ROLLING RESTORATION?

[The smudger]

Right,

Having taken off the exhaust and snapped a stud i decided i would do a bit more 'fettling' whilst waiting for a friend to come round with the welder. The plan is to 'tack' a nut on the broken stud

Which incidentally I have managed to wind a nut on, quite tight, flush with the head, then let it cool down and wind it out (hopefully.....) Worse case scenario i snap the stud off flush, then i'll drill it out.

I had already snapped the silencer mounting bolt, which i heated and got out, and the rear foot rest hangers were looking 'ropey'.

Both of them looked really scabby, and the foot rest mount bolts had to be heated to within an inch of their lives to remove without snapping, that blow torch was worth every penny...

After a good rub down

i added some hammerite black satin.

Its not a permanent job, just a bit of work to make it look nicer. The long term plan is to get the frame powder coated but this just 'smartens it up' a bit.

Had a look forwards then, the choke lever was looking rough, and the switches, so i removed the lever, rubbed down and painted it, then used MikeP's trick of jif on the switches, good tip Mike

Before...

After

The writing on the choke lever has long gone but its just a rubber cap so should be able to get one.

Then focused on the brakes.

I tried to bleed the rear, bleed nipple seized, knocked a socket over it, undone, no fluid?

Removed nipple to find it was blocked solid. God only knows when the brakes were bled last, with a thin bit of wire, (picked out of the wire brush!) i managed to get it unblocked then bled fresh fluid through, on to the front.


The r/h caliper bled through no problem, again the fluid was filthy.

The l/h was a different story....

Nipple came undone no problem, just couldn't get any fluid through

Traced it to the brake hose to that caliper has a block in it!! removed the hose (14mm banjo) squeeze lever hard, nothing, but noticed a bulge in the hose further up....

So, new hoses needed

I will get the one thats blocked, then if i cant get the ABS fixed I'll remove the ABS unit and replace the other flex hoses then.


Thought i'd get the front wheel out to gain access to the hose to make sure it was that, it was.

With the front wheel off i decided to remove the disc's.

I think i was right, the discs are OK but the wheel is knackered. really deep (probably 2mm!) ledges on the boss where the disc sits...

Drillam has a wheel for me but i might try to source some washers first?

Oh well, Not in MikeP's league but i'll keep you all posted on the progress...

 

[B4ndit]

Keep it up. Spent a year cleaning mine and now its acceptable. In fact most people with GSs are very impressed when they see it especially when they see the mileage.

 

[Bendy toy]

The fierce spot heat of arc weld onto a stuck bolt/stud will almost always screw it out cleanly. I now do it as a matter of course on anything suspect. Def beats drilling and helicoils.

 

[The smudger]

PART 2

I did have a 2nd hand wheel lined up (thanks Millard) but...

SWMBO reckoned i'd spent enough recently so, decided to put a hold on spending and try to work around the problem.

As described I thought the wheel had worn at the disc mount, removal of the disc confirmed my fears...

So, had a good think and search and remember seeing this repair washer trick on here somewhere. Basically bought 10 M8 x 25 x 1.5 'penny' washers.

Putting them on the wheel like this

Makes the disc sit further out by 1.5mm but at £2.20 for the pack of washers thought it was worth a punt. Fitted under the disc

then with the existing bolts, spacers and wave washers the discs were tight, unlike before where they were so loose they rattled while riding along.

Then mounted the wheel and replaced the calipers. There is plenty of room where the disc go's through the caliper but if you look closely you can see its slightly out.

I dont think it will effect the braking at all, as all i have effectively done is moved the disc out by 1.5mm?

Fitted the new hose and it bled though a treat, only to highlight that the other side, although it bleeds, is much stiffer to bleed, i.e. more pressure required at the lever than the side with the new hose. Thought it was that i had not undone the nipple enough at first but it would appear i will need another hose

Oh well, onwards & upwards.....

 

[staikosn1]

Nice work mate...
You have many things to do in the future....

 

[justabof]

Fitted the new hose and it bled though a treat, only to highlight that the other side, although it bleeds, is much stiffer to bleed, i.e. more pressure required at the lever than the side with the new hose. Thought it was that i had not undone the nipple enough at first but it would appear i will need another hose

Oh well, onwards & upwards.....

If one brake hose is failing, it's usually time to change them all (unless you've recently renewed the others, of course.)

btw, is it possible to buy washers (or modify the ones you have) so that the hole sits over the worn part on the wheel, and the disc is then in its original location?
just a thought...

 

[The smudger]

If one brake hose is failing, it's usually time to change them all (unless you've recently renewed the others, of course.)

btw, is it possible to buy washers (or modify the ones you have) so that the hole sits over the worn part on the wheel, and the disc is then in its original location?
just a thought...

Good shout ref the hoses, the plan is to renew them all but...

The ABS isnt working. I think its the controller but until i can get it into work i cant confirm. If it is the controller i will remove the ABS. This of course means the flex hoses are different in some places, so its a catch 22, i need to get the brakes functioning correctly first, then once ive decided about the ABS i'll renew them all.

I did think of the washer over the worn part bit, its 2mm+ and theyre not all even...

I cant see a downside to moving the disc position, I'll find out once its on the road....

Thanks for your input

Steve.

