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1977 Suzuki GS400 rebuild / Cafe conversion

  • Thread starter Thread starter GearHead
  • Start date Start date
G

GearHead

Guest
Well, I figured that it was time I started a thread on the rebuild and cafe conversion of my 77' GS400. The bike was originally my parents then given to me. My friends and I rode it all over the place while we were in high school. At one point, the bike needed a new battery we were short on money and desperate to ride, so we strapped a giant car battery to the rear of the bike. We were riding again ! The bike sat outside for many a year after our high school escapades. Fast forward a few years and the old girl is in need of a complete frame up rebuild. I love the looks of the cafe racers, soo while its down to the frame, why not right?
I went to the Bull City Rumble this past Saturday and Got some great ideas and the fires stoked a bit hotter. I'm itching to get riding again !
The plan so far is a pretty standard cafe build. I'm not going to cut off the rear sub frame though. My youngest daughter is getting into motorcycles and I would love for her to be able to ride with me. I've got a complete progressive suspension and some new accell coils for it. I'm Still running the stock points ( for now). I'd like to run an under seat exhaust but I don't think its a feasible idea though. The engine is in good shape with approximately 20,000 miles. But I just can't leave well enough alone, so I'm going to make some basic changes to the engine as well. Some high compression pistons and maybe some head porting. The carbs will get k&n pods and some black performance mufflers for that nice 2 cylinder bark. I'm thinking of going with the Yoshimura red & white paint job. It's really slick. Thats the plan so far. I'll be posting plenty of pics. Enjoy
Gearhead
 
Good luck, I will subscribe to this one. I wanna see the pics and all. I wanna do this with my 1972 GT380 over the off season.
 
Having been motivated by the Bull City Rumble this weekend ( and a few threats from my buddy) I dragged out the welder and started on the frame. I've already had the frame sand blasted. The vinyl covering on the seat and the seat pan disappeared a long time ago thanks to sitting out side in the weather for so long. This left just the seat foam resting on the frame. Rust pits in the frame were the result. Out comes the welder. While I was at it, I "finished" the welding on the bracing that the factory didn't. While this won't increase the frame rigidity, I think the frame will look better in the end. I'm really ocd about little things like this. The welds are not the prettiest But I'm going to blend them into the frame later. Note to self, watch out for your beard while welding. I almost set mine on fire once. lol :eek:
IMG_20110904_164805-1.jpg

This is a shot of the welding on the sub frame brace. The ends were left open, so I welded em shut lol.

IMG_20110904_164838-1.jpg


The other end of the sub frame brace before welding closed. The welds wont win any beauty contests but i'll clean em up before I paint the frame.
 
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