GS850 Streetfighter

[Indy]

Hi I think your bike looked like it was comeing along fine until i saw the rear end, just my personal taste but i think it looks wrong for the bike and the angle is way (ANGLY) lol it puts the focus on the rear and away from the rest of the bike, i think the look should be even from front to back not just in one area, but as i said its just my taste and thoughts, as long as you look at it and like it then its wright>

Agreed. I've stared at it and stared at it, just don't like it (actually, I got mad at how bad it looked and destroyed it. lol)

Back to the drawing board.

[Indy]

Ok.

When we last left this project, I had two parts bikes, one very bad tail, and alot of questions.

No more.

I apologize that I don't have any more pictures.

But, here's what I've done.

Thanks to bwringer, the motor is now completely rebuilt. New carbs, 4:1 header.

Tank is off of a 2001 Kawa ZRX1200.

Seat is a 'remnant' of the gixxer debacle. Just modified.

Tail is some kind of Kaw tail, I believe Z1? But obviously, modified as a single seater.

Omar Rearsets

Supertrapp muffler.

dual 4" headlights (hard to tell in picture).

Front 'chin scoop'.

KYB Remote shocks.

Obviously, I have a LONG way to go. But, I was at a minor stand still while I was patiently waiting for Brian to rebuild the motor, plus .... to be honest, my enthusiasm was waning.

Now that I have the motor in, it's back, and with a vengeance.

My two main issues are :

1. The stock Kawa petcock will not work. The carbs interfere. So, I'm thinking an 'earl's' shutoff valve and welding a 90 into the tank. That's first glance though, so I've got to think about it some more.

2. Between the two parts bikes, I still did not get all the parts for a 'complete' bike. So, I'm kind of 'lost' when it comes to what I should have, and what I don't have. Once I get the obvious taken care of (finishing tail, petcock, mounting chin spoiler), then I think I just have to start at the front of the bike and work my way back.

I'll snap more pictures this weekend out in the light.

[spyug]

Its looking good. That tail is a vast improvement, Don't worry about it being a shafty, bobbing and chopping can be done to any bike. My first try, 1983 XV 500K Virago:


Not really a bob job, just removed the back fender and fitted an aftermarket tail light and fabbed a licence plate holder.The rear deck is really a cowl that fits over the stock seat. I made it with sheet abs plastic. I've always liked the "bob tail" look of street fighters so that was what I was going for.

I'm liking the overall look of yours but one thing that pulls my eye is the exhaust system. Is it hanging a bit low? Anyway to bring it closer to the frame? I think it would mess with lean angle on the right side no?

Anyway , good job so keep with it. I'm interested in how it turns out for you.

Cheers,
Spyug.

[Indy]

I'm liking the overall look of yours but one thing that pulls my eye is the exhaust system. Is it hanging a bit low? Anyway to bring it closer to the frame? I think it would mess with lean angle on the right side no?

Anyway , good job so keep with it. I'm interested in how it turns out for you.

Cheers,
Spyug.

The muffler is just kind of 'hanging' (Note, currently in the picture it is being supported by wood)

It'll snug up right under where the former foot pegs were, just have yet to make the mount.

[spyug]

Whew! That's a load off my mind. Nothing worse than riding a bitchin scoot that won't lean to the right. Actually, that is a fairly common issue with the XS 650 bikes that go with the Mac 2 into one pipe. It does hang down enough to cause issues and that's what made me think of it with yours.

Bye the bye where did the chin spoiler come from? I've been doing the cosmetics (paint change) on my GS and I've been thinking it would benefit from one. I could fab one up I think but it might be nice to buy one and just bolt it on this time.

What colour will you go with? I went gloss black this time but I'm not sure it is the best. Its lacking something. I was thinking a sliver or white stripe or checker stripe but can't make up my mind.

Cheers again,
Spyug.

[Indy]

Whew! That's a load off my mind. Nothing worse than riding a bitchin scoot that won't lean to the right. Actually, that is a fairly common issue with the XS 650 bikes that go with the Mac 2 into one pipe. It does hang down enough to cause issues and that's what made me think of it with yours.

Bye the bye where did the chin spoiler come from? I've been doing the cosmetics (paint change) on my GS and I've been thinking it would benefit from one. I could fab one up I think but it might be nice to buy one and just bolt it on this time.

What colour will you go with? I went gloss black this time but I'm not sure it is the best. Its lacking something. I was thinking a sliver or white stripe or checker stripe but can't make up my mind.

Cheers again,
Spyug.

I got the chin spoiler from here http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/
Kind of pricey, but I've kind of had my fill of 'fabbing' stuff, and I thought it nice to just be able to pick something up. There's no mounting brackets or anything with it, you have to make those yourself. Right now, I'm thinking Dzus fasteners, but I haven't decided. Like I said, I've got quite the laundry list of things to do.

As far as color, I dunno. I had been given about a quart of "Corvette Yellow" from a guy in the neighborhood that painted his 2004 Z06 with it, and had it left over. But, when I got the motor in it, I'm starting to lean towards something more 'monochromatic'. The motor looks VERY nice, satin black and stainless, I want to 'showcase' it.

So, I'm thinking either just black, or White.

Haven't decided.

[hotbox05]

Ok, need a little design help here.

This is a gixxer tail.

I was aiming for two things initially with the current placement.

