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"Goose" My 1980 GS550

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    "Goose" My 1980 GS550

    I feel like the most relevant opening statement is that this is my first motorcycle project. Ive always wanted a motorcycle and after realizing a V twin was not in my budget, I settled for the first bike that was.

    I pulled up to what seemed like a warehouse. A rather large fella directed me around back where he slid open an intimidating barbed wire fence and it was then that I caught my first glimpse of her.
    "Go ahead, sit on it" he said when he saw that I could not hide my enthusiasm. We both knew the sale was already made





    Fast forward to the second week of having the bike in my possession.
    It did not idle, it burned oil, it smoked a bit, the tires were completed dry rotted, it was missing a grip, it slipped out of second sometimes, the silencer fell out of the muffler so it was deafeningly loud, there was no pad on the seat, and I had no jacket.
    I rode Santiago Canyon multiple times and rode it to work every day. I then decided to ride from Irvine, where I reside, to Cayucos, where a friend was visiting. 250 miles. A completely ridiculous and beautiful decision.



    Fast forward to pullling back into my garage a few days later. Absolutely no problems except that it was now pouring smoke out of the exhaust and the base gasket leak became quite apparent. I only have a few pictures from the trip and this is the one Im willing to put on the internet .



    It was then that I decided that I would find a replacement engine, pop it in on the weekend my brother was visiting from texas, and then take my time rebuilding the original to something a little faster.







    The swap was relatively painless but a bit heavier than I anticipated.

    Fast forward 3 months to now.



    New brake line (rear deleted), brake pad, intakes, tires, foot controls, chain, and cables.

    Left to do are new bars, throttle, grips, minor wiring, battery, smaller headlight, seat cover, resurface and drill rotor, and Im sure some other stuff Im sure.

    I dug into my old engine and found the piston and rings in pristine condition.

    I want to build it with a gs650 top end but I think I will just rebuild the head and hope for the best.
    Last edited by Guest; 10-29-2011, 12:48 PM.

    #2


    I also got another frame with the engine so I will be building a second bike from the ground up. My little brother is moving here in Jan so that is my deadline.



    We'll see

    Comment


      #3
      Nice to see your thread over here too!
      1982 GS450E - The Wee Beastie
      1984 GSX750S Katana 7/11 - Kit Kat - BOTM May 2020

      sigpic

      450 Refresh thread: https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...-GS450-Refresh

      Katana 7/11 thread: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...84-Katana-7-11

      Comment


        #4
        Awesome stuff right there!

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by pete View Post
          Nice to see your thread over here too!

          I was going to post a link to dtt but thought I should just do it right haha.

          Comment


            #6
            Looks nice, but I am curious, why delete the rear brake?

            Yeah, it doesn't do quite as much as the front, but there are times that rear braking is preferable.

            .
            sigpic
            mine: 2000 Honda GoldWing GL1500SE and 1980 GS850G'K' "Junior"
            hers: 1982 GS850GL - "Angel" and 1969 Suzuki T250 Scrambler
            #1 son: 1986 Yamaha Venture Royale 1300 and 1982 GS650GL "Rat Bagger"
            #2 son: 1980 GS1000G
            Family Portrait
            Siblings and Spouses
            Mom's first ride
            Want a copy of my valve adjust spreadsheet for your 2-valve per cylinder engine? Send me an e-mail request (not a PM)
            (Click on my username in the upper-left corner for e-mail info.)

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Steve View Post
              Looks nice, but I am curious, why delete the rear brake?

              Yeah, it doesn't do quite as much as the front, but there are times that rear braking is preferable.

              .
              For me its just unecessary and it gets some attention.
              Instead of spending $200 restoring the rear brakes I just took it all off.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by 240punk View Post
                I was going to post a link to dtt but thought I should just do it right haha.
                Haha yeah good call... I did mine the same but in reverse...
                1982 GS450E - The Wee Beastie
                1984 GSX750S Katana 7/11 - Kit Kat - BOTM May 2020

                sigpic

                450 Refresh thread: https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...-GS450-Refresh

                Katana 7/11 thread: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...84-Katana-7-11

                Comment


                  #9
                  Did my line today



                  The rotor will be fixed this week and Id really like to turn down the fork tubes to delete the fender mounts.....
                  And it started! Too loud for my tiny garage.

                  And then went to a buddies house and helped with his lines on a gnarly drag car. Fun stuff, learned a lot. If only I had $100k to throw into a race car haha.
                  Last edited by Guest; 10-30-2011, 08:29 PM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    nice looking lines!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Cool!

                      Nice job! Hope mine comes out as nice.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        You " deleted " the rear brake? Is that correct? You have fun with that. I hope you are very good at front brake modulation and please do wear a high quality helmet, otay?
                        streetfighters

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Haha yep no rear brake.
                          My only regret is no more slides

                          Comment


                            #14
                            It's amazing how similar our bikes look... I'm liking where you're heading with this, keep it up.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Also saw your posting on DTT. Looks good so far. I think your a bit crazy going sans rear brake. I'm a firm believer in front and rear brakes everytime ( and for skids like you said), but ****! I've done alot of stuff other people thought was nuts too. Lookin forward to future progress. Loving all the 550s lately.
                              1978 GS550 E
                              673cc swap / the hot rod

                              2013 GSXR
                              New daily rider

                              2012 RMZ450
                              for playing in the dirt

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