Glitches and smiles

Well, there she is in her current state. I got most of the body work done on the tank and sprayed her with gray primer. After putting the bike together, the last step to get her running was to reattach all the wiring and lights.

I thought it was going to be simple, but after attaching all the components, I turned the key, and nothing. It took two days to figure out that it was just a dirty fuse box. So after some thorough cleaning and new fuses, she was up and running.

Here's a shot of the hole under the seat where the battery and air box used to be. All the components such as the regulator rectifier, fuse box and CDI controller are tucked under the seat.

After running her for a few minutes, it was time for a test ride.... a short one. She died a few times. The carbs still need to be tuned and the engine tuned up. But at last, I got to ride her up to Starbucks.

The next day, I went back and picked her up from Steve's shop, went to Starbucks and went for a ride around town with my friend Raymon. And after much deliberation, I decided to take her home to Dallas. I was kind of hesitant at first because I have never really ridden on the interstate before, but I sucked it up ad made it home safe in one piece... well at least I thought. Somewhere between my home town and Dallas, my license plate fell off.

I guess there could have been worse things that could have happened. I got a new plate the next day. Here she is at home. I hooked up the battery tender to her and got her juiced up. She was having trouble starting, Short trips and and the lack of the battery being on a charger for months finally got to her.

Now its time to get her running smoothly. A tune up, some fresh oil, re-jet and synch the carb and she should be good to go.

There are a few other things I need to address. One of which is the issue with the breather hose. After removing the air box, the excess fumes from the engine has no where to go to get reintroduced to the carbs to get burnt off. Pods are great looking and it makes sense for adding power, but it doesn't have the efficiency of the old design. So I will have to think of a way to do that to have the engine run more efficiently. That and I am suffocating from all the fumes billowing out from underneath my seat.

The last thing is that, last night, this kid showed up at Starbucks with his 1980 Suzuki GS550. Here it is below. Such a cool retro bike. Its essentially like my bike but smaller. It was cool to see what my bike used to look like. Can't wait to have my sit next to this one and see the changes side by side.

Needless to say that I have been all smiles the last few days. Finally being able to ride my bike after months of waiting. Now I can ride her and work on her at the same time. I'm hoping to get her all cleaned up by next spring. Painted and running smooth would e great. I'll make sure to post videos and more photos of me riding.

Until next time.

GZ

'Bout darn time...

Okay, so, where did I leave off?? Oh right, the bike was running, and I have been slacking with keeping up with this blog. Well, its been an incredibly busy few months and the juggling time between work, family, friends and leisure time has been really tough.


The only relaxing time I really have is working on motorcycle—even though its hard work. I was taking classes at Cedar Valley College to get my motorcycle repair technician certification, but for now that's on hold. First of all, I liked the classes, but the summer class I took kind of turned me off a little bit. I really wasn't getting the instruction I was expecting. I just felt like I was wasting money and I figured I might as well quit for now and focus on finishing the bike.

So, here's my progress thus far. I got the motorcycle running. I got the air cleaner installed and the intake boots replaced. since the rubber was all cracked and just a complete mess.

 I got all the wiring put back together, which I'm going to have to redo, but I'll explain that in a little bit.

 
One of the challenges of getting it started was getting fuel into the carburetor, and for that I needed a new petcock, or fuel valve, for you dirty minded people (Mina). =)

After I got the bike running, I started taking it on test rides just up and down the street just to see if the motor was strong and the transmission was alright. I learned a few things that I had to do to the bike. One was to synch the carbs so that each cylinder is getting the same amount of air/fuel mixture. The other was that the clutch had to be fixed, it felt soft and it felt like it was dragging.

I apologize for not taking photos for the other steps but it got a bit dirty. I changed the oil and oil filter, finally. I also ordered new clutch springs and plates to replace the old ones. I hit a couple of snags with the gear shift lever by messing it up cuz I was impatient. I got it fixed though. I won't elaborate since it was a stupid mistake.

After replacing the clutch plate and springs, the bike felt it got new life. She was beginning to run strong. She wasn't dragging and the clutch felt nice.

I was so excited to get the bike rolling and I was only a few steps away from actually riding her. Also, I got the title and registration in my name, finally. Again, so excited....

But then one day after work, I came home and found my bike in a puddle of gasoline....

The tank, has leaked and the sealer didn't do the job it was supposed to. There were too many pin holes in the tank to patch up. My heart sank, and I didn't know what to do.

I shopped around for a new tank, there were none. Used tanks on eBay, those were unreliable since most of them were taken off old tanks, and I didn't want a repeat of my old problem. A custom tank, they want at least a grand for them on other websites. And I certainly didn't want to pay for another sealant to only have it not work.

Enter, Steve. You know.. the guy that helped me with my seat pan?

Well, Steve knows a lot about metal since he's been working on them for all most his life. I called him up and told him my dilemma and asked for his opinion. His solution, build a new tank. So I got my good friend Ray to take Steve's trailer and bring my bike down to his shop so he could take a look at it, and we got to working. Well... Steve got to working, and I started working on Saturdays.

Here's a few shots of the beginnings of the new tank that Steve sent me while I was at work...

