Post a picture of your custom GS

[Hell or high water]

IMG_0599.jpg77 gs550 cafe racer, de-tabbed the frame and moved electronics to the fabricated tray under the seat. Clip on bars, lowered the front three inches and the picture doesn't show it real well but the rock guard on the headlight is pretty cool to me. Painted tank metallic gold and some cool metal emblems to compleate the look. Installed a dyna s ignition, coils and wires. Rebuilt carbs and jetted for pods and open header exhaust. That's been my last 8 months lol. What you guys think? I'm planning on eventually swapping the front forks for a gsxr front end and extending the swing arm out about two inches or so. After I figure out why it's been burning r/r's up that is!

[Chuck78]

Chuck's canyon carver sport tourer GS750

This is what I consider CRITICAL customization...
Some might overlook the essentials and think that it is a nearly stock GS... but it is very VERY far from stock:








*'77 GS750
*'79 GS850 cylinders bored +3mm oversized
*'79 GS750/850 head (extra bolt at front of 79+ head and block to fix 77-78 oil seepage at cam tunnel)
*72mm 10:1 920cc MTC Engineering pistons
*K&N RC2222 dual oval air filter elements for VM carbs
*EBC Clutch springs (swapped out half of the stockers which were not strong enough for high speed pulls)
*Delkevic stainless straight pipe road race exhaust (NOT the megaphone style in this picture from last month, I was grinding it so bad on right corners that it would be worn through in no time if I didn't swap it for more clearance on a road race style pipe)
*GS650 dual disc forks with chopped springs (.83kg/mm now) and cartridge emulator fork valves, 15W oil
*AllBalls tapered needle bearings in the steering stem
*Tarozzi Fork brace
*CBR900RR 296mm lightweight floating rotors
*Ninja Tokico twinpot calipers and matching master cylinder
*GS1150 rear caliper and custom brake stay
*GS1100E aluminum swingarm and custom bearing races
*GSX1100G 1991(?) front right 275mm floating rotor on the rear
*Sun Rims alloy 3.50x18 rear and 2.75x18 front and stainless spokes
*Bridgestone Battlax BT45V 130/80-18 rear and Shinko 230 100/90-18 front (amazing cornering combination, phenomenal grip great contact patch on wider rims, Shinko front substantially cheaper than Bridgestone rear, Shinko SR741 140/70-18 rear substantially cheaper and awesome grip but I think the BT45V will wear better on the slab and city riding)
*Supersprox rear aluminum/steel sprocket and Vortex front sprocket with lightening holes drilled, high end chain can;t recall model, 530 vs stock clunky 630
*Fox Street Shox on in photo, don't want the fancy Fox Factory Shox red anodized piggyback reservoirs to get the aluminum anodizing worn off from saddlebags on road trips! Those Fox Factory Shox are incredible. And fairly rare and sought after unfortunately.
*SH775 Series regulating regulator-rectifier - VERY CRUCIAL UPGRADE TO ANY GS!!!!
*POSLAYR power distribution rewiring modifications
*Ignition relay mod added - VERY CRUCIAL FOR ANY VINTAGE BIKE!!!
*Dyna S ignition and coils, NGK resistor caps, NGK B8EGV fine point racing plugs (helps in the high elevation mountain passes especially)
*Starter motor, starter clutch, starter gears deleted to save weight, APE starter hole plug installed to keep the oil in! Kickstart-only! Don't stall!!!!!
*AntiGravity LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) ultralight 16oz battery powering only the Dyna igniton on startup. Substantial weight savings.
*center stand delete (like a cafe racer, remove the excess! ----- Sarcasm,,,, saved a lot of weight though!) I have one in the shop for times when it would be useful for servicing.

