GS550L to Cafe Build

[Toasty]

Woot!! This thing is awesome.







I want to fab up a bracket to hold it centered and modify the gear indicator to sit near it.

Box of fun

[D-Mac]

Great thread! I love the Acewell on this type of bike. It really fits the streetfighter style you're going with.

[Toasty]

Thanks man . There's a LOT more to come I'm just waiting on parts.

[Toasty]

The Woodcraft clip ons came in today



I need to grind down the handlebar mounts so I get the clearance to rotate them around. I would put them under the triple but I would need new headlight ears. I wanna go with a half fairing later so it doesn't make any sense to buy new ones.

[Toasty]

I didn't have anything to do after work so I started on modifying the triple. It is so much harder then I thought it was gonna be...





One side cut



I couldn't get a good angle with my cutoff wheel so I had to do it all with a hacksaw. The aluminum is way tougher then you'd think.



I ground down as much of the metal as I could, used my big wire wheel/grinder and started filing.



Good enough for tonight. I want to do some more finishing and then prep both parts of the triple tree for paint. The weather is supposed to be good this weekend so I want to at least get those painted.

[loud et]

Hours and hours on one little peice. Labor of love. lol
Following your thread, I really like the Yamaha tank on that bike.
This is gonna be a looker....keep the pics comin

[Toasty]

I still want to use the Yamaha tank, but it's gonna take wayy more fabrication then I first thought. Pretty much nothing on the frame lines up at all so I'm gonna have to make and weld in front and rear mounts for it, plus make clearance in the front for the top triple. So until I get a welder and better fabricating skills Im gonna go with an easier tank to mount.

I put on the clip ons and the 650E tank I got and wheeled her out front.





I wanted to make a bracket for my Acewell, I was toying with the idea of putting the gear indicator lights on it.


Cut away, the red 1-2-3-4-5-6 inlay sits on top of that


The lights themselves





There wasn't any room to mount it with the plastic housing so the first bracket I made I made a window for the bulbs to poke through. It ended up looking like ass so I made another mount and left that out. I'll find somewhere to use it, when I put a half fairing on it I'll probably stick it some where on that. I know the bottom is crooked, it was too long and hitting the steering lock. I'll file it down straight later.



The aluminum controls and levers got hit with the big wire wheel. I was thinking of buying a new pair but all I can find is Emgo ones and they aren't nearly as quality as the stock units. Once the old paint and yellowed clearcoat got taken off they looked pretty good. The semi shiny machine brushed look is nice I think. The Tomaselli grips are on there too.


I don't have the clip ons angled way down and back because it's so much more comfortable this way.

[Toasty]

I couldn't sleep so I did a photoshop mockup of the bike.

So I really want to paint the bike Battleship Grey, like this



Battleship grey tank, gloss black tail for something a little different.


Or just battleship grey for the tank and seat




And what's a cafe racer without some extra power?



I found a decent deal on a complete GS650G engine, it's getting crated to me as I speak.

[Toasty]

Man I really want a fairing...



I wont have much time to work on the bike this weekend, so I've been doing stuff in my head :P

[Toasty]

Yea I know, the engine its self was really cheap. The guy would've charged to disassemble and overall I wouldn't have saved that much money, I can take some parts off the 650 block if I need and I can sell the left overs for a little bit too.

[Toasty]

[Toasty]

It got shipped via Fedex, it took about a week and on the bill it was like $119 for shipping. I got charged extra for "handling" but eh, it's a PITA to move and I probably would have done the same.

[Toasty]

Btw does anyone have any tips for splitting the cases? I have all the bolts out and the damn thing is just fighting me. I got the rear left (output shaft side) slightly separated but it's freaking glued shut, especially in the front.

[Toasty]

Finally a workspace! Got both engines on the table and I'm going to be taking the 550 down, we'll see how far I get tonight.

[Toasty]

I took it down to the block and removed the pistons. The cases are still giving me trouble, I have it loosened in the back but its glued shut in the front.