1980 GS850G Going Cafe....yeah you've heard it before. This time with more annoyance!

[Burk Ferden]

Hello everybody.
I have a 1980 GS850G that I am trying to turn cafe. The first place I am starting is mechanical. I plan on doing a complete overhaul on this motorcycle. Looking for advise on new front suspension and triple tree. I am looking to replace all the controls and possible add clip ons for the bars. I would like to shorten the back end and add a cafe seat and new rear suspension. You name it, I am probably going to frankenstein or replace it. So all you Cafererers out there, share some of your experience with swap parts.

Thanks.

Justin

[Burk Ferden]

Also needs a clutch bad

I also need a new clutch for this bike. Sorry if its a newby question, but can I get aftermarket clutch parts for this bike?

[TheCafeKid]

You can for sure get new plates, but im not sure about the basket.

As far as suspension goes, i'd switch the front springs to Progressive suspension springs. Very nice upgrade, those. Rear suspension, thus far, unless you want to spend a mint on some nice Ohlins or Works piggybacks, i'd go with Progressive in back (still kinda pricey, but good shocks) or for the moment, as im a poor builder, im using MDI's or EMGO's. Cheap, and you get what you pay for, but they are stiff, im a big guy, and i like em that way.

I have a thread going about building a fibreglass cafe seat and bumpstop (i myself am making a boxy style one, but the process is the same) and there are a couple others about the same subject as well. OR if you dont feel that ambitious and dont mind dropping a hundred or so bucks on something you cant exactly tell if it will fit or not, AirTech Streamlining makes fibreglass seats in a bunch of different styles.

www.airtech-streamlining.com

My project at the moment is a 77 750B, Its going pretty good, but slow. I have a thread around here somewhere about pounding knee inserts into your tank as well. I suggest hunting up a spare tank to do this on, not because it's hard or anything, simply for the fact that you may someday want your stocker back, say for a long trip or something, as you will lose some fuel capacity beating it. Simple, easy process, if you make a paper stencil based on what you want them to look like and where your knees hit the tank, so you can get them the same on both sides. WARNING: DO NOT use the tank badge mounts as a guide...they are NOT in the same place on both sides. Ask me how i know this..hehehe.

Clip ons are something im still considering myself. Currently im running clubman bars on mine, but am not sure how i will like clippies....You WILL however have to ditch your stock headlamp ears, pick up some universal alloys on ebay or some such, and either push your forks up thru the top clamp a bit, or mount the clipons under the top clamp. Frankly i would go with the former, unless you can get your hands on a nice clean billet or steel top clamp. Otherwise, it looks ugly with those old bar clamps on it empty.

Performance mods, I am sticking with the single front disc that my bike came with, you likely have dual disc...so you're good there. Get yourself, or make yourself (see Nessims tutorial on this if you decide to make them) some stainless brake lines all around. Personally, the cost savings of making them, and my time involved, vs the the cost of just buying them from Z1enterprises.com, i couldnt justify spending time making them. If it was something where i just wanted a project, sure. But i want to get this thing done, and i have 97498459485 other things to do on it, so i opted to buy rather than build. I would investigate tires, as well. I think on my spokies the widest rear i could get on it would be prolly a 140. I have a brand new pair of tires on it, so that will come later for me. You could hop it up with a bore kit and what not if you really wanted to, but 850 is good size. Least thats what all the girls say, and they do it with a straight face too...HEHEHEHEH If you plan on ditching your front fender...find a fork brace on fleabay, or somewheres. This will keep the forks from "walking" a bit, and add some stability to the front end. I just found a Tarozzi brace on ebay and snatched up for 100 bucks.

REARSETS...good stuff on this site regarding swapping out your stock pegs, and using some Gixxer or Zixxer sets, with some easily fabricated brackets, ditching the stocker rear master cylinder and using the one from the modern bike. I have not done this yet, but a couple of guys have with great results, and hell of a nice look. I just have to figure out how to make them work, and still have a funtional kickstarter, as the set's brake lever apparently would get in the way.

Lots of other goodies too..

[bwringer]

Believe it or not, you can get rearsets from Omar's for the 79-81 GS850. :shock:

I think a friend of mine has a set for sale, plus a bunch of other stuff from a stalled GS850 streetfighter project...

