1981 GS450E Rebuild

[pete]

Well I didn't make any real progress as such tonight, but I did give the Acewell a quick test. Just simple stuff like put power to it and make sure it turns on and all the indicator lights work, and I also flipped the magnet past the sensor to make sure it registered some speed, so that's all good.

I had a look at where I could mount the sensor, and there's two locations that seem like they would work ok. One would require me to make a mount that would bolt to the bottom of the left fork, and the other I think I could simply cable tie it to the fork. Not sure I'm real keen on relying on a couple of cable ties though, especially due to the fact that if it came loose, it would likely catch on the front disc at speed, and I don't want to think about that any more...

I also printed out the wiring diagram for the GS and another copy of the Acewell diagram so I can match things up easier.

I also started sketching out a mounting bracket so I can keep the Acewell centred but also so I can keep the stock gear position sensor.

And, finally, I also managed to get up to Supercheap today and picked up some Meguiars wax to finally give the paint job its wax, as well as a bunch of cable ties because I was out and some etch primer and satin black for the battery box cover.

So, hopefully I can finish the battery box cover off this week and get prepared for the Acewell so come Saturday I can just get stuck in and get her done.

[pete]

Rightio... I got stuck in last night and tonight, finished up the battery box cover and made up the Acewell speed sensor bracket for the front fork as well, and they're all hanging outside in primer tonight.

So, first off, got me some supplies on Saturday:



Then, last night I worked out what I needed to do for the Acewell speed sensor so I could mount it in front of the fork and within the 8mm required from the magnet. The magnetic bolt will replace one of the disc bolts and the centre of the disc is recessed so it needs to be mounted just right.

So, cut the basic shape out, and the three holes there are so I can mount it with cable ties and the cable ties will go through the holes. I figure if that's how Acewell mount their bracket officially then it's good enough for me:



Rechecked all my measurements, trimmed it up, drilled the sensor mounting holes, and bent it to the required shape:



Sensor test fitted:



And this is where it will go, I'll stick a piece of rubber on the back to protect the fork leg also:



And all smoothed and rounded:



Then I went back to the battery box cover to get the lock mounted so I can finish it off and paint it.

Test fitted with the lock installed:



And it seems to open ok and do the job still:



The only issue at that point was the left side hit the back of the K&N pod when opening, everything else seems to be good.

So onto tonight...

[pete]

So, I need to get the painting done tonight and tomorrow night at the latest as the rest of the week it's supposed to be raining and if I don't have the Acewell speed sensor bracket painted and cured by Saturday, there'll be no point installing the Acewell, so the aim tonight was to get it all in primer.

As per expected fortunes, it started to rain just as I was getting ready to spray the primer... I waited til it stopped and crossed my fingers... what is it with me, painting, and rain? My whole paint job was a race against the rain and now here I am four months later and I'm *still* battling rain while painting! Sheesh...

Anyways... got all the battery box corners rounded off and sharp edges smoothed with a file:



And trimmed the front edge of the left side so it won't impact the pod anymore:



Then I got into the battery box cover, bracket, and speed sensor bracket with 280 grit followed by 400 grit wet/dry to get them as smooth as I could before priming and to make sure the primers got the best chance possible to bond with the aluminium:



The it was a good once over with the wax and grease remover and hung on a bit of rope out under the back balcony with a bit of a makeshift protected area with a plastic drop sheet:



And two coats of etch primer later:



So, even though the humidity was up a bit, I'm hopeful it will all be good and I can paint tomorrow night. I need four coats of the satin black I got so I'm just hoping there's no rain for that.

Can't wait to knock these over and get onto the real fun stuff like getting the Acewell installed and working

[Good Times]

Good stuff Pete. Progress is a good thing isn't it. Nice fabrication.

[pete]

Good stuff Pete. Progress is a good thing isn't it. Nice fabrication.

It is indeed!

Thanks mate, it's a little rough around the edges but once it's in place it should be ok I think...

[ndaugbjerg]

Pete,
I need opinions and I always enjoy your perspective (looking at the world from the bottom side up!) Do you guys think a frame looks better with a gloss or satin finish? Everybody feel free to jump in.
Thanks,
Niels

[Matchless]

Pete,
I need opinions and I always enjoy your perspective (looking at the world from the bottom side up!) Do you guys think a frame looks better with a gloss or satin finish? Everybody feel free to jump in.
Thanks,
Niels

Satin black! The frame should not look better than the rest of the bike!

[Redneck]

I like the Gloss frame especailly since I used flat black on exhaust and satin on engine.

Anyway, PETE FORGET THE BATTERY BOX (though it does look good)!!! I WANT TO SEE THE ACEWELL HOOKED UP!!!!!! Then again I did start a whole thread dedicated to aftermarket guage clusters.

Paul

[Good Times]

Pete,
I need opinions and I always enjoy your perspective (looking at the world from the bottom side up!) Do you guys think a frame looks better with a gloss or satin finish? Everybody feel free to jump in.
Thanks,
Niels

It was high gloss for me. Love it.

[pete]

Pete,
I need opinions and I always enjoy your perspective (looking at the world from the bottom side up!) Do you guys think a frame looks better with a gloss or satin finish? Everybody feel free to jump in.
Thanks,
Niels

Hahaha yeah I like to see things right side down

It all depends... if the frame is going to be painted a different colour and a design feature, then full gloss for sure, otherwise I like semi gloss or satin as my personal preference...

Satin black! The frame should not look better than the rest of the bike!

Yup, that's what I reckon

I like the Gloss frame especailly since I used flat black on exhaust and satin on engine.

Anyway, PETE FORGET THE BATTERY BOX (though it does look good)!!! I WANT TO SEE THE ACEWELL HOOKED UP!!!!!! Then again I did start a whole thread dedicated to aftermarket guage clusters.

Paul

Now steady on Paul... Saturday is supposed to be Acewell day ok? And if you look at the pic's the little bracket on the right is for the Acewell speed sensor, so in a way I'm already working on it

Happy now?

And yes, I intend to hunt down your thread again once I've got it mounted and working and will add a pic or three for completeness.

I also hope to have the front tyre circumference measured in advance of Saturday.

It was high gloss for me. Love it.

That does work on yours too

[pete]

Well it wasn't raining when I got home from work today, although the humidity was still quite up there tonight. However, the weather's only predicted to get wetter this week so I had to bite the bullet and paint tonight and hope it turns out ok.

This is how the primer turned out, took these this avo:





I managed to miss a bit around the hinges but that's only inside where it won't be seen, so if the paint peels off there it's no big deal.

Then after 5 coats of the 3M satin black tonight:



The photos are horrible because the camera refused to focus on the black parts in front of the black background, so this is a rare case of them looking better in the metal than in the photo.

Between coats I worked out the stock wiring colours that need to be attached to the Acewell:



So the only thing I need to do before getting stuck in on Saturday is to work out the tyre circumference.

[GateKeeper]

Looking good there Pete....

Just a quick question, how come your pictures are so small ? In order for me to appreciate them I usually click on them, get sent to Photobucket, but then I at least get a larger view of them...

just wondering, by the way your not the only one......with small pics.......

[pete]

Looking good there Pete....

Just a quick question, how come your pictures are so small ? In order for me to appreciate them I usually click on them, get sent to Photobucket, but then I at least get a larger view of them...

just wondering, by the way your not the only one......with small pics.......

Thanks mate

To help the screen load quicker, I just paste the image thumbnails from Photobucket, that way if you don't want to wait for the full pic's to load it's much quicker.

Occassionally I just post the full pic anyway but that's why I do it this way normally...

[pete]

It was a bit overcast this morning before I went to work but I took some quick shots of how the paint turned out:



All in all I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, especially for a night time crappy light paint job.

Then I just sat them in place to see how they'll go:



They should go well, and that battery box cover should blend in nicely too.

I also cut the rubber out to stick on, the battery box cover is going to get a bit just around the + terminal as a just in case measure and the speed sensor bracket will get a bit on the back to protect the fork leg paint. I hope to glue them on tomorrow night after giving the paint another 24 hours.



Then I took a leaf out of Daniel/Eric's book (7981GS) and got my old bikini fairing hung up out of the way finally:



I also started preparing for the next project this morning by printing this out at work:



I'm hoping tomorrow night I can get the rubber glued on and measure the circumference of the front tyre, then hopefully on Friday night I can start pulling the tank and gauges off and get stuck in.

[pete]

So I didn't get the rubber glued on tonight, but I did at least get the front tyre circumference measured up.

Don't have any chalk handy, so stuck some masking tape on the front tyre:



Marked where the tape hit the ground with another piece of tape, then rolled it forward three different times and marked each where the tape ended up.



That netted me with two measurements of 1961mm and one of 1962mm. So, for the purposes of leniancy I'll enter the circumference as 1970mm to start with to try to cope for a bit of extra tread when the tyres are new and a small increase when the tyres heat up.

I do intend to verify with a GPS also as a guy at work loaned me an external GPS device that should work with the work iPhone.

I also did a little on the battery box cover by installing the lock properly:



If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get into some prep work tomorrow night and glue the rubber on. We'll see...