 

And since Steve was building a new tank for me, it would only make sense to work on the tail section too. New tank, old tail section—that really doesn't make any sense.

I wanted to relocate the battery to the tail section so Steve and I worked out a plan and I hacked away at the frame. Taking out anything that we weren't going to use anymore.

Tabs for the old seat pan... gone.

Tabs for side covers... gone...

...and gone.

That brace behind there...

...gone, replaced and reshaped.

Plastic fender... yeah that had to go too...

Did I mention I got to do some welding?? Thanks Steve!! =)

Tail light, mounted.

This is what we worked on today. The housing for the battery in the tail section of the bike. I wanted it to make sense with the new tank, and I think we were pretty successful with it.

Here's how she looks now. The tank is all finished up. All she needs is some body work and a fresh coat of paint. Here's one from behind.

A side view, above, and a three quarter view, below.

Still got lots to do. The wiring has to be redone now. I have no other choice, and there's no turning back.

Check out Steve's website at http://lonestarwelding.com/Home_Page.php. If you live in Dallas, and you need some welding done, contact him. Or contact me and I can get you in touch with him. He's a magician. I swear.

Well, more to come. Until then.

GZ

An update and A hiccup

I know its been forever since I've posted. As it turns out there's a thing called life that I am living and work and such and things are getting in the way of me updating my blogs.

An update on the bike... SHE RUNS!! =) I got all the electrical hooked up (not the way I want it but hooked up nonetheless) and she now starts. I got a new battery just to be sure. There are a few more adjustments that I need to make. Lubricate all the cables so they are free and clear and won't bunch up on me while I am riding. I need to fix the electrical work since I have no power going to the headlight. Attach all the marker lights and brake lights.

I have also replaced the clutch plates and springs. I wish I had photos of those, but I have been working on the bike and my hands are too dirty to hold my phone or camera. So sorry about that.

Unfortunately, I got home today and found a puddle of gas under my bike. The tank has too many holes. I now have to figure out what to do at this point. Since they no longer sell new tanks for my bike, I either have to get it fixed (patched up with new metal) or have a custom tank built for it. Sigh.

More later.

Progress thus far

Its been a crazy month, or month and a half, since I last posted anything on the progress of the motor cycle. Anyway, I haven't been lazy. School, work and life has taken time away from blogging, but alas, I'm back.

There has been a lot of progress on the bike. Here's the break down. I had to take the air box off so that I could make way for some new filters. Below is a photo of the bike taken apart minus the air box.


I got individual air filters for each carburetor.


Next up was the tank. I sand blasted the paint off the tank to actually see the condition of the metal. The inside of the tank was in rough shape and needed to be cleaned and sealed. I'm going to repaint the tank anyway so I figure, why not start from scratch. Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. There were a few pin holes on the bottom where water has been sitting. I got patched up and prepped for paint.


I received the KBS tank sealer in the mail and went to town with it right away. It was a slow and long process, but that's what it took to do it correctly.







Next up, primer. I had to get a coat of paint on the tank right away. Bare metal and weather doesn't really mix well. And while I was at it, I redid the plastics as well. There was a little body work that needed to be done. I wanted to take the emblems off the side of the tank, and I needed to fill in the screw holes before I could lay down a coat of paint.


Here it is all put back together.




And a few shots of my nephew Lui on it.



This was about 3 weeks ago. Since then, I serviced the carburetor. I cleaned all the grime off of it, cleaned the jets, float bowls and made sure the gasket and o-rings were all alright. I also worked on the fuel valve, or petcock (yeah, Mina, I said petcock lol).

All that's left now is the wiring, rear tire, rear suspension, putting the carbs back on and I should be ready to fire it up and go for a test ride. Oh and I got new tail lights and marker lights that need to be installed.

Almost done, but there's alot left to be done. More to come.

GZ

A hiccup.

Have you ever tried to fix something, and when you start working on it, you keep finding things wrong? Well... this is a perfect example.

One of my main concerns about the GS is that the bike is an old bike. From what I've learned, my bike is actually considered a vintage bike, even though it was built in 1982. That said, I wanted to make sure that the tank is sound and clean. When I got the bike, I took a quick peek inside the tank and saw some rust, and I knew quickly that it needed to get taken care of.

I did some research and after talking to a bunch of folks about it, I decided to get this 3 step cleaning and sealing kit from KBS Coatings.



This would ensure that the tank is clean, rust free and sealed from getting rusty ever again (or so the company claims). All for about 30 bucks from Amazon.

So this past weekend, I took the tank off the bike, and took the petcock and float system (for the fuel gauge) off to start the cleaning and sealing process. I used duct tape, as per the directions, to seal the holes on the tank.

Aqua Clean was the first step. Its supposed to get the gummy stuff of the metal and really clean the inside of the tank to get it ready for the rust removing/inhibiting process. I mixed 1 part Aqua Clean to 1 part hot water and poured it in the tank. I sloshed it around for a good while and left it to soak over night.

