My 1981 GS650G Thread

[Macguyver]

Can I get a second/third/Nth opinion on this?

Looking good, how is the light spread with that oval one?

I am not sold on the look but have faith in your skills making a fairing that will tie it all in.

The light spread is fairly decent. Tall band, relatively wide. I was considering mounting both of them on vertically, with the lenses replaced with regular tempered glass to get a more uniform spread out of them.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I appreciate it.

I am waffling again about the headlight though, I photoshopped this after thinking on it a bunch today. The mounting would be interesting to figure out, but I am sure I can do it.



It would utilize both projector headlights I have, in a stacked tube configuration. One for low beam, both for high beam.

I like the look and fit of this idea better than the ovals. However, I am still undecided since I haven't examined the idea of vertical ovals with the different lenses in depth. The more I look at the oval lights, the more I think they will look out of place since they don't imitate another shape on the bike. Whereas, the round projectors mirror several other pieces of the bike like the round end caps on the valve cover, the gauges, the stator cover, and other parts.

Plus, I think it looks pretty mean with the duplication of the accent vents from the side covers.

Yikes, I think I may have just talked myself into it.

[Macguyver]

Dash Indicator Lights

Well since it has been raining almost non-stop since I put my bike outside, I needed something to occupy my time, so I went back to work on the dash indicator lighting. I still have to install some colored filters, and finish up some details, but here are my results so far.

First off, I labelled all of the wiring coming off of the original circuit boards before dissassembly, and the seperated them from the boards.



Here I resoldered the wires into their new homes for the top row of lights.
Then I soldered up the connections for the gear indicators.



Since the board I made can not use the original rubber isolator piece, I decided to coat the back of the board with red gasket maker. I simply ran a guide of masking tape around the board edge, and filled her up.



Here you can see the finished isolation, and the LED's I replaced the standard bulbs with. You can also see that the gaps for the lighting is fairly narrow, so the normal bulbs would never fit, hence the LED's.



Here are the boards in place.



Here is the light-up sequence. The LED's are really bright, which is good since I am planning to put colored filters between them and the back of the blackout for the gear indicators, which will dull them down a bit.



Well, that's it for now. I am picking up a pack of replacement 12V christmas tree bulbs today so I can complete the top indicators, and have spares, just in case.

I will update when more progress has been made.

[AF_Bill]

Mac, LOVE the photoshopped fairing. That'll look sweet once it gets done. As far as the lights go again, maybe 2 4in fog lights or something if the projectors don't work.

[Macguyver]

The World through multicolored glasses...sort of.

Mac, LOVE the photoshopped fairing. That'll look sweet once it gets done. As far as the lights go again, maybe 2 4in fog lights or something if the projectors don't work.

Thanks Bill,
I think I may modify the fairing idea a bit to run the lights side by side. I blame the fact I've been looking through the Triump Tiger Pics thread on ADV.

Don't get me wrong here. They are no Suzuki GS, but .
Sure looks like a bike one could have a lot of fun on.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand.
I finally sourced the rest of the materials needed to finish my indicator lights redesign, and proceeded to cut and fit some colored filters for the lighting behind the gear indicator.

I needed to cut some colored filters from some theatre gels, but since I couldn't get any locally, I grabbed the next best thing for my small scale needs. A couple packs of colored index tabs did the trick nicely.

Here are some pics:






Yep, that should do the trick. Now I just need to install the 12V christmas tree light bulb I picked up, then seal the filters in place with some silicone and install it on the bike. I may double up the filters to shift the color more, not sure yet.
I'll sleep on it and finish this tomorrow night.

[Demonthrall]

you need black handle bars!!

Thanks for posting all of the pictures, very inspring. You have awesome taste with the olive/black combo. looks rugged.

[Skateguy50]

Pods or air box?

How did the pod covers come along, have you tested them?

Saw a thread that reminded me of your project, care to comment on that one? http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=160041

[Macguyver]

you need black handle bars!!

Thanks for posting all of the pictures, very inspring. You have awesome taste with the olive/black combo. looks rugged.

Thanks, I am trying to keep her looking lean and mean. (or as lean and mean as a 650G can look anyway)

I have black bars on order, they should be in tomorrow!
That will give me the excuse to pull apart the handlebar area and install the dash indicators and finish up wiring in the new start switch,etc...

Pods or air box?

How did the pod covers come along, have you tested them?

Saw a thread that reminded me of your project, care to comment on that one? http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=160041

Alas, I have not had my bike running yet, so I could not test the pod covers. I still need to finish some electrical, and then I can deal with the air filtration problem.

I have a new design for the pod air flow limiter, not sure if it will work yet. I have also been kicking around the idea of building a single oval filter airbox which would go right onto the carbs, with adjusters inside for each carb so they can be tuned individually as needed.
If people keep occupying my bike time with other work like they have been, I may not get a chance to get to the bike for a bit.