***bike is 55lbs lighter than stock despite adding substantially wider tires and rims, and adding a second rotor and caliper up front, handles even better in the tightest of twisties despite the 1" longer wheelbase with the 1100E swinger

Now for my "Cafe Racer" mods!!! (the cosmetic stuff, more like Superbike mods)
*Superbike bars currently, switching back to drag bars with sweepback but no rise, as they were more comfortable being slightly lower, less aggravating to my odd shoulder-neck back muscle issue to be lower.
*VF1000C front fender??? The only thing that stood a chance to clear my old 110/90-18 former front tire in the stock very narrow 175mm triples, much lighter than GS steel fender. a bit banged up but works great
*early/mid 70's Honda CB turn signals (much better looking than the bigger GS units)
*dual filament front turn signal sockets to double as marker lights so idiots don't plow me down at night! and looks better.
*GS400X speedo and tach - substantially better looking than the stock plastic spaceship console. 400/425 tach and speedo cables as well, better fit.
*GS1000L headlight bucket thanks to Cowboy and Charmayne (THANKS!!!!) (better looking in my opinion, but heavier than the plastic stocker)
*stainless engine bolt kit
*BikeMaster Tomaselli style headlight brackets - they have nice thick rubber mounts which most aftermarket cosmetic headlight brackets are lacking
*removed chrome lower triple cover....
*custom paintjob (i.e. rattle can coverups of carnage - laid down on gravel, ratchet strap on trailer broke when hitching a ride 500 miles in the rain back home, etc)


Future mods:
*always swapping around shocks, Marzocchi Symbol piggybacks are next on the list to try. and YSS G362. and Works ProRacer. Need even longer length. I think I am at 13.25" or 13.375" currently. Swingarm angle powering out of turns is flat, I need a little more rear elevation for better cornering clearance and steeper rake/less trail - steers the best ever now after going from 110/90-18 to 100/90-18, slightly shorter forks, and slightly taller than stock rear shocks.
*Ported head by Rapid Ray? and Megacycle or Web cams.
*LED headlight install again (old one broke the mounting bracket, plastic...)
*headlight relay installation
*restore my best seat pan and recover with new OEM style upholstery
*VM29 smoothbores installed again soon
*better phone charger - USB outlet this time around, vs cheap 12V cigarette lighter style plug in)
*maybe I'll give it a real 2k paint job one of these days soon... that way you can see a grown man cry when he scratches his tank paint!!! The reason I just rattle can it thus far. My bike is a tool for getting adrenaline kicks and lots of enjoyment.. tools get used and abused. hopefully. If they are in the right hands.

[80GS850GBob]

Chuck...she's a thing of beauty! Love the spokes {wish I could do those on my G's}.
I see you did the "big and Lil" pot front calipers.....thought someone said those weren't as effective as the matched pistoned versions....
I just got the Delkevic megaphone set up for my 1000G and am thinking of a s/s add on piece to turn the muffler up alittle more....your riding review only solidifies that.

...only take off for me...and I'm being needlessly nick picky here, so I apologize up front, is the little item I spy in the first pic under the seat lock...future velcro strap mod there? {did said mod to my soft bags on my old KZ750 twin to hold them in place}.

[pservino]

My 1980 GS1100Eimage1-6.jpg

[HardknockJohnny]

'77 GS 750. Bought it like this and it will need some work as she has been neglected for a few years. Wiring is a mess, the rear brake was frozen, carbs were pretty dirty. These pics were after cleaning the carbs, freeing up the rear brake which I will rebuild this week, repainting the tires and an initial polishing of the engine.
77Suzi2.jpg

[80GS850GBob]

'77 GS 750. Bought it like this and it will need some work as she has been neglected for a few years. Wiring is a mess, the rear brake was frozen, carbs were pretty dirty. These pics were after cleaning the carbs, freeing up the rear brake which I will rebuild this week, repainting the tires and an initial polishing of the engine.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]51586[/ATTACH]

I know a guy who has the exact same set up but yami powered. His has far more pin striping but it's his advertisement since that's what he does - pin stripe.
I'd really suggest two things;
-removing that pillion since there isn't much to hold a passenger up with
- re adjusting that front seat pivot down so you don't slide off the back...too much of an angle backward w/o a load. Jason's {guy mentioned above} has his set level w/o a load and he said he had a tendency to slide back on bumps
...you call on both of course....

I rode my friend's Triumph hardtail chopper once...had a far bigger rear tire than yours for a suspension, but it wasn't enough for the roads around here....

[thebrandonbeezy]

Really like the stance and the roughness at this point...doing any more is a Pandora's box...i.e. Paint this leads to painting that leads to polishing those. If I were going to do one more thing to your bike I might just paint the wheels to match each other...