The next morning, I drained the tank and washed it out real well with soapy water. During the draining I noticed chunks of rust was pouring out and some rust debris as well. This got me thinking... before I go with the next two process, I should go ahead and strip the paint to prep it for when I paint the tank, and I wanted to dig deeper and see what the condition of the metal actually is. So I took the tank to my friend Steve's shop to get it sandblasted. Steve has been very accommodating and has proven to be a valuable resource for me during this whole process thus far.

Sandblasting took the paint off and showed me some things I really was not looking forward to seeing... tiny little pin holes on the bottom of the tank. The rust had gotten so bad that it had eaten through the metal. The good part is that they are tiny. Steve took a look at it and found other weak spots from the rust, but they are still tiny. A total of 7 tiny holes.

This sparked more research on how to patch the holes in the tank. There's welding, brazing, JB-weld, putty, Bondo and the list goes on. I really don't feel like welding or brazing the tank since it involves fire... on the tank that has had gasoline in it. I can blow myself up some other time.... like never. JB-Weld just seems like a hack job.

Being that I'm sealing the tank anyway, the decision I've come to is to use a fiberglass patch over the holes, then use the tank sealant. The sealant will act as a liner for the tank so it should not leak. We'll see how it goes. If it doesn't work... a new tank will be on the horizon. About 200 bucks brand new, but at least it will be rust free from the start. =)

GZ

New bars. Hang on to something.

As per my last post, I mentioned that my roommate was kind enough to dock my rent by a $100 so that I could order some parts for the bike that he really wanted to see on there. Of course, I"m not gonna complain. Anything to see something new on the GS.

I also got the new air filters in a couple of days ago. One for each carb. I ordered them along with the new handle bars. I tried installing it one night after class, but the further along I got into it, the more I realized that it was gonna take some more planning than just slapping them on the carbs. I'll tackle that when I get a better sense of everything.

Anyway, the handle bars came in a few days later...today. I really do get a kick of waiting for a UPS, FedEx, or USPS package at work, which is where I get stuff delivered. Its like Christmas all over again and I don't have to wait til midnight or morning to open the presents.

After work, I couldn't wait to see how the bike will look with the new handle bars and bar end mirrors. The bars are Clubman style, very typical for Cafe Racer bikes. Its goingto give the bike a more aggressive look to it.

Here are the before photos of the bike with the old handle bars. As you can see, its plain Jane and the mirrors are fairly large. The ride style is very conventional.. in other words, boring.



After a few modifications to a couple of the parts and some rerouting of wires to accommodate the length of the bars, I was able to successfully install the new bars.





Before I installed the handle bars, I wasn't sure I was going to like how large the gauges were and how high they stick up from the bike. Looking at it now, I don't mind so much. I'd still like to see them in chrome.

GZ

The Seat. Wrap It Up.

So I kinda of procrastinated on the tank prep, but I did get some things done. There was a fiasco with how to get the gas out of the tank safely. I really don't feel like turning the tank over and pouring it out into a little gas can–it just didn't feel right. So I got a gas siphon from auto zone for a couple of bucks, and I should be able to get to it Friday afternoon.

This past Sunday, I figured I'd work on the seat again. So I went to Joann's Fabrics and bought some high density foam to pad the seat, and some cheap vinyl. I didn't want to get the good stuff until I'm ready to wrap the seat with the seat cover I designed later on.

First thing's first, the seat pan was bare metal so I needed to protect it from rust. So I painted it with some primer. I didn't have any other paint laying around, and Auto Zone had closed by the time I got to working. I figure that primer should do for what the foam will be laying on, and I'll paint the underside with some more weather resistant paint. I couldn't wait to get to working so, I unintentionally left off some steps. I'll just make sure to remember them once I get to the final.



Next up, foam. I had bought a bunch of high density foam to form the pad for the seat. I also picked up an electric carving knife to cut it. It worked like a charm, cutting through the foam like butter. Knife in hand and adhesive spray, I went to town. It was like art school all over again. Sculpting, forming and designing on the fly. Of course I already had the basic shape in my head. The goal is to end up with a cafe racer type seat. Here it is step by step, layer by layer.





After finishing up the basic form, it was time to wrap it in vinyl. This part was a little tougher than I had hoped for. Again, I forgot some steps. I bought a pop riveter to hold the vinyl in place. Unfortunately, I forgot to pre-drill the seat pan for the pop rivets. It was around 10pm when I realized it, and I didn't want to wake up the neighbors with drilling noises. Besides, I didn't have the proper drill bit. I'll get to it this weekend, but here it is all wrapped up.


Its not the prettiest job, but it'll do for now. I just need something to sit on besides bare metal or foam. I also need to re-carve some parts and lay down some smoother pieces of foam to even out some areas. As I've said before, its not perfect, but I'm just learning as I go.

My room mate was kind enough to take off a hundred bucks off my rent this month so I can buy more stuff for the GS... thoughtful isn't he? lol So I picked up the new handlebars and mini open element air filters off eBay. They should come in just in time for the week end.

The bike is transforming pretty nicely, but there's still a lot of work to do to make it safe to ride. Patience and taking things one thing at a time will be my saving grace from being overwhelmed, but I'm also really happy on how things are shaping up.

GZ