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

Weekend #2 - Tank Prep

So we're coming up on the weekend, and thank goodness, I've been wanting to work on the bike some more and get things done. There's a few things I want to get done this weekend. One of which is to seal the gas tank.

When I got the bike, one of the first things that I looked at was the gas tank. I wanted to make sure that there wasn't much rust in there. I opened the cap and saw more than a few rust spots. Not good. Rust deposits can damage the fuel system which can lead to engine damage. So I started researching on how to clean the inside of a gas tank.

I stumbled upon a few techniques on how to clean the inside of a tank. One of which involves BB's, diesel fuel, and gasoline. First, you drain whatever fuel that is in the bike and then remove it from the frame. Second, you take a half gallon of diesel fuel, pour it in the tank, followed by a handful of BB's and then you shake it up. What this does is that the BB's will knock off the dust particles in the metal and the diesel fuel will suspend the rust particles so it can be poured out after the process. After this step is done, you pour a half gallon of regular unleaded gas in the tank to get rid of the diesel fuel remnants. After which, the tank will be good to go.

Another processes I learned is cleaning the tank via electrolysis. The entire process can be found here... http://users.eastlink.ca/~pspencer/nsaeta/electrolysis.html. This is way too complicated and I really don't feel like playing with water and electricity in the same vicinity.

The other technique I found is a three step process of tank cleaner, rust remover, and a tank sealer. I bought a kit through Amazon.com from KBS Coatings. Here's the link... http://www.amazon.com/CYCLE-TANK-SEALER-KBS-Coatings/dp/B000IBDIX2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1298612820&sr=8-3. Over all, this seemed to be the easiest and it the final step will coat the tank with a sealer that will protect it from all elements for the life of the tank—and I like that. =) This system is widely used in tanks that are around water all the time, mainly outboard motors, but it should work great on the bike. I'll try to remember to take photos, maybe some videos to post of the process.

The other thing I'm going to do this weekend is to strip all the old paint off and primer the pieces to get it ready for paint. Right now, the GS has 2 coats of paint on it, the first coat is the original blue color of the bike, and the second coat is the black enamel base paint that the guy I bought the bike from painted the bike with. I guess he didn't like the blue. I won't be painting the bike for another month or two, I just want to go ahead and get this step out of the way since it will be easy. I will go to town on the tank with a sand blaster and sand the plastic pieces (rear cowl and front fender) by hand since the sand blaster might be too strong for it.

The cowl does have a broken piece on it that will need to get fixed. One of the tabs that attaches the cowl to the frame is broken. I'm guessing that it was from someone trying to put the bike on the center stand and mistaking it for the handle below it. I'll be using plastic from one of the side covers to fix that tab with a fiberglass patch kit. This will save me around $50 for a used cowl off eBay, and about $130 for a new one from a parts store. The patch kit costs around $12 at Auto Zone.

I had a bit of free time this week so I decided to start working on the paint scheme and graphics for how I want the GS to ultimately turned out. Below is a quick drawing of the paint scheme...

It will be black with a metallic silver going down the middle and red pin striping on the edges. I also included the seat design that I will be making. I'll be using black vinyl on the sides and silver vinyl on top with red piping between the two. I'll be using red thread to stitch the two together.

As far as graphics goes, I'll be removing the emblem that is on the sides of the tank and replacing it with the Suzuki logo in the same metallic silver on top of the tank with red pin striping to out line it...


And as for the seat, I'll have the "GS650GZ" embroidered on black vinyl for the rear of the seat...


For the side covers, the "82" for the year model of the bike in black in the metallic silver circle with checker marks on each side...


This is the plan for now, but like I said, this step will be further down the road. The main focus is getting the bike running safely on the streets. I'll worry about doing the paint job later. In the mean time, I'll ride around with a black primered motorcycle. I also need to the the engine looking nice. So there's going to be a lot of cleaning, brushing, buffing and painting involved.

I just can't wait until the 15th to buy more parts.

To anyone reading this, I'm open for feedback on the paint scheme and designs. Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

GZ

The Look. Old Look.

I really admire old bikes. I also admire newer bikes that were made to look old. Just the idea of riding something that could potentially trigger memories and conversations from older people excites me. Nothing beats a trip down memory lane and sharing that ride with some one when they stop you because your bike reminded them of this one time, or when this happened. Hence my love for...

Royal Enfields...



Triumph Bonnevilles and Thruxtons




Ural motorcycles...



and Nortons...


I haven't had any of those experiences since I just got my bike. I have seen it happen to some friends who drive old muscle cars, and some older person stops and strikes up a conversation reminiscing about the time he fogged those rear windows up on a look out one night in high school with his sweetheart. The thought of being able to experience these things motivates me to keep working and cleaning up the GS.