I have been making slow progress here and there when possible, but it's hard when I can't devote a large block of uninterupted time to working on bike stuff.

Oh well, I guess I'll just keep puttering away at things as time allows. I should hopefully be able to do a big update after this weekend if all goes according to plan.

[snowbeard]

just had to pop in and give my Congrats!! she's looking great! I like the fairing idea with the sidecover vents, carries thru nicely. good to see the care you put into all the little touches that most people who don't know every intricacy of these bikes will never notice!

you remind me of myself with the "I'll just pick this up and store it away, no idea when I'll use it but..." doesn't it just give ya a tickle when you realize what it was for years afterward and run and get it!!

can't wait for you to get some riding in, don't forget about the mold release on new tires, even tho you've had them awhile, they'll still be slippery for a good few miles

[Macguyver]

just had to pop in and give my Congrats!! she's looking great! I like the fairing idea with the sidecover vents, carries thru nicely. good to see the care you put into all the little touches that most people who don't know every intricacy of these bikes will never notice!

you remind me of myself with the "I'll just pick this up and store it away, no idea when I'll use it but..." doesn't it just give ya a tickle when you realize what it was for years afterward and run and get it!!

can't wait for you to get some riding in, don't forget about the mold release on new tires, even tho you've had them awhile, they'll still be slippery for a good few miles

Thanks, and the only problem with storing parts like that is...I need more room to do it effectively. My workroom looks like a freaking rubbermaid convention exploded in there!

I can't wait until the bike is ready for the road, but I must.

The bad thing is I keep getting other things on my plate to waste all of my bike time.

Maybe the next time someone asks for a hand working on something, I should tell them "No dough, no go", and raise my side-work rates to about $45 an hour, cash up-front. That should free up my schedule a bit, and get me some cash for bike insurance too.

Mold release, evil stuff. Good thing I live on a gravel road! That'll scrub it off pretty quick!

I hope to have a big update done this weekend, but we'll see how the side work goes tonight.

[AF_Bill]

$45 an hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy sh!t Mac! Thats STILL a deal and a half man. I dont wanna know what it is now. No wonder you've got people knockin on your door.

Can't wait to see the updates. I REALLY wanna see the fairing completed. Like I said before, I might be stealin some ideas of yours and the louvers on the fairing MIGHT be one of them lol.

[Macguyver]

$45 an hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy sh!t Mac! Thats STILL a deal and a half man. I dont wanna know what it is now. No wonder you've got people knockin on your door.

Yeah, I know, I need to charge more. Unfortunately, the area I live in is chock full o' farmers, who as a general rule, are quite handy, and within 2 rural blocks, I can name 3, maybe four who run auto mechanical/body shops on the side to fill in the time. The only reason I can make some cash on the side is because I charge so little.

Can't wait to see the updates. I REALLY wanna see the fairing completed. Like I said before, I might be stealin some ideas of yours and the louvers on the fairing MIGHT be one of them lol.

I was working on the headlight rig last night, and once I finish that part, the next body piece is the fairing to surround it!

I put some transparent black paint toner into a rattle can of laquer clear so when I heat-form the windscreen I can tint it easily with no worry about peeling tinting film.

I have been working on a few other things lately as well:

4" rise, 4" pullback Superbike bars are on!



You may notice I have the LED bar end signal lights installed too.
Here's a quick tip for people feeding wires through handlebars. Grab a length of MIG welding wire, and make a small hoop on each end. Then attach the wire by feeding half of the strands through the hoop, and twist them up with the other half to secure the wire. Now all you need to do is pull the MIG wire through. Easy peasy.

I chose to put a grommet in the hole I drilled in the center of the bars for the wire to feed through to make sure no chaffing occurs. Chaffing sucks.



I also had a chance to test fit the tail light shrouds. I need to cut the angle on them and play around with the tint of the lights, but they look pretty good IMHO.





If they look kind of familiar to anyone, it may be caused by the fact they are parts from the oval foglights I was considering using for headlights.

That's right! I was removing the oval light from the bike since I had decided not to use them, and it struck me that they are extremely similar in dimension to the fiberglass shrouds I had made. So I grabbed the mold I made for the shrouds, and sure enough, the front cover from the lights fit into the mold! They are not quite as wide as the fiberglass ones I made, but given the choice between fiberglass and metal, I choose metal. This way I can secure them with bolts instead of the 3M two-sided tape I was originally planning on using. Once I get them cut down and remounted I can get on to relocating the battery into the tail section.



I purchased a 4L-BS battery through work, and test fitted it into the tail section. It fits like a glove! I just need to make a mini-tray that bolts between the original rear signal light mounts to hold it, and it will be securely tucked away, very nice and tidy.

