'81 GS450 New Look - Thoughts?

[pete]

While I'm waiting for some time to start work on the GS again, I managed to do a mock up of what I'm hoping to achieve appearance wise.

The front end looks a bit strange because I had to graft a different bike's front end on as the only photos I have are with the front wheel turned instead of straight.

I haven't done anything with colours yet, so colouring is also off at the moment.

Let me know what you think...



Forgot to add one of how it was before:



And the photo I worked with for the mock up:

[NetBSD]

i dont liek the pipes, i had a 74 honda CL360 with those pips and it sucked to ride because of the pipes being in the way

[pete]

I did wonder about that, heat on the leg etc. But I figured if I get the heat shield right and can recess the pipes towards the frame at that point it shouldn't be much of an issue.

I just love the whole scrambler look and want to head in that direction, so the pipes really have to be like that for it to work :-)

[martyman]

Have to agree the pipes look odd...4 into one always looks sleek

[pete]

Hmmm... 2 into 1 could be a goer. I dismissed that early on as I had no idea how hard it is to make a 2 into 1, whereas a 2 into 2 is very simple.

I'll have to get back into The GIMP and see what I can do...

[briyenkieth]

build it man. That looks great! Maybe if the heat is to much you could wrap them in header wrap. It expensive but a burt leg far out ways the cost. Looksnlike all you need is pipes and a fender off an L model. No ones doing a scrambler so you win the original idea of the day. Refreshing change!

[pete]

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

I really like the cafe thing, but everyone's doing them and my right wrist is a bit dodgy, so I don't think it will cope with the clubman position.

Anyways, here's a single pipe version for comparison, although I think the 2 into 2 really makes a big visual impact compared to this.



Edit: Briyenkieth, what's the deal with the wrap used for exhausts? I've always wondered what it is and why it's used? I assumed it was for heat, but no idea...

[Bill C.]

Go with the two into two. Looks good. I had a couple of the Honda CL's back in the 70s. The were fun. No problem with the pipes. Have fun with the idea, its nice to see something new.

[Ghostgs1]

Go with the two into two. Looks good. I had a couple of the Honda CL's back in the 70s. The were fun. No problem with the pipes. Have fun with the idea, its nice to see something new.

Same for me, on the CL360 I used to own the pipes weren't that hot and I liked the looks. The Honda was slow but your Suzuki shouldn't suffer performance wise. Ray

[rudy]

Edit: Briyenkieth, what's the deal with the wrap used for exhausts? I've always wondered what it is and why it's used? I assumed it was for heat, but no idea...

Header wrap was used on old race cars and stuff like that before the high tech coatings came around. It basically insulates the pipes to keep the heat in, which increased the scavenging effect. Most guys who wrap their pipes on their bikes now use it to hide the welds, rust, or just for a sweet look. On my cafe 400 that I showed you, I can take it for a nice rip and get it hot, then put my bare hand on the hot exhaust pipe, and not burn it. It's warm, yes, quite! But you don't burn your hand, and that's right up near the engine where it's the hottest. 50 foot rolls can be had for about $50 on ebay. Cheap? Not extremely, but you can't beat it for sweet looking functionality. Heat shields rattle, rust, crack and fall off. I'd rather just wrap the pipes and be done with it. It smokes for the first 100km or so after installation though, just in case you're wondering if something is on fire, and what that horrible burning smell is.

[dardoonk]

Looks like a Scrambler if go with wire wheels

[pete]

My inspiration for this comes from the Triumph Scrambler (and yes that's where I pilfered those pipes from) as well as the old Honda CL's, so good to hear from some people who had them.

And Rudy, that sounds like not such a bad idea actually, would certainly be easier to wrap the pipes (especially where they'll be close to the leg) than make up some nice looking heat shields that will most likely fall off anyway. I lost one of my stock heat shields this way without noticing it until I got home, no idea where it fell off either.

It will certainly also be lots cheaper to get some wrap I think than to get the pipes chromed, so I may just give them a quick high temp prep job and then wrap them.

[pete]

Very quick eBay search revealed this (amongst lots of others), dunno if it's good value or not, but would look good:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GRAPHITE-IMPREGNATED-EXHAUST-WRAP-10M-x-50mm-4-SS-TIES_W0QQitemZ230306028555QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230306028555&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

[briyenkieth]

Thats the stuff. I have it on the buell and like the gentleman said you can actually feel a difference.

[pete]

So does the graphite impregnated wrap make a difference compared to normal wrap? Not a lot of difference $$$ wise, but I know nothing about them to know if it's worth the extra or not.

Also, did some colour work this morning, first one is just the tank and side cover in one of my favourites (british racing green), and second I've blacked out the forks and spokes of the wheels. The rear rim is supposed to look polished in both pic's, but can't recreate it properly (lack of artistic ability on my part).