New GS850 Cafe Paint and refresh

[Niklas]

Oh! I like that paintjob! Very nice! Its going to be a looker!
What are your thoughts about the tail?

[Guest]

I like it, but can I ask was black a standard Suzuki colour?

Because I was think of painting my tank black and not silver.

Pretty sure the Skunks were black Ged...

[lemmon95gt]

The bike has a L tank because its a GL. Its powdercoated with "almost chrome". Then I made the stripe with black viynal. I'm going to put red pinstripe around the black on the tail.....then put red #39.....its my grandfathers race number. The wheels are black with a red pinstripe.

[lemmon95gt]

the exhaust has the black header wrap....with the black spray on silicone. Ran it all last summer......worked and looks great.

[lemmon95gt]

Heres the pinstriping on the rear tail. I rolled the wheel into the swingarm to see what it looks like. Matches nice. I still have to find the right font for the numbers.

[lemmon95gt]

Cant wait to get it together and ride.................bikes so dusty from wotking on it. Get it together and wash it in the spring.

[Guest]

Cant wait to get it together and ride.................bikes so dusty from wotking on it. Get it together and wash it in the spring.

Mate I know that feeling well... so satisfying when you get her finished and can roll her and go for a ride

Definitely looking good with that wheel!

[7981GS]

Is there going to be some type of rear fender?

Daniel

[lemmon95gt]

Nope.....that's how I had it last summer. Did fine.

[lemmon95gt]

Coming together. Put the front end together with new bearings. Still need to run the harness and make it look real clean......

[lemmon95gt]

Home made clip ons powder coated............

[TheCafeKid]

Looking very nice. I must be honest and say I personally am not fond of the tail but that's a "me" problem. Clip-ons are nicely done as well. Though you may want to check on how far you've dropped the forks in the clamps. That much may make her kind of twitchy at speed. I only say this from experience. I ended up about a half inch or less drop in front and 1" over in the rear and it was a little much on my last cafe. Put the forks back to about 1/8" and kept the one inch over stock length in back and it felt very nice. Responsive, but not unruly.

[Good Times]

.....then put red #39.....its my grandfathers race number. .

Best line in the entire thread. Still lovin this bike. Especially lovin the almost chrome powder coat.

Awesome.

[Bustedknuckles]

yes, yes, and more yes... im loving the handlebars and the paint on the wheels, motor, and body panels/tank... the only thing im not a fan of is the rear seat cowling, it doesnt seem to go with the rest of the bike, thats just my opinion though... check out "VonZeti" cafe seats, i think they would look great on your bike. Overall, it gets two big thumbs up from me!

heres a link to my favorite cafe styled seat if your interested. its exactly what i got for my 450... theres a bunch of other pictures of them on actual bikes if you wanna google it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VONZETI-CAFE-RACER-RACING-SEAT-MV-Agusta-Gilera-Honda-/250968081198?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3a6edd032e

[JimmyR]

Last time I was at the powdercoater's place he showed me a sample of that almost chrome. It looked great. I didn't think of using it on a tank but it looks really good. Any orange peel?

I used texture black on my Harley's tanks and was thinking of doing the same on my GS1100G but the petrol does stain it a little. Maybe a clear coat over the powder could be a good idea? I know that they do a powder clear over the silver for almost chrome but I wonder if it's petrol-proof?