New Member working on an 81 GS450L Brat-Style Cafe Project

[hjacobmiller]

Good work!

Watch your bars on the tank after you get it finished. The stock controls are a little bulky with the shorter drag bars.

[JimmyR]

Wow that tank is a huge improvement. I really like what you're doing with this bike. And the back of your girlfriend's head is nice too. :-)

If you like the look of pipe wrap then go for it. I wil never understand the negativity towards it. Black always looks like a cop out to me, but that's just an opinion and you never know it may work out great! If you go black then make it as matt as you can I reckon. There is a micaceous paint used on pot belly stoves - it has a metallic matt kinda finish. If that can handle pipe heat it might look good.

[pete]

I went ceramic coating on my exhaust and it's absolutely awesome, I would do it again in a heartbeat...

The reason I personally don't like wrapping is you just don't know what's going on under there, is it trapping moisture and causing rust? That's about it really...

Having said that, there are definitely cases where wrap just suits a bike perfectly...

[JimmyR]

I wonder... I have heard many times about wrap trapping moisture, but I wonder how true that is? Surely every time you ride the pipes would get hot enough to evaporate any moisture well and truly, and unless you get caught in a tropical downpour where is this moisture going to come from? It kinda makes sense then it kinda doesn't! In the right place I think it can look perfect. Pipes don't always have to be black or chrome.

I am thinking the ceramic you have Pete would be perfect for my bike. If it was easier for me to remove the headers I would have that done to mine right now!

[pete]

If you were running the bike every day I don't think there'd be too much of an issue. Over time humidity will get moisture in there if it's not run regularly and a lot of bikes with wrap aren't daily riders, it's usually done as a design exercise. That means they sit for long periods of time and that's where my concern would come from.

Don't forget this is just opinion though, I have no facts or evidence to back this up

I must agree on your black or chrome comment though and sometimes it would definitely be good to see something a little different...

Tranzac offers ceramic coating as an option and I got him to get it done for me, but for a stock replacement exhaust like yours he may have assumed you would want to stick with chrome...

[JimmyR]

I may get my headers either rechromed or ceramic'd one day soon if I can ever get them off the bloody mufflers!

Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing what to dkl will do with his bike next. Come on dkl - this is your thread!

[dkletter]

Wow. Thanks for all the comments!
I welded a metal hoop to the frame to support the new seat last night. The hoop turns up slightly at the end. It looks really good and pulls off the look I'm going for well! I'll post pics as soon as I finish cleaning up the welds and painting the seam.

It's exciting to see the bike coming close!

As far as the headers go, I don't think the wrap is huge issue when it comes to rust.. It may be because I live in Colorado and there is relatively low humidity here, but the last owner had header wrap on the pipes for at least 18 months. I removed that old wrap several days ago and there is very minimal rust on the pipes.

I will throw the wrap on when the rest of the bike is finished and decide then.. It's not hard to take the wrap off and do a ceramic coating if the wrap doesn't perform well or looks bad with the bike's color scheme..

[dkletter]

http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2011/6/15/2006-triumph-thruxton.html

Here is an example of a bike that pulled off the header wrap well in my opinion.

[JimmyR]

Yup I have to agree. Mufflers are good though!

I did the welded loop at the back of the frame under the seat too. Yup it kicks up a bit to follow the seat and I reckon it looks damn fine. You really are kicking along in this build. I reckon you are going to end up with a very cool ride there.

[pete]

Yeah that Trumpy works well with the wrap, but those pipes are far too skinny for that bike... but again just another opinion... I need to stop that

Looking forward to seeing pic's of your progress actually, be good to see how that loop works.

Glad to hear you didn't inherit any rust issues on the pipes too, makes things so much easier. I hear Colorado is dry so shouldn't be too many dramas there I would imagine...

Jimmy, your seat is awesome and just works oh so well on that beast...

[dkletter]

@ JimmyR. Your bike is awesome! Great work. The rear seat hoop is beautifully done. I was thinking of making my own seat, but for $200 it's hard to beat that brat seat for sale at Dime City..

[dkletter]

Frame is welded and painted

The frame is done! All the welding is finished and the frame painted.



The headers have also been chopped and are waiting on new exhaust.

In the mean time I've been disassembling the bike and polishing, sanding, and painting any parts that need it.



I also discovered that the carbs have already been re-jetted by a previous owner using the 6Sigma kit for pods, straight pipes, and the correct elevation.. So I'm trying to decide if I should leave the jetting alone or buy higher quality jets from Mikuni. Either way, The currently installed jet sizes will give me a good place to start.

[pete]

Nice job on the frame end loop there, looks like it was made like that

Nice paint too, is that like a metal flake or something?

I'd leave the jetting as is until you run it for a bit. Will possibly be a little rich with mufflers on it again but you can go down in jet sizes if need be.

[dkletter]

Update to the brat-bike build

Hi All!

the bike is at 90% completion! It's giving me some idling issues indicative of the "hanging idle" that is common on these old GS models, but that should be solved soon. I have new Intake manifold boots and O rings on the way make sure I'm not getting vacuum leaks in the boots. I'm also hoping to find someone in the Denver area who has a carb tuner. (If you know anyone please let me know!)

Here are some pics of the process as well as the current state of the bike.

I still need to throw the new grips and bar end mirrors on. I also need to find a battery box of some kind to protect the battery and hide some of the wiring.
the speedo is not working, so I'll need to check the connections and possibly replace it..

[Good Times]

Like your work.

Not sure about the placement of those pipes though. My gut reaction is that it puts a lot of heat right onto the rear, but the bigger concern is that if you ever have anything wet com out of the pipes that its dumping right into your rear tire.