GS1100G Cafe Racer

[oohsam]

Ok. Finally time to update this thing.

I've been working on various parts of the bike over the last month (yes its been a month since I updated!)
But mainly spent all my time on the carbs.

Rebuilt my carbs and been spending all my time tuning the bike for right size jets, right needle position, mixtures, vacum etc etc etc.

anyway seems all done now (other than being a little hard to start when cold -- takes a few tries but it eventually cranks over...want to get that fixed up)
But the bike runs fine, probably a bit rich so I'll look into that but it rides beautifully and Im quite happy with it all.

Today I worked on the seat.
I had always wanted a seat like my couch at home but was scared to do it.
After much research, I found what I wanted to do, is called Tufting...

This is how it started.



And this is how it ended
If I had my time to do it over i'd do it a bit different (as with everything). But I have plenty of spare material to make 3-4 more of these seats.

The horseshoe had to be cut out coz i have hump in my seat base.
There was no way around that. Not sure why its there and why its required but it sure did make stapling the material down hard.
Anyway, overall i think it came out ok. Thoughts?










Basically what you do is mark out on ur foam where you want the buttons,
Drill the holes (fairly large), drill tiny holes in the wooden pan.
Get some fishing wire, and a washer. thread the button through and pull the wire out on the timber side.
Use the washer to do a funky knot to tie it down.
Thats pretty much it.

Cheers

[Tim Tom]

The seat looks good! And people say sewing skills are for girls

Nice work again, got any pics of the seat pan on the bike? I bet it looks great with the red frame.

[Guest]

Mate that looks great!

I'm with Tim... pic's on the bike please

What wood did you use? Just wondering if it's going to swell if it gets wet...

[DrunkenChekhov]

I believe the hump is there for tire clearance at full compression. I like the seat, very kingly. Curious how its going to look on the bike though, might be a bit out of place with the stripped down cafe.

[oohsam]

Thanks guys, will put some pics up tonight of it on the bike.

The wood is mdf but it has a coat of marine paint on it so its pretty waterproof (i hope!) if not I will be making a new seat haha.

[oohsam]

So, I thought the seat needed some more work, so I made a backrest. I think it looks much better now. Was sceptical about making a separate piece however I think it came up well.
There are Bolts in the back of it already so I can just put a nut on the otherside, and presto! stays in place

Let me know what u think (try and imagine the tank is black with a red pinstripe in the knee dents....
!

[Guest]

Hmmmm... nice work on the seat, but something's not quite right between the tank and seat pan colour and the chrome front guard... are you planning on changing them at some point?

[Redneck]

I as about to mention the back rest and whamo you post it up. Looks good.

Pete looks like the tank is primered, so I suspect paint is coming soon.

Paul

edit: okay first photo looked primered then saw the shiney white and black stripe in second photo. I would agree with paint job change how bout black on the white and red strip instead of black would flow with seat.

Paul

I also happen to have a powdercoated glossy black fender...

[oohsam]

Hmmmm... nice work on the seat, but something's not quite right between the tank and seat pan colour and the chrome front guard... are you planning on changing them at some point?

hahaha Pete, I am convinced you dont read my posts and go straight to my pictures, you picture lover, you!! lol..

Yeah It was a temp coat to test my paint skills a while back, the seat is getting a coat of black as is the tank then some red pin striping.
As for the fender, will most likely remain unless i decided otherwise. !

Thanks Guys

[gearheadE30]

Hey, I have a Vapor on my GS as well, but I'm having issues with the tach signal bouncing. How do you have it hooked up? Looks nice!

[oohsam]

Hey GearHead,
Yes I'm having the same trouble with the RPM bouncing. Cant get a steady rpm reading.
I did talk to trail tech they recommended the following.

1. With the power cable, ensure that you dont tap into another cable, as it will pick up the signal, go direct to the battery. Some people have hooked up a 9Volt battery to it to totally eliminate the tach bounce and has worked.
2. Try PPR setting of 2 instead of 1. This may also help.

I am yet to try these out (as its not high on my priority list, but I am almost 100% sure this will work) many ppl have reported it working in the past.

Let me know how u go.

Cheers

[gearheadE30]

Hmm, that makes a lot of sense. I need to go in there anyway and clean up the harness where I got rid of the backlight wires and such, so I'll run wires directly to the battery then. I currently have it wired to one of the backlight leads, so it's probably not a very clean reference signal. That also would explain why the tach bounces more when I'm on the brakes or the indicators are on, hah. I thought it was a grounding issue the whole time.

[Guest]

hahaha Pete, I am convinced you dont read my posts and go straight to my pictures, you picture lover, you!! lol..

Yeah It was a temp coat to test my paint skills a while back, the seat is getting a coat of black as is the tank then some red pin striping.
As for the fender, will most likely remain unless i decided otherwise. !

Thanks Guys

Hahahaa I promise I do read *some* things

Sounds like a nice plan to me though...

[Leigh]

Wow!
That looks brilliant, mate.
Can't wait to see it complete.

[oohsam]

Thanks mate!
I just spent a whole 12 hours working on the bike (12 hours straight!)
Tieing up some lose ends.

Hooked up the horn
Fitted OEM clutch cover gasket (no oem one was leaking!...)
Fabricated mounts for the battery (to go under the seat)
Drilled out the seat to mount the seat pan
Welded two nuts on the frame for the seat to bolt into (shoulda done it b4 powder coat, but was very small and hidden)
Fixed up the choke rod (i had the choke and spring in the wrong spot
Installed choke cable with new choke mechanisim

Installed 140 main jets from 142 (bike was rich)
Took her out for a spin, Started right up first crank (on choke) warmed her up and took her out for a decent ride....)

Pulls alot harder with the 140 main jets and is very very smooth through all gears. Very happy with it. Its pretty much ready to go in for a rwc test. Might go this week. See how we go!