I hope to make some time to work on the bike this upcoming week, that is, if the weather cooperates. It's been raining almost all day, with more in the forecast for the weekend, and beginning of next week. The farmers need it , so all is good.

I'll post more when I have more to show, and Bill, feel free to "borrow" any ideas you like, it's not theft if it's given freely!

[AF_Bill]

WOW!!!! It's looking great Mac. The mods you're coming up with are beautiful!! The battery mod i really like. Does the 4L-BS have enough power for everything?? What are ya using the stock battery location for?

I'd like to see your bike all lit up so I can see how the bar end lights. Tryin to picture how the amber ends will look with the green under body lights. I plan on doin a similar mod to mine but on/in the side covers. I want to install red lights in the louvers. Not sure about more under the tank and rear fender, but the side covers are gonna get em. I remember I still have taillight repair kit that has transparent red plastic that I can glue/epoxy to the covers. We'll see how this turns out lol.

Keep up the good work Mac. And get that thing on the road already!!!!!

[Macguyver]

WOW!!!! It's looking great Mac. The mods you're coming up with are beautiful!! The battery mod i really like. Does the 4L-BS have enough power for everything?? What are ya using the stock battery location for?

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words!
According to Exide, the battery is a 200 CCA, 10 Amp Hour model, so it should be sufficient for the task, and if not, I can return it under warranty. That's one of the few perks working in an auto parts store!

The stock battery location is going to be turned into a storage area for the essentials like a relatively full tool kit, and wet weather gear. I have a crazy cool idea on how to build a fiberglass, water tight "locker" to fill in the space. I just need to build everything else, and get the bike on the road first!

I'd like to see your bike all lit up so I can see how the bar end lights. Tryin to picture how the amber ends will look with the green under body lights. I plan on doin a similar mod to mine but on/in the side covers. I want to install red lights in the louvers. Not sure about more under the tank and rear fender, but the side covers are gonna get em. I remember I still have taillight repair kit that has transparent red plastic that I can glue/epoxy to the covers. We'll see how this turns out lol.

Keep up the good work Mac. And get that thing on the road already!!!!!

I need to get a solid day of work in on the electrical, then I should be good to go on lighting it all up. I will post pics as soon as I can.

When it comes to LED's, the more the merrier. Since a full lighting system like what I have installed takes very little power, I would say go big or go home. I know I am likely going to be installing more sets once I have the bike on the road and the lighting tuned with diffusers. What I have installed so far is the baseline version, to see where I may need more light and to see if I need to adjust the aiming of the LED's.

Installing the LED's on the inside of the side covers would be pretty trick, and should look pretty sweet when done. I can't wait to see how it turns out for ya!

[Guest]

Hiya Mac,

I've followed your build for quite a while now and it's looking good!

One thing I can't seem to find at the moment though is what those fork gaiters are, where you got them from, and what diameter forks are on the 650? Trying to get a set for my 450 and am having no luck with size except for what looks like maybe some old GT380 ones which will run about $40US each

[Macguyver]

Hiya Mac,

I've followed your build for quite a while now and it's looking good!

Thanks for saying so Pete!
I try to do the best I can with what I have, and if I'm lucky, she'll come out of this looking better than she did going in.

One thing I can't seem to find at the moment though is what those fork gaiters are, where you got them from, and what diameter forks are on the 650? Trying to get a set for my 450 and am having no luck with size except for what looks like maybe some old GT380 ones which will run about $40US each

The gaiters are generic motocross gaiters I ordered from the local honduh/yamahaha dealership. I believe the front forks on the 650's are 35mm diameter. I paid $27 IIRC for the set for the front, and about $18 for the rear set. The rear set was about 3 inches too long(shortest I could get), so I cut the top off of them, and used black zip ties to secure them.

Take a measurement from the top of the lower leg of the fork where the dust cap goes on, to the bottom of the triple tree. Add around an inch to the measurement to make up for the removal of the dustcap, and that will be length you should need for the forks.

The catalogues they had in the dealership only had a few length choices, and IIRC I went with the ones *slightly* longer than I needed. Hence the bit of bunching in the folds of the gaiter. I was told they will wear in a bit once I have the bike on the road, so they won't bunch up anymore. Time will tell on that one.

There should be a plethora of gaiters available on ebay if your local dealership can't/won't find a good set for you, search by the length you need and I am sure you will find ones that will work well.

One tip, make sure your fork seals are good before buttoning up the forks with the gaiters on them. Most of the ones I looked at only had venting on the top end of them, so it would be impossible to tell if you had a leaky seal once they were on and secured.

Best of luck in the search, and let me know if you have any other questions I can help with.