1981 GS450E Rebuild

[drivera84]

pete, it just keeps gettinŽ better...cant wait too see those on the bike!

[cowboyup3371]

Reading both threads and I am very impressed. Can't wait to see some riding pictures

[pete]

that tank looks fantastic with the stripes! love it!

Thanks Dave! I must say I'm pretty stoked with them myself... but there are more pic's to come shortly...

pete, it just keeps gettinŽ better...cant wait too see those on the bike!

Thanks mate, probably be at least another week before I'd be game to do anything more than give it a cut and polish... but yeah... I can't wait either!

Reading both threads and I am very impressed. Can't wait to see some riding pictures

Cheers Paul! Probably a couple of months and riding pic's should be doable... getting very close now...

[pete]

Repair done of that spot that tore:



Four clear coats later, and sorry about the hazy pic's, I think I may have clear coated the camera!

[pete]

Now it's time *not* to touch it and just let it sit and cure until Monday when it can be cut and polished...

[Etcheberri]

i think it s going to look nice indeed!
can t wait to see it polished.

[pete]

i think it s going to look nice indeed!
can t wait to see it polished.

Yeah I think it will turn out ok... I think I may need more clear coats yet though...

All in all I'm happy so far though

[Etcheberri]

I am no pro at all,
but do not hesitate to go thick with the clear anyway!
will proove easier if you have lot of wet-sanding/cutting to do at the end.

but you know that already

and it will turn out pretty, not just ok...t-t-t-t

[Woodsy]

Have fun wet sanding... i bloody hate it!

[pete]

I am no pro at all,
but do not hesitate to go thick with the clear anyway!
will proove easier if you have lot of wet-sanding/cutting to do at the end.

but you know that already

and it will turn out pretty, not just ok...t-t-t-t

I ended up going with the recommended winding the material back a little (not alot though) so we'll see how it goes...

So far though it looks promising!

If I could get it out in the sun I'd have a better idea, but so far it's either been wet paint while the sun's out or threatening to run if the paint's dry...

Currently uploading/sorting pic's for an update...

And thanks for the well wishes too

Have fun wet sanding... i bloody hate it!

Oh don't worry, me too!

[pete]

I'll leave the paint pic's tonight as I want to hit the hay as I'm knackered, but I'll quickly chuck some other stuff I did in here.

I cut the old exhaust bracket down the other day so I can still use the rubber stopper for the centre stand, and I ground it back to be a bit smoother today so I can paint it up:



You can also see in that last photo where I finally got back to starting to polish up the starter cover.

That was after a few minutes on the sisal wheel with cutting compound, but that's all I had time for today.

It didn't look too bad so I chucked some Mother's on it tonight:



And put it back on the bike finally with it's new SS screws:



I also ran the cylinder head nuts on the sisal wheel today as they looked horrible:



And gave the fuel cap a quick go with Mother's as well:



And, finally, my braided line arrived from Canada today:



And I'm off to bed on that note...

[Hoosier Daddy]

Isn't that relaxing compared to the frustrations of prep and painting?
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[rustybronco]

I ended up going with the recommended winding the material back a little (not alot though) so we'll see how it goes...

So far though it looks promising!

So how did 'winding back' on the material a bit work out? did it give smoother finish?

[pete]

Isn't that relaxing compared to the frustrations of prep and painting?
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Indeed it is! Just standing at the bench grinder while it and the compound does the work... love it

Which reminds me I'm almost out of cutting compound and am getting low on buffing compound as well...

I just wish I had about another hour yesterday so I could get that starter cover shining like a mirror and do some other little odds and ends...

[pete]

So how did 'winding back' on the material a bit work out? did it give smoother finish?

I'll let you be the judge of that Dale...







This is after the three coats were done yesterday, and the lighting in there is terrible for these photos but it was good for painting at least.

I'm hoping to get 15 minutes of spare time where it's actually sunny this week so I can get them out and get some real photos.

Personally I think they came out a bit smoother...