1982 GS300 Project - Where do I start

[hjacobmiller]

Thanks

I got the swing arm bearings back in - used a piece of 3/8 threaded rod and a couple fender washers and then basically tightened the bearings in towards each other.

Got a little painting, polishing, etc. done yesterday - although the gauges (which I thought were going to turn out the best) need to be redone because its too d@mn cold for the paint to set. Long story...

Anyways, I'll try to upload some decent pictures this week.

[hjacobmiller]

So a little more work. Finally got a partial order from Boulevard. Apparently the tiny circlips for the fork uppers are on backorder. Thankfully I saved the old ones (which the manual says not to reuse).

I actually had some interesting progress with the forks. So, when I posted about the red threadlock, it was already too late. I had already used it, apparently much to Pete's dismay. So, the next day I went to a mechanic shop that has done a fair amount on my car and had them free them up. Or so I thought. He did loosen the dampner rod, but the bolt was still tight in the the bottom of the rod. So with a little ingenuity, I got a LONG 3/8" extension, a hex bolt driver that fit the inner diameter of the dampner rod and chucked it so I could loosen up the bolt. So, long story for something not interesting, but thought I'd share.

So, now that the forks are 95% back together, with blue threadlock nonetheless, here is a little bit more of the progress.





Swing arm is back on, with bearings in, packed, etc. I know the bars are still wrong, which is another long boring story. I went to a dealer to see if they had any BikeMaster's in stock, but they didn't. They did have some Ducati Monster OEM bars, which I took some measurements from and found out are exactly the same as the BikeMaster superbike bars. So, ordered some through them and "they came in today". Well, they actually ordered the "euro" bars accidentally, which I tried on and they looked terrible. Might as well put the stock ones back on. So, looks like I'll be headed back on Friday to straighten this up.

I did however get the front put back together as much as I can without the forks 100% done.



I was kind of proud of myself for this next part. So, the whole AllBalls bearing kit was a fail as we all know, and one of the main reasons was because of the headlight brackets weren't going to be tight. Well I ordered new rubber bushings since the other ones were dried out pancakes, except for two which I snuck under the "grill" which I gave a fresh few coats of flat black. This took up the slack in the headlight brackets and gave me a snugger fit on the steering bolt.







Sorry for the crappy pictures but that was to prove that the BIKE WAS LITERALLY DESIGNED AROUND THE AIRBOX! The airbox will not go in with anything else in that area. It's ridiculous.

Some close up of the gaiters, grill etc.,



Did some polishing too...



Getting that brake arm through there was a pain... They didn't mask during powdercoating.



And finally for all my German followers - a picture of my recently furnished literal "man cave" with the Germany Beer map poster in the background.

[pete]

Very nice work Jake! Coming along very nicely indeed

[Mekanix]

Are the headlight brackets upside down for a reason?

It looks good like that though.

[hjacobmiller]

Are the headlight brackets upside down for a reason?

It looks good like that though.

Yeah, you caught me I flipped them because I saw someone else do it another thread a long time ago. I can't remember if it was on GSR or where I saw it, but I really liked the look of it.

I need some help now. I cant for the life of me get the fork caps back on.

Did you put progressive springs in yours? If so, do you have the circlip type forks?

I can't get the fork cap in, hold it down far enough, and slide the circlip in. There is a lot of back pressure fighting against me and trying to do it with just two hands is impossible, or darn close to it.

[pete]

Can you get your girlfriend to give you a hand with it? I didn't have that issue with mine, although there's no circlips on the 450 either, just the screw down cap bolt. I was able to exert enough pressure with the socket to get the thread started.

I'm thinking if you can get someone to hold the cap down enough it should be relatively easy to slip that circlip in...

[Mekanix]

Use a socket on a long extension to push on the cap. Use a ratchet strap from top to bottom of the fork to put some pressure on it and tighten until its low enough to put the circlip in.

