1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Woodsy]

Hand guards are for pussies....................... lol

[pete]

Hand guards, nice, might look into getting some at a later date, in the meantime, bookmarked

Yeah, not easy to work out if they'll give enough clearance for the levers so before I buy I'll see if they have any idea, Slipstream Performance have been good to me so far. I got all my K&N stuff from there as well as my chain and sprockets and 'bars etc. Good prices, no complaints about ordering stuff not on their web site, and so far good service with quick delivery times.

They also stock the fly screen I want to cover the ugly gauge cluster...

Hand guards are for pussies....................... lol

Meow

[pete]

Well... I sorta hope I can use my stock front mudguard and just lift it... the alternative could get a little expensive, especially after perusing Tarozzi products a little more...

If I go with a different mudguard like the below:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280658358057&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1365wt_905

And sit it on top of a Tarozzi fork brace, that's $150 just for the brace.

Then of course I noticed that Tarozzi make crash bars for the 450's... that's another cool $160 there...

If I can just lift the stock mudguard, I already own that and I already bought some 3mm thick steel to make a pair of lifting brackets...

Mind you, if I got a second hand fork brace cheap enough... awww man I'm gettin' myself all confused now and I can't really do anything about anything because the bike's not here to see what will work...

[cowboyup3371]

Keep going on it Pete...how much longer before the bike gets back?

[Macguyver]

Wow, things are looking great! I am drooling over it already, and I can't wait to see it all together!

Keep up the great work and attention to detail Pete!

[pete]

Keep going on it Pete...how much longer before the bike gets back?

The only answer I have to that at the moment is not soon enough

I might give him a call this avo' if I haven't heard anything and if I have time...

Wow, things are looking great! I am drooling over it already, and I can't wait to see it all together!

Keep up the great work and attention to detail Pete!

Cheers Mac, good to hear from you! I'm hoping the end is in sight now, the only real roadblock is the ignition, most of the rest is just time and money...

How's that new business of yours? Coming along well I hope?

[landshark]

Hey Pete,
Remember that the fork brace is not just cosmetic. Then weigh the cost of your exhaust against the fork brace.
Makes sense to me if you look at it that way, and the result has the look you are after.
Just my opinion though.

[pete]

Hey Pete,
Remember that the fork brace is not just cosmetic. Then weigh the cost of your exhaust against the fork brace.
Makes sense to me if you look at it that way, and the result has the look you are after.
Just my opinion though.

Yeah good point... I'll have to measure it when it gets back and see what I can do...

[john82q]

real

Remember that the fork brace is not just cosmetic.

Pete,
The double thickness in the guard is not as strong as a real brace.
The 1100 has a simular set up, after puting the fork brace on the difference in handle was, chalk and cheese.

Just in case you need more convincing.

John

[Woodsy]

fork brace as in the bracket that runs between the 2 forks that the mudguard mounts on?...

[john82q]

Woodsy, fork brace as in a substanial cast or billet clamps on the top of the fork.
ensures both forks move in unison eliminating any flex or distortion of the axle, and yes could used as a guard mount.

[Woodsy]

ah i see thanks

[john82q]

with one like this, a plastic guard could be cut to fit over it rather than under, and screwed to it. which would give the required larger clearance appearance.







But hey its not my project, its for Pete to do whatever way he pleases, and it sure as hell aint the only or cheapest way.


John

[pete]

Well... I'm decided on one of two methods definitely, all depending on measurements, exhaust clearance, money, and looks

One is to raise the stock guard with 3mm thick brackets which should at least keep the same rigidity as the stock mudguard has built in (I hope anyway). That's totally dependent on how much clearance there is for the pipes and how stupid it looks. I have a feeling a raised road style guard just won't look right regardless.

The second is to do exactly what John suggested and get that plastic dirt bike guard (or similar) off eBay and attach it to the top of a proper fork brace.

If the guy on here can be convinced to split his 450 parts up there may be a reasonably priced fork brace available depending on what he wants for it and postage costs from the US... otherwise I'll have to ante up for a new Tarozzi brace, and as Landshark said it's really not that much compared to the exhaust cost... and of course the Ikon stuff ain't gonna be cheap either...

I didn't get to call Tranzac today either, work has been a complete s*&t fight since I got back on Monday and it's an absolute madhouse at the moment, so haven't been able to spare 5 minutes to call. I have to do that tomorrow though, getting desperate here!

In fact, I'm getting so desperate that I rearranged what's on the white board tonight and did a couple of diagrams with the two mudguard measurements:



And tidied the mess in the corner so I could see the sockets again (which I still need to organise):



And I was so desperate for some action I photographed it! Sheesh...

That also reminds me John that I need to return that there art of welding book...

[pete]

Well I'm looking through the Tarozzi application PDF and it looks like I need a brace designed for 33mm diameter forks with 56mm diameter fork lowers and 175mm centre to centre for the fork leg width apart.

Naturally I'll need to measure mine whenever it comes back to confirm this, but there's lots of models with the same measurements, and interestingly enough there's an "A" version which is arched for the GT380. If the arched is a higher version, then that would be quite handy if it's the same in all other aspects as that would really allow a high mount mudguard appearance... I shall have to do some more Googling now for GT380 braces...