1981 GS450E Rebuild

[pete]

Ok I emailed the guy with the NOS parts and I'm getting the O rings and gasket for the crankcases, plus the clutch and crank oil seals and the base gasket.

That totals $46.80 plus shipping, but hopefully that will mean the crankcases and barrels won't have to come apart again any time soon after I get them together again.

When the guy with the Athena gaskets gets more stock, I'll get a complete set and see how they go.

In the meantime, I have lots to do

[herostar]

I'm tagging along for this build!

As others have stated, it would be great for us 450 owners to get a little more love on these forums. I often try to find info about upgrades and replacement parts, but the info is tough to come by and quite limited...

Good luck with your build! I'm interested to see what you end up doing with the carbs/K&N filters/re-jetting!

[bgmart450]

Watching this one too. Can't wait to see the finished result.

[pete]

Cheers guys, just don't be holdin' your breath for a quick end to this, you may find yourself in a pine box quicker

However I am hoping to get a start on my frame today and I think my parts should probably be up at the post office waiting for me also.

I discovered yesterday I haven't cleaned my brushes real well so I need to give them a soak in some turps today otherwise I may have to replace them before painting the frame.

[pete]

Nothing done yesterday I'm afraid but I did get a present in the mail...

[pete]

And nothing done all weekend, so next update should hopefully be next weekend, although I'll be on call for work so may not get much done, we'll see.

In the meantime, I realised I had no real before pic's of the swingarm, centre stand, etc. so I've taken some proper before pic's of the side stand so I can have a real comparison this time.

I hope to do the same for the frame also.

[pete]

Finally got some more time on it today. Not a lot done, but I did manage to get the side stand, battery box, and frame cleaned up and sanded.

Next step for all three is to hit them with the Metal Ready and paint.

I have a day off this Friday so hopefully I can do some then, but my old boss is trying to lure me to his new workplace so I may end up having a job interview instead.

Battery box and side stand after cleaning and sanding:





Frame after cleaning:







I also removed the solo seat compliance plate from here, but forgot to photo the plate itself today:

[pete]

And the frame after sanding:





So as you can see, there's quite a bit of surface rust around the place on the frame, between nearly 30 years of road rash and various parts of the wiring loom flexing and rubbing the paint away.

Given how easy it was to sand through the paint to bare metal in a few small areas, it looks like the coating from the factory was pretty thin also.

Can't wait to get these painted up, then I can put the side stand, centre stand, battery box, and swing arm back on and might even be able to see a little progress

[pete]

And I mustn't forget that I got hold of a bottle of kerosene the other day, so I also can get started on cleaning up the transmission and crankshaft etc. ready to start reassembling the engine.

My birthday's coming up soon too, so I think it might be a good time to compile a list of stuff I need such as a torque driver, gasket set, head and barrels to be blasted, etc.

[Scott W]

Nice to see you progressing. I am still tearing down and can't wait to get down to just the frame. This project is teaching me how to be really patient. Thanks for the pics.

[Charlie G]

And I mustn't forget that I got hold of a bottle of kerosene the other day, so I also can get started on cleaning up the transmission and crankshaft etc. ready to start reassembling the engine.

My birthday's coming up soon too, so I think it might be a good time to compile a list of stuff I need such as a torque driver, gasket set, head and barrels to be blasted, etc.

Last year, I sujested some M/C gloves to the wife for possible b-day or Christmas present. She and a girlfriend went to a m/c, picked out some nice armored ones and now I've got gear.

cg

[pete]

Scott; yep, patience is a must. This has been going for many years for me

Patience is especially necessary when preparing stuff to paint. If you aren't patient, the paint work will suck. My sump cover that I rushed the prep work on proves it.

Charlie; good call and sounds like a plan. I'll be starting the list right after I update my resume

[davidduarte]

great thread with great pictures! I agree, it would be nice to have a section for the 450 twins. There seem to be more of us coming out of the woodwork

[pete]

Thanks David, I just want it done so I can ride

And yes, every time I turn around it seems there's another 400/450 owner showing up which is great. These are a good size bike for around town and an occassional highway jaunt.

[pete]

Rightio, so no job interview today so I got some stuff done, yay!

Got prep for paint finalised on side stand, battery box, and the frame, and I just finished putting the first coat on.

I've taken some pic's and will upload and post in the morning before the second coat goes on...

Oh, and I also took a wire brush to the sump cover and bottom crankcase half where the high heat paint is peeling off due to bad prep on my part so I can get started on touching them up.