1981 GS450E Rebuild

[pete]

Ok, first off... brace yourself for a fugly headlight pic:



The very thin chrome plating came off when I bashed the dent in to clear the ignition switch and it has now nicely corroded... I really need to stick some primer on that or something to stop it rusting.

Anyway, that's the test fit of the bottom part of the bracket and as you can see it fits just fine, although I haven't bent it yet so the gauge doesn't sit at 45 degrees like it will.

Then I held the top piece on to get a rough idea of how it will go and it seems like it will be fine once I bend the sides down:



Here's the bottom bracket finished as far as basic shape goes, and all I need to do with it is finish smoothing it off, drill the holes where I'll mount the voltage indicator and gear position indicator and the mounting holes for the top part. Oh, and paint it:



And then I also got the cutout made for the gear position indicator face to slot through:



Not too far off now once I get the sides bent down and mounting holes cut, although I haven't received the voltage monitor as yet.

[Englishman]

Thanks Mark, so what sort of material did you get? Is it something fancy like carbon fibre?

Err no. I have something called HDPE...... Hope to have some pics on my thread over the Easter weekend.

Mark

[pete]

Err no. I have something called HDPE...... Hope to have some pics on my thread over the Easter weekend.

Mark

Google tells me that's High Density Polyethylene... whatever that is when it's at home

Be interesting to see what that is, how you work it, and how well it does the job.

[pete]

Got the bottom bracket bent tonight and the top part bent to form the box as well:



So it should end up looking something like this:



Next up will be getting the mounts sorted so I can test fit it all.

No sign of the voltage meter yet but it's a bit early, so will organise that once it gets here. Plenty to do in the meantime...

[ndaugbjerg]

Pete,
Your thread has slipped almost to the bottom of the page. You been a bit under the weather, mate?
Niels

[pete]

Pete,
Your thread has slipped almost to the bottom of the page. You been a bit under the weather, mate?
Niels

Haha nah just no real progress to report... got a couple of holes drilled last night to locate the gear position indicator for mounting but that's it.

I'm onto the fiddly bits now which is getting all the mounting posts and holes done and I need to be patient to get them right so I don't have to start all over again.

Still waiting for the voltage monitor to arrive too...

I also caught up with HIGHSIDE yesterday who's up from Melbourne on holidays as he has a use for my old bikini fairing. Managed to strap it to the back of the bike and take it into work for him.

Nice bloke, got some good stuff on the go by the sounds, and he sure got a good score with his GS! Ya lucked out on that one David, well done

[ndaugbjerg]

Pete,
Busy here as well. Car repairs, plumbing repairs etc. By the way, if memory serves me correctly, you said that at 100 posts one became a senior member. If that's correct, start looking for a guest named "vikingrider" when I hit 99.
Niels

[pete]

Pete,
Busy here as well. Car repairs, plumbing repairs etc. By the way, if memory serves me correctly, you said that at 100 posts one became a senior member. If that's correct, start looking for a guest named "vikingrider" when I hit 99.
Niels

Man I hate working on cars... and if I was to do plumbing I think we'd all be in trouble! Hahaha

Actually it was someone else who said that but I think they're right... I'll look out for ya' vikingrider... hahaha

[ndaugbjerg]

Pete,
I sweated 4 copper joints on my shower blender valve last night; And none of them leaks. There is a God!
Niels

[pete]

Pete,
I sweated 4 copper joints on my shower blender valve last night; And none of them leaks. There is a God!
Niels

Nicely done! I'd end up with more leaks than I started with...

[pete]

Ok, I've managed a bit more progress over the last few nights and bits of time here and there, and it's at the point where it's basically all there and just needs a tidy up and smoothing etc.

I'm still waiting for the voltage monitor to arrive and that's the bit that's gonna kill progress very soon until it gets here.

So, mock up of how it should look with the gear position indicator:



Cut the mounting posts to size:



I filed them down smooth and to the exact right length after the photo.

All mounting holes drilled:



Test assembly:



I'm not using the cap head bolts in the final version, I'm waiting on some button heads to arrive instead. They were out of stock at the time but I needed to get something to test with and cap heads were all they had.

And mock up mount on the bike, and I have to turn the Acewell upside down while it's still mounted on the old bracket:



And I got the perspex cut basically to shape and here's the test fit with it as well:



Getting very close now...

[ndaugbjerg]

Pete,
I turned my laptop upside down and looked at your instrument cluster; That turned out great. I think I'm going to start with the OEM speedo and tach on an alum. panel. I took them out of the plastic tub and noticed the mtg. screws are awfully small. If I can open the insts. I'll drill out the holes and use larger mtg. screws. Have you or anyone tried opening the cases? I assume you are using the OEM gear indicator. Did you fab a box for that or is some of the orig. useable? Stay busy; It's very inspirational!
Niels

[pete]

Pete,
I turned my laptop upside down and looked at your instrument cluster; That turned out great. I think I'm going to start with the OEM speedo and tach on an alum. panel. I took them out of the plastic tub and noticed the mtg. screws are awfully small. If I can open the insts. I'll drill out the holes and use larger mtg. screws. Have you or anyone tried opening the cases? I assume you are using the OEM gear indicator. Did you fab a box for that or is some of the orig. useable? Stay busy; It's very inspirational!
Niels

Hahah I'm glad you could translate your monitor to view it the right way up Niels

I've had my instruments apart to attempt to clean and lube them and it's possible but you have to have lots of patience which I typically am lacking.

I have an album of pic's from the process here:

http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/starpoint73/GS450/Instrument%20Cleaning/

I'm not sure I'd drill the mounting points out as the plastic was quite brittle when I was working on it, so I think you'd risk breaking the housing.

Also, when removing the trip meter reset knob, I seem to recall mine was threaded on, not a push fit, so unscrew it and don't force it off.

I'm using the OEM gear position indicator and yes this whole dash/Acewell bracket is being made specifically so I can use that and so I can mount a voltage monitor as well.

This is as far as I can go for the moment until the voltage monitor arrives:



So far I'm pretty happy how it's turning out, but the housing needs to be painted black yet.

[Good Times]

Nice work there Pete!

[Englishman]

Wow, that's looking nice Pete.

Mark