Gs450 cafe flat track bobber thingy

[mlc216]

Well after listing/selling/getting no money and relisting only to happen again... I've decided to keep my "daily chopper" and build something that will be even more fun to ride to work. Some of you have seen it before:

The plan is:
-Cut hardtail off
-Put a swingarm on
-Fabricate new rear frame with shock mounts
-Fabricate seat/fender/light/etc...
-I've got a couple different tanks to choose from
-Riser bars or MX bars
-Stock gs mag wheels 16-rear/19-front is what I have

This won't be a chopper... it won't be a bobber... It'll be more like a flat track bike than anything, but it probably won't be as low. I'd like to have as much suspension as the stock bike had so I can monster truck the crappy bumpy roads and fly down the gravel roads on the way to work.

Also, the more I've been riding it, the worse the oil leaks have gotten... so I'll probably swap in the other motor during all of this as I don't remember it leaking at all. And once I'm back on the road riding again... I'm planning to tear into this motor and build something similar to what Mekanix (sp?) is building with his bored out twin...

As always I'm open to questions/comments/suggestions and hopefully you guys will enjoy this project a little bit more than my last

P.S. Pete, follow along because I'm sure I'll be trying out the new HEI setup on this re-build!

 

[bleed gasoline]

I like it now. but suspension will definately make it a better rider. what kind of front end is that, looks longer than the stocker. I was thinking about a savage/ volusia front for mine

also you might be able to find a new frame pretty cheap online, seems like a bitch fabricating a new swingarm mount.

 

[Guest]

Ok I'm in MLC! So you didn't sell her hey? Sorry to be selfish, but for me that's good news Not for the HEI stuff but because it seems when 450's on here get sold, the new owners disappear into the sunset and either don't join the forum or post once then disappear... weird given how much help is on here.

Anyways, I shall be along for the ride on this one! So far, there's a 450 street tracker in the UK which now has a GS500 engine in it (BIGYAM), my wanna-be scrambler, another scrambler in the making (CDC), Scottychop's wild 450 he sold (new owner AWOL), FC's 450 cafe he sold (new owner also AWOL), Billy T's wild looking 450, and bleed gasoline's new long and drawn out 450 bobber project.

Add to these all the nice 450E/S/T/L's around and us twin owners are doing our things well

 

[mlc216]

what kind of front end is that

also you might be able to find a new frame pretty cheap online, seems like a bitch fabricating a new swingarm mount.

As far as I know it's the stock front end. It came off my parts bike gs450, and it probably looks longer because the hardtailed rear is so much lower than stock.

And I've seen stock frames for fairly cheap on ebay, but my swing arm mounts are still intact on this frame so it would only be a matter of fabricating the rear part of the frame/seat/shock mounts... I got my swing arm in the mail yesterday, so hopefully I'll get started tonight.

Ok I'm in MLC!

It technically sold twice... but no one actually paid so I was tired of not really having anything to ride and decided to go ahead and make this bike what I was going to try and find anyways...

 

[Guest]

Mate it sounds like a plan to me, and going by the pace you normally work at it should be ready by the weekend right?

 

[mlc216]

Well I just found out that my father in law is bringing the lathe up to my house tonight, so it may be by the end of the weekend

 

[Flaming Chainsaws]

It is very sad that Scott's new GS450 owner has gone AWOL. That was a very nice bike! And my GS450's new owner has gone AWOL as well. Sad .

Anyways, it will be interesting to see a hard tailed bobber transform into a cafe. I'm in .

 

[mlc216]

Distractions...
Got my leBlond tonight! Turns out it's a 14 inch which is smaller than I thought but still plenty. But it's set up with a 3 phase motor right now so I'll have to explore options to convert to single phase or just put a single phase motor on it.

 

[Guest]

Man you guys with your big tools

I got nowhere to put something like that anyway, not to mention the fact that I'd have no idea what to do with it and would likely have an ambulance visiting the house in no time...

 

[mlc216]

Man you guys with your big tools

I got nowhere to put something like that anyway, not to mention the fact that I'd have no idea what to do with it and would likely have an ambulance visiting the house in no time...

Wheel spacers, threaded bungs, plugs and lugs for frames, foot pegs, controls, bore cylinders and sleeves (gs540? ), knurling, checkering, squaring the end of pieces... man I can't think of anything else right now, but there are tons of things you can do with a good lathe.

 

[mike-s]

My guess is that it would be infinitely simpler just buying an old electric motor and converting it to plain 110/240 (depending on what outlet is closest, i.e. if you've got a stick welder nearby with a 240v outlet or just a plain 110v socket). It is something i'd feel comfortable doing most of the work on myself, though i can't obviously speak for you. Good luck, remember that he whom dies with the most toys wins.

