Another Aussie GS rebuild - GS1100G

[JimmyR]

There seems to be a lot of Aussies on this place! I'm in Perth. Just bought an '82 GS1100G for $1500. Perth is a crazy expensive place for bikes - must be all the CUBs from the mines buying everything in sight.

Mine as it arrived at my garage a coupla weeks ago:



Looks ok from a distance! Actually it's not too bad, just filthy and with a bad paint job on the tank. And the pipes are shot.

I took a punt on this seat:

http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m507/JimmyR14/before001.jpg

And it seems to line up with the frame beautifully! And it will line up even better once I have chopped off the back end.

I'll post some more pics as I upload them.

[Flyboy]

Hi Jimmy, you must be one of the last Auzzies left in Perth, I think there are more of us Saffers in Perth than you Auzzies.

Nice bike, good score, what are the plans for it?
Keep the updates coming, following with interest.

[7981GS]

Care to sell that stock seat?

Daniel

[JimmyR]

Sell the seat? Sure! I need it for another month or so to get the bike registered though. Here in Western Australia we have fairly draconian licensing laws and my bike was bought unregistered. So to get it registered I have to restore it to good running condition, use the stock airbox and quiet pipes, it must have mudguards (fenders) within strict parameters blah blah blah so I need to get it cleaned up, registered and only then can I chop the back of the frame!

So yeah - Pay for the postage and it's yours. It's in pretty good nick I think.

My plan is to strip it of bulk, ie do a brat/cafe style bike but with a rather large front end! It will look pretty muscular I think. This is a bike I like - I don't intend to copy it entirely but it does provide some inspiration:


This is a Wrencjmonkees bike - very Japanese brat-style and I like how they show the battery box:


Mine will be along these lines but with the seat I already showed. Here are some other goodies for it:

[JimmyR]

I made a little tray to put under the seat for the fuse box:

http://http://i1129.photobucket.com/...lec002copy.jpg
And I was going to do the fork lowers in black, but once I got the wire brush onto them they looked too good to cover! Before:

After:

[Woodsy]

$1500 for that is dirt cheap! good buy for sure!

[DrunkenChekhov]

Where'd you get that speedo? I like...

[john82q]

watchin this

Gday JimmyR,

looks like a cool build.
Losing some weight will make the mighty 1100 seem more so to...

Do you plan to swap the 19 front wheel for something smaller so you can put a "fatter" (higher aspect) tire?

John

[JimmyR]

I was wondering about the front wheel, but I actually really like the stock wheels! My plan is to keep the stock wheels until everything else is done and see how it all looks. I'm also keeping the stock carbies and airbox and seeing how that looks. Although I have already taken off the chrome panels on the airbox. Next time I go to the powdercoaters I think I will take the black airbox sidepanels to be powdercoated in my favourite "texture black". If it all looks too "full" then I might try pod filters and Mikuni RS36 carbs.

The frame, brake calipers, underseat tray and triple trees will all be texture black. The front calipers are already at the coaters. I'm a big fan of textures rather than gloss. My other bike, a (very anti-Harley)'98 Fatboy is all texture black and satin chrome and aluminium. For this bike I do want some colour on the tank but I'm not sure what yet.

I'm really enjoying this now and am almost sorry that my little family is going away for 3 weeks very soon for holidays!

[pete]

Welcome Jimmy! Looks like a fun project

Don't worry, Qld DOT is just as bad as Perth by the sounds... can be a royal PITA...

[morrison]

Subscribed! Interested in the speedo,. I like the style youre going for, I havent heard the term Brat/cafe,. I like sir I like.

[JimmyR]

Wow - thanks guys! This is fun already! The speedo came from Modern Motorcycle Co in Collingwood, Victoria (Australia). It's from Japan originally - Modern stock quite a bit of cool Japanese stuff. I'll have to find a pic of the taillight... The scene in Japan is huge and some of the parts from there are awesome. The cool indicators are Japanese too.

[Syd]

Hi Jimmy - Welcome to GSR from sunny Melbourne. Nice looking 'G' you have there. Looking forward to progress pics.

[ged]

Hi Jimmy, looks good. I like the look of the forks. I didnt think of hitting the forks with a wire brush. I used the sand paper method and buffing. I missed a few areas but overall I was happy with end product. See how long they will last.......

[7981GS]

Forks look great! Want to trade?

Daniel