulled apart the MC (I need new circlip pliers), cleaner out the air box, installed new O-rings in the intake mani's and re-installed, and lastly changed the gasket on the timing chain tensioner.

Then I stopped to clean my tools.

I'm tired, it was a late night but very productive.

[Shwartz]

2 nights in a row. Someone hit the jackpot this week.

MC has been disassembled, and cleaned, put back on the bike, and refilled.

I then bled the rear without issue.

Rear brakes are fully functioning again.

Next time I'm on to the fronts (They're really not giving me issues but it's probably best to be safe).

[Shwartz]

Well I got crackin' back at it a bit again tonight.

I turned the lights and heater on out in the shed and then went back after an hour or so.

I went to grab a ratchet to unbolt the front caliper's and this is what I found.



That's one tough night to be out.
16 degree's below freezing with LOTTSSA moisture in the air. That FEELS cold. If the air were dryer it would be much more bearable but nonetheless, I digress.

So due to the extreme temperature's in Canada this week I wasn't able to stay out long.

I pulled the pins out of the front calipers and the left side seemed satisfactory but the right side of the bike looked like this.


Juicy, or should i say "Crusty". I took a look and the boots over the pins on that side and they are feeble at best with no elasticity left in them. Normally I could blame that on the current temperature outside but from the look of these pins, the boots have been too stiff for quite some time now.

So I got the calipers off and up on the bench, relocated my heater to face right against my fingers and then attempted to pop the pistons out using my compressor, a good penetrating oil, and pair of slip-joints covered with a thick rag. Usually I can get them out far enough that I can use the pliers to simply spin the piston inside the caliper (coupled with the rag so I don't scratch it) and it'll pop the rest of the way out, however tonight things Just didn't want to budge! I got the caliper warmed up a bit with a light propane torching around the circumference (I'm replacing all the seals anyways) and then hit it with the penetrating oil which got it moving and have now moved it quite far but it won't come the last 25% out. So I tried to hit it with the air. I turned on my compressor and it just bogged and flipped the breaker. So I lost my lights and heat.

Needless to say that by that time, my night was over.
I've got tenants in my basement so I can't just run down there and flip it back on. Kind of annoying but when the check comes in at the start of the month, all that annoyance goes away for some reason.

Anyways, I brought the calipers inside. Wrapped them up in a clean rag and put them on a shelf high-up in my kitchen so that they warm up prior to my next outing.
Without a warm air compressor though, I'm going to have a hard time, popping the pistons out..... Unless I use the rear brake system to push it out, which seems like a bit of a shame considering I just reassembled it and bled it. Oh well, the biggest loss would be some fluid but I have lots so maybe I'll just do that next time (Thinking out loud).

Then I came back inside, warmed up and ordered parts online.
Piston boots
Piston seals
Rubber bleeder caps
Caliper pin boots

I've also asked my local parts store for a quote on new caliper pins themselves in case the pitting is too bad to salvage them with a wire-wheel. I didn't check that tonight but probably should've before I came back in.
If their cheap I'll probably just buy a set anyways. It's not likely that they are cheap though. Most of the crustation on these was dried grease so hopefully I can bring them back to life with the wire-wheel.

[Shwartz]

So I got cracking again this week with some small stuff.

Waiting on seals and boots to rebuild the front calipers. When comparing the front caliper rebuild to the rears I noticed right away that one of the outer boots was torn on the front calipers, and it made sense to me that the front's may be in worse shape than the rear's because they're right out front and probably take more abuse from road dirt, grime, moisture, etc etc. Oddly enough after I got past the first boot, the rest of the caliper for both sides were in better shape than the rear one was. Nontheless I could have changed the boots, cleaned out the fluid and put it all back together again, but doing my due diligence I ordered new seals anyways. Call me old-fashioned.

So I was able to spend some time at it but sadly enough the parts hadn't come in yet so I couldn't finish it. So I cleaned out the fluid in the MC and blew out the lines the best I could.
I then reassembled the MC and moved on.

I was then looking for a small job to start and finish that evening. I looked at my list and thought I might try replacing the handlebars. So I started into that and finished up.

The good-
I though the shop that I took it to originally for the safety made a questionable call when they stated that the bars were bent.
Turns out they were right. Check the pic of the new bars on and the old bar sitting on top.

