'81 GS550 Cafe Build

[D-Mac]

Wow, those emblems look great. I too need these. How did you find them? I find it daunting to sift through all the listings to find something like this.

Thx,

Sci85

Sometimes I try searching for the part numbers of eBay. In this case, many bikes used the same ones, so you'll find them quickly by using a search term like "Suzuki emblem GS"

[GateKeeper]

Love the polishing on the rims......looking really good....

quick question, how polished are they, like mirror finish, or just a bit below, I am going to do mine soon, and was wondering how much of a polish you guys are going for, right now I have them clean, and it's a dull finish, but clean....yours seem to be almost mirror ?

[Sci85]

Thanks d-mac. I just checked Boulevard Suzuki and it appears the OEM emblems are still available.

Sci85

[D-Mac]

As of 2am, both wheels were polished and fully cleaned.

Rear wheel polished. Didn’t come out quite as nice as the front, but it’s a major improvement. The tire is actually a little too fat for the rim. Since this isn’t a wannabe chopper anymore it’ll be replaced with a proper fitting tire.


Ready for paint, right?

Ummmm no. I spent most of the day just making off the wheel. I went through a lot of tape and a bunch of sharp blades. I’m planning to go to the lab tonight and do the painting. I’ll be using caliper paint (dull black) for the inside. No clear coat will be used (I must like polishing too much).

Front wheel masked.


Rear wheel masked.


I apologize if this thread is grinding along endlessly, but if so it’s an accurate reflection of how I’m feeling about these wheels. I can’t wait to get them done and get on to something else. I did take a break to do some grinding on the top triple clamp yesterday. I’m not too thrilled with how it came out, but it’ll work. The paint on it is very thick (not coming off yet after two applications of stripper). I haven’t decided if I’ll ultimately repaint it or polish it up.

The next pics will (hopefully) be of painted wheels!

[cowboyup3371]

Great work so far. And don't worry too much about taking so long to get through everything. I'd really hoped I'd have mine back on the road by this weekend but it's looking more and more like the end of the month now.

[Sci85]

Hehe, funny I worked on my triple clamp today too D-mac. and I found the same thing. That paint must have been baked on because very little came off with the stripper. I applied a very heavy coat the second round, waited for about 10min, then got my little brass brush out and went to town. The brush helped work the stripped into the paint and I got most of it off with that. Then, I took it over to the wire wheel and got the rest and got it nice and shiney. A pic of it is over on my rebuild thread.

Sci85

[GateKeeper]

For the triple clamp, use a wire wheel, to get the old paint off, it will make short work of getting it done,,have a look in my build thread to see how mine came out, and that was just on the wire wheel, no polishing done at all.

The rims look great, and the masking is brutal, I spent last night on just the front, polishing and then taping getting it ready for paint as well,,,,,the rear will be done tonight...

Caliper paint sounds good as well, I can't find a matte, only shiny, so I was going to use the appliance enamel paint, now I might go look for satin caliper paint...

Looks like a bunch of us are more or less at the same stages on our builds......

Just keep at it........soon we will be bolting all the good stuff back on, and waiting for the nice weather to get back so we can go out and ride.....

[D-Mac]

Thanks for the advice guys! I picked up a wire wheel a few weeks ago. Looks like it'll be getting some use. I'll try one more coating of stripper and a steel brush first.

[D-Mac]

For the triple clamp, use a wire wheel, to get the old paint off, it will make short work of getting it done,,have a look in my build thread to see how mine came out, and that was just on the wire wheel, no polishing done at all.

The rims look great, and the masking is brutal, I spent last night on just the front, polishing and then taping getting it ready for paint as well,,,,,the rear will be done tonight...

Caliper paint sounds good as well, I can't find a matte, only shiny, so I was going to use the appliance enamel paint, now I might go look for satin caliper paint...

Looks like a bunch of us are more or less at the same stages on our builds......

Just keep at it........soon we will be bolting all the good stuff back on, and waiting for the nice weather to get back so we can go out and ride.....

I've been following your progress. Looking good!

[Sci85]

BTW, D-mac, I travel to MI pretty regularly. Mostly Detroit area but also up to Grand Rapids some times. I will let you know next time I'm headed up. Maybe we can hook up and do some bench racing.

[D-Mac]

BTW, D-mac, I travel to MI pretty regularly. Mostly Detroit area but also up to Grand Rapids some times. I will let you know next time I'm headed up. Maybe we can hook up and do some bench racing.

Sounds great! Shoot me a message when you're coming up. I live right off I-94 in Albion.

[Sci85]

You got it. I've been by there once on my way to Benton Harbor. You're out in the middle of nowhere. But it sure is pretty out there in the summer.

Sci85

[D-Mac]

Ok folks, the wheels are FINALLY painted!

I used my fume hood in the lab as a paint booth. It worked great and eliminated the fumes.


Front wheel……ready……aim…….


……fire!


Several coats later, here it is! It looks better in person than the pic would suggest (even better without the camera flash too). I’m happy. As it dried it started to look more even as well.

Considering I’m a painting rookie, it went pretty easy. I took my time and there were no runs in the paint. I put on four coats – two light and two medium. If I add clear coat, it’ll be after it dries completely and I have a chance to shine up the aluminum first (it’s pretty dull and still needs a hand polish). Then I’ll replace the wheel bearings, reinstall the rotors/sprocket/etc. and change the tires.

Rear wheel being painted.


Rear wheel is done! It came out better than the front.


I left the inner hub grey because the original paint was in great shape and it’s hidden by the cush drive anyway.


I stored them somewhere nice and safe….under my desk at work.


Tomorrow I’ll likely paint the rotors and shine up a few other parts. I’m thinking I'll rebuild the forks on Friday.

[GateKeeper]

Looking good.......and no runs, that is the best....

Only thing I would have suggested is that you did the polishing of the rims first, then the paint, you risk the chance of scuffing the paint job now, or getting polishing compound on the fresh paint, you will just have to be a bit more careful when doing the polish

[Flyboy]

Nice work there, don't look like no rookie paint job to me, keep up the nice work.