Ideas for making a GL good looking

[isaac]

We all know what one looks like:

That bike is identical to my 850, save the sissy bar, luggage rack, and crash bars. The color and the rest are a spittin image.

Is your bling alarm going off? The L model GSes have always left something to be desired in the looks department...unless you're into that sort of thing.

My opinion: They're too upright, too chromed, too late 70s. Not cool.

So what does one do about this? My idea:

What I did (in photoshop):

darken front fender
darken paint on tank and side cover
blacken the engine
blacken the wheels
blacken the lower forks
drop the bike ~ 2" all around
invert the headlight mount and drop 1.5-2"
drop the handlebars ~ 2"
remove chrome except the airbox and exhaust
increase exhaust can size a la Honda Superhawk or Rune
reshape seat to appear monoposto but be just big enough for an occasional passenger
chop license plate, brake and rear turn signals (to be integrated behind seat)

I plan on implementing most of those ideas on my bike. Essentially all are reversible with a welder and paint stripper. The lowering would be the result of raised forks and chopped rear springs/shock mount relocation.

eh?

 

[Jethro]

Personally would just take the sissy bar off and lose the rear rack.

That's a classic.

 

[crag antler]

How to make a GL good looking :?: :?: :?:
Trade it in for a GS1100E :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :roll: :roll: :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

[isaac]

Oh come on people. This forum is called "Appearance Mods" for a reason. Every three days there's a new thread in here about polishing chrome, and every single one of those has gotten more airplay than this thread.

You could at least give constructive criticism about the idea or something. You'd figure an enthusiast community would have more enthusiasm about this kinda stuff. It's not like I'm chopping the neck off it, welding it to a hardtail frame and calling it a Harley.

 

[Chris Daniel]

Personally, change the bars to some drag bars/superbike bars. Get rid of the tach, speedo, and centerpiece. Get rid of the chrome all together........and add polished aluminum case covers and cam ends (I hate chrome). Either get black headers or wrap the current ones in header wrap, then get a new can(s) from a new rocket.....as long as they are polished/anodized aluminum. Get some red, blue, or yellow plug wires. Add some of those fork gators to cover the tops of the forks. And put either black shocks on the rear or some type of aftermarket ones with anodized pieces with the anodized color matching the plug wires.

That would look cool in my book, I just hate chrome, and I love polished or anodized aluminum.

However, hypothetically speaking......if I liked chrome.......that bike looks badass as is.

 

[chazz]

quite like the second bike,but id put a wider front end maybe some wide slab yokes [triple trees] 2" risers and wide straight bars,giving it an overall muscle look 8)

 

[isaac]

Cool! Good stuff so far. Keep em comin.

I am definitely considering changing the bars to something more aggressive. To be able to raise the fork up into the trees I've got two choices: Clip ons or modify a set of bars that are close to what I want. The modification would basically include hacking a handlebar into three pieces, sliding the middle piece through the clamps but chopped off at the ends to allow clearance for the trees, and the two outer pieces welded to the inner piece. That's what I'm leaning toward since for whatever reason clip-ons are a total ripoff.

EDIT: Anyone know where I can buy 2" handlebar risers for cheap?

 

[tconroy]

I would just keep it a gl if it were me[im

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[UncleMike]

I like your modified pic a lot. Personally I'd blacken the headlight bucket as well, except for the rim. I'd also put some kind of "shorty" cafe-style exhaust on and maybe even leave the wheels the way they are instead of making them all black.

It's good stuff,...makes me think of maybe keeping my 750L too.

Maybe,...

 

[ben-jammin]

Your mods look WAY better than the original. I am all for keeping a classic pristine, as long as it looked good in the first place!

Your design is begging for a flatblack gastank with flames on it.

 

[roadron]

think your on the right track here. you will need some kind of rear fender if it ever sees wet roads or you end up looking like a skunk.

 

[gs650rider]

I also have a GS650L that I am working on..

Here's what I have done so far:

Lowered the Front Forks.
Added fairing.
Chopped some of the rear fender off.
New paint both engine, tank and side covers.
Polished cases.
Recently removed grab bar and replaced with wider one of the GS750T model.

Things to do..

Work on seat.
New mirror on the way.
Etc.


-Tim

 

[dmay]

Why not shorten the fork's travel rather than slide it through the clamps?
It's pretty easy to shorten conventional damper rod forks with a section of pvc installed with the top-out spring.Then chop the spring off to make it stiffer. That way your fender won't slam into the bottom triple clamp when bottoming.

 

[isaac]

Why not shorten the fork's travel rather than slide it through the clamps?
It's pretty easy to shorten conventional damper rod forks with a section of pvc installed with the top-out spring.Then chop the spring off to make it stiffer. That way your fender won't slam into the bottom triple clamp when bottoming.

Eh? I've never looked into pulling the forks apart. How do you do that? These just work so well right now that it was never a thought.

 

[dmay]

It's super easy to do,when I get home from work this evening I'll send you message describing how to do it.

 

[Doctor Shifty]

I'd get rid of the rack etc, and the king & queen seat.
Fit a metric cruiser style seat, (with the falling off pillion look).
Remove all the Suzuki badging.
Paint it black with orange striping.
Put Harley Davidson badging on tank and sidecovers.
Put Screamin Eagle badging on timing and stator covers.

Prepare some answers to the question, "When did Harley ever make an in-line four?"

Kim

 

[isaac]

I'd get rid of the rack etc, and the king & queen seat.
Fit a metric cruiser style seat, (with the falling off pillion look).
Remove all the Suzuki badging.
Paint it black with orange striping.
Put Harley Davidson badging on tank and sidecovers.
Put Screamin Eagle badging on timing and stator covers.

Prepare some answers to the question, "When did Harley ever make an in-line four?"

Kim

Well if I yanked the #1 and #2 spark plug wires it'd sound like one too.

 

[Doctor Shifty]

I'd get rid of the rack etc, and the king & queen seat.
Fit a metric cruiser style seat, (with the falling off pillion look).
Remove all the Suzuki badging.
Paint it black with orange striping.
Put Harley Davidson badging on tank and sidecovers.
Put Screamin Eagle badging on timing and stator covers.

Prepare some answers to the question, "When did Harley ever make an in-line four?"

Kim

Well if I yanked the #1 and #2 spark plug wires it'd sound like one too.

Pull one plug and it will sound like a V-Twin. Pull two plugs and it runs too rough to ride properly. Sounds more Ducati than HD, probably because of the 180degree timing, at least mine did when one plug boot started to collapse. :?

Kim

 

[chazz]

you could always go this way,not sure about the colour though

 

[isaac]

For those who doubt the power of self motivation, my bike is now no longer burgundy with chrome fenders. I'm lowering it tomorrow. Pics to follow.

and chazz, no way would I do that.