Slow progress is progress all the same...

Ever had a day where every bolt you need to get out is seized? Today has been one of those.

Finally got the oil header tank and the airbox off, as well as draining the front brake system and engine coolant water. The throttle body / injector assembly was a bit of a trial to remove, but after some gentle persuasion it came free.
Most of the wiring loom is out now too, only the engine electrics and the RHS handlebar switchgear remain.

This is how she looks now:

I've removed all but 2 of the bolts holding the engine to the frame - the remaining ones need a specialised tool which I'll be ordering tomorrow.

The 2 bolts that mount the exhaust header pipe to the engine look pretty rough, so I think the next day working on the GS might involve a lot of burning and angle-grinding - all good clean fun!

I'm back!

After a couple of weeks away in Scotland, I've recovered my get-up-and-go when it comes to this project.

Tim's XT250 project is well on it's way and he is badgering me to get the GS sorted so we can go green-laning.

So, this weekend (a bank holiday in England and Wales) I'll be cracking on with getting the engine out of the frame and assessing how much of a rebuild it's going to need. Judging by the noises it was making when it last ran, a full 'ground up' job...

Roll on the weekend!

Panniers!

Givi universal pannier racks and Aluminium panniers won on eBay this week!

Day 4

Removed the rear wheel, swinging arm, rear shock and linkage.
More cables disconnected and removed. Drained the oil header tank too.

Not a bad afternoon's work!

The saga of issues continues... The bearings in the shock linkage are completely borked. This explains the crunching sound when the shock was compressed. YAY.

Progress

I spoke to Western Spares in Stoke today - can get a custom steering stem made up to fit the KTM forks to the GS. Should be fairly cheap too. Great news!

Day 3

The forks are off! The top set of bearings collapsed as the stem was withdrawn, but I kinda saw that coming! Cheers to Laurie for helping out and providing moral support!

New forks

Won a nice set of KTM 640 Adventure USD forks on eBay yesterday.
£100, and they'll only need a little modification to get them onto the GS. (1mm reduction in steering stem diameter with a lathe.)

Bargain!