Another Aussie GS rebuild - GS1100G

[JimmyR]

And large US cars like the Lincoln Town car or any Cadillac are known as "yank tanks". In fact citizens of the United States are sometimes known as "septics" which is Aussie rhyming slang - septic tank/yank. Where I live in Western Australia we have a term "bogan", which is similar to the American "redneck". It means less educated, loud, unsophisticated, liable to swear profusely and drive "hotted up" utes. And because we have a lot of mining in the north of our state we have a lot of folks who work up on the mines, make a ton of money and buy Harley Davidsons, tricked out utes and fishing boats. We call them CUBs - "cashed up bogans".

I think that's why motorbikes are so darn expensive here. Bikes in Australia are expensive but here in the west prices are worst.

Anyway I have trying to bend some steel bar to make fender brackets. Hoping to get a bunch of welding done next week so I can get the frame powdercoated. I'm getting to the "man I can't wait to finish this" stage.

[pete]

And large US cars like the Lincoln Town car or any Cadillac are known as "yank tanks". In fact citizens of the United States are sometimes known as "septics" which is Aussie rhyming slang - septic tank/yank. Where I live in Western Australia we have a term "bogan", which is similar to the American "redneck". It means less educated, loud, unsophisticated, liable to swear profusely and drive "hotted up" utes. And because we have a lot of mining in the north of our state we have a lot of folks who work up on the mines, make a ton of money and buy Harley Davidsons, tricked out utes and fishing boats. We call them CUBs - "cashed up bogans".

I think that's why motorbikes are so darn expensive here. Bikes in Australia are expensive but here in the west prices are worst.

Anyway I have trying to bend some steel bar to make fender brackets. Hoping to get a bunch of welding done next week so I can get the frame powdercoated. I'm getting to the "man I can't wait to finish this" stage.

Man I know that stage well!!!

Just remember thought... anything not finished by the time you decide you want to start riding won't be finished for a while... look at my fly screen I started at the end of November

[JimmyR]

Hey Pete - that's not a bad idea re the blow-by thing. And if you do end up in Freo there are lots of interesting places to see. Unfortunately Freo is a LOT more touristy than it used to be, but I guess that's better than being beaten up on High St like used to happen... The new Maritime Museum is good, as is the tour of the submarine there. I'm not sure if the Car Museum is still there on the wharf - used to have some fantastic old cars and some bikes too. Walking around Freo is much better in the morning - in the arvo the wind gets really strong so maybe plan Perth stuff for the afternoons?

Not much more I can do on the bike this weekend. I'm waiting on welding really. That and pipe-bending on Monday. I'll probably make some front and rear fender brackets.

[pete]

Yeah I'm trying to resist the urge to fiddle more and start on a blow-by container type thing now... I wish I hadn't read that thread!

We booked flights today, but to Melbourne instead of Freo... the accommodation prices compared to Melbourne are quite expensive, so we'll have to do that another time after we put some $$$ aside. The places we like in Melbourne we can get for around $160 a night, but Freo is $275, so that's gonna be out of the question this time around... oh well.

Can't wait to see how your frame turns out and to see you get her done like you want, should be a blast!

[JimmyR]

Well if it's any consolation I'd rather go to Melbourne for a holiday than Freo. I like the people in Melbourne, like the food better, it's cheaper, has more stuff to see and just has a great feel. You can park your bike on the footpath there. If you like coffee then Pellegrini's at the top of Bourke St has the best coffee in Australia. My folks used to go there in the 50s! Whenever I go to Melbourne I go there for a long black. I like Mario's on Brunswick St for a cheap meal. Great city. Perth/Freo is just too expensive.

I just had a look at some Bonnevilles online because that's what I would have liked but couldn't afford when I bought the GS1100G. Now I think it was a good thing - this GS rocks!

[pete]

Well if it's any consolation I'd rather go to Melbourne for a holiday than Freo. I like the people in Melbourne, like the food better, it's cheaper, has more stuff to see and just has a great feel. You can park your bike on the footpath there. If you like coffee then Pellegrini's at the top of Bourke St has the best coffee in Australia. My folks used to go there in the 50s! Whenever I go to Melbourne I go there for a long black. I like Mario's on Brunswick St for a cheap meal. Great city. Perth/Freo is just too expensive.

I just had a look at some Bonnevilles online because that's what I would have liked but couldn't afford when I bought the GS1100G. Now I think it was a good thing - this GS rocks!

Yeah I like Melbourne, my wife comes from there so it's a bit like going home for her too. We were thinking of doing something different this time but that will have to wait for another time.

For cheap (but good) meals we usually end up on Fitzroy St in St Kilda, somewhere like Leo's is always good.

I like the Bonnevilles, but not the modern ones so much, although I do like the Scrambler. If I was ever to get one, I'd have to buy the older model Scrambler with the carbs though...

[JimmyR]

Today I made my rear fender mounts - yesterday I started the front ones. Today I got all of the things that need to be welded ready because my welder mate is coming around tomorrow to weld stuff. So I have my side stand ready to be welded, the new tank mount bolt in front of the seat, seat mount bracket so that the seat has something to hook into, rear fender mounting strap and the frame loop that goes under the seat rear. Then I can finish fitting everything, mainly seat and rear lights, then strip it all down and get the frame powder coated. Woohoo!

Also today my Mikuni RS36s arrived. It sounds like they shouldn't be too hard to install and tune. If it was a easy as installing the Mikuni on my Harley I would be stoked! But that needed only one carb..

I'll take some pics when the welding is done.

[pete]

Awww man no pic's tonight? That's just slack

Sounds like excellent progress though, can't wait to see her all done up!

[JimmyR]

Pics! Welding today. Got a lot done - it was great to have a kick stand again. With my new exhaust the original kick stand wouldn't fit, so on the advice of (I think) Daniel (7981GS) I got a different model's stand and welded it on. Works perfectly!

[JimmyR]

We also got a seat bracket for my new seat to hook into. It fits perfectly. My welder mate Dave Armstrong has done a great job. What you can't see well is that the bracket is an inverted "U" shape. It looks flat in the pic.



The seat looks so cool now (well I reckon!) with it's own frame loop following it.



While we were in there we pit in some fender brackets/straps and a tank mounting point.

[JimmyR]

What looks like rust on the frame is just red dirt. This bike has been ridden in rural NSW for a long time and it's very dusty. I have cleaned a LOT of this crap off the bike.

Another shot of the seat on the bike because I really like it! Its surprisingly comfy, too.

[landshark]

I dont what colour you are planning on powdercoating the frame, but silver would look awesome with that seat?

[JimmyR]

Silver? Good call. Never would have thought of that! That could look great. I kinda have my heart set on texture black though! Boring? probably! But it's a theme on my bike. I have quite a lot of textured finishes on it, and hopefully the fenders will be textured too eventually. The handlebars are a textured anodised aluminium finish which looks amazing and I want to try get the same finish for the fenders if I can. I already have the triples and brakes finished in texture black. But doing this I hope that the mufflers and tank will stand out all the more by being glossy. I really like the tank as it is but think I might get it touched up and a new clear coat sprayed. The finish IS 30 years old!

[Good Times]

Great progress here JR. It's shaping up nicely.

[pete]

Good stuff Jimmy! That is all working really well... how long before you get her tidied up and painted/powdercoated?