Archived Posts

[Admin]

Frank, the gauges aren't working right, and I haven't done anything about registering it yet. I also expect to have to do some carb tweaking. I guess I'll bring Blueboy again.


Lane

[Admin]

The bike looks sharp.

Whats your technique for getting it to turn out nice? Do you do alot of prep?

I think I'm going to practice a bit on the TX750 and then do some small bits of my GT750 project... I suck at painting.

[Admin]

I strip all parts to bare metal. Then prime and wetsand until the surface feels smooth.

Ignore the instructions on the spray cans. It has to go on heavy enough to flow. If you don't keep a very wet edge all the way across the piece, it won't be glossy.

After doing the color, I wetsand it, then apply the clear the same way....so heavy that it almost sags. If it does sag, keep spraying and force the sag all the way to the bottom, and let it drip.

No, I'm not kidding.


Lane

[Admin]

My front forks are mising a couple of small but probably important bits - which is preventing the reassembly. The idiot before me didn't seem to worry about completeness

I need:#51172-15110 (spacer, spring) and also #51158-11010 (seat, spring). Mother Suzuki doesn't have them anymore, nor does Reiner and a couple of other places I've tried. Does anyone have any (NOS or good condition) or any ideas where I can try? What are they made of anyway e.g. rubber or plastic.

I see on ebay there are some plastic looking ones apparently for a Cobra (#51172-11010) Would these fit a T500, are they made of the same stuff? Could I fabricate something out of rubber to do the job etc?
Lots of questions, sorry but any advice gratefully received.
Mike

[Admin]

"This is the best I came up with"... thank you, Rit. Seems that my 380 is making some sort of school . Below you can see the official Suzuki color chart, as you can see the "marble scarlet" (code 293) is the only "red" color for the "B" model, the stripes combination is the 61R which consists in a gold (code 764) stripe and an unidentified code 719, I presume a black stripe.

[Admin]

Thanks for the info and the close-ups Rocky. They'll be a big help

Looks like there is no red stripe on any model unless the 719 is red but as you say probably black as that colour would make more sense on red paint.

Great looking bike by the way. If I can get mine to look half as nice as that I'll be pretty happy

[Admin]

If WPS gets off their a$$es, the sprockets should ship on Monday.
Geezer

Well, WPS didn't, and the sprockets didn't. That changed last Thursday after I read them the riot act. Now we'll see how long it takes to get some actual customer service. Lack of sprockets is the only thing keeping the bike from coming off the lift. I really can't wait to test ride this beast.

Geezer

[Admin]

Here's a 1978 Japanese ad for the GT380, you can see both color schemes.

[Admin]

Geezer,

Probably too late but you could convert to a 520 chain and sprockets easily. Jughead posted a conversion guide here:

http://vancouver.globat.com/~sundialmot ... php?t=5149

I orderd the rear sprockets from Sprocket Specialists in 31-33-35 teeth and they were $52-$55 per sprocket. The fronts I got off of ebay searching the bikes Jughead listed. I think I paid $10-12 per front sprocket. RK makes a nice 520 chain that will work nicely and I found them on Ebay for $55 a chain:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0109857999

Jim

[Admin]

I was hoping my covers were good enough but Juggy said they really need to be perfect to make good copies. Mine are cracked a bit. Hope some one has a really nice one? I told him I would be happy to help finance the initial set up so he wouldnt soak up the costs. Any one else interested and have a good dust cover. Dofin

I'm interested and would also contribute to the cause. But like yours, mine are cracked, so wouldn't be good patterns.

Not that it matters at this point, but I wonder why Suzuki found it necessary to machine the external groove in the sliders to accept a dust seal not used on any other model before or since. They could have saved a ton of money if they's simply tossed a GT380 front end on the GT500 rather than developing a whole new fork.

Geezer

[Admin]

That's a GT380N, never imported in Europe... look at the front fender and the rear light, they comes from the GS series.

[Admin]

Fund the spacers from Marcel - nice and cheap too

[Admin]

I used a DID 530NZ chain. I finally received the JT sprockets, and they were worth the wait. A beautiful pair of OEM quality hardened steel sprockets. I get a pretty hefty discount from my dealer - my cost was $40 for the pair. The bike'll be on it's wheels and running tomorrow. Hoping my refurb project is about done, so I can stop wrenching and start riding.


Geezer

[Admin]

Hey all

Ive got a set of rims im cleaning up and they have some rust in them, just wondering how much is permissible?

The internal faces of the rims have some spots which are pitted, maybe 2-3mm deep.

There seems to be plenty of meat, the exterior surfaces are good - the chrome is tidy.

Do you think they'll be OK to use or would it be unsafe?

Thanks!
Ash

[Admin]

If it's a rear rim and your bike's puttin out a ton of torque, or if it's a real heavy weight bike, then I might be a bit concerned and get a second opinion from a local bike/tire shop. Otherwise, if the spokes ain't loose where they mount to the rim, I'd say go for it. You might want to use a wire brush to take off the loose rust, picking off any remaining heavy flakes, then treat the affected areas to a couple coats of some rust neutralizer (available from your local hardware store). Then put on some good rim strips, and mount up yer new meats! Then check the spokes after you've ridden for awhile just to confirm they're not getting loose.