77 gs550 cafe fighter

[natasdaisy]

Whats up got this gem about two months back. Craiglist trade worth about 200. Soo been hackin on it finally makin some progress so im throwin this up here sinces all the other builds have been so helpfull to me.

My goal is to get it running decent for this summer then maybe a goof paint job and possibly monoshock it this winter.
Thus far:
New allballs steering stem bearings
A mess of ebay parts that were missing when i got it
Taken of carbs about to clean them
Pullef harness in process of sliming down to bare essentials + new connenctors


Just ordered inatke o-rings and carb orings to rebuild the carbs.
Still to get:
Rearsets
New chain
New front tire
Led tail light
Bars, either clip on or super bike
Probably a million other little parts

Building a tailpiece and seatpan electrics compartment etc.. and adding 1.25 to 1.5 inchs to the rear shock mounts to raise the rear ( To cheap for longer springs when im gonna mono it later anyway)
I think thats about it other than the ground to air missiles.
Here are some pictures that make me feel like im gettin somwhere.

Hopefully you can actually see the pictures this time

 

[natasdaisy]

Update

Update

Got a little more done mounted one of spring perch extensions and a seat pan made up.

I know those are some pretty ugly welds but im rockin a 100 dollar stick welder. I think im gonna cut it down some, seems like overkill. anybody have an opinion on how much to take off and still be strong?

seat pan is 16 guage steel, used an angle grinder to cut it.

a place for my butt.
I also noticed my tail piece is crooked as a wombat i think i was getting impatient lining things up so now i gotta cut into one side and bring it in. O well its only metal right? You can kinda see what im talkin about here

I need to get a set of angle finders as eyeballin it doesnt seem to be cuttin it. Maybe my eyes are crooked

 

[natasdaisy]

question

question

Hey guys got a question, was doin some cleanup to the engine this weekend and tried to clean out the air box. The thing is filthy, been sittin in a barn since 1991. Does anyone have a good method for cleaning the inside? I tried engine degreaser and carb cleaner but it only took off the loose dirt and there is major grime still in there i would prefer to keep out of my freshly cleaned carbs.

 

[CCC-TT]

try scrubbing with the degreaser and a toothbrush.

 

[natasdaisy]

update 2

update 2

Replaced the intake o-rings, the one on the left is old right is new. po said heh
Had it running a year ago i cant imagine it ran very well with those squashed ringss.

Straightend the tail section and cut out some panels.

And i cleaned up my wheels gettiin ready for paint, hopefully il have time to paint em tommorow. Gonna be gloss black with gold on the lip.

Finally a shot of mid way thru the carb cleaning, got all but #4 done will take pics tonite. Usrd the lemon juice method. Seems to work well but it does leave kind of a grey residue that i had to wipe off.

.
Not very exciting so far i know, but once my carbs are done and my wheels are painted reassembly can start which i am excited about. Its hard to stay motivated about a pile of parts. Peace

 

[steve murdoch]

Please don't tell me your bruiser of a dog is named Daisy?
Good progress on the bike. A rolling chassis always seems to motivate.

 

[green2kgt]

likin it!!

 

[natasdaisy]

Please don't tell me your bruiser of a dog is named Daisy?
Good progress on the bike. A rolling chassis always seems to motivate.

Ha! Actually his name is akillese but we call him bill mostly ( long story ) he acts more like a bill, he should be the poster dog for people that think pits are bad. Biggest baby you'll ever meet.

He's afraid of the dark even its a little ridiculous. This is daisy bear shes half lab half german shepard and a very big girl.

I have a husky named natas too but no pics on my phone. Thus natasdaisy its easy for me to remember. Ya ya i know a little off topic but its my build thread and i love my dogs so deal with it
Anyway thanks for the comments keep em comin.
Oh ya i got one wheel half painted last nite, drilled and tapped a broken bolt on one intake boot, and got seat pan mount tabs welded on last nite. I will take pics tonite fo reals this time.
And i also ordered super bike bars some sweet suzuki logo grips and won a set of 08 hyabusa rearsets boosh! Its startin to get serious now

 

[CCC-TT]

nice dogs. daisy smiles like my lab/border collie mix. Got a pit too and she's the sweetest girl (though a little rough on other dogs).

like the build too lol. I'm a fan of that tail section youre working on.

 

[natasdaisy]

update c

update c

Got home last nite and bars are already here sweet

Heres a little action shot of wheel painting, a quility sharp razor helps a lot

And the finished product, well still needs clearcoat but u get the idea.

I'm thinking ill use a similar blue to whats on the tank now for the base on the tank and body pieces, black frame, black forks ( already painted actually ), black rear shocks, some gold accent trim stuff. And not for sure but i am leanin towards and offset gold racing stripe with thin black outline down the whole length. And maybe a suzuki S in the same gold and black set in the stripe on the tank. If can find some markers or crayons of those colors ill draw up what im thinkin so you all can pick up what i'm layin down.
Its cool workin on this bike, bringing back memories of my first project painting flames on an old 70's yami endoro when i was a little ****.
Oh heres the seat pan tabs i zapped on the other nite

Thanks again for the feed back everybody, dont be shy wether you like or not I'm not afraid of constuctive critisism. Peace

 

[GateKeeper]

Keep up the good work...

the wheels look good, how come you didn't go with the polished lip ? Are you adding gold somewhere else on the bike as well ?

Cheers

 

[natasdaisy]

Keep up the good work...

the wheels look good, how come you didn't go with the polished lip ? Are you adding gold somewhere else on the bike as well ?

