1981 GS1100E Resto/Mod

[Anonymous]

Well I've been here for awhile and am now ready to share my experiences of cleaning up and modifying my 1100. I've finished some work and am in the process of painting and assembling the thing. This site has been a big help to me in the idea department and I'm hoping it will go together without the need for technical info . I also hope that by the time I'm done this I'll have been able to help or inspire others.

Right now I'm just going to post a list of parts and materials used so far, pictures will be coming soon. I have very limited time to answer alot of questions but I'll try whenever time allows. Most of what I'm doing involves cleaning,polishing and painting. I'm going for a black and aluminum finish. I'm not doing any engine mods or permanent painting till winter, that'll give me 11 months .

Parts as of today:
Superbike handlebars
New bar controls
Shaved seat
New badges
Progressive shocks and fork springs
Custom fork brace
Supertrapp exaust header
All new bearings, head,wheel,swingarm
Mikuni 36mm RS carbs
K&N filter pods
Bridgestone BT45 Battleaxe tires
APE clutch kit
Burkes stainless bolt kit
Stainless triple clamp bolts
Maier 1/4 cafe fairing
Hel stainless brakelines
Dyna coils
MSD wires

Parts still coming:
GS1150 oil cooler and lines
Lockhart signal lights

Paint tried out:
Duplicolor high temp ceramic satin
VHT engine gloss and satin
VHT brake caliper gloss
VHT wrinkle coat
Eastwood black satin wheel paint

So that's it for now, let the games begin!!

[Mark Harrop]

Stop arguing in the off topic forum so much and post some pics.....

[Jethro]

Yes, enough with the jibba-jabber, let's see pics!

Ah, the 81 1100EX- the bike that won my loyalty as a GS fan forever.

[Anonymous]

Sorry

I'll get on it

[Anonymous]

I just want you to know that this has done nothing for my house cleaning attemps. I'll start with the picture posted here and you guys can browse the other 30 or so pics. This should keep you happy for awhile Enjoy

http://groups.msn.com/GS1100Playground/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=12

[Anonymous]

Well I just finished polishing up the fork legs, so now I can start doing some assembly on this thing. I hope to get the front end together today, we'll see.

I took the clearcoat off using 320 sand paper making sure to only sand AROUND the tube on the smooth sections. For all the bosses and rough sections I used a 3" brass wire wheel and drill, this works really well and also buffs up these sections. Hopefully it goes without saying that once you are through the clearcoat or very close don't continue with the rough stuff on the smooth sections. The rest was buffed up using different grades of Scotchbrite which is available at most body supply shops, and finally Mothers metal polish. I would guss this took a total of about 5 hours, so it's not bad for the outcome. I wasn't going for a show chrome look. Couple of pics added.

http://groups.msn.com/GS1100Playground/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=37

[KGB]

Gonna be a beauty when it's together!!!

Where'd you get the seat?

[Anonymous]

Thanks, it will be far from perfect right now, if I like how it looks this winter I'll get everything done properly. This is just a test run to see if I like it.

I did the seat myself, I did upholstery for 10yrs before starting machining. I always liked doing cycle seats, helps when you have an interest in what you're doing.

[Anonymous]

Here's the front end partially assembled. Did a mock up with the fairing, think it should look OK.

http://groups.msn.com/GS1100Playground/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=39

[wayne cooper]

Re;fairing

I have been looking for a fairing for my 80-ET. How is the fit on yours so far? Does it use the original headlight assembly underneath? Looks real good so far.Remember that small details are only noticed by those who realise the effort it takes to create them.

[Anonymous]

The whole headlight asembly is on in the picture, the fit is excellent. I'm pretty sure this fairing was designed for these bikes, I can't think of too many others withe the large rectangular headlamp. It comes with mounting brackets that are fairly chunky and clip too the handlebars. I think I'm going to try and fabricate an early GSXR type mount that attaches to the bar clamp and windscreen. We'll see how it goes.