Gouraami's 400 bandit project

[Gouraami]

Hey TJS

Thanks for the advice, but this has been sorted out, the inside is now fully coated. I haven't seen Metal Rescue in stores in South Africa anyway. We do have similar products though.

[Gouraami]

Update time:

I havn't been taking a lot of photos  Let me post what I have.

The rear hugger was in surprisingly bad condition. Initially I thought I would be able to sand out the scratches, but it turned out some were really deep. I tried to figure out from what, but I cannot find anything in the vicinity that would be able to do that. The picture below shows what it looked like after some sanding. At this point I decided that I was rather going to respray it as there was no ways I was going to get it looking good again as it was also faded.



After some plastic primer and filler spray I was able to remove the scratches. This is a photo during the process, it turns out I didn't take a later photo. The scratches are out now, but still needs to be sprayed black.



The one ear was gone of me rear light bracket. I was going to repair mine, but found a bandit breaking for spares, so decided to rather buy a replacement. I was also able to buy a replacement rear hanger, the lock section is broken on mine. (No photos of the rear hangers)



At this point my priorities changed. I started a new job on the 1st of March. I didn't have much time to work on the bike as there were a few projects I had to finish at my current job before I could leave. The problem however, was that the bike was still not in my name. I then realized that if I couldn't get the bike roadworthy in Feb I wouldn't be able to use the bike for the next 6 months as I wouldn't be able to get leave at the new job.  The bike was then literally slapped together for roadworthy. It went as it was, not sprayed, mismatched bolts everywhere, loose panels, spongy brakes etc. I made sure I got all the electrics to work, but as Murphy would have it, the rear brake light switch stopped working just before roadworthy! I had to strip it and clean the contacts quickly, very frustrating. It took 6 hours and R1980, but I finally had the bike is in my name.










 

[ventYl]

the "paper issues" are always the most frustrating. it is not the amount of money you have to spend, it is not the time you have to spend but it is the absurdance of the state ifself you have to deal with. usually with no outcome.

one of my bandits. despite being owned by me for about three years. still not on my name. original owner cannot sell it legally. i paid money for it, i have the bike, the papers but cannot get it on my name. worse is that recently the law changed. if the bike won't pass roadworthy test in next few weeks authorities will revoke the papers and the bike will turn into a bunch of spare parts definitely.

it makes no sense for me to make it pass roadworthy tests because amount of money which this bike requires is larger than I paid for bike itself...

edit: I have that warm feeling that GSF400 rear hugger is identical to GS500E rear hugger. They both look visually the same. There should be plenty of those bikes out there including many being broken for parts.

[Gouraami]

I must agree regarding the paperwork issues. To make things work I had to, uhm... "organise" some required paperwork that didn't have to get it into my name.

Oh no, whats the plan with your bike then? If it doesn't pass will you still be able to keep it for spares?

Thanks for the heads up regarding the hugger, but GS500E's are even more scarce than bandits here! I am not going to abandon my hugger yet, have spent too many hours making it look good again.

[ventYl]

well while autorities refused to transfer papers to my name and i moved since then I assume that literally nobody except of few people really know where the bike currently is. administrative recycling of paperwork will therefore change nothing.

and there's possibility that after papers will be revoked I have chance to re-apply for new papers with my name on them as if I imported the bike. good news is that then authorities might ignore the reasons for previous refusal bad news is that it will be even more costly action :D

[Gouraami]

I hope you manage to sort it out, you must be very frustrated by now

[ventYl]

i was frustrated back then when I paid for the bike, carried it over to my place and triet do make the paperwork. Frustration was the larger I had to make it running before I bought it because it was in non-running condition. I spent several hours in repair, several trips to previous owner's place and many hours on google until I sorted it out and made it running.

Now I simply don't care anymore. I know what the bike needs in order to be running again. I have another which has flawless paperwork and I use this one as occasional spare-parts source. Yet nothing important is missing from it. The most serious part I've used from it was front light because the other one got hit by stone on freeway and there's small hole in it.

If I will have use for it and it will be worth of the money it will cost I'll make it roadworthy sometime in the future.

[Gouraami]

Luckily my front brake light switch and bar end mirrors arrived in the post before roadworthy 

In the mean time I also found a bottom radiator bracket, left brake hose bracket (on fork)and a hooter for R150.

I have ridden around 70km on the bike since it has been slapped together. I don't really feel like stripping it again, enjoying riding it at the moment.

I gave it a mini service yesterday, changed the oil (Motul 5100), oil filter, cleaned,lubed and adjusted the chain and a new air filter. The licensing took all my money, so decided to leave the spark plugs in the mean time, I am going to get irridiums for the next service. She is running well, took her to 160km/h in a 70km/h zone (I haven't installed the number plate yet, so might as well have fun while I can  ), but due to the front wheel not being balanced it wasn't very enjoyable, felt like I was riding a jackhammer.

