My "new" custom GS700 Exhaust

[alecnet]

Well this is my first real post to this forum but I've been trolling for awhile now, and wanted to show yall my bike and the exhaust I just rigged up for it. First of all the story to explain a few oddities on my bike. I picked this 85 GS700e up for $200 from a guy who got rear ended and used the insurance money as a down payment on a new cbr. This is my first bike and since im pretty mechanically inclined i wanted a cheap project cuz i knew i'd probably end up dropping the thing so appearances werent important. Anyway picked it up for $200 then spent another $200 on tires and tune up stuff and pretty much rode it like that for about year. Now that I'm more experienced I wanted the bike to look a little better and be a bit faster. So I decided to start with the exhaust since one of the pipes had been bent in the previous owners accident.

Here is a before shot when i first got her road worthy.



Here you can see the messed up exhaust and my rigged up tail light



Now here is what she looks like now with the "new" exhaust.




Now the details:

The header i got off eBay for $35 shipped to my door. I'm pretty sure its a V&H that was labelled as being for an 87 gsxr. It fits absolutely perfect. The can is a stock unit for an R6 I got for $25 that i cut the mounting bracket off of, ground smooth (still needs some work) and painted. I rigged it to fit the header with a reducer from autozone and a couple exhaust clamps. I need real motorcycle clamps but have not had much luck finding any for a reasonable price. The tip is rotated about 90 degrees so instead of pointing down it points inward but otherwise i think it looks great. Plus thats something i can fix by drilling out the rivets and rotating it whenever i get a chance.

So pretty much total cost breakdown for better sounding, better looking, and WAY lighter exhaust is:

header $35
can and midpipe $25
misc. (reducer, clamps, exhaust gaskets) $20

Total about $80

Overall im very pleased and I am open to any suggestions. i know i really need to do somthing about the rear end but i havent figured out what yet. Oh and i have a few more pics if yall want to see them.

PS dont laugh at my crappy seat job it was my first attempt and i plan on redoing it this summer. and sorry for the long post.

Alec

[txironhead]

No apologies necessary for a bike that looks that good, makes you happy, and cost under $500 total!

And if you're embarassed about THAT seat, you should have seen my first attempts at a custom seat for my Shadow........but either is better than the CBR600 riding around this area with pink leopard print shag upholstery wrapped around the seat! I'm not kidding!

[spyug]

Nice job on the resto. Being Scottish and therefor basically frugal, I like to hear of these low buck projects. I always try to do the same myself but despite my nature, usually end up blowing the budget. My XS650 project was to have been no more than $1k but somehow it went to about $3.5K and I'm still playing with it. Glad to see someone has self control:-D

Be proud you've created a sweet little bike.

Cheers,
Spyug.

[Dave8338]

You've taken a bike that most likely, was headed for the scrap yard or flea bay part out and transformed it into a "LOOKER", I've scrolled your photos a few times. The great thing is that you have an eye for what can be done and have managed to pull it off on the inexpensive side...that's the best part. Anyone can throw money at a project and with enough money, make almost anything look good, you've done one better! Don't apologize for plans that are yet completed, time is always the hardest commodity to come by...don't ask how I know...I've got one on the table, going on four years now, I'd say you're way ahead of the game!!! Congrats!! :-D

As a side note...an electric knife like you use to carve a turkey, works great to sculpt seat foam. Go slightly more dense on the foam, it helps the vinyl / leather, keep it's form.

[spyug]

Good point Dave makes on the foam. I made the pad for my XS650 street tracker and used the densest I could find. I think I shaped it a bit too much, however, as there is little padding there. So little infact that I compressed my sciatic nerve to my left leg after one 15 minute ride. Agony in the extreme ( like the worst charley horse you ever had times about 30 that can last for days) and have been hobbling around and haven't ridden in 6 weeks until this past weekend when I got in another half hour or so\\/.

Lots of padding is good. I made another pad and this time used carpet underlay foam. It is stiffer than upholstry foam but just as easily worked ( carving knife does work best) and can be cut fairly low without giving up support. You may have to layer it a bit to get the height you need. Just glue the layers together( hot glue gun or spray hobby glue). Once you cut it to rough shape with the carving knife you can smooth it with a power sander with medium/coarse grit.

Saddle pad making takes a little practice but after a time or two you'll have it down. Mind you the one you made is pretty respectable already.

Cheers,
Spyug

[Nicholaschase29]

lets see those other picture you have!

[Billy Ricks]

This is a Yosh Duplex I picked up that was meant for the last generation of oil cooled GSXR750's. The oil cooled exhaust work for '83 and up 700/750E models.

[alecnet]

Well you had to one-up me there Billy, didn't you? :-D Your bike is gorgeous. I looked at aftermarket cans and full exhausts but I didnt want to hassle with rejetting if it could be avoided. At least for now. Everything seems to be running great so I don't think i'm have an issue with my jetting since im still running a stock style muffler. Anyway heres a few more pics:






Now my next project is to adapt some rearsets i picked up the next time I get access to a welder.

So does anyone have any ideas on what to do to the rear end of this thing? Cutting and welding are two of my favorite things so no worries there. Im not too bad with fiberglass either though its been awhile.

I'm thinking I'll just cut the sub frame down and cut the seat into a solo and then go from there. Oh well. I'll figure something out.