Streetfight... Or... Scrap...

Streetfight... Or... Scrap...

Author
Discussion

Bluehawk

Original Poster:

494 posts

165 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
Sorry to revive an old thread people...

But I've finally decided after months of my ER5 sitting in the garage doing not much other than being started up now and again...
To strip it right down, give it a bloody good clean, service and some fresh parts along the way...

So after about 2 hours in the garage i managed to strip her down to this...




I have a whole host of new parts already on the way/ready to install...

- Braided brake lines for the front
- New front brake pads
- Piston & Seal kit to rebuild the caliper
- New Brake fluid
- New NGK spark plugs
- New NGK Plug caps
- Oil & Filter
- k&n air filter

Only big thing left on the list really is new rear shock absorbers...

The plan?

Take literally everything off the bike, clean it, replace anything that looks a bit worn/tired

Give it a new lick of paint... And put it back together biggrin

Is it really worth it?
probably not... But hey ho! Why not!

grahamr88

421 posts

172 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
I second the previous suggestion to turn it into a cheap racebike/trackbike. You'll need all the things you've already ordered, plus some wide Renthal bars and you'll be good to go.

One of my mates has a CB500 track bike and has as much fun as anyone on track!

Merch131

812 posts

148 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
Try YSS shocks.. cheaper than Hagons and better quality in my opinion. I got mine spec'd with the spring rate / length I wanted for no extra cost via my local bike shop .. £135 all in.

Could you get the exhaust down pipes welded? would save a lot.

pozi

1,723 posts

186 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
I was in the same boat earlier in the year with my old GS500, I ended up replacing the exhaust (also cracked at the 2-1 join so not impressed considering it was a Motad stainless steel one), tyres, chain & sprocket plus fork seals.

Ironically it had only covered 600 miles in the last year and cost more in parts to get it through an MOT than it was probably worth!!

Renn Sport

2,761 posts

208 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
There is something cathartic fixing up something old and bringing it up to scratch.

Good work.

Bluehawk

Original Poster:

494 posts

165 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
Merch131 said:
Try YSS shocks.. cheaper than Hagons and better quality in my opinion. I got mine spec'd with the spring rate / length I wanted for no extra cost via my local bike shop .. £135 all in.

Could you get the exhaust down pipes welded? would save a lot.
To be honest the crack looked worse than it actually is no the exhaust is off the bike

I will most likely get a friend to give it a dab of weld

Bluehawk

Original Poster:

494 posts

165 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
quotequote all
Much to the disappointment of the other forum users, i will keep this thread updated with my progress...

So last night, another 2 hours in the garage after work...

After negotiating a few seized bolts here and there, managed to drop the engine out and do the valve clearances biggrin




thatdude

2,654 posts

126 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
quotequote all
All bikes will need that sort of work done at some point. If you want to avoid it, buy a new bike every couple of years / every 15,000 miles else put up with routine servicing and maintainence and replacment of such components

It's probably cheaper to sort the issues than sell it and buy another bike which, for all you know, could have similar issues waiting just round the corner

How were the valve clearences?

Bluehawk

Original Poster:

494 posts

165 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
quotequote all
thatdude said:
How were the valve clearences?
They were actually all within tolerances, Exhaust valves were at the bottom end of tolerance so i only tweaked them to centre them in tolerances.

Rubin215

3,985 posts

155 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
quotequote all
You do know that you don't have to drop the engine out to do the valve clearances, don't you?

It's a Kawasaki, not a Ducati...

Wedg1e

26,760 posts

264 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
Bluehawk said:
managed to... do the valve clearances biggrin

You did do it the proper way didn't you, with two sets of feeler gauges so you check both tappets at the same time...?

Bluehawk

Original Poster:

494 posts

165 months

Friday 21st November 2014
quotequote all
Rubin215 said:
You do know that you don't have to drop the engine out to do the valve clearances, don't you?

It's a Kawasaki, not a Ducati...
Yeah, I didn't drop the engine specifically to do the valve clearances.
I'm cleaning up the whole bike, so stripping it right down to the frame,rebuilding it, replacing worn parts on the way.

Rubin215

3,985 posts

155 months

Friday 21st November 2014
quotequote all
Bluehawk said:
Rubin215 said:
You do know that you don't have to drop the engine out to do the valve clearances, don't you?

It's a Kawasaki, not a Ducati...
Yeah, I didn't drop the engine specifically to do the valve clearances.
I'm cleaning up the whole bike, so stripping it right down to the frame,rebuilding it, replacing worn parts on the way.
If you've gone that far, you might as well strip the whole thing and have the frame and swingarm blasted and coated.

Good time to pick a wild colour and make a "statement" bike...

hehe

Riknos

4,700 posts

203 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Top effort! I agree with you on replacing the parts but making it a bit more different, I quite fancy doing the same myself.

Bluehawk

Original Poster:

494 posts

165 months

Monday 24th November 2014
quotequote all
Rubin215 said:
If you've gone that far, you might as well strip the whole thing and have the frame and swingarm blasted and coated.

Good time to pick a wild colour and make a "statement" bike...

hehe
Well... Considering only 1 week ago i had a working ER5 that just needed some basic maintenance... I currently have this...






And don't worry, i have already sanded down the plastics ready for a nice lick of new paint wink

I even used this little project as an excuse to buy myself some nice shiny new tools biggrin