81 GS400 Cafe racer project

[oldschoolorange]

Well after restoring 2 bikes in the past and never documenting it I have decided that I should stop being so lazy and take pictures and give any relevant info on what I am doing with my current project. I am planning on selling the bike to my brother in the spring and still being able to make a few bucks without gouging him on the price. This thing will be kept simple and made as light as I can without spending too much money.

So here is what the bike looked like before i started tearing things off of it
(Not my bike but the same model)


Now here are the pics of the bike in the back of my truck, with the wiring harness allready stripped off, clutch handle bead blasted, all body work removed, exhaust removed, started cutting the rear frame already (shortened by 6 inches or so and removed some bracing.

[oldschoolorange]

[oldschoolorange]

Work to be done

1-Clean up wiring harness
2-Run 2-1 exhaust with internal baffles
3-Rebuild front forks
4-Make custon bump back seat
5-Weld up some new crossers in the back
6-Have wheels powdercoated satin black
7-Make custom rearsets so my pegs are another inch or so farther back
8-New rear springs
9-Progressive front fork springs
10-Small cafe style fairing at front
11-Rear fender - Now this is where there will probably be some issues, I want to make a rear fender that hugs the rear tire. I am going to have to figure something out here, Any advice or ideas from you guys would be of great help.

There are probably more things to do to it but this is all I can think of for now.

Wish me luck

Chris

[gerkin]

good luck!

[Tarbash 27]

I like those gold wheels!

[oldschoolorange]

I am kind of impartial to them myself, I will have to see how they clean up

[Dignan]

What tank is that?

Good luck with the bike. Looks like a great start.

[BentRod]

fork overhaul

Hey Oldschool.

I just did my forks a few days ago. a couple tid bits you might find useful

In the workschool manual, they comment either W15 oil, or a 50/50 mix of 10W30 motor oil and automatic transmission fluid. save you self the pain in the a$$ of that, and grab some AW32 hydrolic oil from Cr@ppyTire. its about 11$ for 4 litres or about 4$ for 1L. Why use this stuff? well I've been looking at my charts, and the Viscosity of AW32 is on par with what they want you to mix up. The benifit of AW32 is that:
1, its all one oil, so you know it will be consistant, no worrying about dino or synthetic.
2, More anti-wear additives. aw32 is more of an industry type fluid and designed as such. the end-result for us? OVER KILL.

I just discovered this, cause I'm cheap. I cleaned my forks out, measured the springs and refilled with this stuff, and they are a little bit stiffer.


Hope that helps!

[Ogri]

What tank is that?

Good luck with the bike. Looks like a great start.

I'm interested in knowing what bike that tank came off of as well. That is a great tank for a cafe bike...

[oldschoolorange]

Thanks for the tip Kevin. Now one more question about the fluid - How are it's antifoaming abilities? Forks with air in the oil suck.

As for the tank question, It came on the bike. As soon as I saw it I knew I would not have to make a new tank for it. The tank is from suzuki according to the nameplates on the sides of it however I have never seen a picture of a 400 with the smae style tank

[bgmart450]

Tank looks alot like our 450's tanks.
Here's the S tank when I was painting it:

[tracy borchert]

lower?

11-Rear fender - Now this is where there will probably be some issues, I want to make a rear fender that hugs the rear tire. I am going to have to figure something out here, Any advice or ideas from you guys would be of great help.

Are you in a position to lower the rear end? Would lowering blocks work? They worked for me and mine dropped two inches,and pretty much hugs the rear tire. I can't see your pics on this post. I can post some pics of my blocks if you would like to see them up close.8-[

[SteveN]

Tank

As for the tank question, It came on the bike. As soon as I saw it I knew I would not have to make a new tank for it. The tank is from suzuki according to the nameplates on the sides of it however I have never seen a picture of a 400 with the smae style tank

I just got the same tank off e-bay , although with a few dents in it. I think it's from a 1981 GS 450, although the seller wasn't sure. It sure saved a lot of work!
Keep posting pics! I'm doing sorta the same thing to a 77 400x, with spoked wheels and a front drum brake.It'll look cool, but I sure won't ride it too fast!

[oldschoolorange]

Hmm must be from a 450 then, Thanks. I wonder if there is a chance that my bike is a 450 instead of the 400 I origionaly thought?

About the fender hugging the rear tire I want to mount the fender on the rear swingarm as close to the tire as I can get it, and then bring the fender just past the axle so it will be like a 1/4 fender.

Beautiful bike Tracy, I have a very similar color blended with pewter on my 550.

[tracy borchert]

rubbing

Beautiful bike Tracy, I have a very similar color blended with pewter on my 550.

Thanks oldschool. Just have to watch out for fender rub, unless you stiffin up the rear suspension. With me on my bike of course it sits even lower than shown, but I still have a little travel in my shocks for some comfort. Good luck and keep the pics coming.