gs 650 bobber

[jive13]

I have a 82 gs 650 and well I have had a lot of free time and decided to turn my bike into a bobber. I have been only working on it for a week now and still have a lot of work to do. This is my first build and would like some thoughts on it so far. Any advice is welcome and criticisms also.

[jive13]

I made side covers to hide the battery and other electronic components. Also I chopped 1 inch out of the brake light to make it slimmer.

[Adirondack Rider]

nice! i turned my 83' 850 into somewhat of a dresser(thats the only thing i can call it lol, a strange mix between a restored/stripped/slightly modded). You should look into some wide, low bars. I got a them on my bike, and it handles like no other now, and looks pretty good too.
Keep us updated on the progress!

[tkent02]

Nice, how did you make the side covers? Fiberglass?

[jive13]

no i use 22 gauge sheet meat that i got at home depot. i cut the sheet into two triangles then from there i cut the corners off cut and long notch out off the top so there was room for the seat pan. then bent the metal by hand and use a hammer and brick to round the edges. still have to cut the hole for the key then i'm welding it to the frame

[jive13]

You should look into some wide, low bars. I got a them on my bike, and it handles like no other now, and looks pretty good too.
Keep us updated on the progress!

tomorrow i'm cutting the old handle bars and making them into a 20 inch straight bar. I'm trying to reuse everything from the bike that i can. that's why i modified the brake light and i reuse the parts of the frame i cut off to make new mounting bars for the seat that i lowered 4 1/2 inches. The new seat pan is even made from the old one and the foam is too

[jive13]

Got the handle bars done! The easiest custom fab so far. Only took me 1 hour check it out.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=396405805&albumID=1781980&imageID=28839766

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=396405805&albumID=1781980&imageID=28839770

[Adirondack Rider]

looking good! ...now comes the critisim: if you are tall, they may work great for you, but(and this is as far as i understad kind of statement) i think your bike will handle like crap if the bars are too narrow. also, your body position may go out of whack without any pullback on the bars.
dont mind me...im a critic lol

[jive13]

i'm 6'2 and when i sit on the bike i have a forward lean now because i lowered the seat and changed the angle of the tank and it seemed more comfortable to reach straight ahead then out to the sides like on the old handle bars but hey will see how they work.(nothing is too sure yet) thanks for the criticism.

[Adirondack Rider]

id just go for a wide set of bars. i picked some up off ebay for like $32-35 shipped, they look nice as hell.
stay away from "billet" type handles that are cheap. my "chrome" started pitting after about a month, and i was wearing gloves the whole time. I did put some bullet turn signals on it, it looks really good, 10x better than the stock POS's(and i sold them, once again on Ebay, and paid for the new directionals)

[jive13]

i like the way they look but like i said I'll have to wait and see how well they work. By the way I'm trying to reuse or custom build everything for the bike. i don't want to buy a bunch of aftermarket parts that's the easy way and I'm trying to build an oldschool the oldschool way.

[Henryinva]

straight bars like that, your hands will go to sleep (get numb) 10 minutes after you start riding. trust me, been there did that and took em off right afterwards.

Bars need to be angled somewhat too how your hand would naturally be at that lengh of reach, elsewise they go to sleep

my .02

[jive13]

when i sit on the bike that's were my hands want to go (they actually want to go past the forks) I have really long arms i guess

[jive13]

Today i built the break light mounts and got the key hole cut and mounted on the left side behind the cover

[jive13]

Okay i have a structural question. Does anything i chopped or lowered need improvement? i don't want to be eating pavement the first time i take it around the block

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=396405805&albumID=1781980&imageID=28870869

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=396405805&albumID=1781980&imageID=28870871

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=396405805&albumID=1781980&imageID=28870874