MOTORCYCLE
MEME
MACHINE
Nothing is more popular than matte black, but can paint alone increase the value of a motorcycle, let's find out.
The Suzuki GS500 is by no means a 'pretty' motorcycle.
- The Bike>
NOTE: sorry for no before images, but trust me, although almost running, it had not been moved/registered since 2012, hope that gives you an idea.
The GS500 much like the Honda CB400 has been manufactured practically unchanged for the past thirty or so years. This particular example, a 2002 variant had certainly had a hard life, retired since 2012 it had already amassed 60,000kms on the odometer "I have seen odometers go around the world on these motorcycles in the past #full360" but still - I think the oil change that I performed was possibly the first it had seen this decade.
- The Plan>
Get this thing running, paint it black, chop some elements, twist some bolts, get some Chinese accessories from eBay and hope for something decent at the end of it all.
- Solution>
Pretty straight forward actually, make a seat from a found piece of plywood and stainless steel sheet, strip absolutely anything superfluous, paint it black and reassemble with a couple odds and ends.
- Implementation>
Asides from the usual seized bolts and under seat rat infestation, everything went pretty smooth. Even the truck bed liner used on the tank came out looking pretty neat!
Hindsight: Final thoughts yet to be concluded. Feel free to comment below