Since my bike was built in 1982, its now considered to be a vintage motorcycle being that its over 20 years old—so that's a start. It does have a bit of modern styling since it was built in the 80's. It was right about the time that motorcycle design was taking a turn into the modern bikes. The old "standard style" was being phased out by Japanese manufacturers, or so it seems through my research.

One of the more popular things to do to these old Japanese bikes, 70's and early 80's models, are turning them into Cafe Racers. According to Wikipedia, "Cafe Racer" is defined as...

"A café racer, originally pronounced "caff" (as in Kaff) racer, is a type of motorcycle as well as a type of motorcyclist. Both meanings have their roots in the 1960s British counterculture group the Rockers, or the Ton-up boys, although they were also common in Italy, Germany, and other European countries. In Italy, the term refers to the specific motorcycles that were and are used for short, sharp speed trips from one coffee bar to another."

Basically, guys turned their little machines into faster cooler mode of transportation from one cafe to the next. These styling paved the way for modern sport bikes as far as looks. Triumphs, Nortons, BSAs and Enfields were the popular choices in those days since they were all readily available in Europe. These days, older Japanese bikes, since they closely resemble in style the European bikes of those days. Here are some examples....






The most popular Japanese bike to turn into Cafe Racer is the Honda CB750. With is styling and powerful DOHC engine makes it a perfect platform for a cafe racer, but other bikes, if done right, can be just as good. And that is what I will be trying to do with the GS.

As per my previous post, I mentioned that the seat pan has been fixed. Instead of matching the OEM seat, I will be attempting to make a cafe racer seat with a new cover. I'm trying to be as cheap as possible, but there are somethings that I will not be as thrifty with... and that is the way it looks and the way it runs. I figure I can offset the cost by doing the work myself. I completely understand that there are some things on the bike that I will have to have someone else do, and I'm fine with that. Provided those people do their job to the best of their ability.

I'm a pretty creative person, so I'm anxious to start thinking of changing the entire look of the GS that will hopefully spark the conversation I have been looking at having. =)

GZ

The Seat. Rust Be Gone.

Buying a 29 yr old bike definitely has got me a bit overwhelmed at times when I think about all that I have to do to make it safe and presentable. I keep telling myself that I have to take it one day, one weekend at a time.

Most of the things I'm running into is basically cosmetic parts that need to be redone. One of them is the seat. I thought about buying a cafe racer seat online, it would cost any where between $100 to $200. I thought that rather than risking ordering something online that might not fit on my bike, I could try and fix what's there already.

The seat's vinyl wrapping was pretty bad. It was torn at the seams, it had holes and cracks every where. When I took off the seat from the bike I turned it over to inspect the seat pan, and here's what I found...


The part of the seat that sits on top of the battery was rusty and corroded and was far from being saved. So I made a call to my friend Steve, who is a wizard with metal work to inspect my seat pan and see if it could be salvaged. (Check out his website at http://lonestarwelding.com/Home_Page.php.) I met Steve at THE Starbucks a while back. After many nights of hanging out drinking coffee, you get to make friends with people with all sorts of skills, talents, expertise and backgrounds. Steve just so happened to work with metal.

So I brought it over to him this past Sunday, he took one look at it and thought it could be salvaged. So we got to work. After taking the vinyl cover off, we got a better look at the condition of the foam. It wasn't in bad shape, but you can see where it had fused with some rust on the bottom and where water had gotten to it and made the foam crusty and moldy.

Steve had me sandblast the entire seat pan to get most of the rust particles and old paint off so that we could have bare metal to weld on. After much measuring, cutting, bending, shaping, and welding, this is what we ended up with...

The bottom...


The top...


Steve gave me a spray bottle of rust inhibitor to spray the seat pan down with. This will protect the bare metal from rust forming, and it neutralizes the rust that was left in the metal. After it dried I put it back on the bike.


This was the same day that I worked on the brakes. So I worked on the brakes while the seat pan was drying from the rust inhibitor.


I am fully committed to doing as much as I can with the GS. I'm taking it as an opportunity to learn new skills. So I tossed the old foam so that I will be forced to learn how to upholster a seat. So that I can be proud to say, "I made that." Thanks to Steve, I'm another step closer to finishing the GS.

I can't wait to get back at it this coming weekend.

GZ

I have a need, a need to stop.... fixing the brakes.

[Special Note: After much debate with my dear friend Gary, its been concluded that Steve McQueen rode a Triumph in 'The Great Escape.' My bad. Sure did look like a Royal Enfield. Gary, by the way, is doing the same thing I'm doing in Austin. He purchased a 70's model Triumph T150 to restore to life. Pretty soon we'll be cruising through the Texas Hill Country together… *insert "CHiPs'" theme song here.]

[Also, let me just say that I decided to blog about my motorcycle after I started working on it. So the first couple of days of repair are lacking photos.]

After taking a good look at the bike, I realized that in order for me to starting riding it is to make sure that the essentials are fixed. My GS650GZ is a 29 year old bike, and I don't know how long it has been sitting, so there's no telling when the last basic maintenance was made. (Yes, GZ are my initials too! Coincidence? No, I say its fate.)

This is definitely going to be a long term project. I'm only going to spend about $200 a month on fixing this bike. Even if it takes me a year to fix it completely. Why $200? Ever since I saw the Royal Enfield, I started saving $200 a month so I could save up and buy it out right. I don't like payments, more particularly, interest rates…. and fuck creditors!

Being in night classes Monday through Thursdays, the only time I can really spend working on the GS is Friday night, Saturdays and Sunday. I'll be devoting one day on the weekend to spend time with my family. They don't see me enough as it is.

That said I'm going to tackle one section per weekend because that's all I have time for and so that I don't break the budget. I still gotta eat and put gas in the car. I figure I can buy one part a month and replace whatever needs to be replaced when I get there. This will really test my patience.

To save some money, I will attempt to do most of the work myself when it comes to body work. I'll also enlist the help of friends' advice based on each of their expertise and experience.

Luckily, I had already bought all the tools I will be needing for my classes. So I have a the tools to work on my bike. Most of them are Craftsman tools. So if any of them break I can just get a new one. Gotta love their warranty. Basic hand tools to get by…

Metric box end wrenches (6mm-20mm)
3/8" drive metric socket set
1/4" drive metric socket set
A ball pein hammer
Soft face hammer
A feeler gauge (for valve adjustments and other things)
Pliers (long nose and combination)
Wire cutter
Allen wrenches
Multimeter with an amp clamp
C clamps
A Micrometer
Punch and chisel set
And, of course, safety glasses and gloves

I'm sure I'll be buying more as the need arises, but for now this is a good place to start.

So, first thing is first, I figure I'd start somewhere easy. Luckily, the bike starts and is able to be ridden. The guy I bought it from said he rode it up and down the street, and he started the bike with no problem when I went there to go see it. That said, I thought if I was going to do test rides, the brakes and brake lines better be good. Stopping is kind of necessary.

I'll be replacing the brake lines later on, but in the mean time I'm just going to make do with what I've got. There was no telling how long the brake fluid had been sitting in those master cylinders, so I figure I'd flush out the front and rear brakes.

The rear brakes were easy. The lines weren't clogged and the calipers worked well. I still need to take it all apart later on to clean them and make sure the pads are good, but for now, it'll do. The front brakes, however, was a completely different story. I took the master cylinder cover off and the brake fluid had turned from clear to black. I sopped it up with some paper towels to uncover rust sediment on the bottom. At first, I thought if I cleaned this up, this should fix the problem. So I took it apart to clean it and made sure to get most of the rust deposits off of there. Brake cleaner helped a lot in the process being careful not to get it on any rubber parts as it will damage them. After I got done, I put it back together and reinstalled it on the handle bar. Tried it out. Nothing.

So, I figured that I might as well take the entire system apart, brake lines and calipers included. I took apart the calipers to find rust sediments in them as well. There's one on either side of the from wheel so I had to do it twice. I made sure that the piston was not seized. Using a C clamp to free it lose. The brake pads were still good so I cleaned them up to be reused.

There are 3 total brake lines for the front brake system... one from the master cylinder that goes in to a splitter, and two lines that go to each caliper on both sides of the front tire from the splitter. I took them apart and made sure to clean each banjo bolt, and I took some thin steel wire and a pair of long nose pliers and ran it through the entire length of each line. At this point, I wasn't going to be surprise to what I will encounter, but the stuff that came out of those lines were just plain nasty. no wonder the brakes were not working. After a thorough cleaning, I reinstalled everything back on the bike.

As if it wasn't difficult enough, no one told me that putting brake fluid back in would be the most time consuming part when its done manually. I had gone to Sears to pick up some things and I saw a couple of brake bleeder kits. One for $7 that consisted of a plastic bottle and some hoses, which is what I bought, and a $34 dollar kit with pumps and all sorts of gadgets. I should have gone with the $34 dollar one. More expensive, but it would have save me an hour or so of pumping the brake lever thousands of times to get the fluid started and through the system. Eventually, with the help of my roommate, it was finished… and it worked. =)

First hurdle. Conquered.

GZ

A new project begins….

So I have not been taking as many trip as I thought I was going to take this year, but I'll keep blogging about that as I do. In the mean time let me fill you in on what I have been doing thus far, I enrolled in school this Spring to try and get a Motorcycle Repair Technician certification at a local community college, and its been quite an experience so far. Its a lot different being a student again.

Why motorcycles? Its a long explanation so bear with me. Well, I would like to eventually get my master's degree, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle going to school again with an intense study load. So I figured I'd test the water and do some thing fun.

