1981 GS450E Rebuild

[pete]

I just chucked a bunch of natural light photos over in my paint thread...

And I took a random shot of the bike how it stands at the moment too, just coz I could:



Then tonight I did part two of the clean up... I have a clean work bench finally!



Didn't take me long to get the next lot of work on there though.



The framework of the tail piece, tail light bracket, cut down centre stand bracket, and brake line mounting bracket will all get some POR 15 Blackcote.

I should be able to do this at night with no dramas at all...

[pete]

I pulled the booth down last night so the tank etc. are now residing in their temporary new home under the work bench to keep them nice and safe. The tail piece is of course waiting for the frame work to be painted with the Blackcote.

And speaking of that, I got the exhaust bracket off the bike last night and got all the bits waiting for Blackcote cleaned in Marine Clean and sanded ready for Metal Ready. I didn't stick the tail piece in the Marine Clean obviously, I'll clean that one down gently by hand...



I also ordered a headlight sight unseen from the local Yamaha dealer which is a lot closer than the Suzuki one. 7", side mount, standard H4 bulb, and chrome. I wanted black rather than chrome but that's all they have. At least the hunt should be over...

Emgo seems to be a no-go here in Aus and I suspect they don't meet ADR requirements which is no good to me anyway.

[Flyboy]

Pete, I know all about having a big work bench and nowhere to work, amazing how the stuff just piles up.
I spent a great part of this last Sunday doing garage clean up and trying to reclaim some work space on the bench.
I soooo, need more sheving and storage space.

[Woodsy]

i like your work bench setup pete, mine gets so much crap on it and no matter how many times i clean it 10 minutes later its just as bad. Doesnt help that i have the crankshaft from the kingswood taking up a large part of it.

[pete]

Pete, I know all about having a big work bench and nowhere to work, amazing how the stuff just piles up.
I spent a great part of this last Sunday doing garage clean up and trying to reclaim some work space on the bench.
I soooo, need more sheving and storage space.

Yeah it is isn't it? While doing that painting, I reckon I had a total of about an inch square of working space available, and nothing I was doing involved the work bench!

I don't think there is ever enough work and storage place... ever... if you get a bigger workshop with more space, you'll just fill it with more stuff

i like your work bench setup pete, mine gets so much crap on it and no matter how many times i clean it 10 minutes later its just as bad. Doesnt help that i have the crankshaft from the kingswood taking up a large part of it.

Cheers, Josh, and don't worry that's what mine's like. I actually have a work bench that goes in a U shape that in theory means I should have about 5 or 6 metres lengthwise of work space, but I lose the left side to tools and other crap, the right side to the bench grinder and little paint booth thing, which just leaves me the middle bit which I keep messing up... one day I'll get organised and have it all available, probably when I don't need it... hahaha

[pete]

Well, first off, didn't get the call back to say my headlight's arrived, so I'm not sure if that means they forgot to call or it's not there. Might drop by in the morning to see. If all else fails I can have a look at some hand grips...

And tonight I got the first coat of Blackcote on.

Did the Metal Ready thing first off:



Got the little bits hung up in my little temporary paint booth area that sits semi-permanently in the corner of the work bench and cleaned everything with wax and grease remover:



And I popped some masking tape above the side mounts for the tail piece just in case I got a little enthusiastic with the paint brush:



And first coat on:

[pete]

I believe I may have time for the second coat tomorrow morning which would be nice. That means if next Saturday is bike day again I should be able to mount some of this stuff again.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Good on ya Pete!

[Etcheberri]

ah nice progress.
i am glad to see it looks good, can t wait to see some pictures under the sun Pete!

nice garage cleanup too, well i think we all have to go through that once in a while...
*have a shy look at mine...oh god...*

keep up the good work.

[pete]

Good on ya Pete!

Cheers Hoosier! One step at a time 'ey?

ah nice progress.
i am glad to see it looks good, can t wait to see some pictures under the sun Pete!

nice garage cleanup too, well i think we all have to go through that once in a while...
*have a shy look at mine...oh god...*

keep up the good work.

Thanks mate! I really hope we get some sun soon when I can get them out there to polish.

And yeah, the garage and work bench were really getting on my nerves, but now it's all workable again

[pete]

Very limited time today but I got the Dynatek plate notched for the oil pressure switch and got the second coat of Blackcote on.

There's now plenty of clearance for the pressure switch:



Second coat on:



And finally I'm going to toss the old pipes:



The headlight should be here Monday or Tuesday...

[pete]

Ducked up the road this avo to pick up some electrical odds and ends:



The inline mini blade fuse holder and mini fuses are for the voltage monitor if I ever get around to finishing and mounting it.

The 6 way plug fits the old R/R on the bike, so I figured I can replace the plugs on the new R/R so I don't have to hack the harness.



I had a closer look at the R/R wiring tonight because it's non-standard already:



Turns out that the R/R that's there and faulty seems to have a sense wire already which you can see is the brown wire connected to the indicator relay. Cool, makes my life a lot easier.

I double checked on the correct diagram to ensure it wasn't like that from the factory:



So, first off, cut the plugs off then stripped and tinned the wires on the new R/R:



And crimped the male plugs on and soldered:



And inserted in the correct order into the housing:



I decided I'd replace the housing on the connector on the harness because it doesn't have the latch on it, so I used a thin piece of wire to unclip the connectors and slide them out, and here's what I saw:



PO has done the right thing by bypassing the headlight circuit with the stator direct to the R/R and has put a newer R/R with a sense wire on it, but then proceeded not to use a spot of solder when doing the plug...

So I cut the connectors off, stripped, tinned, crimped, and soldered:



And inserted in the correct order into the housing:

[pete]

They're now a nice firm latching pair:



And I figured I'd best check the modification on the indicator relay seeing as they didn't use solder:



They soldered that one!

Next up, seeing as I'm using the Dynatek ignition and don't need any room for a bulky ignitor or whatever, I can finally ditch that horrid electrics tray I made.



Then I need to make another one for these bits and the R/R:



To get mounted back in here again:



I'm going to use a bit more of that 2.5mm alu. I have left over from the fork brace to make a new tray up.

Measured it out and got the component placement sorted:



And underneath will look something like this:



I also ordered a battery and trickle charger this morning, so I should be able to power it independently some time this week I hope...

I also emailed about the brake disc and pads to see if they keep them in stock.

[Ricko19]

Very nice work Pete

[pete]

Very nice work Pete

Cheers Rick!

The aim right now is all effort into getting a safety certificate so I can get her registered and on the road before Christmas...