'81 GS550 Cafe Build

[Sci85]

You got it. I've been by there once on my way to Benton Harbor. You're out in the middle of nowhere. But it sure is pretty out there in the summer.

Sci85

BTW, D-mac, I travel to MI pretty regularly. Mostly Detroit area but also up to Grand Rapids some times. I will let you know next time I'm headed up. Maybe we can hook up and do some bench racing.

Sounds great! Shoot me a message when you're coming up. I live right off I-94 in Albion.

[Sci85]

BTW, D-mac, I travel to MI pretty regularly. Mostly Detroit area but also up to Grand Rapids some times. I will let you know next time I'm headed up. Maybe we can hook up and do some bench racing.

For the triple clamp, use a wire wheel, to get the old paint off, it will make short work of getting it done,,have a look in my build thread to see how mine came out, and that was just on the wire wheel, no polishing done at all.

The rims look great, and the masking is brutal, I spent last night on just the front, polishing and then taping getting it ready for paint as well,,,,,the rear will be done tonight...

Caliper paint sounds good as well, I can't find a matte, only shiny, so I was going to use the appliance enamel paint, now I might go look for satin caliper paint...

Looks like a bunch of us are more or less at the same stages on our builds......

Just keep at it........soon we will be bolting all the good stuff back on, and waiting for the nice weather to get back so we can go out and ride.....

I've been following your progress. Looking good!

Thanks for the advice guys! I picked up a wire wheel a few weeks ago. Looks like it'll be getting some use. I'll try one more coating of stripper and a steel brush first.

For the triple clamp, use a wire wheel, to get the old paint off, it will make short work of getting it done,,have a look in my build thread to see how mine came out, and that was just on the wire wheel, no polishing done at all.

The rims look great, and the masking is brutal, I spent last night on just the front, polishing and then taping getting it ready for paint as well,,,,,the rear will be done tonight...

Caliper paint sounds good as well, I can't find a matte, only shiny, so I was going to use the appliance enamel paint, now I might go look for satin caliper paint...

Looks like a bunch of us are more or less at the same stages on our builds......

Just keep at it........soon we will be bolting all the good stuff back on, and waiting for the nice weather to get back so we can go out and ride.....

[Sci85]

Hehe, funny I worked on my triple clamp today too D-mac. and I found the same thing. That paint must have been baked on because very little came off with the stripper. I applied a very heavy coat the second round, waited for about 10min, then got my little brass brush out and went to town. The brush helped work the stripped into the paint and I got most of it off with that. Then, I took it over to the wire wheel and got the rest and got it nice and shiney. A pic of it is over on my rebuild thread.

Sci85

[cowboyup3371]

Great work so far. And don't worry too much about taking so long to get through everything. I'd really hoped I'd have mine back on the road by this weekend but it's looking more and more like the end of the month now.

As of 2am, both wheels were polished and fully cleaned.

Rear wheel polished. Didn’t come out quite as nice as the front, but it’s a major improvement. The tire is actually a little too fat for the rim. Since this isn’t a wannabe chopper anymore it’ll be replaced with a proper fitting tire.


Ready for paint, right?

Ummmm no. I spent most of the day just making off the wheel. I went through a lot of tape and a bunch of sharp blades. I’m planning to go to the lab tonight and do the painting. I’ll be using caliper paint (dull black) for the inside. No clear coat will be used (I must like polishing too much).

Front wheel masked.


Rear wheel masked.


I apologize if this thread is grinding along endlessly, but if so it’s an accurate reflection of how I’m feeling about these wheels. I can’t wait to get them done and get on to something else. I did take a break to do some grinding on the top triple clamp yesterday. I’m not too thrilled with how it came out, but it’ll work. The paint on it is very thick (not coming off yet after two applications of stripper). I haven’t decided if I’ll ultimately repaint it or polish it up.

The next pics will (hopefully) be of painted wheels!

[Sci85]

Thanks d-mac. I just checked Boulevard Suzuki and it appears the OEM emblems are still available.

Sci85

Love the polishing on the rims......looking really good....

quick question, how polished are they, like mirror finish, or just a bit below, I am going to do mine soon, and was wondering how much of a polish you guys are going for, right now I have them clean, and it's a dull finish, but clean....yours seem to be almost mirror ?

Wow, those emblems look great. I too need these. How did you find them? I find it daunting to sift through all the listings to find something like this.

Thx,

Sci85

Sometimes I try searching for the part numbers of eBay. In this case, many bikes used the same ones, so you'll find them quickly by using a search term like "Suzuki emblem GS"

im trying to restore a 1981 gs650g that has a whole lot in common with your bike. i will keep an eye on your thread as i have little to no experience with most of the things i am setting out to do to my bike. im currently trying to get past some electrical/ fuse blowing issues. Good luck dude! looks like you are going all out at getting that machine looking great. i road all last summer with the rear shocks that you have and they were pretty nice. i had no complaints. maybe it was because the stock shocks that came with the bike when i got it were completely bottomed out.

Thanks for the support and the good news about the shocks. Hell, I'll be thrilled just to get this bike on the road.

The electrical system on these bikes is pretty sketchy. I find it only slightly better than a bike from the 60s. My wiring is so cracked in places I'm surprised it hasn't blown every fuse or melted most of the harness. The bullet-type connectors also seem prone to problems too (although they're better than the "twist the wires together" method the previous owner of my bike loved so much!)

[Sci85]

Wow, those emblems look great. I too need these. How did you find them? I find it daunting to sift through all the listings to find something like this.

Thx,

Sci85

Awesome

im trying to restore a 1981 gs650g that has a whole lot in common with your bike. i will keep an eye on your thread as i have little to no experience with most of the things i am setting out to do to my bike. im currently trying to get past some electrical/ fuse blowing issues. Good luck dude! looks like you are going all out at getting that machine looking great. i road all last summer with the rear shocks that you have and they were pretty nice. i had no complaints. maybe it was because the stock shocks that came with the bike when i got it were completely bottomed out.