GS450 Cafe / Fighter Style

[pete]

Good to see another post from ya' Collo, that seat pan really looks good! Can't wait to see her painted and done... and of course see some video

[ndaugbjerg]

Collo,
I saw no mention of Dime City Cycles in the thread. They have some nice looking rearsets with a very reasonable tag.
Regards,
Niels

[Collo]

Thanks for the info on that site, I'll be having another look there when I go to buy rearsets or anything cafe related. Can't wait to work on it again its more fun than riding it.

[Collo]

Hi all,

Finally moved house and have the bike back in my hands after almost a year without it. It's going to get stripped very soon but looking to hear what people think is the best way to start? I tend to pull things apart and forget where they go, so is there a system you guys use?

Sorry for the long delay on the bike build, it should start rolling along soon.

[Big Rich]

Labeled zip lock sandwich bags work pretty well for keeping groups of bolts / nuts / washers together. And individual pictures of an assembly before and after can help when you need to put something back together. I printed out parts schematics from Bikebandit (or similar) before as well.

Cool project man! Signed up.......

[pete]

Good stuff Collo! Can't wait to see her getting finished up finally...

+1 to what Rich said, but I'll emphasise the photos... you can never have too many photos before you take it apart.

I also use Chinese fast food containers as well after giving them a quick run through the dish washer.

[Collo]

Thanks for the interest.
Yeh I started the other night by stripping down what I could. The exhaust, shocks, pegs, seat, tank and chain guard are off. I'll get some pics up shortly.

I want to do the frame first but not sure what tabs to cut off near the pegs as I don't know which ones the Raask rearsets use when I get some soon.

[pete]

Thanks for the interest.
Yeh I started the other night by stripping down what I could. The exhaust, shocks, pegs, seat, tank and chain guard are off. I'll get some pics up shortly.

I want to do the frame first but not sure what tabs to cut off near the pegs as I don't know which ones the Raask rearsets use when I get some soon.

Still no pic's? C'mon slacker

I definitely wouldn't touch any tabs 'til you get the rearsets... I know Mark (Englishman) got some Raasks for his 400 cafe but I haven't seen a close up of fitment.

[Collo]

Pics are coming Pete not too far away. Checked out the stator and its burnt out I'm surprised it was charging at all so I'll get a photo of that too.

[Big Rich]

Collo, have a look at stators from a GS500 - I think the original part numbers are different, but any aftermarket ones show that they are compatible. Plus a used one is generally much less expensive than a new aftermarket replacement.

[pete]

Good stuff Collo, and +1 to Rich's comment... the 500's should be a straight swap.

[Collo]

Okay the time has come to post some photos. The engine is finally out and i'm having grand illusions of creating a mono shock conversion and under body exhaust... but i'm probably dreaming.

Here is the bike getting stripped:


Here is the messy stator:


And finally the engine removed:


So there's some photos for your entertainment. Next move is removing the wiring loom and making my own.

[pete]

Movin' right along! Nice

If you haven't seen it, this might help:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=163012

Looks like Scottychop's no longer a member but should be plenty of info here...

[Collo]

Okay so bike is completely stripped and chopping the frame has commenced. This mono shock might be more trouble than it's worth but still willing to give it a go.

Looking through the posts ages ago I saw that someone made their own wiring loom from scratch, if anyone recalls the post and can help it would be much appreciated I've been searching for ages.

Pics to follow of current progress

[Collo]

Okay so here is where I have grounded too far through the frame, a quick weld should fix it though.



Cutting the tabs off was alright and much cleaner look



And finally the bike in it's current state awaiting a dedicated rebuild



You may not be able to see it from the photo but I have also cut off the chrome triangle foot peg holder things. Instead of buying $450 raask rearsets I've decided to buy any rearset I can afford and then just make a bracket to suit and welt it to the frame, should look neater too.