And I Start To Wonder
What the hell I have done. See, I mentioned in my last post that I had agreed to buy a Suzuki GS500e with the intention of building a custom bike.
Goat very kindly offered the use of man and Transit van to get the bike home, so this afternoon we snapped a bit of wood loading it but we got the bike back to my place without too much sweat.
A couple of piccies later and the bike is now nestled inside my garage. I can’t confirm it, but I think this might be the bike’s first night under cover. Ever! The bike has been stood for the last 6 months, not started or moved except out of the way, so things are a little rusty (as you can see from the picture on the left.
None of this is particularly important as the bike is going to be completely rebuilt into a custom built frame with Harley Davidson Sportster style tank, front end and wheels. The bike will have no rear suspension, turning it into what’s known as a hardtail chop (a butt breaker according to my wife..). As far as I can find, it’s the first GS to undergo this treatment.
It’s a good job that we’re dumping so much of the bike. Look at the photo on the right (click for a larger version) and you’ll see a hole where there’s supposed to be frame. Yeah. Not good is it. The moral of this is to look after your bike! This particular beastie was first registered in 1995 and has had all sorts of abuse. There’s 66,000 miles on the clock, it’s been in a major accident (the previous owner ruptured his spleen (I think) in the accident. There’s a major dent in the tank and the engine has been replaced. The rectifier is from a Kawasaki 750 and the headlight is from a 250cc Honda something-or-other.
Well, it’s time for a new lease of life for this bike. The wheels, decent body panels and any other half decent (none required parts) will be going on fleabay to help finance the rest of the project. 20 minutes after we got the bike into the garage the battery was out and on charge, the rear body panels and grab rail are off and the mirrors are in the ebay parts bin
I need: wheels (Harley preferably), GS500e decent replacement forks (or Harley ones), tank, seat, frame (will be built from 39mm tube), handlebars, chain and sprocket (dependent on the rear wheel), discs and calipers (again depending on the wheels) as well as some less important bits like lights and (unfortunately) indicators. Priority is the front end and tank, so it’s off to eBay…
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