1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Redneck]

Damn Pete this bike has turned out to be "Fabrilicious". Love all the little fabricated modifications. You do good work sir.

Paul

[pete]

Nice work there Pete!

Wow, that's looking nice Pete.

Mark

Damn Pete this bike has turned out to be "Fabrilicious". Love all the little fabricated modifications. You do good work sir.

Paul

Thanks guys!! You'll most likely enjoy tonight's update too

Paul... fabrilicious? Love it! hahaha... and thanks for the compliment, I'm trying to do the bike justice so I want things to turn out well.

Oh, and it's also been nominated for Bike of the Month over on DTT as well which is quite awesome. I don't think I've got a single chance of actually winning given the calibre of the other bikes (including Big Rich's awesome GR650 cafe) but it's real nice to be nominated and it's like winning for me...

Anyway, on to tonight's work...

[pete]

Ok, so the button head stainless bolts and the voltage monitor arrived today.



So I gave the voltage monitor a little run on my test setup with variable voltage and it all worked like it should, and I tried with the link installed and it will definitely double as a battery monitor as well. Nice, very happy with that!

Andre I hope you're watching because your idea of the switch is going ahead:



That's just a momentary push button mounted underneath to keep it away from the weather as I couldn't find a small enough weatherproof one.

Basically, holding that in while I turn the key on will put it in battery monitor mode instead of voltage monitor mode. Simple.

So, given I have the perspex cover over the dash, I needed to recess the monitor under the perspex, so I made a little bracket to mount it to the lower part of the dash. I need to adjust it a bit as you'll see later on:



And the final mock up:



And some quick final testing:



If you look closely you'll see the LED for the voltage monitor is a little too far left and low for the hole, which is what I alluded to in the earlier comment about needing to adjust the bracket. Should be easy.

And a quick couple of videos, first in over voltage condition:



And in under voltage condition:



So, once I adjust the bracket for the monitor, it's out with the JB weld finally to seal up the gaps and do a general tidy of some marks and things, then it'll be sand, clean, etch primer, then paint.

Can't wait for it to be done!

[pete]

I got the mount for the voltage monitor aligned properly with the hole tonight and sanded the bottom bracket down to start preparing for the etch primer:



The mount looks a bit twisted and ugly now but it does the trick nicely.

I also got the JB Weld done to fill the gaps between the bent down sides and also to fill a couple of low spots:





I'll let that cure overnight and hopefully tomorrow night I'll be able to sand it back and maybe even get the etch primer done depending on the weather. They're predicting a possible shower or two so it may or may not be good painting weather.

I also made the most of having two multimeters at my disposal and compared the voltage at the battery with the voltage on the switched output from the ignition switch.

I'm dropping less than 0.3v through the ignition switch, so I should be safe to use that as the source for the voltage monitor. It's not perfect by any means but should do the trick.

[pete]

Got it in etch primer tonight!

Firstly though, I was thinking about the voltage monitor and how I wasn't real happy about it being out by the 0.3v I'm losing through the ignition switch, so I ducked out and picked up a horn relay today so I can have it measuring direct from the battery via the line running to the clock in the Acewell.



Tonight I got the cover all sanded back ready for primer:



Set up the drop sheet out the back and got them hung up and cleaned up with some wax and grease remover:



Then got two coats of etch primer on:



I think I got some runs because I was trying to get into the fiddly bits around the voltage monitor mount, so I expect I'll need to do a little bit of light sanding before spraying the black on.

So, while they started to cure, I had some thoughts on how to wire things up in the dash. I need to get switched 12v to the voltage monitor and the gear position sensor, and I need to connect the momentary switch to the voltage monitor so I can flip it over to battery monitor mode.

The relay mentioned earlier will sort out the switched 12v issue, but I needed some terminals to plug onto the provided pins on the voltage monitor that puts it into battery monitor mode.

So, I ripped my computer case off and found some unused terminals in there, so I cut them off to use for this:



I took the plastic enclosures off as I'll heat shrink them once I've got them connected to the switch, and here's where they connect to the voltage monitor:



Then I threaded the voltage monitor wires down through the gear position sensor sheathing to give me an easy way of getting it down to the end of the Acewell harness:



And, finally, here's the wiring diagram for it all:



If all goes to plan I should be able to spray the black tomorrow night which means it should be right to mount up maybe Sunday night, can't wait!

