1981 GS450E Rebuild

The mad scientist hits another home run!
Niels

[pete]

I'm also sick of seeing this:



A little bit of blow-by dripping from the breather filter up under the tank results in a big mess on my new battery box cover... so I'm going to make a catch tank out of some PVC pipe I have laying around, and I still have plenty of 12mm hose too:



So far, I've worked out it will go here:



I'll have the filter on the right end where I'm holding it so it's on the high side with the bike on the side stand, then I'll have a drain tap on the left side and the breather hose will go in the left side also.

Marked out where I will put the fittings and got the pilot holes drilled and those two half pieces you see there are getting glued inside so I have a thicker layer of PVC to mount the fittings in:



Then I got the second layer of PVC in with some glue (if you look close you can just see the pilot holes are now stopping at the second layer):



Then I got a little disc of the PVC to mark out the circles I'll cut out of some of the scrap acrylic perspex for the ends so they can double as viewing windows for the level:

[pete]

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...

[pete]

Pete,
I'm more confused than ever! Is that your left or mine?
Niels

Hahahaha my left

Oh, and I thought you'd be viking rider by now?

Pete,
I'm more confused than ever! Is that your left or mine?
Niels

[pete]

Pete,
This painting discussion reminded me of something I've been curious about for a long time. When you get runs, do they go up or down?
Niels

Gravity works the same down here, but the centrifugal force of the earth spinning is higher and they go left...

Pete,
This painting discussion reminded me of something I've been curious about for a long time. When you get runs, do they go up or down?
Niels

[pete]

Forgot to add I bought a grab rail off eBay US tonight too, so once that gets here I can butcher the carry rack I have to make up a replica of the optional sports rack that replaces the grab rail.

[pete]

Sorry I was slack and didn't take any pic's tonight, but I got the dash assembled with the nuts just done up lightly.

I realised I'd run out of insulated spade crimp terminals so I couldn't wire up the relay tonight, and nowhere I went today had them except Dick Smith that had a humungous box for $40. Will try to get some from Supercheap tomorrow.

At this point it looks like it will look good and work as planned, but hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow night.

Great stuff thanks Pete. I certainly appreciate all the help i am getting.

Thanks Mate!

Dave

No probs at all Dave, glad I could help somehow

Great stuff thanks Pete. I certainly appreciate all the help i am getting.

Thanks Mate!

Dave

[pete]

That is what i did in my Garage.

Good one Tim, exactly what I was thinking! Sure beats the hell out of taping drop sheets to the walls and floor. It worked but it took far too long and far too much tape to hold it all in place.

I was thinking I'd get one of those portable four post shade cover things and secure drop sheets all the way around.

That is what i did in my Garage.

[pete]

Got a couple of things done last night too.

I was running low on the satin black, so the dash has three coats of satin black all over, but I did the extra three coats on the front of the dash and the top of the bracket where it bolts to the triple clamp:



Then between coats waiting for flash off time I got some wires and the pins on the momentary switch and got some heatshrink over them:



So it will happily plug into the posts on the switch so I can switch to battery monitor mode on startup (thanks again for the thought Andre!):



All I've gotta do now is sort out the rest of the wiring for the relay and once it cures I can put it all together finally

[pete]

Pete,
Thanks again; You've just given me an idea. I'm going to build a portable spray booth with PVC pipe (drilled and pinned together), some 6mil Visquine (clear) and shower curtain rings. I'll let you know how it works. Also sending a test message w/o pics.
Niels

That sounds like a good idea Niels! If I was to be doing more spraying with 2K or bulkier items like when I did my tank, tail, and guards, etc. then I was thinking I'd get one of those portable four post shade cover things and secure drop sheets all the way around.

That little area I have the drop sheet on now is only good for doing very small pieces and they hang off a shelf bolted to the brick.

Got your test message this time too...

Pete,
Excellent fabrication skills!
I think those are going to blend in very well with your bike.
Regards.

Cheers Andre! I just hope it goes together and works well

Did you see your switch idea made it in?

G'day Pete, can i just ask a couple of questions.

When painting the engine both fins and the casing, what paint do you have use for that? Also, regarding the gaskets for the 400 i have 79 model, where is the best place to get them please.

Appreciate it Pete

Dave

Hey Dave, ask away!

The cylinders and head aren't painted, I sent them to a guy in Jimboomba to get them wet blasted. It's a non-abrasive process that basically cleans and seals the outside of the alloy. It makes it really easy to clean.

www.wetblasting.net

I did paint the crankcases and valve and valve breather covers, and on those I used POR15 Black Velvet high temperature paint, and i brushed it on. If you do go that path, make sure your preparation is 100%, then do it again. It's flaking off in a couple of corners on mine where I didn't get sandpaper. If I did it again I'd use a wire wheel or something on a dremel to get in all the little awkward places.

I've been getting all my parts from Boulevard Suzuki in the US lately, or at least the ones I don't need urgently. Great prices, the shipping isn't too expensive, but it will take a couple of weeks to get your order in and shipped.

Eg. I got 2 valve cover gaskets, 2 oil filters, and the tacho cable shipped over for less than the price of 1 valve cover gasket locally.

I still go to the local dealer if I need something quickly or if it's so small (or large) that the shipping cost negates any cost benefits.

G'day Pete, can i just ask a couple of questions.

When painting the engine both fins and the casing, what paint do you have use for that? Also, regarding the gaskets for the 400 i have 79 model, where is the best place to get them please.

Appreciate it Pete

Dave