1982 GS450 Refresh

[pete]

Some of you may remember my quite long GS450 rebuild thread, but all the pic's are long gone due to Photophucket although the thread itself still exists.

For those that don't, this is my 1982 Suzuki GS450 which is actually my second ever bike bought back in 1998.

Here's how it was when I had taken it off the road:

IMG_0267 by starpoint73, on Flickr

After a nearly 10 year hiatus and rebuild in the aforementioned long thread, it was finished in 2011 and looked like this:

2012072614 by starpoint73, on Flickr

Recently before any changes it was looking somewhat ratty after daily use and a few slides down the road due to traffic incidents and some diesel:

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

She's a trusty little steed and has given me close to 90,000kms of fun since the rebuilt, but having finished the Kat I've found the motorcross 'bars uncomfortable and I'm finding the footpeg position weird. I've missed putting my feet on the pegs many times as they just feel too far forward now.

I've also noticed on the commute that the motorcross 'bars are the height of 95% of car mirrors and the mirrors are the height of 95% of 4WD and small truck mirrors, so filtering through the traffic isn't quite as easy as it should be.

So it's time for a bit of lovin', starting with getting the riding position a little more like the Kat so I'm comfortable again, and then will do some cosmetic clean ups also.

I've started with some clubman 'bars and some 'bar end mirrors which I'm really liking, and it's much more filtering friendly and comfortable for my wrists.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

I picked up some ZX12 rearsets from a mate a few weeks back and have made some adapter plates as well as some spacers (with another mate's help and lathe/mill of course!) for the swingarm axle. Obviously the brackets needed tidy up in this pic yet:

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

So after some finagling, fiddling, smoothing, tidying of the brackets, I'm all set for a short test ride this morning!

I still have to shorten the stock brake lever I've cut down yet but it'll work for a test ride, so providing all goes well I can take everything back off and get some paint done later today. I need to get some proper fasteners during the week and then everything should be good to rock and roll.

The spare Katana shift link I have is exactly the right length for the gear linkage, and the stock gear shift linkage is exactly right for the brake link. That worked out well! I may need to get a shorter return spring for the brake yet but the brake lever travel feels right sitting on it in the garage, will verify that on the test ride.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[cowboyup3371]

I'll follow along again Pete - just please make it less than 10 years this time?

[pete]

Hahaha cheers Scott, definitely won't be a 10 year refresh

Test ride done and dusted yesterday, and the rearsets felt good! The foot position is definitely close to the Kat which was the aim, and the gear and brake levers are in the right positions.

I got some satin black on the brackets, spacers, and bump stop so they'll be good to install tonight or during this week.

On the down side, I rode home in some torrential rain on Friday afternoon and it seems that was the final straw for my Acewell gauge and it appears to have lost some of the LCD screen meaning I don't have a speedo right now. This is a bad time of year to have no speedo!

Anyone know how the ratios work for the front wheel drive? I'm contemplating going back to a mechanical speedo but need to figure out the ratio and cable thread etc. I've had a quick look around already but the only ratio I've found so far was revolutions to mph but I'll need kph so I haven't done the math for conversions yet.

[LAB3]

For what it's worth all the lowest priced speedos on eBay are kph.

[pete]

Maybe kms are cheaper than miles given they're shorter?

[LAB3]

Maybe kms are cheaper than miles given they're shorter?

It's a combination of that and they turn fewer times due to being in the southern hemisphere.

[pete]

Hahahaha I dunno my 365 day riding season may contradict that

The Acewell is officially toast. Ripped it open tonight and no sign of moisture, and also no extra corrosion over what was there when the buttons failed. It seems to be the actual LCD display itself that has failed. All the functions work normally but only the right two segments of the speedo readout are actually showing up on the LCD display, so 0kph shows as 1kph. Spinning the front wheel shows a couple of odd segments here and there but no readable speed display whatsoever.

I did discover I have a good genuine speedo cable which seems to spin nicely after a lube job, although I did remember while talking to a mate at work today that a tyre shop I used a number of years back very conveniently dismantled my speedo drive for me, so that will need to be put back together again yet if I go with a mechanical speedo.

I'm leaning towards this one now as it seems a little more suitable to the 450... tops out at 140kph which should make the lower speeds easier to read. It's listed as 2240:60 ratio which is right, but I'll need to verify it's an M12 thread. They're also local so there's a chance I can go and pick it up myself and check it out before purchasing.

http://mostynindustries.com.au/product/speedo-60mm-black-with-warning-lights/

[pete]

I forgot to post a photo of the painted parts last night, all ready to be installed hopefully tonight.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[pete]

I got the new bump stop installed last night along with the rearsets.

Aside from adjusting the levers everything's good to go, just can't test ride until I sort the speedo out.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[pete]

Hopefully should have my speedo issue sorted real soon as a fella I used to ride with about 20 years ago is selling a brand new speedo on eBay for about half price so I'm going to pick it up this arvo after work. He lives much closer than where I would have had to go to get the other one which is very convenient.

Apparently POSH brand is quality Japanese stuff from everything I've seen so far. I got my mechanical speedo drive and cable all together and operational last night so it should be good to go pretty soon.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Posh-Speedo/283641824949?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649

[salty_monk]

Are you riding a MotoGP shift pattern Pete? (reversed) or am I looking at it upside down...

(Or maybe it's cause you're in Oz? )

Perhaps that model always had a linkage... The bigger bikes don't

[pete]

Hahahaha nup, the 450's have a linkage, so this is just a longer version of the stock setup

The stock linkage is now activating the drum brake.

[pete]

Picked the speedo up yesterday and it does indeed appear to be a quality piece of kit.

I was hoping I could simply swap the Acewell out and use the existing dash and mount but no go. The one good thing with a digital gauge is that you're not really limited with placement and can extend wires if need be. With a mechanical gauge the length of the cable is the limiting factor.

It should be on the left, but the clutch cable would interfere with the speedo drive, so it has to go on the right, and the cable's just long enough to reach.

I'll have to revisit the bracket situation when I have some more time but at least it's useable where it is.

I haven't hooked the idiot lights up yet, ran out of time last night just getting the position right.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[pete]

Got the idiot lights all hooked up Friday and got a quick test ride in yesterday finally to check out the rearsets and see how accurate the speedo is. According to the GPS speedo app on my phone the speedo is pretty spot on for accuracy, and the rearsets are in a real good position, just needed to tweak the lever positions a touch to be spot on. I'm heading out for a bit of a twisty ride this morning so I'll see how it all goes!


One thing I definitely miss is a tacho, so I'm eyeing off a GS500 tacho as they're electronically driven meaning I should be able to use the signal from the coil like I did with the Acewell.

[pete]

Well it's official, the 450 is fun again!

Had a short ride up a local mountain to meet a mate for coffee yesterday and it was a blast. The clubmans and rearsets make it quite comfortable and the speedo does the job nicely also.

Forgot to get a photo up the top but it's fun for me seeing my little old ratty 450 parked amongst the modern sports bikes

I definitely need to change the front mudguard out though, the dirt bike guard on there is way out of place, so I broke out the stock mudguard last night and figured out where it needs to be cut down. Not sure how soon I'll get to do this though as it's going to be quite noisy with the angle grinder. Don't worry, it's got some road rash and is a bit bent in places so I'm not molesting unobtanium.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr