1981 GS450E Rebuild

[pete]

Hmmmm... I hear ya... but if ya go back to the 60's and 70's there ain't no neat tail light setups there

I did think about doing that earlier on and integrating the light into a flat seat etc. but I think it's just not right for a scrambler... same with those chunky indicators, it actually doesn't look right without them to my eyes anyway.

But keep the feedback coming! I listen to all, just may not use it all

[Agemax]

fair shout Pete, its your bike, you do it how you want it

[pete]

Oh I will... and if it turns out like crap go ahead and tell me

Just wish I could decide what I was doing, but I still have time to decide yet...

[Agemax]

its crap lol

[pete]

Hahahaha cheers mate! I was hoping to at least finish it before you got to say that though

[Agemax]

Hahahaha cheers mate! I was hoping to at least finish it before you got to say that though

only kidding mate, you are doing a fine job. just hope i get to see it in its full glory before i die of old age

[pete]

only kidding mate, you are doing a fine job. just hope i get to see it in its full glory before i die of old age

Haha yeah all good

And me too! Can't believe how long it's taking, I can always seem to get in front of the computer,just not the 3 metres to the left I need to get in the garage...

Public holiday here today but other plans mean I need to get off here before too long and do other stuff and I'm hanging for Friday to roll around...

[pete]

I think I've finalised my fork brace/front mudguard mount design:



It'll end up with a flat top with a 20mm diameter bend on either side of the top and will then go straight down to the stock guard mounts on the fork legs.

Obviously I need to round the bottom corners off and probably round the corners of the cutouts as well, but that should be pretty much it I hope. Just hope that gives enough bracing...

Anyway, I also marked out the bits I still need to trim off the rear tail piece too. If I get spare time on Friday I want to use it, so I could finish this trimming off and cut out the fork brace:



You can see the bottom of the right side needs a trim, the cutout on the rear needs to be enlarged a little, and the left side needs a fair whack off the bottom as well as some off the left side heading up to the top.

That shouldn't take long at all with the grinding wheel on the dremel.

And, finally, I did two extra mock ups in the GIMP.

First one is Tim Tom's except I added the headlight and a seat mock up:



And the second one I added a silver pinstripe around the knee dent which was a suggestion from Hoosier Daddy over on DTT:



Not sold on the pinstripe, but it could be my inability with the GIMP too... I think it might actually be that there's nothing else silver for it to work with except maybe the polished edges on the rims (which I still have yet to actually polish)...

[landshark]

I think some solid silver in the knee dents instead of pinstripes, just my opinion, everything else looks good.

[Woodsy]

i would probably choose the one that has a chain on it... lol I like the top one.. but its missing something... i think the whole knee area should be a silver, draw up that one.

[Flyboy]

Pete, I think that Maroon looks good, works with the style, I agree with Josh, maybe try a mock up of a whole silver knee area, just for giggles, just to break the dark maroon and black.
And yeah, the silver mud guard does not work, keep it the same colour as the bike, maybe break it with a silver stripe down the middle to fall in with the knee area, should give you a good balance.
But looking good.

[pete]

Thanks for the feedback guys, and just for ya's all, here's my hacked up efforts with Tim Tom's beautiful work again:





The second one is my interpretation of a suggestion by Big Rich which I'm guessing can probably be accomplished by pinstriping tape instead of paint.

I'm starting to think I may need to do the dreaded colour poll... seems like it's the in thing lately...

At this point I'm really leaning towards the straight maroon with black rear guard and rubber tank pads... still got time to decide though.

[Woodsy]

Top one is perfect

[Tim Tom]

Aww shucks, I'm flattered.

I get the desire to add some accent to the bike. However I don't think the side is the right place though.

Try masking up a single 2 inch silver stripe down the tank and continue it on the tail. Leave the front fender solid colored.

Then you would have something to break up the maroon with but it wouldn't clash with the rubber tank panels.

I really like the solid colored mock up with the headlight and seat though. That looks like a motorcycle!

[pete]

Top one is perfect

Ya think? Hmmm... still not sold on it... now I'm convinced it's due to the fact it's the only solid chunk of a different colour...

Aww shucks, I'm flattered.

I get the desire to add some accent to the bike. However I don't think the side is the right place though.

Try masking up a single 2 inch silver stripe down the tank and continue it on the tail. Leave the front fender solid colored.

Then you would have something to break up the maroon with but it wouldn't clash with the rubber tank panels.

I really like the solid colored mock up with the headlight and seat though. That looks like a motorcycle!

Haha credit where credit's due, I'm crap with that sort of stuff...

I know what you're sayin'... see what I can't do with a different angle pic.

I might try my twin strips I did originally too actually... I got lot's of ooohs and aaahs with them! haha

I'm yet to see a combo that makes me go oooh or aaah, although it was very close with your first one!