1981 GS450E Rebuild

I like the cupboard storage for your gear, Pete. Been thinking I'd like something of the sort in the garage for my gear, but that would require cleaning it up a bit. May actually have to throw stuff away. (Shudder)

[pete]

Wow, it's been 10 days since I last got something done... just can't seem to get time on her so far this year, and riding's becoming difficult as well dammit. Only ride this week was to work and back on Friday, didn't get out at all this weekend. We're doing spring cleaning in January and it took most of last weekend and almost all this weekend and we're still not done... sheesh. So much old crap to go... but anyway enough whinging.

I put the knee pad I'm part way through up against the tank first up to see how it would look:



It's not astonishing but it's ok. I think with a clean up once it's finished it'll look a bit better, but I think the neoprene is not as black as true rubber...

Anyway, I got the outline on the left hand knee pad which I hadn't started yet:



Carved out the lines and the guts of the letters with the V gouge but haven't cut the letters in fully yet:



And this is the pair, with the "G" on the right knee pad the only letter fully cut in:



And then I cut in the "S" on the right knee pad:



And a close up to see how much of a clean up of the grooves inside the letters is required:



I'll keep persevering and see what happens. I need to work out what to do for lines across it yet. I'm thinking V gouge at about a 30 degree angle from rear to front at this stage... will give it some thought as I go along.

I had one little slip tonight too and sliced out a bit of rubber at the bottom of the "G" on the left knee pad. What got sliced is still hanging on by a little thread so I'm hoping I can glue it down somehow otherwise it'll look quite crappy... well crappier anyway

Oh, and I have managed to get something done recently. We picked up an old cupboard initially for my wife, but she ended up finding one better suited to her needs so we decided this one would be perfect for my bike gear.

We gave it a good sand back and three coats of stain and I also gave the handles a good cut, buff, and polish like I did the crankcase covers etc. and I think it came up well. A nice place to store my gear now



And I also pulled the little area down in the corner of the workbench tonight where I did the caliper spray painting and had the bench grinder with the polishing wheels.

Part of the "spring cleaning" resulted in a spare cupboard from the laundry and some wire storage racks and things becoming spare, so they can go in the garage which will be handy. And the "spring clean" is going to include the garage and garden shed, so I can finally get organised in there! A bit late for the 450 rebuild of course but will be very helpful with the Cucciolo and the Yammie YB100 if I ever get around to it...

[pete]

Interesting Knee pad work, kind of like carving on leather. It is a slow painful process if you don't have a computer operated machine to do it, but it looks like your doing good. Man bag is that what they call it down under?

Paul

It is quite painful... there's a different texture in the grooves to what's on the surface also so I'll just have to wait and see what they look like when I finish, have smoothed the grooves, and cleaned them up...

Maybe I should use a Sienfeld phrase and call it a European Carry-all?

But of course I could not resist.....

Woot the Bike is done so now you have to party like its 1999



Woot Way to drag out this post Pete!!!!

LoL could not resist and the fight was over this one or the #2000 post.

This one won

Paul

Hahahahahhaa classic Paul, well done!

Of course this should be #2000 so...

But of course I could not resist.....

Woot the Bike is done so now you have to party like its 1999



Woot Way to drag out this post Pete!!!!

LoL could not resist and the fight was over this one or the #2000 post.

This one won

Paul

Interesting Knee pad work, kind of like carving on leather. It is a slow painful process if you don't have a computer operated machine to do it, but it looks like your doing good. Man bag is that what they call it down under?

Paul

[pete]

The main thing is Pete, in 700 odd Km, she has made it home under her own steam every time, no breakdowns, no coming home on the back of a ute, sign of a quality build right there.
Just razzing you about the bag I would be crap scared it is going to scratch that nice paint of yours.

Thanks Stan, and yes, true, she's been reliable so far and seems to be running well

If I can tune her a little better then I think she'll run like a dream...

I was crap scared about scratching the paint until I did *lots* of Google searching and discovered pretty much the only way of scratching paint with a tank bag is by buying a cheapo one or if there is debris on the tank bag or tank before putting it on. So, fortunately, a guy at work wanted to offload his good quality one and I always make sure there's no grit on the tank or tank bag before putting it on, so all is good

I still want to get some storage sorted though, driving me nuts having to put a tank bag on just so I have some basic tools handy... storage space ideas are floating around in the back of my head while I fiddle with these knee pads...

The main thing is Pete, in 700 odd Km, she has made it home under her own steam every time, no breakdowns, no coming home on the back of a ute, sign of a quality build right there.
Just razzing you about the bag I would be crap scared it is going to scratch that nice paint of yours.

[pete]

Nice one Pete, good to see you getting some quality seat time in, and yeah, what is with the handbag anyway, a quick 200km whip around the mulberry bush and you pack like you going to Europe for three weeks, what the heck are you toting along with you anyway?
Bike looks super nice in those pics, congratulations again.

