GS450 Cafe / Fighter Style

[pete]

Mate it's good to see you diggin' in finally! The frame's definitely neater without the tabs, although I left mine on so it can be returned to stock, and as it turns out the side cover mounts make good loops to anchor the saddlebags for the daily commute.

As for the wiring diagram, there's one around somewhere but I'm pretty sure BassCliff has a copy on his site... worth a look!

[Collo]

Thanks Pete, I'll check out his links I've seen one ages ago. It ill be the hardest part of the build i'm sure. Your bikes looking good must be nice to be finished?

[pete]

Thanks Pete, I'll check out his links I've seen one ages ago. It ill be the hardest part of the build i'm sure. Your bikes looking good must be nice to be finished?

Yeah I so wanted to do my own harness, but by the time I got that far I just wanted it back on the road again... I think if you're patient the rewards will be well worth it, just don't scrimp on cheap crappy connectors as they're the bits that will let you down.

There's eBay sellers that sell the stock style mini harness connectors and they could be the shot so the connectors don't become too bulky.

Cheers on the compliments too, I'm very happy she's all done! I'm still lovin' riding it every day and it's still a barrel of fun.

At the moment I'm dying to get stuck into the next project fully, but I still need to get a new shed built first and that's something I just can't' find time for at the moment...

[Collo]

Got the bike back from the workshop. Has had the back part of the frame welded in prep for the seat and is looking the part. The hole in the frame has been fixed and now the bike is ready for blasting.

Any suggestions as to what frame colour suits these bikes, I'm thinking of trying something other than black?

[pete]

Good stuff Collo, will be good to see how it all went!

As for colour, have a look what Jake did with his 300:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=195200

And oohsam went red on his 1100G cafe:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=176998

A lot depends on how much frame will be visible, how neat it is (de-tabbed etc.), and what colour the tank etc. will be.

[Collo]

Thanks Pete, I'll check out their builds and see. My bike is pretty well exposed and the tabs are cut off and sanded back so it should look alright in a light colour but I know what you mean otherwise. Thanks for the advice

[pete]

No worries mate... and there's a fella on here Tim Tom who does excellent Photoshop work if you need a mock up

[Collo]

Wishing I didn't cut off the rear shock mounts now as I don't feel like doing the mono shock conversion hahah, oh well.

I kept two of the mounts, but thinking I will need to re-drill and turn up some new ones, weld them in the drilled holes and start again. If anyone has a suggestion that's easier please let me know?

Ordered some cheap rearsets from Thailand today but I think they will do the job. $100 delivered is cheaper than the $450-$500 for Raask's.

I'll try and get some pics up of the recent welding work

[pete]

What changed your mind on the mono shock conversion? I didn't realise you'd chopped the shock mounts already... no idea on how to sort them though I'm afraid... that's one of the reasons I left my frame completely alone, I have no idea about structural stuff!

The Raask ones definitely aren't cheap, especially given the mixed reviews about how good they are, so definitely worth trying the others.

[Collo]

Yeh, Dime City Cycles have these rear shock mounts that are exactly what I need but postage from US is a killer. Surely a local engineering place can make them for me so that's where my enquiries are taking me at the moment.

I read about your tank cleaning process Pete, where did you get the clearer and sealer?

[Tim Tom]

No worries mate... and there's a fella on here Tim Tom who does excellent Photoshop work if you need a mock up

Ohh sure pete just volunteer me why don't cha? I'd be happy to 'paint' your frame digitally if you cant visualize how it would look.

Personally I think that a dark silver / gunmetal looks the best. It's not the standard black, but also not bright enough to attract lots of grime and be a bear to clean. Plus it looks great.

About your shock situation, were you planning on using a linkage monoshock or not? Perhaps you could fab an upper swingarm support and use that to mount the shock to an area under the rear tank bolts? Sort of like the swingarm of a Vincent?

Since you now need to rebuild the rear shock mounts anyways, why not do something a little different?

[pete]

Hahahaha sorry Tim ... but you know you love it

Collo, I used the POR 15 motorcycle tank repair kit.

I picked it up from the POR 15 reseller up here, but you can buy it from them direct here http://www.por15.com.au/ or if you check their reseller page they'll most likely have one near you.

Make sure you follow the instructions to the letter! And be 1000% sure the tank is dry before putting the liner in.

[Collo]

Hi Tim, thanks for the offer but it will probably not be necessary. In fact, I'm thinking along the same lines about the colour and figure if I'm going to the trouble of powder coating I might as well go something other than black. I saw a colour chart at the workshop and they have plenty of metallic greys so I will probably go something like that.

About the shock though, I'm pretty committed to go back to the original style. That said, there's nothing wrong with changing that later when the bike is assembled - despite having to touch up the frame / swingarm etc.

Thanks Pete for the POR15 info, something I will have to get into soon. The tank is off getting blasted a the moment.

Oh here's a question...

As for tank decals, I wanted to affix a belt buckle or cast iron logo type thing on the sides or middle of the tank. Does anyone know what materials would work best and those that won't work at all? Eg. Cast iron, pewter etc

Something like this...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200845372165?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_971

Thanks in advance

[Collo]

Hi all,

Got the bike back from sandblasting and zinc coating finally. The rearsets also arrived from Thailand and I'm pretty happy with the quality.

Jobs to go next:
Battery tray getting welded tomorrow.
Need a shorter swingarm bolt by about 20mm.

I don't really like how the tank tilts on an angle so I will be making a mount to sit it flat. Problem comes as the fuel petcock will then hit the frame, so may mount it backward or looking for any other ideas?

As for the rear shock mounts, have drilled them out 10mm and figure I will just bolt the new shocks to the frame through the holes. Should look neater and save some welding.

[wally]

I took my swingarm bolt to an engineering shop. They cut it down and recut the threads. I was too nervous to get a replacement rod for in case it wasn't the same hardness as the current one.