1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Hoosier Daddy]

technical terminology... try seaching for the term "Spherical Rod End"
See here http://www.mcmaster.com/#rod-ends/=f3v0iz

[pete]

Hmmmm... what I can find on those all seem to be just rod ends, whereas the heim joints or rose joints (interchangeable technical term?) have the threaded bit on there to take the threaded rod so it can be adjusted.

Hopefully that makes sense...

[john82q]

Pete,

Would something like this do ?

http://www.minibearings.com.au/store/partslist/jointsballandsocketrightangle/fasteners/wide/1/

Dont worry about threads, or rod I can help you with that..


john

[pete]

Pete,

Would something like this do ?

http://www.minibearings.com.au/store/partslist/jointsballandsocketrightangle/fasteners/wide/1/

Dont worry about threads, or rod I can help you with that..


john

Cheers John, that should do nicely!

I was just now starting to look at bearing suppliers after stumbling across a thread that said they sell them, so thanks for the short cut!

If the thread is right I can probably still use the stock threaded bar, otherwise yeah I might need you to do me a wee favour

[pete]

Here we go John, you're on the money I reckon! Won't know definitely until I get the dremel and a grinding wheel onto what's on there now but I think it'll be right.

http://www.smallparts.com.au/store/partslist/jointsballandsocketrightangle/fasteners/wide/1/

Looking like $12 - $14 each for the joints in carbon steel, which should be fine for a gear shift lever.

I'm hoping I can reuse the stock threaded rod because I wanted my next trip to your place to be on two wheels!

[Hoosier Daddy]

Oh crap... I am posting answers all over the place, here it is over here now.This is what I should have linked you too...

[pete]

Oh crap... I am posting answers all over the place, here it is over here now.This is what I should have linked you too...

Hahaha all good mate, appreciate the input... more answers are better than less!

Looks like John's got me covered again though as those ones he linked to earlier will be almost a perfect fit.

I got 15 minutes in the garage earlier today when I could make noise, so I grabbed the dremel, stuck a grinding wheel on, and away I went.

After grinding off most of the back of the heim joint where it had been peened, it still didn't want to budge, so the house mate's non-existent chain breaker (hahaha he didn't believe me til I showed him today) came in handy once again and I was able to force the heim joint shaft out almost all the way and then knock it out the last couple of mm's with a centre punch.



And there they are in all their feral glory...

The good thing of course is that the threaded rod is M6 x 1 pitch which I was able to determine by threading it in one of the threads from my thread repair kit.

I measured everything up and the only difference I can see between the stock heim joints and the ball and socket is that the ball and socket has a threaded shaft (makes it easier to install) and the threaded shank is about 2mm's longer, which won't cause any issues that I can tell.

There's a bearing place near my house mate's work that's a distributor, so I'll give them a call tomorrow and see if they have them in stock.

Alternatively I'll try that online store I found earlier too.

One right hand thread and one left hand thread and I should be in business by the end of the week which means thinking about organising a safety certificate inspection next week.

I also got the template done up for the upholsterers so I can take my seat back up on Tuesday to get sorted:



So the big things left after those couple of things are sorted are:

- Hand grips
- Chain adjustment/wheel alignment
- Rear brake adjustment
- Clutch adjustment
- Headlight adjustment
- Road test

Fingers crossed this gear shifting is sorted ASAP!

[pete]

Ok, so the distributor for those ball joints round the corner from my house mate's work don't keep them on the shelf, but they apparently will have them in tomorrow for me

I got in the garage and did a few things tonight too.

Firstly I grabbed the wife's hair spray (and yep I had permission ):



And my new grips:



And got them on:



Which allows me to put the hand guards on properly, and this is what it looks like from my side:



Very happy with that!

And I figured out what to do with the trickle charger pigtail so it's out of the way but handy to charge from:



I started on the fuel and vacuum hose but only got as far as getting the vacuum hose onto the fuel tap. I started trying to get the fuel hose on the carby but was sweating like a pig and wanted to scream at it so I gave it away for tonight.

I'm working from home tomorrow so I can take the seat back up to the upholsterer too, so hopefully that comes back real soon.

At this stage, provided I can get the gear shifting sorted and that the clutch actually works, I should be able to give her a run on Sunday and I might even sneak a shake down run around the block if I can.

[pete]

Rightio... turned out to be a big day today! I'm owed some time off for working stupid hours on call and was also late home yesterday, so knocked off early and got a solid straight uninterrupted 3 hours in the garage this avo. I still have more time owing but I'm saving that for when the seat's ready and also for when I get the safety certificate organised.

Anyway, the seat went back to the upholsterer this morning and I took some pic's with my phone to show them as well as having the cardboard template there. They suggested the same I was thinking which was just to unpick it, slide a wedge of foam under there, and stick her down again. They're just going to fit it in when they can so hopefully it'll be done by Friday avo but it might not be, they got busy this week... bugger.

So onto this avo...

I started on the noisy stuff that's difficult to do at night, and actually the noisiest I'm not sharing with you yet, still keeping it a secret for the moment...

Then I got stuck into those pilliion pegs to see if I could get the left one not to be so saggy.

Cleaned them all up:



You can see how the holes are a bit elongated:



And you can see how I shaped the mounts to fit the brackets properly a few weeks back:



And here you can just make out my really crap welding effort where I ran what's supposed to be a bead across the mounting bracket there. I need a whole crapload more welding practise before I'll even be close to average...



Much better (love that tyre)!



Then I got the wire wheel on the bench grinder:



Before and after:



Both badges wire wheeled:

[pete]

I also received the call earlier today that the ball joints had arrived, so the house mate arrived home with these:



Loosely assembled to compare to the stock setup:



And somewhere near adjusted correctly, although I can't completely be sure until the seat's back and I can sit down properly:



End result... next to no free play and it seems to be able to change gears properly!

I'm aware it all looks crappy as I haven't even tried to polish the footpeg bracket or anything at this point in time.

John, once again you're a legend finding those handy... And Hoosier, thanks too, yours would've been the next step if I couldn't get these ones...

Then the other week when I was putting the seat lock back on, I thought one bolt felt a bit funny, and sure enough the hole was stripped, so time for some thread repair:



Much better!

Then I really wanted to get the fuel and vacuum hoses on so I could get the tank mounted properly ready to give it a run as soon as I can.

So after the trouble I had with getting the fuel hose onto the T piece feeding the carbs, I tried soaking it in hot water first tonight:



That didn't work so well, so I ended up putting some of that rubber grease on the end of the fuel hose and it worked enough to get it on and get the clamp on so it won't come off any time soon.



Then I sat the tank on and hooked up the fuel hose to the fuel tap and the vacuum hose to the carb:

[pete]

And, finally, I popped the tank badges back on and I think I'm going to leave them wire wheeled, I really quite like them with that finish on them...



I think it gives it more of an old school look...

[rustybronco]

Much better (love that tyre)!

Pete, what's up with that right chain adjusting bolt? a bit rusty isn't it?

[7981GS]

Pete, might I suggest filling in the letters with a contrasting color to set them off against the tank?




Perhaps a red-orange that might compliment the turn signals?



and fill the rest in with black like stock?


Daniel

[cowboyup3371]

You started the bike didn't u Pete?

[Flyboy]

Yeah, pete, what is with that chain adjuster bolt??? tsk tsk tsk, come, come now Pete, after all that good work.....
Agreed on the tank badges, they don't work for me like that either.

I know you want to ride it so badly you can taste it, but no time to cut corners and take short cuts now, after all that stunning work you have done.