78 GS400 19 years sitting now here we go...

[barnbiketom]

thought I'd post up a few pics of my carbs. First dirty, then when they are all done, I always dip carbs then ultrasound them and then verify all circuits are open. any suspect parts replaced and of course all o-rings via Cycleorings.com
I ordered TWO combo sets for the gs Twins because I have an 82 450L waiting on the back burner to do as a new daily rider. anyway.. any rusted metal parts I usually bead blast separately and sometimes spray with clear or metallic paint. That will be more evident in future pics but I wanted to show the ultrasonic tank with one carb and also all the small parts in a separate cup floating beside it.
the cup is the "indirect" method that works well for small parts that might fall thru a basket or be hard to find.

[barnbiketom]

I got the carbs all done and installed. started right up. I still need to figure out how the heck to install the mufflers..I need 1 3/4" clamps and will probably get them off of Ebay.

now for some ADVICE.
I am going to powder coat the tank badges. I'll show the detailed process, and it will be two steps. first spray one color, bake it, let cool down to 100 F then spray the other color and wipe off the high spots (raised lettering) , bake again and PRESTO!! Great tank badges!!!
I've done it before but am procrastinating on the colors. I can make the background any color, and the letters any color.
I have electric blue, gloss black, flat black, and orange. they can be any color and I thought about black lettering with orange background. Then some matching logo on the side covers in orange..any idears??
I don't have any white but can get it fast lol....

[pete]

Hmmmm I'd be tempted black outline and background and electric blue letters...

[barnbiketom]

ok BLUE it is!!
I beadblasted the heck out of them and mounted them to a coffee can. Bead blasted that too to ensure no burn off of the MAXWELL HOUSE paint would contaminate anything.
used my trusty Eastwood cheepie PC gun .nice kit for like $129??

after heating it all up in my old kitchen stove at 200 for 15 minutes, (to burn out any impurities.. ) I shot the base coat chrome reflective. it makes the blue, well, bluer??
this is after baking at 400 degrees after it reached temp , for 20 minutes..

then after shooting the blue and baking...
Now the hard part. I dusted the whole thing with glossy black after it had cooled down to 100 degrees. BTW I use an EL CHEEPO Harbor Freight 16 dollar infared scanner lol..
It was REALLY HARD to wipe off the letters, leaving the black just in the recesses. I ended up using my finger (BAD BOY) cause by this time I was VERY NERVOUS and impatient as my usual self. Next time I'll have an artist brush handy. don't try to use a sponge, cloth, or anything like that. it will take off the lower resesses also. I ended up with a bit of a mess and actually it came out much better than expected!!
you can see now how I actually got mad, picked up some powder off the can top and re-sprinkled it hahahaha, but it worked!!
WELL after another baking.. it turned out quite well.. There was not any real light left outside, so i'll get a better pic or two when the sun comes out!!!!

[pete]

Wow they turned out real well! Nice

[barnbiketom]

THANKS!! now for some more blue highlights.. but where ? hmmm?

[pete]

What about something on the side covers? Your second pic doesn't show up there...

[barnbiketom]

not sure what to put on them? i was looking at some custom made "GS400" diecut decals, but came up flat.. .I can't seem to find anyone that wants to make just two for a decent price??
On a side note, I ran the dumb thing out of gas yesterday and pushed her 1 mile. it was 95 degrees and boy was i mad.
tonite I filled it up and ran it some more to see what bugs it has..It's not charging ?? HMMM it was before I tore it all apart hahaa? wires probably wrong... it didn't want to hold an idle, but I may have the idle mix screws out too far.. I put them where they were and they were like 3 turns out hahaha..
But she does run nice!! no bog, sputter or lags.. just intermittantly poor idle. I need to do the valves and timing. (POINTS).
I always run a bike for a few miles before doing the valves to clean the seats out. I hate shimming then running it only to find they have tightened up from getting themselves clean. I mean if it had a dead miss ,then I'd address them sooner but I never had a problem with one that has sat, running it for a few minutes anyways.

[surviverguy]

I love the blue emblems on the white tank/...NICE!

[barnbiketom]

I'm going with BLUE DECALS on each side cover. Not telling what they say till they get here and I get 'em on. But I did a LOT of searching and research and this site http://www.evographics.com/ is GREAT. custom out door die cut decals in any color and very very very good prices with FREE SHIPPING!!! I got TWO decals for 7 bucks!!!!!!!!!!!!! thery're located in Nova Scotia but who cares??

[hjacobmiller]

Gotta say man those emblems look pretty nice. Kudos!

[bakirkwold]

looks nice!

[barnbiketom]

She's on the road!!

title all legal and riding it to work on friday. I'm off work tomorrow but will ride her someplace!! starts, charges 14.8 volts, and has a H4 Headlight and it seems ok as far as charging goes. I ran the stator straight to the rectifier...and shaved off the "on/OFF' light switch tab so I can turn it off in case the bad seems to be draining..this bike has the separate regulator, and it seems to work well, but I have a Shindengen R/R waiting just in case!!
I'd like to replace the spoked wheels with mags just because I like them better and I know I need another front end , so I'm looking for a parts bike!!

[pete]

Nice one Tom, she looks great! Glad you got her on the road again

I would imagine a 450 front end would be pretty much a bolt on and I'm guessing same with the rear wheel... shouldn't be too hard I wouldn't think.

[barnbiketom]

Nice one Tom, she looks great! Glad you got her on the road again

I would imagine a 450 front end would be pretty much a bolt on and I'm guessing same with the rear wheel... shouldn't be too hard I wouldn't think.

2 weeks ago I went and looked at TWO 450s for 200 bucks and passed on them hahaha. I only wanted 2 wheels and one front end and thought that was too much money considering all that I needed, but then after I got home I was mad I didn't get them. TWO sets of carbs, TWO possibly good stators and TWOrect/regs, TWO sets of wheels and TWO front ends w/ brakes complete and of course TWO engines one torn apart and one running but podded and poorly done I might add . haha ( no rejet and ran like poop). than all the other darn stuff..!!@$ I've been in touch with the owner but they are most likely sold since I got no response in over a week