[ndaugbjerg]

Pete,
Thanks again; You've just given me an idea. I'm going to build a portable spray booth with PVC pipe (drilled and pinned together), some 6mil Visquine (clear) and shower curtain rings. I'll let you know how it works. Also sending a test message w/o pics.
Niels

[Matchless]

Pete,
Excellent fabrication skills!
I think those are going to blend in very well with your bike.
Regards.

[bowgen]

G'day Pete, can i just ask a couple of questions.

When painting the engine both fins and the casing, what paint do you have use for that? Also, regarding the gaskets for the 400 i have 79 model, where is the best place to get them please.

Appreciate it Pete

Dave

[pete]

Pete,
Thanks again; You've just given me an idea. I'm going to build a portable spray booth with PVC pipe (drilled and pinned together), some 6mil Visquine (clear) and shower curtain rings. I'll let you know how it works. Also sending a test message w/o pics.
Niels

That sounds like a good idea Niels! If I was to be doing more spraying with 2K or bulkier items like when I did my tank, tail, and guards, etc. then I was thinking I'd get one of those portable four post shade cover things and secure drop sheets all the way around.

That little area I have the drop sheet on now is only good for doing very small pieces and they hang off a shelf bolted to the brick.

Got your test message this time too...

Pete,
Excellent fabrication skills!
I think those are going to blend in very well with your bike.
Regards.

Cheers Andre! I just hope it goes together and works well

Did you see your switch idea made it in?

G'day Pete, can i just ask a couple of questions.

When painting the engine both fins and the casing, what paint do you have use for that? Also, regarding the gaskets for the 400 i have 79 model, where is the best place to get them please.

Appreciate it Pete

Dave

Hey Dave, ask away!

The cylinders and head aren't painted, I sent them to a guy in Jimboomba to get them wet blasted. It's a non-abrasive process that basically cleans and seals the outside of the alloy. It makes it really easy to clean.

www.wetblasting.net

I did paint the crankcases and valve and valve breather covers, and on those I used POR15 Black Velvet high temperature paint, and i brushed it on. If you do go that path, make sure your preparation is 100%, then do it again. It's flaking off in a couple of corners on mine where I didn't get sandpaper. If I did it again I'd use a wire wheel or something on a dremel to get in all the little awkward places.

I've been getting all my parts from Boulevard Suzuki in the US lately, or at least the ones I don't need urgently. Great prices, the shipping isn't too expensive, but it will take a couple of weeks to get your order in and shipped.

Eg. I got 2 valve cover gaskets, 2 oil filters, and the tacho cable shipped over for less than the price of 1 valve cover gasket locally.

I still go to the local dealer if I need something quickly or if it's so small (or large) that the shipping cost negates any cost benefits.

[pete]

Got a couple of things done last night too.

I was running low on the satin black, so the dash has three coats of satin black all over, but I did the extra three coats on the front of the dash and the top of the bracket where it bolts to the triple clamp:



Then between coats waiting for flash off time I got some wires and the pins on the momentary switch and got some heatshrink over them:



So it will happily plug into the posts on the switch so I can switch to battery monitor mode on startup (thanks again for the thought Andre!):



All I've gotta do now is sort out the rest of the wiring for the relay and once it cures I can put it all together finally

[landshark]

I was thinking I'd get one of those portable four post shade cover things and secure drop sheets all the way around.

That is what i did in my Garage.

[pete]

That is what i did in my Garage.

Good one Tim, exactly what I was thinking! Sure beats the hell out of taping drop sheets to the walls and floor. It worked but it took far too long and far too much tape to hold it all in place.

[bowgen]

Great stuff thanks Pete. I certainly appreciate all the help i am getting.

Thanks Mate!

Dave

[pete]

Sorry I was slack and didn't take any pic's tonight, but I got the dash assembled with the nuts just done up lightly.

I realised I'd run out of insulated spade crimp terminals so I couldn't wire up the relay tonight, and nowhere I went today had them except Dick Smith that had a humungous box for $40. Will try to get some from Supercheap tomorrow.

At this point it looks like it will look good and work as planned, but hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow night.

Great stuff thanks Pete. I certainly appreciate all the help i am getting.

Thanks Mate!

Dave

No probs at all Dave, glad I could help somehow

[pete]

Forgot to add I bought a grab rail off eBay US tonight too, so once that gets here I can butcher the carry rack I have to make up a replica of the optional sports rack that replaces the grab rail.