\


The bad-
I made the typical noob mistake. I was pretty sure I had my measurement right when I ordered the length of bar, but I'm at least an inch longer (maybe 2) with the new bar. The discrepancy could have been with the plastic bar inserts at both ends of the original unit as they were almost 3/4" long on each side. Nonetheless I made everything fit comfortable with the exception of the brake line to the MC. It fits but it's like a piano string. I'm uncomfortable with it for good reason. Where the curve is in the bar makes me want to move the MC over further and the only way to get it there is to position it cockeyed and then tighten the bolts onto the bar which straightens it out. That's too tight.
So it looks like I'm ordering my SS brake lines sooner than I had anticipated.

So the question.
My MC has one lead out to a "T" that resides behind the fork brace then splits to 2 lines that run to each front caliper. Should I keep that setup or go to 2 separate lines with a double banjo bolt right at the MC. Does 1 setup provide any advantage over the other?

[steve murdoch]

The 2 line setup makes for easier bleeding.
Less places for the bubbles to hide.
I have bought stainless lines from Apex in Toronto twice. Great service, fast turnaround and relatively cheap pricing. http://apexbrakes.com/products.asp

[Shwartz]

The 2 line setup makes for easier bleeding.
Less places for the bubbles to hide.
I have bought stainless lines from Apex in Toronto twice. Great service, fast turnaround and relatively cheap pricing. http://apexbrakes.com/products.asp

Thanks for this. To be honest I can get them universally from "Sturgess Cycle" in Hamilton and not pay any shipping. We'll see if they have a length though that fits properly.

Se bleeding is really the only advantage?

[GateKeeper]

Thanks for this. To be honest I can get them universally from "Sturgess Cycle" in Hamilton and not pay any shipping. We'll see if they have a length though that fits properly.

Se bleeding is really the only advantage?

Good luck with "Sturgess Cycle" one of our members here (Spyug) tried them as well, used that shop for years, but he ended up using

http://www.rennsportautoparts.com/Default.asp

quicker turnaround time, and no issues

send an email for what you need

my lines were shipped for all of 7 bucks right to my door, can't beat that...



.

[spyug]

Be prepaired to pay double for ss lines done locally, Sturgess, Ultimate, Kelly's whoever. Rennsport maybe out of town but you can get him to ship to you and its not that much as Gatekeeper said. I paid $118 tax incl for 4 lines for the 550. They would have been slightly cheaper but the caliper ends needed special fittings. Raymond is a very nice guy to deal with and threw in extra crush washers and bajo bolts so you get good value for sure. Anywhere around here it was going to be $250.

I won't deal anywhere else now.

Good luck.
spyug

PS. I might be off here but I believe Apex and Rennsport are one and the same or perhaps Rennsport gets his stuff from them as the box mine came in was marked Apex

PPS Don't worry about the delays and length of time its taking as this is all normal. My first go at restoring took almost 2 years. The second was down to 8 or 9 months. The third maybe 6 . The more you do, the more you know how to do and the quicker it comes together ( depending still on suppliers). Myself and Gatekeeper are chomping at the bit as we both are going to do Yammie FZ 750s this season. GK is in a new house and the man cave is not yet sorted and the FZ I'm going to pick up is still down in Kemptville (Ottawa) and will be until the weather warms up. GKs will be his normal fastiduous frame off full bore reno, mine is a runner and will be my street bike this season so I'll just be tidying up/refreshing and some minor upgrades.

[Shwartz]

Ya, to be honest I've had little issue with Sturgess yet. They've got me everything I've asked for and in decent time. Nothing lightning quick, but I only get 1 night a week (if that) to work on it anyways.

[Shwartz]

Wheels are off and headed to the shop for new rubber.
Front calipers are rebuilt and waiting to be put back on the bike. The caliper pins are in rough shape due to a torn boot. Regardless the other side's boot was in great shape but the pin was still pretty crusty. We'll see what can be done. I'm wire-wheeling the snot out of them.
Will keep you posted.

[Shwartz]

So I went out Monday night and tinkered. I can't really justify finishing up the calipers until I have a front wheel back on and that won't be happening until my wheels are back from the shop.
I was tagged in a funny pic online from the shop where my rims are because he was surprised when he pulled the original tubes out of my tires they were red. Not sure if I've seen red tubes either. Nonetheless I digress.

So I went to plan my next move and looked at replacing the shift seal because I thought it was leaking. Apparently I was wrong but I had the seal in hand and figured it couldn't hurt to replace it anyways. So I read all the horror stories about getting this seal out and found that this method worked stellar and made the change-out easy!

