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81 450 project. Thing. Of some kind.

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    81 450 project. Thing. Of some kind.

    Picked this up monday morning, from sort of a friend of a friend. Usual old turd scenario, no paperwork, but ~7k on the clock and PO said it "has REALLY hot compression." Good enough for me. The carbs are in good shape and were properly drained. I had just sold the guy a goldwing, and ended up giving him two of his Benjamins back with a laugh and a handshake, and told myself that I had a long drive home, and the poor little trailer rides way better with some weight in it.

    Day 1:

    IMG_20150407_152055.jpg

    Not sure why it will let me upload this and not the other 3? Not that it matters much, you can clearly see that it's a pile. That's ok, I'm not only an ASE certified import mechanic specializing in electrical diagnosis, I kind of like starting with a proper pile, it gives me a greater sense of accomplishment..or something. Anyhoo, I somehow managed to get get it off my quirky little dump trailer alone in the rain without injuring myself or the bike, and shoved it into the garage. I promptly removed the bars and threw then in the garbage- the PO had stolen the bars off this bike and put them on his other goldwing, and put it's awful bars on here so he could at least push it around. None of the components would even reach their proper positions. New bar ordered, we'll see how I like it next week when it shows up.

    So far I've measured just about every detail in height, diameter, and spacing between things. I have a friend that lives another 10 miles up the road from my place, and the last 4 miles or so are ugly. There are points at which 2wd cars with typical ground clearance can make it but probably shouldn't- I'm thinking I'd like this machine to make it all the way up there at any whim on my part, so as much as I'm considering lowering it, I probably shouldn't. Whatever ******** originally ratted it out went so far as to cut off the tabs that the side covers mount onto. Cute, but I have ways around that without having to sacrifice a battery, as there's no obvious provision for a kick starter, and doing all that extra work for an empty triangle just doesn't really do much for me.

    So other than the fact that I'd like a set of aggressive dual sport tires on it, I have no picture in my mind yet of how it will end up looking. Free time is somewhat scarce and comes in short, unexpected bursts at the moment, but to try and keep myself on track I'm going to add commentary and pics of any amount of progress I make. I have one other bike but despite the fact that it's essentially done, keeping it roadworthy must remain first priority.

    Suggestions, derision, or pics of cool, off-road-worthy GS's welcome.

    #2
    Welcome to the site. I'm 4 hours east of Arcata up the Klamath river. I owned a 80 450e for 3 or 4 years and had a ball with it. A member here in Australia (Pete) made a 450e into a nice scrambler, which you could probably find a picture of in the twin section. One picture at a time is all you can do unless you download pictures to Photobucket and paste the IMG codes on your thread. If you go that route you can do 10 at a time. Not sure what your pile started life as but if you need an "e" seat, or an old set of 450 carbs let me know. I might have more that that if I looked around. Good luck with it and give me a shout if I can help you abuse it.

    cg
    sigpic
    83 GS1100g
    2006 Triumph Sprint ST 1050

    Ohhhh!........Torque sweet Temptress.........always whispering.... a murmuring Siren

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      #3
      I don't actually know how to tell what it started life out as..Do I tell based on a VIN letter or something? Thanks for the heads up on the pic thing.

      The seat looks like it's somewhat original, at least the plastic pan is factory. The carbs actually look to be in great shape, but I'll let you know, and I may take you up on that seat. 4 hours east of Arcata? That's out there a ways!

      Comment


        #4
        Well, after blowing more money that I wanted to, but less than I was afraid of on parts over the last week, they're starting to trickle in. Tuesday is the day that 80% of them are all supposed to arrive, maybe i'll make a big pile of packages and take a few sneak preview pics. I'm getting super pumped, this is my first Buy a beater and make it my own project- aside from the tank and instruments it will look very little like it did when it rolled out of the factory.