Here was the finished product... I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss it... really kicking myself for selling it now because im dating a girl who lives an hour south of me and that thing was a comfy good mpg beast... ok ok i want another

[HardknockJohnny]

I know a guy who has the exact same set up but yami powered. His has far more pin striping but it's his advertisement since that's what he does - pin stripe.
I'd really suggest two things;
-removing that pillion since there isn't much to hold a passenger up with
- re adjusting that front seat pivot down so you don't slide off the back...too much of an angle backward w/o a load. Jason's {guy mentioned above} has his set level w/o a load and he said he had a tendency to slide back on bumps
...you call on both of course....

I rode my friend's Triumph hardtail chopper once...had a far bigger rear tire than yours for a suspension, but it wasn't enough for the roads around here....

I haven't gotten to the seat issue yet but I was looking to move it up in the rear. Yes the pillion will go but I have some work to do on the fender first.

The hardtail ride hasn't been too bad so far. Northwest Ohio roads suck too. lol

[roeme]

Here was the finished product... I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss it... really kicking myself for selling it now because im dating a girl who lives an hour south of me and that thing was a comfy good mpg beast... ok ok i want another

Yeah, never quite understood why you sold it off, after all you've gone through with it.

Then again, you couldn't take a girl with you on it anyway

[thebrandonbeezy]

Yeah, never quite understood why you sold it off, after all you've gone through with it.

Then again, you couldn't take a girl with you on it anyway

Actually that was one of the reasons, my original plan was to have that for my daily and get the fzr done for 2 up but im too lazy to do the fzr right now. Being shaft drive (as simple and maintenance free as ot was) i just didn't like that i couldnt drop weight with an aluminum swinger and put a fat wheel on it. A few other reasons but those were the biggest.

[thebrandonbeezy]

Thanks all ....... its been a very busy 10 months of lost weekends and evenings, especially as I did a couple of side projects too.( 1 picture attached )
Had a picture of where I wanted to go in my head for some time and it's mostly there now .... still a few subtle changes but that's for much later this year.
Part of the plan was to try and make it look like something Suzuki would've built - pretty happy on that front

[ATTACH=CONFIG]51133[/ATTACH]

Didnt you have a thread on this bike

[80GS850GBob]

I haven't gotten to the seat issue yet but I was looking to move it up in the rear. Yes the pillion will go but I have some work to do on the fender first.

The hardtail ride hasn't been too bad so far. Northwest Ohio roads suck too. lol

To make the rear seat mount higher would just be a matter of hiking it up, tastefully. Those springs are what, roughly 2" of travel...oem suspension is 3-3 1/2"...your not loosing all that much. Maybe double stack the springs, pending their tension rating.
The rear fender almost looks like its simple sheet metal...maybe a short rounded bobber type from another bike? Then have the pin striping re applied...

[80GS850GBob]

Actually that was one of the reasons, my original plan was to have that for my daily and get the fzr done for 2 up but im too lazy to do the fzr right now. Being shaft drive (as simple and maintenance free as ot was) i just didn't like that i couldnt drop weight with an aluminum swinger and put a fat wheel on it. A few other reasons but those were the biggest.

I'm not gonna say it......
Your build inspired my latest purchase...the '80 1000G {now the 850G isn't lonely}.
Got a Delkevic 4-1 for it the other day, euro bars, correct tail {has a skunk tail}, rear sets that'll need a mounting plate and...a new addition {uninstalled as of yet} M-unit to clean up the wiring. I still need momentary switches - 4 for the Lh controls {Lights hi/low, horn,turn signals x2} and 2 for the RH control {start, stop}. I have a plan!
The other plan is a sidecar for the 850G.

[Rijko]

M-unit to clean up the wiring. I still need momentary switches - 4 for the Lh controls {Lights hi/low, horn,turn signals x2} and 2 for the RH control {start, stop}. I have a plan!

i'm interested !
Want to do the m-unit too, but i have not found a good alternative for the m-switches yet.

[80GS850GBob]

i'm interested !
Want to do the m-unit too, but i have not found a good alternative for the m-switches yet.

Black or s/s momentary switches are cheap enough......it's the housing that brings in the money. Just asked Motone if they plan on a 4 switch assembly.http://www.ebay.com/itm/12mm-Mount-S...53.m1438.l2649