GS450 Mega Build

[Charlie G]

Thanks,

Been doing some research on motor mods and stuff and discovered the mega thread we did on the GR650/ GS500 combo is GONE! No posts older than September in the General Discussion???

Thats a bummer. That information was of some real value for us 450 owners.

cg

[scottychop]

Oh well,

I guess we'll have to start up a new one. I just found a great little GR650 motor for $100.......

Got to finishing things up this evening. Looks like my mark for getting her on the road on Halloween is going to come true. I had to re-spacer the front wheel, as it was off my a smidge. Got my brake mounts loc-tited and mounted up for keeps. For all intensive purposes the front end is done, minus the brake lines. I am going to run crappy rubber ones until I can gather up some dough for some stainless. Now comes the truly dreaded part, the damn seat. wiring is mostly tucked in, and working well. The seat pan is kinda complicated however, and I may spend a whole day just playing with that on Saturday. Gotta pick up a chain, and away we go!

[Leigh]

... Looks like my mark for getting her on the road on Halloween is going to come true...

What? A project running on time?
It's never been done!


It's looking really sharp, mate.
I agree with the others about the speedo. That looks perfect for the spot.

[Flaming Chainsaws]

Ride in the rain with me Got my bike registered with new tabs!

[scottychop]

No Kidding?

Congrats man. I know how much you've been itching to ride. I've got a great little curvy road loop I do here in West Seattle. It's about a 40 minute ride and cannot be beat!

[Richharr]

few questions.

what final weight and wheelbase are you shooting for? and whats the gr650 motor plan? just using the entire top end?

[pete]

Good stuff Scott!!! I knew you'd beat mine (by about a million miles haha).

Now where's those pic's? I'm keen to see how she's lookin' now...

And Allen, that's great news, now you can riiiiiide!!

Oh I'm just jealous of all of ya's

[scottychop]

Thanks

Thanks Pete! I guess you could call it rough-finished. This winter I will break it down and paint it the colors I want. For now though, November will be bare metal in a few spots.

Richharr,
I would guess the final weight is about the same actually. The swingarm is longer than stock, and still steel. The rear subframe is a bit lighter, but the USD forks are probably heavier than stock to make up for it. Wheelbase is about 4inches over stock using the Katana swingarm. I guess I should have weighed it before I started chopping things up! The 650 motor plan is on hold at the moment. I have a guy who wants to sell me his motor so I can use the pistons and carbs, but I really only need the some of the parts. I guess if I knew I could sell the other parts it would be ok...?

[pete]

Thanks Pete! I guess you could call it rough-finished. This winter I will break it down and paint it the colors I want. For now though, November will be bare metal in a few spots.

Who cares, you can ride it right?

Make it look pretty later...

[scottychop]

And....

best laid plans go to waste. Got up this morning thinking I could waddle on over to my local bike shop for a 530 chain. No dice. Then I drove over to the big box bike store and they looked at me like I was a green alien when I asked for a non o-ring chain? Are people really that hell bent on not doing maintenance on their bikes or what?

I did manage to pick up a few little bits at the hardware store and a green and read LED for my neutral and oil light. So, maybe next weekend....

[pete]

Bugger, but yeah that's usually how it pans out... at least it wasn't a wasted trip.

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out, getting close now!

[scottychop]

Lessons learned

Ordered a chain, should arrive by next weekend. Ok I guess, because I got into the shop and immediately noticed a broken adjuster on my NEW throttle cable. The part that adjusts to at the carbs had snapped in half? Then I proceeded to completely f-up my rear fender....too cold for paint today.

THEN I tried to put new fluid in my MC and brake lines. NO GO. How the hell do you get the damn fluid to feed down to the caliper? I know I've done this a few times before and for the life of me cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. I tried ever combination of adjuster loose/tight, cap on/off while pumping the handle. Can anyone point me to an article or website that is more than just bleeding a full system? I have heard of using a syringe to push or pull fluid, but the ten stores I went to today didn't have anything. Tricks?

I did manage to get my LED's wired up nicely to monitor neutral and oil without too much difficulty.

[Jason the terminator]

With the bike on the center stand and handle bars straight ahead fill the reservoir to the high fill line and replace cap.

Attach a tube to the caliper bleeder (left side then right) and place the free end into a jar.

Pump the lever rapidly then squeeze the lever without releasing and turn the bleeder a quarter turn so the brake fluid runs into the jar.

When the lever touches the handle bar tighten the bleeder.

Do this till there is no air bubbles present in the tube then switch to the right side.

This is what the manual I have says.

You may want to try a vacuum pump bleeding system. You can usually get them on a loaner program from an auto parts. I use them on my cars and trucks they work great but never tried it on my bike yet. Plus you don't need a second person to use one, just make sure that you keep the reservoir full of fluid.

Good luck,
Jason

[Charlie G]

Think I've been inspired not to work on my bike this weekend.

cg

[hillsy]

I've been using a syringe for brake bleeding duties for years now - it's the BEST way I've found by far.

What shops were you looking in? Over here I just go to the local chemist (pharmacy / drug store??) and get a 20cc one. Then about 6 inches of brake bleed line and you're set.

Push the fluid into the caliper and up to the MC (repeat until the MC is full), then suck the fluid back out. You can push / pull the fluid repeatedly to get all the bubbles out.

The syringe should set you back about $1 and it will do a better job than a vacuum pump once you get the hang of it.