1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Woodsy]

I think its sitting up to high, you could fit my 250 in that gap lol

[Agemax]

Pete, i am sorry mate, just my opinion but that front mudguard just looks so wrong, it does not suit the bike at all

[tthayer]

Do you have a photo reference for the inspiration for the front-end? Has kind of a dual-sport look.

[Woodsy]

I think an original guard mounted up a tad higher would look good, that guard looks to long and it sits up way to high, i think chopping a good 5-6 inches out of the plastic one and lowering it will give you the look you want, as it sits in the pics thats higher than a trail bikes front guard.

[pete]

Thanks for the feedback guys, and yeah, I tend to agree that it's just too high and just don't look right.

The problem with the stock guard right now is that if I put it on (even in the stock position), it will impact with the right header when the forks compress, so that's definitely a no go.

Maybe trimming the dirt bike guard like Josh suggests and putting it on top of the fork brace I intend to bend up will be the best bet... much easier to trim a plastic guard than the stock metal one!

The URL is a link to an inspirational pic of a Triumph Scrambler, and you can see how the front guard is raised minimally, but enough compared to stock to give it a good dual purpose look, which is what I'm trying to achieve...

http://mrmoto.smugmug.com/photos/224361590-L.jpg

You can see it has a sump guard, hand guards, and mesh headlight cover, all things I'd like to do as well...

[Agemax]

thats what i would do, make the fork brace slightly higher and trawl ebay until you find a mudguard that you like, plenty of plastic guards about, then bolt it to the fork brace, you can easily trim the rear to clear the headers if needed

[pete]

Yeah definitely need to do some more playing around, should have half a garage free again on Tuesday actually as I'll be home to get my tax done.

Hopefully I'll get to look for some aluminium for the brace as well, which reminds me (yet again) that I need to measure up for the sump guard/bash plate and see if I can get enough to make that up as well.

[pete]

I just rediscovered an image I'd saved to my PC quite a while ago.

Initially it was for exhaust ideas, but I just noticed the fork brace... I hope I can make one look this good! I think I'll try to make it extend a bit higher though to endeavour to mount a guard to it as suggested...

[mike-s]

Ah, merely mounting a brace where the front fender used to be. Confirms my thoughts that the frontone acted as a lightweight fork brace after all.

[Woodsy]

Looks very similar to my stock one, although thats abit rounder.

[pete]

Ah, merely mounting a brace where the front fender used to be. Confirms my thoughts that the frontone acted as a lightweight fork brace after all.

Well... apparently not everyone agrees... however if your front guard is like mine, then flip it over and you'll see an extra bit of bracing tacked underneath.



I started a thread on the topic, and the general consensus (sort of) is that something is required, hence why I'm tackling the making of a brace...

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=178508

Looks very similar to my stock one, although thats abit rounder.

I keep forgetting to ask if you have a pic of that, or if it's just part of your front guard like mine?

[mike-s]

Yeah, mine's like that too.

[pete]

Got a bit of time in the garage tonight, although it's a full house in there so no good full side on shots could be taken, but I did do some more playing with the front guard and did up a bit of a template for the fork brace.

Guard on back to front a bit above the stock position:



I know the front section looks a lot better like that, but doing something with all that excess at the rear is a different story, especially given that it flares out right behind the forks there, so it could look a little dodgy...

So round the right way at about the same height:



The good thing is I did some quick measuring, and I can very easily take 5 inches off both the front and rear, which I think should be enough to do the trick...

I really need a full on side shot of the whole bike to see if that's right or not though, hopefully Tuesday for that.

Then I did a mock up with cardboard of how I think the fork brace will work which also let me get an accurate size of the aluminium I need to try to find on Tuesday:



Then I whacked the guard on over the top of the brace and it should be able to mount on top at a good height I think:



Once again I need a real side shot to see for sure.

So I now have the dimensions of the brace up on the white board:



And I did a very quick and dirty measure for the sump guard/bash plate, and a rough idea of how it might mount up so I can look for some aluminium for that also:



So what say the masses? Am I on the right track now or is the jury out until I get some side shots and maybe do some GIMP work to shrink the guard like I could cut it?

Oh, and I also have budget approval to duck into Jaycar and pick up the auto multimeter which includes dwell angle on Tuesday. Fingers crossed they have one in stock!

[Woodsy]

yes last pics look good!

[pete]

Cheers Josh! Still reckon I'll need to trim, but I can worry about that after sorting out the mounting etc.

I'm keen to see how it looks with a full side on view though...