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=108484&highlight=drywall+screws+shift+seal

So I went to it:


Easy Peasy, came right out.

Then simply worked the new seal back on by cleaning the shaft, wrapping a sticker over the spline (you can use packing tape, or even a bag if you have a proper fitting one) to protect the new seal as it glides over it, greasing the shaft, and greasing the seal itself. Then literally slipped the seal down the shaft. I couldn't find a proper fitting pipe to slip over the shaft as described in other tutorials. This would help to seat the new seal into the block by hammering lightly on the end of the pipe. So instead I used a set of "Crows Feat" that I have. I thought I would get much more use out of these things but to be honest I haven't used them till now. I slipped one of the feet over the shaft, butted it up against the seal and tapped against the seal with a punch and hammer. I simply worked my way around it and seated it nicely.



Worked like a charm.

Then I obviously had to reverse engineer the peg and shifter back together.

One thing I'm pretty sure is not working as it should is that the pegs are not as secure as they should be. This would be for 2 reasons:
1. The bushings around the bolts are dried out and need to be replaced.
2. I'm pretty sure the lower of the 2 bolts is going in partially and then cross-threading. So I can't seem to coax it in as far as it should go. Their is a big metal washer between the bushing and the bracket, and I can still spin the washer by hand after the bolt is tight.

My guess is instead of changing the bushings a few years ago when it was required, someone just kept tightening the bolt more and more with every reassembly until the threads started shearing. On top of that, due to the purpose of the bolt, without the proper support from the bushing, the bolt would be taking the full unassisted torque from the weight of the rider. So nonetheless I'm probably going to need to run a tap-set through the hole prior to replacing the bushings.....or I can replace the rear-set with something cooler.....options.


The last thing that kinda sucks is....the bike's not going on the road this summer...Bummer.
Plans change faster than the tides.
My wife and I live in a semi-detached in downtown Hamilton and rent out our attic and basement apartments. It turns out that our neighbors (in the other half of the semi) put their place up for sale. Our neighbors are nice enough people but are LOUD!!!!! My wife and I feared that the new people that moved in could be even worse so we bought it before it went to market. It's a mirror image of our place and already has basement apartment in it, as well as an unfinished attic (waiting for another apartment). So my wife and I are moving next door and renting out our current unit. We move in July.

So nonetheless money has become tight again and the motorcycle still can't seem to jump over to the "Need to have" section of the monthly budget plan. So insurance, registration, riding jacket and the works may have to wait till next summer. So that kinda stinks because now i need to keep the motivation alive another year.
Fist world problems

On the up-side?
I get a FULL Garage!

Will post pics soon.

[MAJikMARCer]

Bummer about the project delay but awesome on the real estate deal. Once you get those apartments rented out you should have some better cash flow, at least that's how it's supposed to work, right?

Good luck with the long term project! The full garage will help a bunch I bet!

[Shwartz]

Bummer about the project delay but awesome on the real estate deal. Once you get those apartments rented out you should have some better cash flow, at least that's how it's supposed to work, right?

Good luck with the long term project! The full garage will help a bunch I bet!

In Theory the rented apartments help with the cash flow but the issue is that just because the money's coming in doesn't mean that this money is spendable. That income is already claimed for paying down the debtload's elsewhere (down-payments on places are expensive if you're not selling your previous home to pay for them) . The theory is that it would be nice for my wife to be able to stay at home raising kids while we're maintaining the same lifestyle (we're not loaded, we're just comfortable). When she's working the income is great, but i have to admit that I've noticed that life always seems a little more hectic and not as much fun when she's working (juggling day-care drop off's/pickups, who stays home when the kids are sick, how do you potty train kids if the day-care provider doesn't care, yada yada yada...etc). So anyways, all that to say that family life is more fulfilling when she's at home.

The apartments are also a retirement fund (My RRSP took a fairly large dive when the economy crashed, but yet our rent agreements never changed....Funny how that works).

Nonetheless I'm still tinkering with the bike, because I've wanted one for a few years. I've looked at the option of selling it after it's safetied and moving on to a different one when the opportunity arises again but I'm afraid that this opportunity will not arise again for a while (with 2 kids, a wife, responsibilities, etc etc), AND I really don't think I'd make much profit. Maybe $200 if I'm lucky. Not really worth it to me.

Their's always next summer. Heck, maybe now that I will have a garage I can even do some paint details! Actually that's a great idea. Maybe I can do that this fall before the temperature tanks here....hmm