I bought a 1978 gs550 that was beat to hell - a PO had started converting it to a cafe racer by chopping the stock 4-2 exhaust right past the junction and then lost inspiration and left it sitting in his Pacific Northwest lawn for 6 years.
I immediately disassembled everything and assessed the damage:
-Rust, rust everywhere
-Gas tank had a little rust on the inside
-Wiring harness was basically useless
-No clutch lever or cable
-Throttle cables were rusted beyond use
-Front and back wheels were rusty
-Fork tubes were slightly pitted
So far I have cut off the extra seat tabs, Kreme'd the gas tank, tried my hand at making a fiberglass cafe seat (poorly), thrown on clubmans, attached rearsets from Dime City, put on the front end from a donor 1980 gs1100 and the swingarm from it as well
I have no idea if it runs, it turns over just fine with the kick starter but haven't gotten a battery or hooked up the fuel system to test it - hopefully next weekend I'll get that done.
Does anyone know where I can get roller bearings to fit the new gs1100 front end? the stem is the exact same length and width as on the gs550 triple tree. The top roller bearing is a perfect fit but the lower bearing is slightly larger on the gs1100 so it will not fit the head tube on the gs550 frame. Right now I have the new front end in the frame but there is no lower bearing.
Also, Does anyone know or have any input on what I should do to get the gs1100 swingarm to fit the gs550 frame? It is on the frame now, but the bolt that holds the swingarm on is about 1/8" wider on the gs1100 than the 550, so the swingarm has a little side to side instability. The width of the swingarm where it attaches to the frame is the same on both, but the through bolt is larger on the 1100. I want to use the 1100 swingarm because it is made of aluminum instead of the rusty steel one from the 550, and fits the alloy wheel and disk brake from the 550 (an upgrade from the spoked drum brake wheel on the 550)
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