        So far I've completely stripped the carbs and had them sonic cleaned, popped the swingarm and rear wheel off, started basic wire tracing, etc. A couple of questions have come to mind:

        Were the indicators on this bike single or dual filament from the factory? If single, what does the flasher look like? I think the hack who worked on this thing last may have done away with it, and either way, the indicators I bought turned out to be single filament, and I'm not looking forward to figuring out how to make them do both jobs is the law requires them to do so. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

        There doesn't appear to be a headlight relay. Suffice to say I'm going to need one, the 14 or 16 gauge stock stuff will not like the current it will have to carry in its current configuration.

        Can anybody recommend a slim muffler that can be mounted in place of the large unsightly trumpets these bikes came with? I'm not really looking for loud, just less bulky. If not, can i massage some clearance in via a ball peen hammer?

        The bike has ~7k on it. the sprockets look pretty good, but the chain has a little more side to side play than I like. Then again, I'm inexperienced enough with these to not really know how much is Too Much. is there a good rule of thumb for checking it? It seems like a chain should last much longer than a pair of tires, but maybe that's just me being ignorant.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by SoHum View Post
          Were the indicators on this bike single or dual filament from the factory? If single, what does the flasher look like? I think the hack who worked on this thing last may have done away with it, and either way, the indicators I bought turned out to be single filament, and I'm not looking forward to figuring out how to make them do both jobs is the law requires them to do so. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
          They were single-filament from the factory. There are threads about converting to dual-filament, I'm pretty sure. If you're creative with the electronics, you can make single filament work by keeping the lights on all the time and flashing them off when the turn signal is activated. Does CA law actually require old bikes be retrofitted like this? Usually old vehicles get grandfathered into these kinds of requirements.

          There doesn't appear to be a headlight relay. Suffice to say I'm going to need one, the 14 or 16 gauge stock stuff will not like the current it will have to carry in its current configuration.
          Why? What are you changing? If you upgrade the R/R to a series-type unit (search the site for polaris R/R) and swap as many lights as you can over to LED, the stock wiring harness will then have loads of extra capacity.

          Can anybody recommend a slim muffler that can be mounted in place of the large unsightly trumpets these bikes came with? I'm not really looking for loud, just less bulky. If not, can i massage some clearance in via a ball peen hammer?
          If you have the stock exhaust and it's in decent shape, you might try to sell it before "modifying" it. They can be worth some cash. If it's not in that great a shape, then I've heard of people buying Harley mufflers for cheap off eBay and having them welded on. They're smaller and are functional, even if they don't look even remotely stock or sporty.

          The bike has ~7k on it. the sprockets look pretty good, but the chain has a little more side to side play than I like. Then again, I'm inexperienced enough with these to not really know how much is Too Much. is there a good rule of thumb for checking it? It seems like a chain should last much longer than a pair of tires, but maybe that's just me being ignorant.
          The service manual explains how to adjust, measure, and check the chain, that should be your gold standard for whether it's still serviceable or not. Although as far as I know, side-to-side play doesn't really enter into it much if at all. A new chain can get worn quickly by putting it on worn sprockets, having the rear wheel misaligned, or by being run too tight.
          Charles
          --
          1979 Suzuki GS850G

          Read BassCliff's GSR Greeting and Mega-Welcome!

          Comment


            #6
            Thanks for the answers. If the bike was single filament factory, then I get to just install the new signals and leave the wiring alone, hooray! Yes old bikes are grandfathered in to whatever the laws of the day were. I DO intent to run as many LED's as possible for the indicators and tail, but I bought all filament style holders because I hate the look of the cheapo led lights that have a ton of little wimpy led's in every fixture. I'm worried about my headlight wiring because i'm running a double headlight with each bucket having a high and low beam, and I worry about pulling 110-120 watts thru the stock harness on a circuit only meant for probably 65w, max. This is fine, I can use an automotive style headlight relay with two hot leads out for high and low beams- the bike didn't come with an air box so I have tons of room in the frame.

            Thanks for the heads up on the stock system, it actually is in pretty nice shape. Then again, the old 2-cylinder GS's seem to be the red headed step children compared to the 750-1100cc models...My factory manual just arrived today, so I'll take a look in there, thanks again for the answers!