 

[Bugbear]

I'm not familiar with your bike but unless the retaining bolts have a shoulder that fills the hole on the disc they will have no retaining function apart from friction from the tightened bolts and could move around with, err, interesting results.

 

[The smudger]

Basically what you have is an M8 bolt (2), a 'top hat' spacer (4) that fills the hole in the disc, and a wavy washer (3) that sits under the top hat, against the disc.

The 'top hat' spacer washer is just over the depth of the disc so with the wavy washer on there is a clamping effect on the disc. In the picture here the wave washer (3) is shown the wrong side of the spacer (4). If you can imagine 3 under 4 thats the way it looks on the bike.

In short the disc cant move up, down or sideways when bolted on.

 

[Bugbear]

Gotcha 'smudger', that should be fine

 

[Ant1967]

Keep up the good work. It's good that the bike has gone to a good home and is having some life breathed back into it. If it had got into a dealers hands if would have probably been broken for spares which would be a shame .

Keep the photos coming love the before and after pics.

Tony

 

[The smudger]

A day in the garage as it rained ALL DAY!

Right. Had a fight with 3 exhaust studs and i won 2-1!

It wasn't pretty but I have 5 new studs in and the 1 thats still broken was a little stubborn so I choice discretion and left it in for another day.

This is how we started on the left side...

1 stud left in, with plenty of it showing so i ran an 8mm nut on down to the head and mig welded the nut to the stud.

After a couple of attempts (never used a mig before) out she came!

3 nice new studs in the left side!

Now to the right side. This was the worse side as 1 stud broke about a nuts length from the head, and one similar to the left side.

Once again using the mig I tacked the nut to the stud and the middle one came out, not so lucky with the upper one though. I thoroughly cleaned up the end of the stud and used a new nut. Mig'd it until it was glowing. I'm pretty sure it started to turn, then the nut came off No more 8mm nuts left...

I am leaving that for another day...So, now it looks like this

2 studs are better than 1 ? for now anyway...

Re-fitted the exhaust and all the control units (I disconnected everything!!) started and sounds a treat, no blow from the missing stud area so at least i may now be able to use it for the breakfast run on 17th!

More to follow.

 

[Black Rooster]

i hope you have coppersliped up the new studs

 

[ChrisH Kerry]

Great result should get the last one out with a bit of luck!

 

[richierex]

I'm not familiar with your bike but unless the retaining bolts have a shoulder that fills the hole on the disc they will have no retaining function apart from friction from the tightened bolts and could move around with, err, interesting results.

I understood that the discs are meant to float a little, these look as though they are now solid mounted and not located properly in a radial plane. If so then its an almighty bodge, although I could be mistaken

 

[DrFarkoff]

Smudger use these LINKY for inside the front discs and you won't have to space the callipers

They are off the Roxter and are very thin stainless shims Their only purpose is to keep the disc from the alloy wheel

Nice easy mod for damaged wheels

 

[DrFarkoff]

I understood that the discs are meant to float a little, these look as though they are now solid mounted and not located properly in a radial plane. If so then its an almighty bodge, although I could be mistaken

The discs still float as the top hat bobbin plus the wavy washer are deeper than just the disc and the backing washer just gives the disc something to rub against instead of the actual wheel alloy

 

[The smudger]

I have a week off so spent the day fiddling with the GS.

Bleed brakes. I fitted 2 new hoses at the front as they had collapsed, ever since then had a spongy feel to the front lever, i.e. on first pull the lever will come back to the bar, second pull feels good. Feels like air somewhere?

I must have bled a pint through the front, ABS unit first, calipers second. Initially felt better but now feels the same????

When bleeding them with the lid off the front master if i squeeze the lever quickly fluid squirts out of the reservoir??? If i do it slowly it seems to click then feels like its bleeding normally?

Removed the beak and ally mount for the indicators. Sprayed it with Silver Smoothrite. Looks a whole lot better.

Fitted up another front shock i got from Teamin, (thanks again Graham!)

Looks a whole lot nicer at the front now..

Tomorrows another day........

 

[The smudger]

OK, so today i think i'm done for now.

I didnt find the missing screen fixings so from a local nut & bolt shop (see Spotted a deal) managed to buy all the bits i needed and i think it looks and functions perfectly OK.

Done so far;

Modified front disc mounts so discs no longer rattle!
2 new front brake hoses
New exhaust studs
2nd hand front shock
New heated grips
Removed and painted handle bars
Bled brakes throughout
A bloody good clean up
2nd hand rocker covers fitted

Total spend so far, parts only, approx £150.

So, paid £1100, spent to now £150, a cheap GS no?

The brakes are still shite, no feel, spongy as fuck but i know i can work on that, its really only a combination of air in the system and shit pads i think.

Here it is before,

And after.....

And apart from the front brake which is sortable, rides superbly!

 

[The smudger]

OK. An update on the GS.

I stripped the bike completely about a month ago.

Everything off and then engine apart, split crank cases, the lot.

I sent the casings to be stripped, then blasted. I collect them tomorrow . Also had the heads and barrels stripped, they are off to the powder coaters along with the cases tomorrow.

I plan to fit new chains and tensioner blades, bearings and rings. To be honest the engine was in very good order when i took it down. Chains are worn, although not excessively and the bearings are in good order showing very little signs of wear, even the bores still show the cross hatching, and at 115,000 miles!!!

I'll put some pictures up tomorrow.