1981 GS450E Rebuild

[pete]

check these out, although I'm not sure if you can get them down under:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/15034/ITEM/Shinko-244-Dual-Sport-Front---Rear-Tire.aspx

They are available in 3.00-18 and 3.50-18, the original equipment size for the 450E.

Yeah I did some further searching after I logged off the forums this morning and came across those when doing a search for 3.00-18's. They seem to be 50/50 road/trail though which I feel may be a little too dirt biased for what I want. Also, they're only L speed rated which is 75mph or 120kph which is borderline too.

IRC also have a dual sport but seems to be a little too dirt biased as well.

It's very frustrating as I can seem to get a rear tyre in whatever I like, but not a front...

Take a look at those Yamaha XS650 street trackers. I think those tires will fit your build well but I don't know the brand. Not sure if it comes in your size either.

http://www.bikeexif.com/yamaha-street-tracker

Hmmm... have a look at those USD forks... me thinks they'll be much too modern rim sizes to suit But thanks for trying

[pete]

Well, I've done even more scouring now and it seems the only dual sports in the right size for the front are the 50/50 ones from IRC and Shinko.

I did however come across the Dunlop TT100GP and Pirelli City Demon tyres and both appear to have a more classic style tread pattern.

The TT100GP's are for classic racing as well as for period looks, and are available in the OEM sizes (3.00-18 and 3.50-18).

The City Demons are for town and country and all weather conditions. They're also available in the OEM sizes as well as current sizes (90/90-18 and 100/90-18).

I think one of those two could be the go seeing as I can't seem to find a good road oriented (enough) dual sport tyre...

On a side note to all this, I picked up some JB Weld today too

[pete]

And just before I head off to bed, here's my idea of paint for the moment.

Sorry about the crap GIMP work, tried to do some light/shadow on the tank but failed miserably, so you'll just have to imagine...

Basically, gunmetal grey on the guards and as a first base on the tank, then mask off a Suzuki S emblem and most of the knee indents before a gloss black top coat on the tank, panels under the seat, and duck tail.

Then I plan to attempt to make some knee pads out of rubber matting to stick in the knee indents, which is what the extra black area is in there.

Whaddya think?

[Redneck]

I like it brother.. think that will look sharp. Keep it going.

Paul

[pete]

Cheers Paul! I'm kinda likin' it too actually, now I have something to aim for...

At the moment I'm hanging out for Friday to roll 'round coz I wanna see it on the back of a ute on the way to Tranzac...

In the meantime I have my JB Weld so I can at least get the rods together for the duck tail I hope.

[Flyboy]

I like it Pete, you have the idea spot on..........BUT..............I think the front mud gaurd is still too "road bike", I would try and lift it a bit to get the same sort of gap between tyre and mudgaurd that the trimmed rear and duck tail is going to give you at the back, to keep the style flowing from front to back and also to create the illusion of increased suspension travel like that of a scrambler.
You may pick up problems then with the mudgaurd fouling on the downtubes or exhaust, so may have to reshape and trim there as well.
Otherwise, looks good, coming on nicely.
Not crazy about the black either, not for the style you are after, sorry, just my honest opinion, I'll go away and drink beer now ----------------->

[pete]

I like it Pete, you have the idea spot on..........BUT..............I think the front mud gaurd is still too "road bike", I would try and lift it a bit to get the same sort of gap between tyre and mudgaurd that the trimmed rear and duck tail is going to give you at the back, to keep the style flowing from front to back and also to create the illusion of increased suspension travel like that of a scrambler.
You may pick up problems then with the mudgaurd fouling on the downtubes or exhaust, so may have to reshape and trim there as well.
Otherwise, looks good, coming on nicely.
Not crazy about the black either, not for the style you are after, sorry, just my honest opinion, I'll go away and drink beer now ----------------->

Cheers Flyboy! I tend to agree on the front guard, however that's actually a bit of a dilemma to change as I'm of the understanding that the underside forms somewhat of a fork brace, so moving that around could have detrimental affects on the handling which I'm not real keen on.

I guess it's possible to separate the bracing part from the rest of the guard, but I suspect all that will result in is me destroying an otherwise reasonably ok stock front guard.

Unless I can come up with some other bright idea then I think I'm gonna have to stick with it, even if it does take away from the scrambler style a little.

Having said that, if you do some Googling for the Honda CL350/450 Scramblers and Triumph Scrambler, you'll see there are very few that have high set front guards, and all tend to have tyre hugging ones like mine, so I think it'll be "acceptable"...

As to the black/grey combo, it's not set in stone yet, just a theme I tend to like, but you're also right that it doesn't really personify the whole scrambler thing, and I will stick some others into the GIMP to see how they look.

Most seem to end up with chrome front/rear guards, but that's not doable for me unless I get the front re-chromed after straightening the creases out and get the rear electroplated, and I'm not keen on either of those, so maybe even silver might be ok... I'll try some more colours out soon, plenty of time to decide before painting.

And don't be concerned about giving feedback like that, it makes me think which is good, and will probably help me avoid some stupid obvious mistake at some point

Hope you enjoyed the beers!

[pete]

House mate brought back his welder today:



130 amps which should be enough for what I need to do I believe, and hopefully the electrodes he has will be ok, the smaller ones are 2.5mm which apparently are the right size.

And of course yesterday I picked up the JB Weld:



And I picked up some more supplies today:



The P clamps should allow me to mount the electrics tray a little more elegantly than the hose clamps that are on there now and I needed some more course sand paper as I've been through all the stuff I had. Need that to prepare for using the JB Weld and also for preparing the carb diaphragm and float bowl covers, front caliper and bracket, and the other odds and ends I'll be hitting with the caliper paint soon.