            Comment


              #7
              Ok, update time- i went Full Stop on this project shortly after my last post here because i went to the DMV and got ran thru the wringer. The problem was lack of a title, bill of sale, and the contract info for the guy i got it from. Fast forward to two weeks ago, long story short i got real real lucky and got a hold of the guy i got it from and had him fill out the paperwork for me! 7 trips to the dmv and one to the state police later, i have a freshly printed registration in my hands, and I'm anxious to get this thing finished! Pics will come this evening.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by SoHum View Post
                The bike has ~7k on it. the sprockets look pretty good, but the chain has a little more side to side play than I like. Then again, I'm inexperienced enough with these to not really know how much is Too Much. is there a good rule of thumb for checking it? It seems like a chain should last much longer than a pair of tires, but maybe that's just me being ignorant.
                Depends on the chain. Modern quality O-ring or X-ring chains will last much longer than 7K miles. Cheap O-ring chains and especially unsealed chains will not last nearly as long.
                Congrats on getting the title sorted, that's often the hardest part of a project. Looking forward to seeing some progress pics.
                -1978 Suzuki GS1000EC
                DONE!!! Rebuild thread: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=155564
                -2012 Triumph Daytona 675R

                Comment


                  #9
                  IMG_20160217_145117.jpg

                  Here's what I'm doing about the fact that somebody cut off the mounting tabs for the side covers, i want to get them painted to match whatever color i end up painting the tank, for now I'll just black them out and use little self drilling screws to hold them on.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    IMG_20160217_144402.jpg

                    Here's the bike as it sits- i chopped off the ass end of the seat supports, i have a tail light and so far haven't found a license plate bracket i like, i may make one out of the extra stuff I'm making the side covers out of, new bar, shorter master cylinder, new petcock, gas cap, mufflers, wrapped the pipes (which turned out pretty decent for my first attempt), fully disassembled and sonic cleaned the carbs, rebuilt with a 6 Sigma kit for the mufflers and foam filters, i picked up a stock instrument cluster to replace the one somebody gave up on after gutting it and thoroughly screwing it up, mounted dual headlights before finding a pretty cool old fairing for a single 7" that I'll probably put on after all, cheap rear gas shocks which actually seem pretty decent- bouncing on it feels 1000x better than the blown out stock shocks anyway. What else, new 85/15 tires.. I'm probably forgetting something, but that's a good start.

                    Oh! The shocks are actually a good inch and a half taller than original, and the stock kick stand was so short i threw it in the garbage. I have a 75 ts250, and its stand looks like it may be just about perfect, I'll grab one off eBay and try it out- i want to get rid of the center stand as it just bangs into the mufflers anyway.
                    Last edited by Guest; 02-17-2016, 07:10 PM.

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                      #11


                      The fairing. I picked it up because I've never seen one of these with a purple wind screen before, and it was just too fun to miss out on. I'm thinking maybe white for the fairing, tank, and side covers, i found some cool old repro logo and graphics I'd have a local shop print up for me in red, and i think it would all go together nicely.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Glad you got your title and my offer of parts sill stands. I need to go over to Fortuna when the weather gets better, let me know.

                        cg
                        sigpic
                        83 GS1100g
                        2006 Triumph Sprint ST 1050

                        Ohhhh!........Torque sweet Temptress.........always whispering.... a murmuring Siren

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Have you run the bike with the 6 sigma kit yet? Results? I'm about to go through this process and am weighing my options.
                          1980/1981 GS450 - GS500 Cylinder + Piston Swap - "De-L'ed", custom seat, CB350 bits, 18" rear, etc.
                          1977 GS550
                          1977 GS750 - Cross country trip thread

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by sam000lee View Post
                            Have you run the bike with the 6 sigma kit yet? Results? I'm about to go through this process and am weighing my options.
                            I bought one and wasn't very impressed. Ended up ditching it and going with Mikuni bits. Hoping OP has better results.
                            -1978 Suzuki GS1000EC
                            DONE!!! Rebuild thread: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=155564
                            -2012 Triumph Daytona 675R

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by IanC View Post
                              I bought one and wasn't very impressed. Ended up ditching it and going with Mikuni bits. Hoping OP has better results.
                              Not impressed in what way?


                              Life is too short to ride an L.

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