1981 GS450E Rebuild

[pete]

Well... first the potentially bad news... I may have made a fundamental mistake with the battery box cover.

A hinged lid needs room to pivot up... I don't think there's enough room... shortening the sides may solve that problem though. I didn't get the test fit done tonight because I got distracted by the arrival of the Acewell, so I'm not sure if there's an issue yet or not.

As to the Acewell...



Size comparison to the existing gauges:



And I also picked up the tacho plug from the dealer today, and from memory I should be able to remove the tach drive without lifting the valve cover or the exhaust camshaft:



Apparently Saturday week I'm going to get Saturday to do the install, so that gives me a week and a half to get my act together and get it all planned out, although I need to finish the battery cover off first.

The fun bit will be trying to find plugs matching the OEM gauge plugs on the harness so I can try to avoid butchering the harness and be able to put the stock gauges back on if I encounter some major issue along the way.

I think there's a vintage connector place in the US that will have them but there's no way they're going to be here on time so it will have to be somewhere local or find some other way.

[pete]

Did the test fit tonight and had to adjust the brackets a little but it looks like it will work, even if it is a little on the ugly side...

Brackets in for the test fit (ignore the bit of rust on the left, I need to touch that bit up, not sure what happened there):



Lid in and up to see if there's clearance to slide the battery out... nup!



Sitting down:



You can also see the front bracket poking out in front of the lid there as I'd bent it a little more than 90 degrees. I bent it back to solve that.

So, I then trimmed the length of the sides a bit and cut the diagonal off at the rear and I now have clearance to slide the battery out:



And sitting on again:



And then after adjusting the brackets and putting a notch in the front so it would clear the side cover mounting tab there:



And here's how it looks from both sides as it is:



Not the prettiest, but I'm hoping once I give it the brushed look it won't stand out so much, and I'm still thinking of replacing the black plastic side piece with alu.

So, still to do is smooth it all off, rivet the cover to the hinges, get the lock on, re-route the trickle charger + connection, and then get it all mounted back up properly.

I also started this thread tonight looking for some stock style harness plugs somewhere in Aus as I won't have time to get them shipped internationally before next Saturday when I should be doing the Acewell install:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=189622

[Good Times]

Nice Pete. "Good on ya!" (Is that an acceptable phrase or is it another example of Americans butchering your colloquialisms? It was on TV so I'm sure that it's correct. LOL)

[Tim Tom]

That's what I'm talking about with the box cover! Although I would paint it black so it hides in the frame a bit better. No need to call attention to your battery

[pete]

Nice Pete. "Good on ya!" (Is that an acceptable phrase or is it another example of Americans butchering your colloquialisms? It was on TV so I'm sure that it's correct. LOL)

Hahaha thanks mate, that'll do fine... she'll be right... haha

That's what I'm talking about with the box cover! Although I would paint it black so it hides in the frame a bit better. No need to call attention to your battery

Cheers Tim! I agree on the painting, although I think for the moment I'll give it a brushed look as a temporary measure as I won't be able to get to paint it for a while yet. I might have to cope with an ugly bit for a while... If I could find some rattle can paint that sticks well to alu. in a semi-gloss I reckon that'd do nicely, no need for 2K on that bit...

[pete]

I only got about 15 minutes in the garage tonight, so all I got done was rivetting the lid to the hinges:



The more I look at it the more I reckon it really needs to be black.

I typically get 20 minutes or so spare in the afternoon after I get home from work so in theory if I have it prepared that should be enough for a couple of coats of paint... I'll just need to pick up some semi-gloss or satin acrylic in a rattle can and some etch primer...

[ndaugbjerg]

Careful there , "Good Times". I was watching "Animal Planet" the other night and if I understood correctly, the "Grey banded Australian Colloquialism was put on the endangered list Jan 1, 2012.
ndaugbjerg

[Good Times]

Careful there , "Good Times". I was watching "Animal Planet" the other night and if I understood correctly, the "Grey banded Australian Colloquialism was put on the endangered list Jan 1, 2012.
ndaugbjerg

I like mine fried with a little gravy.

[ndaugbjerg]

Good Times,
While on the subject of "critters" I must plead ignorance. I figured out what a Kat was but what the hell is a "skunk"? Down here in Texas he's either a little black creature with a white stripe down his back, or a politician. Somehow I don't think that's what you guys are talking about.
ndaugbjerg

[Good Times]

Good Times,
While on the subject of "critters" I must plead ignorance. I figured out what a Kat was but what the hell is a "skunk"? Down here in Texas he's either a little black creature with a white stripe down his back, or a politician. Somehow I don't think that's what you guys are talking about.
ndaugbjerg

It has to do with the white stripe on the tank of certain year model GS1000's.

http://www.bertaut.com/gsgallery5.html

[SVSooke]

A Skunk is a 78 GS1000E,see why now?

[ndaugbjerg]

SVSooke,
Thanks for clearing that up. Probably a lot of other newbies on the forum wondering the same thing but embarrased to ask. Another nice thing about getting old; fewer and fewer of your inhibitions get in your way.
ndaugbjerg

[pete]

I only found this out myself about 6 or 8 months ago when another newby asked the same question... I was always a little confused but thought being a member for quite a few years I should know...

[ndaugbjerg]

Pete,
I started to ask you several times but I was afraid that having jerked your chain so much, the payback would be hell! I'm happy to know you are only 6-8 months smarter than I am.
ndaugbjerg

[pete]

Pete,
I started to ask you several times but I was afraid that having jerked your chain so much, the payback would be hell! I'm happy to know you are only 6-8 months smarter than I am.
ndaugbjerg

Haha it's all good Niels, I ain't easily offended... plus I bring it on myself plenty of times by acting like a knob anyway...