While changing the filter I got concerned, I saw the previous owner had used a cork gasket instead of the o - ring groove. I decided to remove the cork and see what surprise was waiting for me, I was expecting a cracked housing or something similar.



But I was lucky! no issues, once cleaned up and the new o - ring installed there were no issues. I can only assume that they had lost the o - ring and went the cork route instead?


Things that still need to be fixed/completed/replaced as of 22/02/2016 to complete the project:

1 - The front tyre is the wrong way around on the rim + needs to be balanced.

2 - The rear tyre needs to be balanced

3 - The left side braided hose is chafing on the fork, need to bend the banjo to sort this out

4 - I need to replace the washers on the front brake line, I have two leaks at the washers. I have bought replacements, but haven't had the time to install them. Rebleed the system afterwards

5 - properly secure the coils. They both currently only have one bolt holding them on.

6 - Complete the spray work (Tank, side panel, rear panels, fairing and rear hugger)

7 - install the new screen I had made, involves drilling it. I really don't want to crack it so leaving this for a day I have lots of patience.

8 - Either buy a new indicator or modify my left sided one to be a right sided one (It sits at a slightly different angle at the moment). ( I am thinking of buying a new set instead)

9 -  Change all visible bolts to 304 stainless allan caps or button top.

10 - Order a sticker set, going for the newer model decals

11 - get another set of keys cut

12 - buy and tank protector

13 - buy a new set of grips, I really don't like the current ones. I am considering buying heated grips

14 - re tighten the rev counter securing bolts. I think I over tightened them when I installed them, as now the rev counter gets stuck at certain points in the rev range. It used to work properly.

15 - bend the right side frame above the rear wheel a bit further in, as it is catching the side cover

16 - Lots of polishing work!

17 - Flush the coolent system and put coolent in, it is currently running on rusty water only

18 - properly secure the hooter

19 - there is a rubber like cover that fits between the battery and the rear wheel that is broken. It looks like it prevents the battery and fusebox from getting wet if the rear hugger is removed. I will need to repair and install it.

20 - attach the number plate

21 - order two more foot pegs for the pillion

22 - attach the exhaust tailpiece more securely

23 - repaint all the calipers and both brake reservoirs

24 - spray radiator ( there is currently sand between some of the vanes, so I am hoping the vibration from the bike will remove it so that I can spray

25 - check what is wrong with the bottom head bearing, there is play but is fully tightened. I think the incorrect bearing was installed at some point

26 - check how  much oil is in the front  forks, they feel soft

That is what I can think of while not looking at the bike... still a long way to go 

[ventYl]

change all the screws holding the coils. they are made of some shitty material. I've managed to strip thread from three of them so far.

[Gouraami]

  will do

[Gouraami]

Time time time. There never seems enough of it to work on the bike.

Uhm...updates... I still havn't stripped the bike yet, still riding it as is. I have covered just over 300km with the bike now since the service. It hasn't let me down yet, so I am starting to feel confident in taking it for longer trips.

Some recent pictures, ( and as I am typing this post) still haven't put the number plate on...actually enjoying the freedom of speeding when I like  . Been lucky so far, haven't been pulled over. Since I know there is now fresh oil in, I feel more comfortable keeping the revs up, Thus took it for a highway run the other day  to just over 180kph on the clock, feeling good, the fairing definitely helps.







This boys and girls, is why you put coolent/anti freeze in your bike, corrosion. I hadn't put in yet as I kept on pulling the tappet cover off. Poor bandit, this is what I drained:



I then filled up with white vineger (A mild acid) and went for a long ride. I also made sure to let it idle long enough for the fan to come on a few times. This is what was drained a few hours later:



I was unfortunately out of vinegar, so I flushed out the system with a hosepipe and filled up with coolant.

Grrr, out of time. Will try and post tomorrow night again


 

[ventYl]

the "rusty mud" coming out of cooling system is fairly standard situation in two-decades old vehicle which never had system cleanup performed and/or cooland was not replaced regularly.

[Gouraami]

Petcock issues:

Another issue I picked up was fuel leaking from my manual ebay petcock. The issue was that if you turned it to open or reserve (or even off) it wouldn't stay center. Once off center it would start dripping. If you then push the center up or down you can get it to stop leaking. Mine was either assembled with a missing part or it was a dud, thus the cheap price.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121636181496?euid=ab5f9a51bfc3450a9df904fc4c5329f7&cp=1

 For anyone who bought something similar and experiences the same problem:

Unscrew the faceplate. Take note of how things come apart. The problem is that the centre piece is too loose inside the housing.   There is a 1mm gap on either side that equates to a 2mm gap once the centre piece moves as you turn it. The centre then moves past the rubber seal causing it to leak.