Growing up as a kid I had always been fascinated with motorcycles. My dad used to ride when he was younger, and I remember him telling stories about how much fun he had some of the trouble he got in to. He rode a Honda CB450.

My mom's older brother, my late Tito Winnie, used to come over our house in Quezon City on his police bike with an M16 strapped to his back. He was a motorcycle cop. I thought he was the Filipino Rambo. My dad took me for a ride on that bike once, then I burnt my leg on the exhaust pipe. That was my first real experience riding on a bike that wasn't a passenger tricycle.

I also remember playing with motorcycle trading cards with other kids. I used to be able to tell you each bike Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki made in the 70's and 80's and how much horsepower and displacement each one had. I was kind of addicted to those cards. I couldn't tell you any of those now though.

These days, my brother has a bike—a Honda Shadow 600. My roommate, Scott, has a Harley Davidson Sportster 883 Iron (which, btw, was the bike I originally wanted until I told him about it and bought it 5 days later… punk lol). Also, the majority of the guys that I hang out with at Starbucks ride motorcycles. Steve with his Ironhorse Chopper, Raymon with his HD Road King, TC with his Frankenbike, Timmy with his HD, and Aaron with his Big Dog Chopper. I'll try and post those when I can find where I saved them.

Here's Scott's bike. He did a lot of customization to it to make it his own.


Being with a biker crowd would make someone want to ride a bike, and in my case, they brought up some unresolved childhood issues. So after much procrastination, I got my motorcycle endorsement last fall and proceeded with the motorcycle hunt.

My roommate sent me a photo one afternoon of a bike at the local custom shop down the street from our house. It… was…. beautiful. It turned out to be a Royal Enfield C5 Bullet. Since he pretty much bought the only bike I was interested in, he did me a favor by turning me on to these beautiful creations.




I'm a huge fan of anything different and anything that can transport you to the past with just a look. The Royal Enfield C5 Bullet is the bike that they forgot to stop making. If you guys still can comprehend the coolness factor of this bike, well, Steve McQueen rode one on the movie "The Great Escape" and Mr. Cool, James Dean himself, owned one. Needless to say, this bike went on top of the list of motorcycles to buy.

Anyway, I figured that since I'm already paying maintenance on my car, and certainly wanted to save money on maintenance on a motorcycle by trying to tackle repairs and services myself. Only one problem… I didn't know anything about how to fix a motorcycle. So I decided to test the water of returning to school by applying to a Motorcycle Repair Program. Whew! That was the long winded explanation.

I figured that it would be more cost effective to spend money on school and be able to do all the work myself, than paying someone else to work on my toys. Also, I really enjoy immersing myself into a subject matter that has been a part of my life that had never come to fruition until now. Besides, when all said and done, I can take a job at a motorcycle dealer to be a technician, so it could also pay for itself.

I was watching TV at my parents' house one day and a show called Cafe Racer was on. I had always been a huge fan for the Triumph motorcycle. The Bonneville and the Thruxton in particular. They just cost way too much for my budget. As I watched the show, I realized that these guys were taking old 70's and 80's Japanese bikes into something cool like the Triumph. I also learned about the subculture of the Cafe Racer. So I thought I'd keep my eye out for an old Japanese bike. Honda CB's, Kawazaki KZ's, Suzuki GS's and Yamaha Viragos were on my list for possibilities. Pretty much any old bike with the right tank and the right seat.

After a short wait, a bike showed up for sale on Craigslist that was on the list—a 1982 GS650G. I asked my friend Raymon if I could use his truck and help me pick it up in the chance that I might like it and buy it. The bike looked good for its age, and it definitely had a lot of potential. So I decide to pull the trigger and buy it. The price it was listed for was $700, but I managed to talk the guy down a little bit—final price of $640. I would have tried to talk him down some more if he wasn't standing close to the fence where he kept his pet wolves who were looking at me like I was their next dinner. We took it back home and here it is...


I wasn't going to mess with it that night, but I couldn't sleep without something to it. Even in the least bit. So the luggage rack, sissy bar and the bar that went across the cowl were taken off, and it changed the look a lot... for the better.


She needs a lot of work to get her going on the road, but that's what the classes are for and the willingness to resurrect this bike from the brink of death.


More to come...

Lui turns 14

My nephew, Lui, turned 14 yesterday. Such a cool kid. Too bad that the roads were icy and we couldn't do the thing he wanted to do the most... drive around to nowhere. He's kind of a free spirit, which is what I like about him the most. Easy going, easy to please.

Being that we were stuck indoors, we made the best of the day with a bag of marshmallows. I present, Chubby Bunny....



And the Marshmallow Experiment...



Happy birthday Lui! We'll make it up another day. In the mean time, we'll go play some tennis. =)