 

[mlc216]

Well I can buy a variable frequency device (VFD) which is a small electronic box that takes the single phase signal and turns it into a 3 phase signal for the motor to run off of my single phase 240v outlet that's just a few feet away. I've heard that a 3 phase motor runs a lot smoother than a single phase motor, and that the increase in vibration from the single phase motor can produce less than desirable results from a lathe.... so I don't think I'll go with the single phase motor.

Anyways, about the bike... ha well the lathe will definitely be a distraction right now, but as soon as I re-arrange some things in my garage so that I can get the bike on the table, I will proceed to cut the hardtail off and get some work done.

 

[Guest]

Well I can buy a variable frequency device (VFD) which is a small electronic box that takes the single phase signal and turns it into a 3 phase signal for the motor to run off of my single phase 240v outlet that's just a few feet away. I've heard that a 3 phase motor runs a lot smoother than a single phase motor, and that the increase in vibration from the single phase motor can produce less than desirable results from a lathe.... so I don't think I'll go with the single phase motor.

Anyways, about the bike... ha well the lathe will definitely be a distraction right now, but as soon as I re-arrange some things in my garage so that I can get the bike on the table, I will proceed to cut the hardtail off and get some work done.

Ok yeah, a lathe would be handy... but my ability to use it would be very questionable indeed! I did some woodwork in grade 8 here at high school (wow that was quite a while ago now!) and used a lathe for that... I can assure that no way was I pursuing a career in that field

As for the bike... you mean you haven't started yet? What's keeping you?

 

[mlc216]

Cut cut cut

Stack up whatever you can find

I think I want to go a little higher with it

 

[bleed gasoline]

holy crap the roadie costs like three times as much as the GS. (nice bikes though all of them) and the rat rod has some potential too. I think you have more toys than me and that is definately saying something.

this is pretty interesting though i have never seen one go from rigid back to sprung. looks cool.

 

[Guest]

Agreed, from what you said you wanted, you definitely need that rear end up higher. Is the rake out front going to stop you getting the front high enough? I think once you've lifted the rear it will be ok, but not sure...

 

[mlc216]

holy crap the roadie costs like three times as much as the GS. (nice bikes though all of them) and the rat rod has some potential too. I think you have more toys than me and that is definately saying something.

this is pretty interesting though i have never seen one go from rigid back to sprung. looks cool.

That road bike is my wife's! And the mountain bike underneath it is too... my $5000 steel framed singlespeed is chilling against the wall on the other side of the car. Helps that I used to manage a bike shop before I decided to actually use my engineering degree haha. And PLEASE don't call the car a rat rod! It will be a super classy late 50's styled kustom when I get done!

Agreed, from what you said you wanted, you definitely need that rear end up higher. Is the rake out front going to stop you getting the front high enough? I think once you've lifted the rear it will be ok, but not sure...

Yeah I'm thinking it needs to go up, but I had already folded up the hoist and was also running out of things to put underneath the frame haha

It's stock rake up front... as you lower the back, it gives you more and more rake the lower you go. Most hardtails are slammed in the back, giving a lot of extra rake... Once I get the back end up high enough, (stock height or so) the extra rake will magically vanish haha

 

[Tim Tom]

This is a cool (re)build. I liked the chopper and I think I'm gonna like the cafe thingy too.

Since the frame is cut up in half and you've gotta remake the rear anyways you cold use this to actually get less rake than stock. If my understanding of this is correct you'd have a quicker turn in and steering response due to the smaller rake.

Of course this would also cant your engine a little bit more forwards, and so I'm not sure how it would affect that.

Just some potential food for thought. You're the one with the engineering degree after all .

Either way I like it.

PS the skateboard seat pan mock up is very cool.

 

[mlc216]

You're right, if I was to lift the rear more (or lower the front) I could effectively get slightly less rake than stock. Most flat track bikes that were designed to actually race do have less than stock rake for quicker steering to allow them to be thrown over on there side and stand up quicker too coming out of turns.

Since I'm trying to build something that will handle well and have a lot of suspension travel for the crap roads... I will probably shoot for close to a stock stance, and then make small changes with the suspension to get the feel I want.

I looked and looked and couldn't find anything suitable for seat pan mock up... and then I gazed into the corner and saw a couple of old decks laying there... voila! haha

 

[Guest]

Cool... having that big wheel in the front probably helps lift the front a bit too.

If you went back to an 18" wheel, that should drop the front which means you don't have to lift the back as much.

One thing Mike-S found with raising his GSX250 is you need to be careful using longer shocks on the rear as there's not a lot of room for the chain over the swingarm and it can rub on it if you put it on too severe an angle.