[bwringer]

For the clutch, just get a set of new OEM springs. The clutch disks will last nearly forever, but the springs get limp after a couple of decades and start slipping.

You can also get heavy duty aftermarket springs if you need the hand exercise, but there's no point. New stock springs will handle far more torque than your bike has ever put out. About $15 for springs, about $8 for a clutch cover gasket, and maybe 20 minutes of work if you're slow.

You can get Vesrah clutch fiber plates if you want, but 99.999% of the time, you only need springs.

[TheCafeKid]

Believe it or not, you can get rearsets from Omar's for the 79-81 GS850. :shock:

I think a friend of mine has a set for sale, plus a bunch of other stuff from a stalled GS850 streetfighter project...

True that Brian. I have a set for a 750 they make as well. They're actually Raask rearsets that Omars DTR sells, but they are made pretty good. Bit on the spendy side, however and the brackets are cast metal, which could be bad, but i dont really see a problem. Certainly are a bit more period than something off a newer bike, and you likely wouldnt have to replace the stock MC, but as 8track and Dardoonk have shown, you can make some NICE rearsets for pretty damn cheap ( i think 8track says his set him back a grand total of $77!) There is also a guy on Ebay, the one i actually bought that fork brace from, that has a butt load of Tarozzi rearsets for different bikes. Definately period, if you're going for the vintage racer look, and thus far i havent found a Palo Tarozzi part that was made shodily, but again, they're around 300 bucks.

[TheCafeKid]

Oh..im not sure, and your bike probably already has it, but if it doesnt i would invest in electronic ignition for sure. Brian is one of the 850 masters round these parts, so he would know better than I, but my old girl still has points and condensor ignition so thats another upgrade im doing.

[bwringer]

The 1980+ GS850 already has electronic ignition, and they're generally pretty reliable unless you do something bad that lets the magic smoke out. The stock electronic ignition works quite well with Dyna green coils. Dyna coils also allow you to use phat spark plug wires in whatever color you want, so that's nice.

Of course, a Dyna electronic ignition would eliminate the ignitor box and the associated wiring, so getting rid of some wires and parts might add a little aesthetic incentive.

[TheCafeKid]

Speaking of which Brian...dumb question, but where exactly IS the ignitor? I didnt find it in my manual, and frankly, i dunno wtf it looks like, so with the recent posts about it, ive wondered.

[Steve]

TCK, it is my impression that your bike, with points, does not have an ignitor. It is a unit that is used with electronic ignitions only. 8-[


.

[TheCafeKid]

TCK, it is my impression that your bike, with points, does not have an ignitor. It is a unit that is used with electronic ignitions only. 8-[


.

Ahh that would explain my confusion then Thanks sir!

[Indy]

Hey,

I've got two 'items' that you might be interested in.

Like Brian said, I've got the Omar Rearset.

I've also got a set of 4" 'dual' headlights, with turn signal indicators. Fit on the 37mm forks no problem.

Shoot me a pm if you are interested in any of it. It's all a big 'fire sale' right now, have some personal issues that are taking precedence than a project bike.

LMK.
Indy

[bwringer]

TCK, it is my impression that your bike, with points, does not have an ignitor. It is a unit that is used with electronic ignitions only. 8-[


.

But the 1980+ GS850 does NOT have points... the 1979 GS850 was the only year that used points.

A 1980 GS850 has electronic ignition. Follow the wires from the ignition cover to the ignitor.

However, it might be a 1979 model mislabeled as a 1980. That happened sometimes.

The other difference is the carbs -- 1979 models used slide carbs, and the 1980+ models used CV carbs.

[Burk Ferden]

Well its Definately CV carbs. The electric start works fine on it. I am leaking electricity from somewhere because the battery like to never be charged.

Last night we were stripping it down and got into thinking about the electrical system. Saw some parts I could only guess what they were. I was thinking about being so ambitious as rewiring the bike. I'm not sure though because I don't quite understand some of the components. Like everything on the side of the battery tray. and what I believe is the rectifier underneath the battery tray. The reason I want to rewire everything is because I want to put a digital gauge cluster in and new front controls. Also, new lights, signals, fuse box....

Hope you guys are as knowledgeable in electrical as you are at everything else!

Thanks
Justin