1977 GS 550 Bobber

[old374]

Hello there,
I have just gotten hold of a modified GS 550. The previous owner started the mods with the intention of making a bobber. He lost interest and I have picked it up to finish it off nad have some fun on it.

It has had the rear seat rails removed and the upper spring mounts relocated. The tank has been replaced with another and the mounts have been lifted up above the cross bar. It has drag bars fitted with a Halogen headlight and small face speedo with warning lights. The rear fender is yet to be mounted.

I had no spark or ignition when I got it home so I started looking at the wiring and have now pretty much rewired it. I have mocked up bulb holerd to get everthing running and next job it to solder and plug the wires , and tidy the loom in general. I have posted a question in the electrical section if anyone can help.
Plans are to bob the rear fender and mount, fit forward controls , redo all of the brakes, fit turn signals and taillights and get a good tune done. Then rego and ride.
I am alos going to polish some of the engine parts and repaint the frame, tank and fenders in a satin or Matt finish

Will update as I go

Cheers
Shaun

 

[Big Rich]

Nice bike man! And welcome to the site.

FWIW, the front fender is mounted / resting backwards in that picture. I thought the inspection was pretty tough in OZ - are you sure that bike will pass?

 

[old374]

Cheers. All of these photos were supplied by the old owner and it is obvious by the fender he was a bit clueless

I spoke to our local registration dept and I have to get approval for the solo seat but the frame mods are ok as long as they are inspected.

 

[old374]

Thanks for the comments. Those photos were as the bike was being built to this stage. It was always going to run fenders as I agree it looks better with them. The rear will be shortened up a bit and a sparto style light fitted

 

[john82q]

Looks good! not my cup of tea but I can appreciate...

Got a approved person/ engineer ?


Cheers John

 

[landshark]

Welcome.
You can get a switch off the net for about $40 that will give you the headlight on/off and high/low beam. Thats if you dont want to do the rewiring required to run with your current switch. I have one on a Honda XL200, its actually an all in one switch block.
Just an option for you.

 

[Guest]

Hey Shaun, not my cup of tea either, but it looks like it's a well done job, and I can definitely appreciate that.

Just watch things like rear mudguard length if you're going to shorten it, there's a few guys over on the Kat Australia forum that have had some grief with what the coppers consider to be too short guards.

Do your homework like you've done for the mod's and you should be good to roll

Oh, if you have to get an engineer's certificate for any mod's, I'd suggest photocopy it, keep the original safe at home, and carry a copy with the rego papers just in case... might save a court visit later if some friendly officer decides he doesn't like the looks of it...

Definitely keep us up to date with the progress too!

 

[Rockgs1000]

I like the look. You gonna have double suspension with springs and a spring seat do you have any info on the shock mount relocation. If it extended the shock length required and does it still allow good travel for the swing arm. I want to move mine but afraid that it will make the shock want to snap like a twig with an extreme angle instead of compress in when the swing arm moves

 

[old374]

Rockgs1000, I tried a few different shock lengths before I got one that allowed travel in the swing arm and wasn not going to smash my rear fender against the seat mount. These are off a triumph bonneville at 365mm long I think.

Ok , so I have been hibernating in my little shed tinkering away with this thing for a few months. I know it is not for everyone but I had a modified frame to start with so I have run with that theme. All of the work was done in my small workshop , even paint so I am pretty happy with it. It rides well but I have some carb/spark issues I am working on so have only done short rides at present .

Here are some build photos and completed ones




















Couple of things to go to finish off, main thing to get it running right now and enjoy

Cheers
Shaun

 

[old374]

Some More

 

[old374]

Last ones








Thanks for looking

Shaun

 

[Good Times]

Good looking bike. First thing I thought when I read your initial posts was, "it needs some white walls." Glad to see you did that.

Good job on the bike. Very unique.

 

[Guest]

Ok Shaun that's pretty damn cool! Mate that's a good job, and yeah those white walls really set it off... love that paint job too! :clap:

I like how you've done the gauges so you can keep the tacho too, would never have thought of that! I assume there's no clearance issues with the tank there?

Oh, you may need to move your rego sticker to the left side... I have a feeling Dept of Transport say rear or left but I could be wrong (usually am)...