by "BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
Published 06/05/2017 at 06:14
by "BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
Published 06/05/2017 at 06:14
Tags: World's Fastest Cafe Racer
STARS: 7
Managed to end up with Isle of Man TT tickets, so it’s about time to learn to ride :) first step is to fix up the £50 GS500 I bought of a co-worker 2 years ago. There’s a relatively small list of mechanical things to do, but more important than that is to make it look like something I actually want to ride. Pictured: one neoprene sports shirt in bike form. Not exactly my cup of tea. Doesn’t look like that now though after the jump ;)
Tanks stripped and resprayed with the best rattle-can dark green Halfords has to offer. My mate had the excellent idea of painting black over the primer before the colour coat to darken it and it’s worked beautifully. 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of solid black, 2 coats of dark metallic green and 3 coats of gloss. Beautiful colour :)
Choppy choppy grindey grindey
Extraneous crap removed...
...and seat cut down :) I’ve actually finished shortening the seat now, cutting down the seat foam to roughly the right shape and trimming the existing seat cover to fit.
All of that in half a day’s work and for £28 for spray paint ;) just need to order up some tube to re-make a shorter seat frame, relocate some displaced gubbins, rebuild the carbs, paint the mudguard the same gorgeous green, paint the frame flat black, flip the handlebars upside-down, a quick service, tyres and then done :)
Seems like a reasonable amount, but should be done in no time money permitting ;) hence why I have dubbed it ‘The World’s Fastest Cafe Racer’. Aiming for less than a week’s work all-in ;)
Current work time: 0.5 days.
Current expenditure: Bike £50, Spray Paint £28.
"Manny05x" (Manny05x)
06/05/2017 at 07:37, STARS: 0
This is awesome looking forward to the updates.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
06/05/2017 at 07:46, STARS: 0
Thanks! Shouldn’t be long before I’ve got something to show for it.
"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer)
06/05/2017 at 09:01, STARS: 0
Awesome to see you doing a quick and easy project for a change ;-)
A former colleague of mine did something similar with a Yamaha XJ, turning it from a boring faired bike, into a custom caferacer-ish thing.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
06/05/2017 at 09:07, STARS: 2
Certainly makes a nice change! It’s also a revelation working on something that’s been garaged its whole life. I can actually undo bolts without a fight!
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
06/05/2017 at 09:33, STARS: 0
I spy Charles
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
06/05/2017 at 09:37, STARS: 1
Woosh!
That’s the noise of that comment going over my head ;) forgive my density at the moment. Explanation?
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
06/05/2017 at 09:42, STARS: 0
And also sort of the noise he makes :)
Second picture, lurking outside the garage, standing gaurd over your debris.
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
06/05/2017 at 10:32, STARS: 0
There aren’t many bolts on one of those to have to fight with. Is that a 2005-ish model?
I had a 1990 GS500, and it was great to work on. Enjoy.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
06/05/2017 at 10:36, STARS: 0
‘02 I think, and you are right there aren’t many :)
Any tips or tricks for ownership or is it all pretty straight forwards?
"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle)
06/05/2017 at 11:55, STARS: 0
perfect bike for it. they are current and plentiful. basically a naked bike already. and so simple?
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
06/05/2017 at 12:51, STARS: 1
Yeah from what i understand i’ve lucked into quite a good starting point :) steel frame too so it’s easy to weld to making changes.
"AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
06/06/2017 at 04:01, STARS: 0
Mine was pretty straight forward. The biggest thing that could happen mechanically is the self-adjuster for the timing chain to fail, and screw the timing up which will run the valves into the pistons. In which case you just buy another engine, and forget the bother of rebuilding (full engine disassembly to replace the chain). Or if your really cheap/broke like me, buy a new timing chain, replace the bent valve, break the timing chains and run the new one through.
Other than that I had to replace the voltage regulator, and the stator coil. They’re simple, reliable and have been around for decades. I think Suzuki bored out the GS 400/450 engine, and updated the head design (at least the 1980 450 my friend purchased looked almost exactly the same.)