Cheers Stan! 733km's on her now, almost time to do the first oil/filter change and check the valves again

At the moment I take the bag nearly everywhere because I have no storage space and don't like carrying a back pack... so there're some tools in there, a disc lock, a bottle of water, and the camera... I'm hoping to do something about storage before too long because it is annoying having to take the bag off and on all the time when I stop...

As to looks... she's needing a bit of a spit and polish at the moment but thanks again Stan, definitely happy with how she ended up

Nice one Pete, good to see you getting some quality seat time in, and yeah, what is with the handbag anyway, a quick 200km whip around the mulberry bush and you pack like you going to Europe for three weeks, what the heck are you toting along with you anyway?
Bike looks super nice in those pics, congratulations again.

[pete]

Oh no, my rebuild thread stalled at post 1992

But that's ok, I got started again tonight

I finally got an hour in the garage tonight to keep going with the knee pads, and I started carving the first one.

At this stage, I'm not so sure it's going to end up being worth the trouble, but I'll persevere with the first one and see what happens... it's very tedious!

Anyway, using just the V gouge I carved out the rectangular line and the curved line:



That wasn't too bad as I was able to just run the V gouge around in a continuous run.

Then I carved the "GS" out with the V gouge, or at least as much as I could...



Then I went back around the outline of the "G" with a knife and used the V gouge on it's side sort of like a spade to try to get nice square edges on the carving:



That's the part that was really trying my patience, so I haven't done the "S" yet.

That's where it sits for the moment, will need to finish that "S" and find a way of smoothing the carved out area too as it's a bit rough at the moment.

The pic's are definitely covering up some of the roughness there, so I might have to try the house mate's fancy camera to get some better detail.

[pete]

Nice to see the bugs getting ironed out, Pete.

Terrible countryside you have to ride through though.

How's the "ride fitness" coming along?
Less wobbles, more lean?


Oh and one favour, just for me, take the handbag off the tank when you go to take a photo please.
It really detracts from the lines of the bike.

Yes indeed Leigh, they are being ironed out alright! Dying to get that jetting sorted though, the idle to off idle is quite crappy and is making me too nervous at almost closed throttle through corners, off the line, and during low speed stuff at the moment. Some time with the Colourtune should have that sorted though

That country side is terrible... I have to navigate straight roads and traffic for 15 minutes to get there

The ride fitness is going really well so far actually, I'm surprised at how quickly I'm almost back where I was before I stopped. Still a bit gun shy around tight corners but I've never been hugely grand on them anyway, so time will fix that. Unfamiliar roads aren't helping either but again time will fix that too.

I actually got slowed down by Harleys yesterday who couldn't lean through corners so at least I know I can do some leaning

As for the handbag... that's a man bag do ya hear? Hahaha... yeah I'll try to remember to remove it for the pic's in future, just for you

Beautiful scenery Pete. I am quite envious. I swear I am going to get down there one day and Spend a couple weeks exploring that place on a motorcycle. But on an off topic this will be post 1991... hmmm. De Ja Vou coming on.

Paul

Yeah it's beautiful countryside this time of year Paul. It can get a bit dry and brown out there but usually it's similar to the photos and if you're the boating type you can get out on the dam for a play too. And the cows like to watch

Actually to be fair it's pretty much like that year 'round out there, but in winter you need to be careful early mornings as it takes a while for the moisture to evaporate and the leaves on the corners get quite slippery.

And post 1991... yeah this has to be the longest 450 rebuild thread ever!

Beautiful scenery Pete. I am quite envious. I swear I am going to get down there one day and Spend a couple weeks exploring that place on a motorcycle. But on an off topic this will be post 1991... hmmm. De Ja Vou coming on.

Paul

Nice to see the bugs getting ironed out, Pete.

Terrible countryside you have to ride through though.

How's the "ride fitness" coming along?
Less wobbles, more lean?


Oh and one favour, just for me, take the handbag off the tank when you go to take a photo please.
It really detracts from the lines of the bike.

[pete]

Finally got out for a good ride today, 200km loop around some great riding roads I haven't been on for over 10 years





However, I was a little remiss and didn't update this thread yesterday after being able to start using my Chrissy presents...



I got my carbs sync'd yesterday so now I can get into the Colourtune and try and get the jetting sorted properly.

Before:



I wound the idle down a bit before actually doing the sync as you can see above that it was a little low on the gauge, so the after vid shows a lot easier reading:



If anyone's keen I have lots of pic's of cutting the Carbtune hoses and putting the dampers in etc. but I think the end result shows it was rather successful

No more progress on the knee pads yet, hopefully I'll get back to them before too much longer...

[pete]

Good on ya.
Love the spirit!


Daniel

Haha yes indeed!

The weather's being a little uncooperative at the moment too... it was cool enough last night to have a bottle of nice red wine which just isn't right for this time of year! Enjoyable though

"Kickin' their arse and takin' names"
But if you got time to take names, you aren't kickin enough Arse! LOL

Hahahahahaa you got that straight!