1981 GS450E Rebuild

Pete, just put my suggestions on the hot vs cold bending question you posed but it didn't turn up here, GRRRRR I bloody hate complicated computer pages.johnny

[pete]

It held up fine today on the commute to work. Catching the train tomorrow so the next test will be the ride on Wednesday if all goes to plan...

And this avo I got the angle grinder out and chopped the front off the carry rack to start working out how to bend it around the tail piece so I can get it welded up to the grab rail whenever it finally gets here from the US.

Just started this thread about bending steel as that's new to me:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=191881

John, might need you to do that spot of welding soon if you're still keen

[pete]

Looks real good. Very custom!

Cheers mate, only got a quick trip round the block today to fill her up ready for the week and lube the chain after the bath so not much of a test ride.

I'll know better after the commute to work tomorrow how it holds up and hopefully I get out for the planned run on Wednesday which will give it a much better test.

Looks real good. Very custom!

[pete]

Big bath yesterday and last night I was able to give her her first ever coat of wax... looks real shiny in the dodgy garage lighting so I can't wait to see how she looks out in the sun! Gave all the shiny bits a good polish also...

Between the bath and the wax I popped the seat and tank off and got the breather catch tank mounted up and connected as well.

Here it is with much better looking paint after the sand and respray:



I also cut a strip of rubber to put between it and the guard for some cushioning against vibration:



Anything to help that tap stay on...

Then I drilled four small holes in the rear inner guard and ran some cable ties through to hold it in place with the rubber strip underneath.



Quick comparison shot of the old oily breather filter with the new one. No wonder it was getting so messy!



Then I ran a new run of hose from the breather cover down to the catch tank and put the new filter on and it's good to go:



The glue is a bit annoying inside as it obscures part of the viewing area, but once it gets some use I'm pretty sure I'll be able to see the level just fine.

So all I have left now is the carry rack and tuning...

[pete]

Once again Pete you have amazed me with your creative thinking and then your ability to make it happen. I have one question though, Would it have been easier to just run a couple of leak off hoses down under the bike? But other than that GREAT job.

Paul

Cheers Paul, will be happy if it works out, but I'm not sure how good that tap will be without some different glue... fingers crossed the cable ties keep it in place!

It certainly would have been easier running the hose down under the bike, but I'm trying to keep things neat and tidy where I can, so this seemed the neatest solution I could think of...

The other benefit with this solution is I will know how much blow by is happening by the level in the tank, whereas if it's just going out onto the road or whatever I won't have any clue as to how much there is...

Once again Pete you have amazed me with your creative thinking and then your ability to make it happen. I have one question though, Would it have been easier to just run a couple of leak off hoses down under the bike? But other than that GREAT job.

Paul

[pete]

There was something not right with the paint on the breather catch tank.

It was still a tad sticky to the touch this morning (well after the required 24 hours) and there were a few bubbly looking bits, so I decided to sort it out.

Gave it a quick sand with 400 grit paper tonight and got two light coats of paint over it.

After the 10 minute touch dry time, it already looked better than before, so that should sort it out I hope.

While I was rinsing it after the sanding, I let some water run in and it seemed to be water tight, and the tap allowed the water to drain, so hopefully it will both look and function ok.

[pete]

Here it is:



The paint should be dry tonight but it still felt a touch sticky to me so I just took it easy with it while I got the end caps glued in.

I did have one issue though which was the tap coming off when turning it on and off... bugger! Not sure if the glue is the right stuff as I have no idea what the tap is made out of.

For now I've stuck it back on again and added a couple of cable ties for support, so hopefully that's enough otherwise I have to find something else to glue it with.

Anyway, here it is with the end caps on, and the glue unfortunately has run a bit on one side, but I'll still be able to see the level:



I should be washing the bike on Saturday, so I hope to be able to mount this after doing that so the next time I start her after the bath I won't have blow by landing on the battery cover again...

[pete]

Got it all sanded down, cleaned up, masked, and hung up for paint:



Then four coats of this:



I also got the perspex end caps filed down so they should slot in the ends nicely so they can be glued in place.

Gotta wait 24 hours for the paint, then the end caps can go on.

I won't mount it up yet, I'll wait until after she's had a big bath which I should get done on Saturday, and that way I can make sure there's a difference and no oil ending up on the battery cover.

[pete]

Pretty slick idea there Pete. Can't wait to see it finished up.

Thanks mate, me neither! I really want to clean up the oil on the battery cover and not see it come back...

After this, there's the rear carry rack, and then the 450 will be 100% complete, done, and dusted... then I can just ride and service her

Pretty slick idea there Pete. Can't wait to see it finished up.

[pete]

Got the round pieces of perspex cut out this avo and the inlet side of the tap cut off to allow me to flush mount it to the PVC pipe, otherwise the hose tail wouldn't allow the oil to drain if it still poked up into the pipe:



Got the holes for the fittings drilled and also the hole for the tap, and it's a bit hard to see but I filed the area around it flat to give a nice surface for the glue to bond the tap to:



Got the fittings screwed in, and they're a nice tight fit with that second layer of PVC inside:



And the tap is glued on and I've just wrapped masking tape around to hold it firmly and let it bond fully overnight:



I sanded the areas around all the holes so I just need to give the rest a quick sand and clean, mask the fittings and tap off, then it's time for the black plastic paint.

Once that's done, I can get the perspex end caps glued in and mount it up ready to go.

[pete]

The mad scientist hits another home run!
Niels

Haha cheers Niels!

That is so cool pete! you make me want to get the lights in my dash board running again!

The only problem is that i love being in third at night and having no idea what speed i'm going!

Hahahahahahah at least you now have an answer to the "Do you know how fast you were going?" question

That is so cool pete! you make me want to get the lights in my dash board running again!

The only problem is that i love being in third at night and having no idea what speed i'm going!

Ok, three hours in the garage last night yielded an installed and wired in new dash

Got it fully assembled with the nyloc nuts and relay on the back:



Next I spliced in a wire from the ignition switch to turn the relay on and off with the ignition:



I got all the crimp terminals on the wiring and hooked up to the relay ready for installation:



You can see the momentary push button switch in the bottom right corner there which will allow me to switch over to battery monitor mode while the ignition is on.

And got it all bolted up and wired in. Excuse the filthy fly screen, she's in desperate need of a spit and polish but haven't had time for weeks and they reckon it's gonna be raining again this week...



Test ride today to work and back, and man it's nice to have that gear position indicator back!

So far so good...