[hjacobmiller]

Thanks guys - I found something that I think works pretty well. Let me know if you guys see any problem with this - I was a little surprised at how much preload the PVC spacer that Progressive supplied put on the springs. They're nice and stiff now though...

Fork fully extended:


Washer and spacer:


Clamping apparatus & such:




Fully seated cap:


Worked like a charm.

I was thinking about how I should tighten everything together in the front end.

Do I torque the stem bolt first or the cinch bolts on the forks? Instinct tells me to do the top cinch bolts top first, the stem bolt second and the bottom cinch bolts last.

Am I overthinking this?

Pete, ha! Good one! There's no way she'd help. I wish, but she already claims that the bike is "the other woman" in our relationship ha ha. We're both working pretty crazy hours now (she's an accountant too) so the few hours we get together I dare not suggest be bike-oriented ha ha.

[pete]

Good work Jake, looks like it did the trick just nicely!

Haha figured it was worth a shot 'ey?

[hjacobmiller]

Hey Folks - sorry for being AWOL for a little bit. That durned thing called life...

Not terribly too much progress to report but a couple of things to tease you all.

New bars. Me likey....



A little preview of the paint scheme I'm working on with the gauges. The indicator is easy since I can remove the sleeve, but the tach is giving me a little trouble with taping and such:






Hope the tach turns out as nice...

A couple more pics for fun...





Happy Holidays!



You'll notice the mono-shock conversion

[pete]

Hahaha nice Jake, I like it! A gift for you!

The 'bars look good too, much better!

[Tim Tom]

Interesting round indicator 'gauge'. Is that standard on the 300? Certainly unlike the bigger GS's if so. It looks good, is the other a speedo+tacho or will you be doing without one? Or is there gonna be three gauges on your dash?

The frame is also looking great by the way!

[hjacobmiller]

Thanks guys!

Pete - I teased my girlfriend saying that this was my "family Christmas card." She didn't like that ha ha.

TimTom - You caught me. I slightly misspoke with saying the "tach." Its just the speedo on the other side. I'm not sure if this indicator gauge is on any other models. I quite like it, except there are a lot of bulbs that could potentially go out.

Ahh I want to work on her so bad but I found out on Thanksgiving that I passed the 3rd or 4 of my state board exams so I only have one more to go! I'm going to take it in January, so hopefully I'll be done with it and get a little extra cash saved up in the mean time to finish her out.

I read something interesting in someone else's thread about having the tank cleaned and sealed by a radiator shop. Anyone know anything about this?

Mechanix - no comment on the x-mas tree?

[Tim Tom]

TimTom - You caught me. I slightly misspoke with saying the "tach." Its just the speedo on the other side. I'm not sure if this indicator gauge is on any other models. I quite like it, except there are a lot of bulbs that could potentially go out.

I read something interesting in someone else's thread about having the tank cleaned and sealed by a radiator shop. Anyone know anything about this?

Indeed that is a unique panel to the 300 then. All the other bikes had tach there, and the idiot lights were in a vertical stack between the two circular gauges.

About the tank thing, I took the gas tank of my '73 Triumph Spitfire to a local radiator shop, and they were able to clean the inside and seal it up for me. They even painted the outside with something like POR15 but for a MC tank I don't think this is wanted. That gas tank has not leaked for 6 years now. The radiator shop did the trick on it.

[hjacobmiller]

Interesting... Might look in the old yeller book and see if I can find a place near by that would do the same.

Did they derust it or just degunk it?



Does anyone have any electrical upgrades that they think are absolutely necessary for my bike?

I've seen a lot about "relays" & other mods but I'm not sure I'm up to par on what exactly those accomplish or how to do them.

I definitely will be replacing some connectors, removing the left over OEM ignition wires that are pointless and re-wrapping and rerouting things.

Any other absolute electrical must-do's?

I think that is about where I'm with her - because I wont' be able to carry her up the stairs if I add any more hardware!