1980 GS450 "Sport" - Resto / Mod

[pete]

Good stuff Rich, got yourself a nice commuter there

Be interesting to see how the airbox turns out...

Steve, that would be Rich's GR650 I believe... it's a nice bike too but under some more mod's at the moment if I recall correctly...

[Big Rich]

Thanks fellas.

Steve, Pete is correct on both accounts (GR650 in progress). Here's a link to the build on another forum:

https://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=18045.780

The first pic to show up is how my GR looked last season compared to a stock GR.

[Big Rich]

Been working on the air box to fit the GS500 carbs and use a GS500 filter (K&N drop in filter, actually):



Still needs some work, but it's getting there.....

[pete]

So how easy is that to get in and out compared to the stock horror?

[Big Rich]

As of right now......100x easier. I think when I took the stock box out last year, there was use of a pry bar involved...... Right now, the following need removed to mount the box: carbs, carb mounts, CCT, starter motor cover, battery, clutch cable, etc, etc..

But I need to add those 2 hose mounts, along with the actual air filter mount. I totally expect any / all alterations to make it even tougher to install.

[pete]

Ugh... man it makes me so much happier I went with my pods

[Big Rich]

I'm proud to say the airbox is installed and working beautifully! I might bump the mains up a size later on, but at least right now it feels like it is spot on. Here it is installed (best pic I took at the time - sorry):

[pete]

As stated elsewhere Rich... good stuff!

Actually, be interesting to see a pic with the sidecovers removed...

[Big Rich]

Ask and ye shall receive....

This is actually the only pic I took without the covers, and it was right after the box was installed. Since then, that plastic drain fitting was replaced with a 90° brass one, and all the rivets were painted black.

[Big Rich]

Forgot to post this as well: mounted up the spoke wheels that have Kenda tires installed.

[steve murdoch]

Nice work, Rich.
Dual disc spoke wheels are my favourite look for a motorcycle.

[Big Rich]

Thanks Steve. Once these tires are shot, I'll probably tear the wheels down and paint them gold like the mags I took off. And I need to fix the paint on the mag wheels anyway - I scratched the heck out of the front when I installed the tire.

On the plus side though, the rear hub in the picture is from a GS400 (thanks again Tom!), and is considerably larger than the stock GS450 mag drum. It's not a huge improvement in braking power, but it is noticeable.

[pete]

Very nice Rich, looks awesome with the spokes!

The airbox looks like it'll do nicely and it looks like it might even fit in a touch easier than the stock one too. Good job!

[Big Rich]

You're right Pete - much easier. Still not something I want to do more than once or twice a season, but that's besides the point.

And I'll answer your question about the carbs since I'm here: the current ones are from a first generation GS500, but they are from a "California model" bike. Not really different except there are some extra vent tubes on the bottoms directly in front of the float bowls. They are supposed to be vented to a charcoal canister or something for emissions. Since I'm not running the proper vent tubes (even if I wanted to, the CCT is in the way), I have some vacuum caps on the tubes. I found out when I was messing with the jetting that the float bowl can easily knock off a vacuum cap, causing the bike to run like crap.

The new carbs are still first generation 500 carbs, but it allows me to rebuild them at my own pace and they will eliminate the possibility of one more vacuum leak.

[pete]

Aaah got ya... so is there an ingenious plan for a better solution to the vent issue in the works with the new ones?