The solution:
Fill up the gap. I used a trimmed cable tie to fill up the gap all the way around, it now works great, no leaks. Just remember, whatever you use should withstand petrol if there is an issue and that it MUST be flush or below the housing once inserted. It will leak otherwise. I didn't take a picture, but once you have opened it you will figure it out.

Another issue you might come accos is leakage around the securing bolts of the petcock to the tank. This is not the petcocks fault. Fuel is leaking past the threads in the tank. I used PTFE tape to solve this, it seems to be working ok.

The third issue: Flow rate. When I start reaching reserve I start to run into fueling issues, due to less head (m). Less head means less pressure, so combined with my inline filter it is unable to fill the carbs at full throttle on the highway. I thought I had dropped a valve the first time this happend! Was dicing a friend on a SV650 back from town, when at over 180kph it felt like the bike started running on 3 cylinders  as I coasted to the shoulder it got worse and worse and would barely idle once stopped. My friend stopped to ask what was wrong, as we chatted the bike started to recover, and I figured out it was a fuel issue. Once the tank was filled it was fine again.

I know you guys are going to tell me it is the in line filters fault, to which I agree, but the petcock does has a very low flow rate (and thus a large pressure drop for a gravity fed system) when checked with nothing connected to it. I am going to try and find a better filter, if necessary put two in parallel.

EDIT - Summary: for the price, I guess this does the job ok. It has its issues, but at 1 / 16th of the price of a Suzuki GSF400 petcock it is a good alternative.

 

[Gouraami]

There has been some progress! But not enough time to share all the updates. Work has been keeping me too busy to really spend time on the bandit.

Sorted out numbers 1 and 2 on the list. I was initially going to remove the center stand, but I am so glad I didn't! it makes any maintenance procedure so much easier to do! I was able to remove both front and rear wheels while leaving the bike on the center stand and a plastic container.

I haven't documented much that has happened over the past two months, plus have probably forgotten some updates.

What I remember + took pictures of: (updates are in no specific order)

Finally got around to changing the screen. I had to drill the new holes in it. Tip, you don't need to buy a special perspex drill bit, you can use a normal metal drill bit in reverse (at high speed), but don't push, let the drill guide itself through the perspex. This job ended up going better than expected. I had my doubts initially, as I didn't have another set of hands to help.

Still the original screen:





Done! I scratched it after this, four deep scratches  wasn't happy.





 

[Gouraami]

The front forks were very spongy, from the day I got it. During the roadworthy test it was recommended that I take a look at them.

I ordered some fork oil, Castrol 10W (Colour: Clear) and set about getting the front end off. The oil that came out was very dirty, a black/red mess. The fork seals were not leaking, so I decided to not fiddle with them and left them as is. The dust covers on the other hand were screwed. The one was so badly rusted that it was scratching the fork. I took a picture, as seen below. They were also perished, so didn't stop water from leaking through.



I unfortunately couldn't find a replacement set anywhere else than at Suzuki. I wasn't willing to pay the R583 they wanted, so ended up ordering a set online for 1/5 of the price. I will have to remove the front end again to replace them, but it isn't so much work. At the time of this post I was still waiting for delivery.

The service book states that 495ml is required per fork, so i ordered 1L. Once I had shared this litre between the two forks, I was still far from the 105mm measurement from the top of the fork (also stated in the service book)... Confused I started googling. Bandit Alley to the rescue (Again)! It turns out the limited edition came out with longer forks, thus needing more oil. The shops were closed and I needed to move the bike again that day, so ended up topping up with some old oil  . The front end is definitely firmer now, so job successful 

This was found during the stripping process: It was very difficult to remove the pre tensioners on the forks. Once Out I found out why. Whoever worked on the forks before me must have been very careless. I will let the pictures tell most of the story:





They had somehow damaged the thread inside the fork and then simply turned the caps on stripping the thread. It must have been done deliberately as you would need a lot of force (or a long pole) to do that. While I was loosening them a lot of aluminium swarf (shavings) came out with it. Both forks had this damage. Luckily I was able to screw them back in again.

I was going to replace the head bearing at the same time, as the front end had a lot of play. You would feel the front end shift under braking (and hear). It turns out he bearing was never tightened, the adjusting nut was already loose when I got there, as was the top bolt. After adjusting, there is a very small amount of play, it might be damaged from being used so loose, but it is very minor, so I am going to leave it and let it settle in the mean time. I will adjust it at the next service again (in 4000km at the time of this post).