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1980 GS550L to cafe

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fiendo
  • Start date Start date
F

Fiendo

Guest
Hey guys, I'm Tom, just bought a 1980 GS550 off craigslist for $500. Mostly because it's the best deal I could find around where I live (Northern Virginia) on something that is worth turning into a project. I've been lurking around the site and have learned a lot from many of you, and am sure I'll have a ton of questions once I start rebuilding. I haven't ridden in 10 years, and the bike didn't run when I got it, but the previous owner assured me it did a couple months ago, and I always take random people from the internet at their word. Kidding aside, he was the one who told me about this forum, which I have immensely enjoyed so far. Anyhow, let me see if I can figure out how to upload some pics of the bike...
 
GS550L to cafe

GS550L to cafe

Here you can see the excellent work of the PO, where he bypassed the clutch safety switch, yellow wires twisted together on left... but what's that red thing on the right holding it in place? If you guessed a bread tie twisted around the clutch wire, you win! A bread tie!

At least the battery was held in with a daisy chain of 3 zipties...
 
GS550 to cafe

GS550 to cafe

Is this metal tab welded to the left rear of the frame stock? I'm not sure what it's for, and don't see it in other people's posts. I think I'll probably cut it off.
 
dirty

dirty

Everything is so dirty, but it's been so ridiculously cold and snowy around here that I can't really wash the bike that well. I'm just gonna toss the wiring anyway and redo it myself like Toasty did in his thread.

Btw, there will be a lot of similarities with Toasty's rebuild. I also ordered some Woodcraft clipons, though mine have a 1" rise, a GSXR600 USD fork, and an interceptor rear cowl from roc city cafe. I had planned on the clipons and USD fork already, and was thinking about attempting my own fiberglass molding of the rear cowl, but when I saw the one he ordered, I figured I'd save myself some agony.

In the event Toasty is reading this, I love your build, and don't worry, I won't be copying your style, just some of your cool techniques, such as your wiring diagram for the remote starter and the rubber seat mount stuff.
 
the obligatory carb shot

the obligatory carb shot

The photo everyone has to have in their thread. PO said he had just had the carbs cleaned and synced. I'll be doing it myself, following the guide this excellent forum has provided of course.
 
Random

Random

So my exhaust seems to have been held on by only 3 of the 8 bolts in the front... which sheared right off. the other 5 came out with my fingers and no resistance.

All of the screws on the engine seem to be made of cheese. Even my JIS screw drivers didn't work.

But an impact driver and a 2 pound sledge did the trick.
 
master link

master link

There was no master link on the chain. But then I thought: every chain is a master link if you have the right tool. Needed a new one anyway...
 
rear tire

rear tire

I just took the whole swingarm off for now. Anybody know where I can get a good set of spoke wheels that will fit?
 
gs550 to cafe

gs550 to cafe

here she is tonight. The stain on the floor is just some PB blaster. I can't get that damn oil plug out of the bottom. Need some bigger sockets.
 
gs550 to cafe

gs550 to cafe

So anyway, my overall plan is to tear it down all the way, blast and powdercoat the frame after removing what tabs I can. Replace the front end with GSXR USD fork (which arrives tomorrow), woodcraft clipons, a "vintage" headlight and gauge set, a single seat rear cowl (similar to a thruxton rear end), new shocks, some spoke wheels, minor engine work if necessary and painted black. Colors will be primarily black with some gold in the wheels/chain/fork, and maybe some minor chrome elements.

Finding time to work is rough with a two year old who sleeps above the garage, but my goal is to get the bulk of this build done by August, before my second child is born. After that I will have zero time to work for quite a while!
 
chop job

chop job

No posts in a while due to the apparent lack of interest, but I thought I'd go ahead and post some pics here anyway on what I'm doing. Here's the chop:

105_zps6b8674e4.jpg


plugs inserted:
106_zps06139008.jpg


tail loop ratched and placed: the loop is from dime city and was about a half inch too wide for the frame. I also had to cut off about 3 inches so it would fit under my rear cowl.
107_zpsa6aa880b.jpg


tacked:
111_zpsb0aaa3b0.jpg


welded:
114_zpsbcf7bcb6.jpg
 
Last edited:
de-tabbed

de-tabbed

As you can see I've also detabbed the frame.

Some parts arrived:

2004-5 GSXR-600 USD forks, front wheel, axle, and brakes from ebay, and bearing adapters from All Balls for the fork swap. I was going to try and do GS spokes with an adapter to fit the GSXR forks, but after reading several rebuild threads and pricing things out, I decided not to "reinvent the wheel" I guess you could say. Hopefully going to the 17 inch front wheel and using the USD forks doesn't mess up the geometry too much.
 
Looks good man! I originally wanted to do this with my GS400 but my aspirations weren't quite matched to my skill set. Keep up the good work!
 
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