1981 GS450E Rebuild

[pete]

I think we have a weiner:



Tempted to run the stripes all the way to the front guard but I think that will be too much...

[oldrookie]

That pipe has a mean snarl to it! Cool!

Paint scheme would look good too.

[davidduarte]

I think we have a weiner:



Tempted to run the stripes all the way to the front guard but I think that will be too much...

run it to front guard, do it! That would look cool.

[Ricko19]

Definately like those center stripes Pete - a winner indeed! Sounds great too mate - I'm sure you'll have her purring in no time!

[pete]

That pipe has a mean snarl to it! Cool!

Paint scheme would look good too.

Yeah I'm real happy with the sound as little as I've heard of it so far... lovin' that pipe even more!

Pretty happy with that paint too...

run it to front guard, do it! That would look cool.

I'll hack it up and see how it looks Dave, just for you

Problem is my GIMP work just doesn't cut it compared to Tim Tom's... and no Tim Tom that doesn't mean I expect you to go do more either, really appreciate you did the first ones

Definately like those center stripes Pete - a winner indeed! Sounds great too mate - I'm sure you'll have her purring in no time!

Cheers Rick! I will definitely have her purring... all a matter of time and patience... of course I have neither of those at the moment... hahaha

[pete]

Got to keep going a bit on the fork brace tonight, but I'm currently stumped at how to bend it as my initial thoughts on how to do it won't work...

Got the first hole finished up by rounding the corners:



Then got the second one filed out and rounded the corners:



And this is the outside laid out flat for the moment:



And after rounding the four outside corners:



So here's my first thought on how to bend:



However, when looking at where it was actually going to bend by putting some upwards pressure on it, I could see it was not going to bend exactly around the pipe at all.

I was just now thinking if I had two raised surfaces about 30mm apart, I could clamp the pipe like the above except with the pipe centred over the gap between the surfaces and I could use the pressure of the clamps to do the bend which should form it around the pipe.

I may be able to use the fold up work table for that as it has an adjustable gap between the two sides...

Anyway, I then also realised I hadn't drilled the holes for the mounting bolts yet, so marked them out ready to drill:



So, once I drill those I can get back to bending again...

[pete]

And Dave, just for you:

[Woodsy]

send me a pic pete, i'll draw it up for ya.

[pete]

The one above is here:

http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/starpoint73/GS450/Frame%20and%20Bodywork/ScramblerFinalMockUp-MaroonwithTwinStripestoGuard.jpg

Are you a closet GIMP guru or something?

[s0nia]

Nice looking bike Pete! I love the dark cherry red colour. I like the front mud guard coloured not chromed. I think it would look hot with two tone striping, white and blue. Cant beat that colour combination on a bike in anyway, shape or form.

My all time favourite look on a bike is this. I know it's from a Norton, but Nortons are the sexiest bikes on the planet!

[pete]

Thanks Sonia, think I'm pretty set on the maroon now

I was initially thinking blue with white stripes ages ago, but I couldn't find a nice shade of blue that I really liked and the colour that's on there now (that maroon) is one I've always liked.

I think I like most Brit bikes from the 60's and 70's actually, although I have a distinct lean towards Trumpy's...

I think blue/white stripes may look a little odd with the maroon, but I will put it into the thought banks

And yeah, that is a sweet looking Norton!

[pete]

Well, for better or worse the fork brace/mudguard mount is done and I don't seem to have balls'd it up too badly...

I'm not sure how stiff it will be compared to stock, but I'm sure there's a way I can tack on an extra layer of aluminium underneath to stiffen it up some more if I need to.

I ended up taping a file underneath the portable work bench to use as the lever point for the clamp.



I then proceeded to do all the bending without taking a single pic of the process.

Basically I just used the big C clamp to pull the pipe down onto the aluminium and bend it like that, seemed to work ok.

Here are some random pic's of the bending done and pilot holes for the fork mounts drilled:





Test fitting looks good:



And mounting holes drilled:

[pete]

So got it mounted up with the front bolts only as I discovered I was 1mm or so off with the hole centres, so I'll need to take a file to it and elongate the holes a little so I can get both bolts in each side. I guess I haven't had enough filing for a while after all...



I realise it looks a little lopsided there, but partly that's because it isn't bolted up tight, and partly it's because the front tyre is flat and the bead has separated from the rim meaning the tyre is actually out of shape. I'm pretty confident it will straighten up nicely once it's bolted down.

Test fitted the front guard again:



I'll need to get a heat gun onto it and shrink the sides in a little, and I'll also have to cut the sides out where the hole is in the brace, but aside from that it fits over the brace pretty well.

So the only concern remaining is have I introduced an issue with fork travel where the guard will hit the bottom triple clamp and will the tacho cable get pinched?



I believe I should be able to do something with the tacho cable, and if all else fails I can remove some off the bottom of each side of the brace to lower it a bit as well.

[Flyboy]

I love it when a plan comes together.
Nice work on that front end there Pete, keep it up.
Now you can see the metamorphisis happening before your eyes, feels good, don't it?

[pete]

I love it when a plan comes together.
Nice work on that front end there Pete, keep it up.
Now you can see the metamorphisis happening before your eyes, feels good, don't it?

Me too Flyboy, and thank you kindly!

It does feel good, and gets better and better... I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel even though it is just a little pinprick at the moment...