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This is going to be a project.... all sun and no bike.


2wheels>4

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Got the week pretty much free and the sun will be a shining every day!! Which is good, because this shit is fucked up and now I don't have any roadworthy bikes to play with!!!!

The bad luck which resulted in no bikes to ride this week: This weekend I was out riding up in Knox, stopped to see parents and took girlfriend to the Ye' Old Mill in Utica for some ice cream.... Get back to my parents house and my bike backfires and blows something out of one of my carbs. (there are no baffles in the exhaust, I didn't remove them and I just haven't spent the cash for new pipes or taken the time to re-jet) Now, it is a 1.5 cylinder, lacking power and making a terrible vacuum/pressure leak noise from inside one carb... Loaded it onto dad's truck and caged the poor girl home.

My Suzuki(s) are out of commission since one is a legal frame (speaking with reference to the VIN number and the title for which being in my name....) and the other runs but has no title and bleeds oil as fast as you pour it in now... (I may, or may not, have two GS550s and only one title between them... I also may or may not have been riding the one that is NOT registered to me. I can DEFINITELY say that when I finish rebuilding the motor this week that the frame it goes back on WILL be the one I have titled, registered and insured... LOL )

So, here are some pics of the bikes parked at their new home in Obetz. (I have been moving here from Dublin, almost finished.) The stripped down GS is the one I will be riding after much swapping of parts, the red GS is the donor/parts bike that I (may or may not) have been riding all last year and this winter with fictitious tags...

Oh, and when the 'Zuki wakes up from surgery, it will be murdered out in all it's cafe' rat-bike glory. (all 550ccs of it....) Rattle cans of flat black for the win and no more plastic bits. Anywhere. I already made patterns for the new sheet metal side covers and anything not necessary is going to the trash bin. Might not even bother with side covers at all.... bare, baby, bare... (Welder and a Saws-all, anyone?? hehehe) Basically I intend to continue riding that bitch like I stole it and I need to get all the breakable shit off and rattle can it up in anticipation of several more wrecks this summer. (wreck the cheap ones you have spare parts for... much easier that way...)

My girlfriend wants me to sell it after I rebuild it and use the funds to partially finance a newer sport bike. I agree on the sport bike concept, but she is smoking bad drugs if she thinks Suzi is going anywhere... Jealous bitch, just because I had her FIRST... LOL (Oh and if anyone is selling a Ninja 636, let me know... she wants one of those, which means I have to buy one... or risk hearing about how much I suck at life.... Preferably fucked up, I like fixing them almost as much as riding and they are WAY cheaper that way...)

Bikes in new home.

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And this is the new "Lab." It is already partitioned for dual-use. One side is an electronics workshop (as is part of the basement) and the other side is set up for small engine repair and mechanical maintenance. This is where the engine and electrical components will be getting their love prior to being reinstalled onto a freshly painted frame. We also have a garage, but there is a Honda SI project car in there too, so it is getting crowded with tools and vehicles as it is.

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More pics to come as I fuck up, I mean WORK ON the bikes....

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Been lazy all morning... post whoring and chasing the animals around. Going to Dublin to meet cuter-half for lunch and pick up the top half of the engine, exhaust and gas tank from the stripped down 'zuki. When I get back I will actually start wrenching... Lazy, lazy bastard... Need some beer before I start too... Hmmmmmm

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bottom half is off of frame for Zuki... Motor laid out on bench in pieces...

If I can find an easy fix for the Yamaha's carb, I will ride with ya one day, Rusty! I need to fix or replace a Mikuni carb on the quick though. I will tear it off first thing, well both of them I should say, and see if I can un-fuck them without much drama!

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Update: This is what a 1978 Suzuki GS550 looks like naked and stripped to the frame. She has even had a nice detergent scrubbing and a bath with the hose so there is no more nasty road dirt and grease on her. Next she gets the high speed wire brush to remove rust and paint, and then the fresh paint of course!! (I'm painting the frame/swing arm/fork mounts with black truck liner.... should be nice and durable... LOL)

Also ordered the engine gasket kit for it, hopefully I will get that UPS this week, and hopefully I will be ready for reassembly on the engine by then...

Almost there...

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Clean and dry!!

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Good old Rustoleum for the frame parts. (No, I'm not painting that old chain... I just tossed it there last night to keep it from rusting to the driveway.)

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Motor cracked open on bench... Not necessarily the one going back on the frame, but I want to look inside both in case one has noticeably more wear than another or any other concerns which may make me change my mind....

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And because no thread is worth anything without boobs, a pic of my very patient girlfriend. She looks deceptively sweet because she is busy laying out a new deck and some landscaping I will get stuck doing on that clipboard and making more work for me really cheers her up....

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Got the cruiser up and moving... I only feel a little stupid....

So the backfire blew the carb right out of the intake on the cylinder head. I had noticed it look like it was pushed back, but got no response when I gave it the old hillbilly poke and a shake while it was running. I had no starter fluid when it broke down, so that was the best I could do at the time. (being parked on the side of a tar and chip road near Deliverance country)

I just got a wild hair up my ass and decided to give another shot at it before performing major surgery and took the starter fluid to the suspect carb while idling... instant results from a short spray and I then I spend the next 20 minutes wrestling the carb back into the rubber intake... (two flat head screw drivers and a few smart thumps with the palm of your hand at the right moment is the key here....) I am somewhat impressed that it blew out like that, it fits pretty snug and there isn't much wiggle room for the carb to even pull loose...

Anyway,I am riding the bike to buy a plug-in drill (cordless one lacks stamina) to finish stripping paint/rust from the Suzuki frame in celebration. Ciao!!

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looks like a lot of fun...... that kinda stuff is why I paint, cause I can't wrench for shit. Thought You might like this.... my first bike that I traded to get my hurricane. hated to let it go, but was time to upgrade. One very reliable 77 GS550... was given to me and left for dead. some needed TLC and a couple trips to the local bike shop made it damn near perfect.

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Fuck yeah, that's wicked! I'm not the painter, really, I'm the mechanic and fabricator. I will work steel for frames, suspension, steering, etc and I rebuild and repair, but the only painting I do is utilitarian. (like this frame... LOL) All my shit is flat black or OD green when I get done.

Oddly enough, I leave the custom paint to my girlfriend. She is ASE cert mechanic, but mostly does body work and paint. (also, she is artistic and I can't draw a stick figure) I will have to show her your bike, she will shit a brick I'm sure. (loves wrapping the pipes and blacking out the chrome)

And this was my first bike also, bought two of them for 400 bucks, neither running or moving. It originally took me two weeks to make one road-worthy. Now I am tearing both down again and rebuilding one from scratch rather than just piecing together enough to get it on the road. I should probably sell her when I am done, but I don't want too... GF wants to do something with the paint on the tank, I intend to just prime it and hand the thing over, hopefully I will like what she does...

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