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1980 Gs550 e caf? build

  • Thread starter Thread starter NewGSboy
  • Start date Start date
N

NewGSboy

Guest
Hi all,
Recently purchased a gs550 e (which was actually advertised as a 450L) as a first project for my son snd I. He loves the look of the caf? bikes so instead of a back to original rebuild decided to go in his direction instead.
Bike was rough but not unsaveable and began stripping it down a couple of weeks ago. Planning a full engine rebuild and a new front end. Not sure what yet though, still researching what will work best although not necessarily easiest. Have been toying with the idea of mono rear end but again not sure yet.
Decided to stick up a few photos of progress so far and hoping for some tips and also pitfall warnings. Skill level here I would say is medium but we learn quickly.
All input and constructive criticism is welcome, thanks in advance!
Gary. 47374657-7347-4B21-AB7F-DDC3281F5357.jpg
 
Since I have no idea what a "medium" skill level entails, I do strongly recommend getting it up and running first; then getting on to cosmetics.

Though, I guess since the rear is already chopped off, building/getting an functional seat is bumped up in priority.

Since this is a mod, not rebuild, the usual tips and pitfalls apply for modding carbureted vintage bikes.

Specific to GS'es, follow the link in my sig. to the newbie mistakes thread.
 
Congratulations on your new bike! And congratulations on cutting that ugly rear off :) Best to do it right away to lure out the old forum mentors and sages and their grumpy "constructive critisism" about uncomfortable seats and bad riding positions. At least, they are a rare breeed, and it will blow over quickly. It's not that they aren't knowledgeable people, it's just that their knowledge most often is hidden behind multiple layers of bad behaviour and picky semantics.
If I could give a couple of advice, I'll advice you and your son to decide a timeframe for the build. If it's a project for the two of you so you can get som quality time in the shed, priorities are not so important. If you want to ride it anytime soon, priorities are important. I have my bike mostly to wrench and make cool mods on it. That means I haven't had it on the road in three years... If you want to ride it, do everything in steps.. Fix it into a running conditon and get the basic cafe look look down (seat/clipons). Then choose standalone projects to keep modding the bike. I would go for rearsets, front fork/brakes and rear mono. In that order. I wouldn't do rear mono at all, but that is all up to you and your taste. If you do the front end, go full gixxer with radially mounted brakes :) There's a lot to choose from when doing the cafe-seat and it pays off to look at alot of pictures online. Pinterest, pipeburn and bikeexif are good sources.

There's a great, and not too long, article on how to design a cafe racer here : http://www.bikeexif.com/build-cafe-racer . I advice you to read it and bring out pen and paper (or photoshop, or scissors and magazines ;) ) and make some drawings, images or collages to get a feel of how the bike will look with the mods you are planning. Of cource I also advice you to read the ten newbie mistakes thread :)

I would also use the search function on this forum, many before you have gone the cafe route with their gs. You could even have a look at my build thread if you like, to get some inspiration ;)

Good luck, and may the bike give you lots of quality father and son time.

(One last note; it's probably better to upload your pictures to flickr.com and the paste links to them into your posts. That removes the limitations put on files posted on the forum. Use flickr page to create bb-code for you.)
 
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