GS450TXz Cafe Build

[Zaydoc]

Hey guys, well work has been going slow on this build but the money is in and its time to get this thing on the road. I have a few questions hope someone can help. 1st rear tire would a 120/80-17 be ok in place of the 120/90-17 thats on it now. 2nd does anyone know where I can get a H4 headlight conversion. Candlepower is out of stock. As for handle bars what would you guys suggest? I was thinking about drag bars. I'll post up a coupe of pictures tomorrow to show where I'm at so far. Thanks for a great site with lots of information.

[Zaydoc]

Forgot something lol. Front and rear sprockets it has a 16f/43r should I keep that or go back to the 16f/45r and what kind of chain should I run.

[pete]

Firstly... where are the pic's?

For 'bars, most cafes end up with clubmans or clip ons depending on preference.

Not sure what the stock gearing is for the T's, but 16/43 will be higher geared (if I get this right) than the 16/45, meaning it will rev a little lower for the same speed compared with the 16/45.

All depends if you want higher top speed/less rev's at cruising speed or if you want sharper acceleration.

I've gone Supersprox sprockets with a Triple S O ring chain on mine, but I have no idea if they're any good or not as it's not on the road as yet...

I'm not 100% sure on the tyre, but the 120/80 should be a lower profile than the 120/90 which will also slightly impact your final drive gearing and (once again if I'm right) will actually make it slightly lower geared, so slightly quicker acceleration, although not sure if it will be noticeable or not.

And as to headlight, no idea... let me know if you find one though

[Zaydoc]

Picture up date.

Here are a few pictures so far for this build.

Pretty much how I got it just a little bit cleaner.


Smoothed up the tank and got the fiberglass done for the seat.


Tanks is primed and now waiting on parts to show up.

[gjohnson]

Very cool, what type of spoked wheels are those?

[Zaydoc]

O.E. its an 82 TX 17" rear and 19" front

[cowboyup3371]

Why didn't you strip the old paint before throwing bondo on the tank?

[Zaydoc]

The old paint is still good and well bonded to the tank so there so there was no reason to strip it all off but in the areas where the plastic filler is used. Then I used a self etching primer for the first coat over all bare metal. Then used a high build primer next will wet sand to 600 grit for paint.

[Big Rich]

Look for the rim width stamped on the wheels (should be near the valve stem). If your 17" rear is 2.15" wide, a 120/80 will probably be too big. In the end, it's up to each tire manufacturer to specify acceptable rim widths though.

What are the diameters of the actual hubs? Cafe's tend to have the same size wheels front and rear. And the old GT wheels are 18" in the rear and might lace right up.