1. The part of the tail that sits on the 'side covers'. The bottom of the tail is perpendicular with the top frame rail.

2. The 'up' angle from the bike frame, is fairly equal with the 'up' angle of the tail.

But, I also admit, that I'm not really 100% happy with the tail, not only the placement, but the general overall look. The tank, while definately not a GS tank, still 'fits' on the frame, and compliments it. The tail is almost too 'angly' (I'm making up my own words now! lol) making it almost look too crotch rockety (there I go again. lol )

I like this tail

[Indy]

I like this tail

It's in the trash, a long, long time ago.

[GSXXZRX]

Indy, have you ever thought of cutting an oval out of each side of the
swingarm, flipping them and welding them back in. It may give you up to
1/2 inch on either side.

[TheCafeKid]

Ok.

When we last left this project, I had two parts bikes, one very bad tail, and alot of questions.

No more.

I apologize that I don't have any more pictures.

But, here's what I've done.

Thanks to bwringer, the motor is now completely rebuilt. New carbs, 4:1 header.

Tank is off of a 2001 Kawa ZRX1200.

Seat is a 'remnant' of the gixxer debacle. Just modified.

Tail is some kind of Kaw tail, I believe Z1? But obviously, modified as a single seater.

Omar Rearsets

Supertrapp muffler.

dual 4" headlights (hard to tell in picture).

Front 'chin scoop'.

KYB Remote shocks.

Obviously, I have a LONG way to go. But, I was at a minor stand still while I was patiently waiting for Brian to rebuild the motor, plus .... to be honest, my enthusiasm was waning.

Now that I have the motor in, it's back, and with a vengeance.

My two main issues are :

1. The stock Kawa petcock will not work. The carbs interfere. So, I'm thinking an 'earl's' shutoff valve and welding a 90 into the tank. That's first glance though, so I've got to think about it some more.

2. Between the two parts bikes, I still did not get all the parts for a 'complete' bike. So, I'm kind of 'lost' when it comes to what I should have, and what I don't have. Once I get the obvious taken care of (finishing tail, petcock, mounting chin spoiler), then I think I just have to start at the front of the bike and work my way back.

I'll snap more pictures this weekend out in the light.

Hey Indy...im curious to know what type of paint was used to paint the motor...looks sweet btw, im seriously considering doing it to my 750 motor on my cafe project. Thanks

TCK

[bwringer]

Hey Indy...im curious to know what type of paint was used to paint the motor...looks sweet btw, im seriously considering doing it to my 750 motor on my cafe project. Thanks

TCK

Thanks! I rebuilt and painted this engine, and it's PJ1 Satin Black.

Here are some more views of the engine in assembly:

http://pix.bwringer.com/v/bwringer/79_850_Engine/

PJ1 is great stuff -- just get the engine surface clean, and it quickly builds thick enough to cover all kinds of corrosion and scuffs. It also cures very hard, so rassling the engine and parts around during assembly is not a problem. It's very user-friendly and goof-proof for something from a spray can.

One caveat is that it takes a couple thousand miles and several heat cycles to cure completely. The first several times you get the engine hot, the paint gets very soft and smells pretty bad, but this diminishes over time. If you have access to a VENTED curing oven, you could also bake the parts at a low temp for several hours to cure the paint.

[TheCafeKid]

Frickin sweet Brian. Where can one purchase this miracle paint you speak of? And what would you charge to rebuild a 750 motor? Out of curiosity. I SHOULD do it myself, but im not all that incredibly well equiped with tools.

THanks!
Josh

[Indy]

Frickin sweet Brian. Where can one purchase this miracle paint you speak of? And what would you charge to rebuild a 750 motor? Out of curiosity. I SHOULD do it myself, but im not all that incredibly well equiped with tools.

THanks!
Josh

I bought it from J&P Cycles http://www.jpcycles.com/ but I've seen it available in a lot of different 'online' places.

It does look bad ass though. A friend of mine was over last night, and we are working on the shock mounting, and every once in a while we'd catch ourselves just looking at it. lol

[Indy]

Indy, have you ever thought of cutting an oval out of each side of the
swingarm, flipping them and welding them back in. It may give you up to
1/2 inch on either side.

I looked at doing that.

Near where there would be 'tire interference', there is already a 'clearanced' area on the shaft side (Kind of flat'ish). What more I could do, is probably more work than justifiable.

[bwringer]

Frickin sweet Brian. Where can one purchase this miracle paint you speak of? And what would you charge to rebuild a 750 motor? Out of curiosity. I SHOULD do it myself, but im not all that incredibly well equiped with tools.

THanks!
Josh

You can also get PJ1 from:

http://z1enterprises.com

http://crc2onlinecatalog.com

They have several other colors as well. On my '83 GS850, I painted the engine black and polished the case covers so that the engine (a transplanted '81) would look like the original '83 engine:



Sorry, I'm staying out of the rebuilding business for the foreseeable future.

Having a busted leg that wouldn't heal cramped my style severely in this and many other ways this summer and fall, and it took several months of pecking at the project a tiny bit at a time to get this engine done. Rich was pretty patient!

Almost all of the time in any rebuild project was spent in various kinds of cleaning. The engine was in great shape internally with very few miles, but was liberally coated with sandy dirt and baked-on pig effluvia (really) on the outside.

Removing gaskets without damaging the aluminum is an exacting, time-consuming ordeal from the seventh circle of hades. After removing everything I could by hand a scraper, I used fine surface conditioning discs in an air die grinder to get the rest. It works great, but you have to be super careful.

Disassembly and assembly is a cakewalk by comparison. If you dumped the clean, painted pieces of a complete GS850 engine on a table in front of me, I could put it together in a few hours, a little longer in the dark. They're pretty simple engines.

You don't need a lot of fancy equipment, and you'll learn a lot. Even if you're not sure, I'd advise you to dive in. You'll learn a lot!