Anyone Turn an "L" Model into a Cafe Racer?

[Shaun6691]

Thought I'd share my 82 gs450L cafe racer known as "the smurf". Picked it up for $300 with 10k on the clock and had been sitting since 1990. To adapt the E tank we had to relocate the coils inside the frame neck and move the tank ear mounts forward as well as fab a bracket to lift the rear of the tank up about an inch or so. The tank was a rusty mess. It was home to a family of rats in a boneyard lol. The exhaust is a homemade 2-1 using a set of harley pipes we had laying around. Even uses the harley baffle. Sounds really good. Simple hand made side covers. RFY rear shocks and progressive fork springs. The tail lights from a 42 ford. Was recently GIVEN an 82 gs450E so I swapped the 18f 18r wheels from it. Sure beats the L 19f 16r combo. Also I kept the 42 tooth sprocket from the L wheels and used it with the E wheels. Bike is a lot happier on the highway now. Have yet to decide on a rear set setup. This is my 1st bike it's she's a blast to ride. Feedback is welcome

[Devon]

I turned a 1980 450L into basically a 450E with some café flair last summer, here is a link to the thread if it is at all helpful. As mentioned previously, relocating the coils will be the most difficult part, getting the tank mounts right is fairly easy.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?231953-1980-450-Un-L

[Wozza]

I'm busy building a Gs1100L into a cafe/streetfighter. Don't want to label it to be honest, it is what it is. Personally I think there's nothing wrong with the angle of the original forks and I love the shape of the tank as is. Here it is as it stands but I'm working on it every chance I get. Actually the pic is before I started sanding down the tail piece and removing the paint/rust.

Rawsum-All.jpg

[jboge123]

Suzie_Finishedjpg.jpgThis used to be an '80 550 L. Frame cut and new seat added, rear shocks modified to fit 3 inches taller.. and other mods as you can see

[cowboyup3371]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57977[/ATTACH]This used to be an '80 550 L. Frame cut and new seat added, rear shocks modified to fit 3 inches taller.. and other mods as you can see

What in the heck is that spring on the back loop supposed to be doing?

[steve murdoch]

Looks like a tail light?

[Steve]

Yep, looks like a sorta rectangular-ish LED tail light.

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[jboge123]

Steve and Steve got it right!

That is my fabbed up tail light. I took 5 of those LED light strips they sell on ebay and glued them onto a piece of metal I cut to size.

I'll grab pics of how it looks running, braking, and turn signals. I like to think it's pretty cool.

[LAB3]

Let's not forget where the idea of a cafe racer comes from in the first place, it was guys removing and modifying parts to make the bike as light and as fast as possible. Swapping out parts only made sense if it served that purpose, to go faster! There probably wasn't too many beauty queens amongst them.

[jboge123]

Running.jpgRunning Light

[jboge123]

Blinker.jpgBlinker

[jboge123]

Brake.jpgBrake