Cheers

Thanks, and ya a little here and there. Not gona go to crazy with the gold cause I dont want it to be gaudy. Tastefully gaudy... is that a a thing? if it is thats what i'm shootin at

 

[natasdaisy]

update 1+1+1

update 1+1+1

Man i am gettin so close to ridin thos thing i can taste it! I feel likea kid trying to wait for christmas. Finished cleaning the carbs, reassembled and bench synched. Ran into a few little snags. The new air mix screw o ring on #3 carb spilt when i put it in, not broke bit spilt around its entire length. I backed it out and carefully put it back in hopefully it works alright. And somehow the drain plug on #4 was cross threaded all the way tight, i ouldnt get it to back out without destroying the slot so in it stays.

Finally started to tackle the wiring which i have been procrastinating, i have a fairly strong background with electronics, but that doesnt make it any more fun.

This is a mock up of the electric compartment under the seat. Not gona have turn signals for now but leaving the wires in case i change my mind later.

That huge battery is killin me, im gonna attempt to build an a123 compact battery later (you can buy them, i cant justify $150 and up for a battery) but i wanna make sure the charging system is in good health before using an experimental battery. I would like to go to pods eventually to save space ( they also look cool ) but reliability is this years goal. So im using the stock airbox but instead of that bulky air filter box thing i'm just going to attach a filter straight to the airbox. Dont know which airfilter or how il attach it. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Thats all for now folks

 

[CocoTiTs]

I wish I could see the pictures but sure sounds like its goin well.

 

[natasdaisy]

update theta

update theta

Is anybody else besides cocotits havin trouble seeing the pictures? I'm doin all this off of my android phone ( live in boonies so no interweb ) and they shoe up on mine. I'm loading them to my picture albums on this site then using bb code in the posts anyone know if that could cause problems.
Anyway some of you must be able to see them so heres some more. These are my guages they are stockers i took off the outer case and painted them.

Cut out and mounted an underseat pan for all the electric bits.

A different angle showing depth

Everything put together

All that left to build on the tail section is the underside, i need to order a tail light first. Im thinkin something like a cbr f4i tail light tucked up under the tail and make the bottom pan flush with it.
Finally heres a shot of my super awsome ignition switch straight from china

Oh I got a question as well. I would assume these bikes came equiped with some sort of fuse panel ect.. well it seems the po decided to take it out. So i'm goin to put an inline fuse on the 12v constant feeding into the harness ( smaller red wire from batt. ) what size fuse will i need there? And also is there anywhere else fuses are needed/+sizes.
Thanks everybody

 

[cowboyup3371]

Looks like that bike might have come with a fuse block (based on the parts fiche) but also with a single fuse in there too. Either way, a 15amp should be all you would need I would think.

 

[natasdaisy]

rolling chassis!

rolling chassis!

I only had a couple hours to work on the bike last nite, had start getting our camping stuff ready for electric forest the happ happ happiest place on earth! .... but i digress.
Got her back on her on two feet!

Sorry if its dim I was running out of daylight

hopefully finish up wiring tonite, peace

 

[natasdaisy]

dateup

dateup

She runs! Got the carbs and airbox mounted back up, set the carbs up to factory specs from the manual, ran some gas to it and it fired right up and ran beautifully. Whew! its nice to find out its a runner after all the work i've put into it so far. I've been averaging close to 20 hours a week workin on this thing, which my fiance hasnt been overly happy about. But she's pretty awsome and hasnt booted me yet.
So once i heard the old girl come to life ( i've been refering to it as a she since firing it up, is that wierd? ) I went into crazy productive mode and got a bunch done this weekend.
Made mounts for my rearsets, i belive its 3/16 plate.

The right one mounted, im gonna cut those heel gaurds down a little and make them more angular. They dont really fit style wise. But for 40 shipped for right and left I cant complain to much. I believe I said this but if not they are off of an 08 hyabusa.

Heres a shot of the other side, put the tank and panels on to get a feel of how she's gonna look. I'm pleased so far, might end up making a rounder tailpiece later. Time will tell.

One from the front

This is the instrument/indicator light panel i whipped up

Now some of you may have noticed the excesive amount of tarps in my garage, well that because when it rains outside it rains almost as much inside. We just moved in so fixing the garage roof is at the end of a very long honey-do list. Its a nice building that could easily fit four cars and still have room to work. Just a bad roof, yall might get a kick out of this.

Thats a patio umbrella i have rigged up over makeshift workbench to keep my tools dry. My power source for the whole garage is a 50' extension cord to the house. Theres nothing like working in a state of the art shop, and no mordern convenience is too good for me!
I got a short video clip of it running that I'll post later if I can get it uploaded. Peace and engine grease my brothas and sistas

 

[natasdaisy]

updated

updated

Havent done much on the bike the last two weeks, its summer and we only get so much in michigan so i gotta get out and enjoy it while i can. Yesterday i painted the tail panels, stripped down the tank, and while i was at it i figured i might as well add knee dents into it.

I was a little nervous about banging up a perfectly good tank but it wasnt hard to do at all. I think they turned out well

I also primed it last nite but im sure you've all seen primer before so il leave that out. Next is some filler to smooth it out and then paint. Ordered a 07 gsxr led tail light, tach cable, and a 97 gsxr rear brake master/resevoir which hopefully should be the last few things besides a front tire and chain that i need to get this baby on the road.

 

[MisterCinders]

You might want to sand off the primer in those dents before smoothing it out. Body putty adheres better to metal than paint.

After a layer of bondo, I try to hit the dents with a light dusting of primer, as the solid color makes it easier to spot hiccups in the surface. The light dusting is easy to sand off before adding more bond or glazing putty to level it out.