I also picked up a metre of red and black 50 amp wire to extend the starter motor lead and also to be able to run the battery positive and negative leads to where it will sit under the duck tail.

I'm hoping the 50 amp will be ok for the momentary load of the starter as it was either that or the huge cable suitable for cars, and that's just way too thick to even think about trying to route around a bike frame.

One thing I did neglect to get though were some round crimp terminals so I can actually attach it to the starter motor and starter solenoid as the ones I have are for much smaller diameter wire.

Then tonight I started on getting the frame work JB Welded to the existing duck tail frame.

Prepared by sanding the spots where the JB Weld will go, then cleaning up with some metho:



Got the top rod on which is the key to lining the rest up:



And the side rods on, which are the next piece in the puzzle as the side rods will need to attach to the bottom of these:



The electrical tape is there to hold them in place while the JB Weld sets as it's quite cold here at the moment and it's taking a while.

Hopefully I can get a few pieces on each night this week so come Friday it can be towed to Tranzac and I'll have the frame work ready to weld up and lay mesh and fibreglass over on my holiday.

[john82q]

Pete,

- J B weld takes an age to set, like 12 hrs or so, and fully cured in 24...also I'm thinking JB weld on the joints will make whats a tricky job with a stick welder even harder.

- maybe with the front gaurd you could fit a real fork brace, http://www.motorcycle-parts.com.au/Fork_Braces.htm
And use the stock gaurd as a mould for a fibre glass replica which is modfied to fit over the fork brace, rather than under. (if that makes sense) the brace could used as the mount too...you only need raise it a inch or so to create the look.

- the black/grey looks cool to me, thought about two tone blue?


John

[pete]

Pete,

- J B weld takes an age to set, like 12 hrs or so, and fully cured in 24...also I'm thinking JB weld on the joints will make whats a tricky job with a stick welder even harder.

- maybe with the front gaurd you could fit a real fork brace, http://www.motorcycle-parts.com.au/Fork_Braces.htm
And use the stock gaurd as a mould for a fibre glass replica which is modfied to fit over the fork brace, rather than under. (if that makes sense) the brace could used as the mount too...you only need raise it a inch or so to create the look.

- the black/grey looks cool to me, thought about two tone blue?


John

Yeah I guess we'll see on the curing time with the JB Weld. I'm only sticking a little bit on, just enough to hold it until I can get to weld it properly, so hopefully it won't interfere. If I don't get it done before Friday morning, then I won't be getting to any fibreglassing on my week off, so I gotta take a bit of a gamble that this will work ok.

Good point on the brace, although $150 could be a bit rich... Maybe if I can locate a used one somewhere... but definitely worth a look into!

I just did three other quick ones up, none of these are two tone blue though:

[Flyboy]

Pete, why not just fabricate two rectangular plates out of 3-4mm steel plate, about 60mm in length, drill two holes at the bottom to fasten onto the shocks at the existing mud gaurd mounts and two holes at the top to bolt the mud guard to, maybe 40mm between hole centers, from top to bottom, should lift the mudguard nicely without compromising the handling or having to butcher the mud guard.
Just a thought.
I like the red by the way.

[pete]

Pete, why not just fabricate two rectangular plates out of 3-4mm steel plate, about 60mm in length, drill two holes at the bottom to fasten onto the shocks at the existing mud gaurd mounts and two holes at the top to bolt the mud guard to, maybe 40mm between hole centers, from top to bottom, should lift the mudguard nicely without compromising the handling or having to butcher the mud guard.
Just a thought.
I like the red by the way.

Just had a closer look at some of my pic's, and I think I have more vertical clearance than I thought, so this may indeed be doable.

I thought the fork lowers flared out for the seals just above where the guard mounts, but I think I have an inch or so of clearance there, so I might be in business with that

I imagine given the existing metal there is around 1 to 2mm, that going 3 - 4mm will give it enough strength as well.

If I get back down there tonight to keep going with the duck tail frame work, I'll try putting it back in and lifting it a tad to see how it goes.

Alternatively, there's a guy on here selling a 450 fork brace, but says he will only ship to the USA. I've asked if he'll consider international, guess I'll just see what he says... none on eBay currently, but depending on postage it may be more economical to do the $150 locally here if I go down that path...

For me I'm still leaning towards the black/grey, but I'm starting to like the blue...

[Flyboy]

There is nothing wrong with he black, it just would not be my choice, not many black scramblers around, I was just thinking that if you are going to go ahead and fit the rubber knee guards on the tank, they would accent or "pop" as the yanks say against a contrasting colour, I just think that a unique and unusual feature like that would be lost in black on black, I know there is a silver border, but I think it will just look like silver striping.
I am sure whatever you decide, it will work well and be an awesome package once it is complete.
Can't wait to see the duck tail, hope you get to lay down the glass on your holiday as planned.

[pete]

That's cool, I know what you mean. From a painting perspective, I would imagine black would cover imperfections a little better and this will be my first effort... still, I like blue generally speaking...

Just quickly did this before logging off, raised the front gaurd about an inch:



Will look closer...

[SVSooke]

That's cool, I know what you mean. From a painting perspective, I would imagine black would cover imperfections a little better and this will be my first effort... still, I like blue generally speaking...

Just quickly did this before logging off, raised the front gaurd about an inch:



Will look closer...

Black will not hide imperfections,it will hilight them.Unless you are going matt or satin.