1980 gs450 winter rebuilt

[NetBSD]

well now that the site is back and seems to be back for good i think ill start my winter rebuild. im starting out with a completely stock 1980 gs450L with 7k original miles, over the winter i plan on stripping it down completely and sandblasting the frame, tank, and fenders. so the big question is what color you guys think?

i was thinking a red frame with black tank, fenders, and side covers, also a chopped front fender and trimmed rear fender. anyone got a pic of a gs with a red frame and black skins?


updates will come as i get stuff done along with photos

[briyenkieth]

oh!oh! And a red speed stripe down the middle. Clubman handle bars and rear sets. Sorry I get carried away sometimes....

[sark]

subscribed, would like to see

[NetBSD]

well i finally tore it down, started at 8am and i just finished moving every part to my basement. i dont think 2 hours was a bad time to get it down to a rolling frame. no pics yet but i should start sanding and smoothing out the welds on the frame soon.


i didnt think a 450 engine was that light, i could swear my 74 honda CL360 engine is heavier but im not about to put them on a scale, lol

[briyenkieth]

be careful grinding on those welds the frame. The frame is made of some very thin wall tube, if. You remove to much matterial you could end up in trouble down the road. I.E. Cracking! The factory welds are terrible and I understand wanting to clean it up but use caution. If you can weld and have access to tig you could clean them up that way but man that would take so long. I was very surprised to see just how thin the frame actually is when I chopped my 400. Good luck!

[mcloud]

Do not grind or buff the welds. Bundo on top is the way to go.
I'm not superstitious, but apparently a frame splitting in two exiting a curv at 55 mph will bring you 2 years of bad luck

[NetBSD]

im not gunna grind them flush but theres a spot or 2 where it looks like bubblegum welds that i wanna fix and prolly get rewelded, i dunno if someone else did it or if it came from the factory like that.


the most ive done since i got it tore down was sit in a chair and look at it for a few, dunno what i wanna do yet, keep it all stock and just paint it or do something crazy with it

[NetBSD]

well between work and everything i still didnt get much done, should have the frame done by next week tho and untill then i got me a new toy for around town...




no i didnt give up on my GS, im still gunna finish it and im still looking for a bigger GS for the long runs