1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Guest]

Charlie: Yes, we definitely seem to be the redheaded stepchildren here! But of course on these forums, it seems the rest are slightly redheaded and not averse to stepchildren... which of course is supposed to be some sort of back handed compliment to all on these forums, and perhaps I should've just said nothing...

Anyways, I intend to take as many pic's as I can along the way, so if these go towards some resources for other 450 owners, then that's great, I'm happy to help. My only issue is being a source of knowledge for what I'm doing... I have no idea except what I read in the manual and what I've learnt from here.

Actually I took some marginally better pic's of the swingarm etc. today but I haven't downloaded them from the camera yet, job for the morning.

Don: Good point, you guys do have to buy twice as many of most things

As far as the drive shaft goes, I need to examine it more closely to see if I really do need to replace it, but in a nutshell the PO had ridden it for who knows how long with the nut loose that holds the front sprocket on, so the splines on the drive shaft are a bit worn, and the original front sprocket was pretty sad as a result.

When I initially got the bike road worthied, the guys doing the inspection found this out and said as long as I replace the sprocket and keep that nut nice and tight, I should have no issues with the worn splines on the drive shaft.

Oh, and yeah this drive shaft is in the gearbox and has the front sprocket on it for the chain drive, so if it's going to be replaced, the time to do it is now with it totally disassembled. My problem of course is the price...

 

[Guest]

Also forgot to comment on the gaskets from the US thing... I haven't actually looked at that option yet but given the way the Aussie dollar has been lately it might be worth while.

 

[Guest]

Here's some marginally better pic's of the swingarm, centre stand, grab handle, brake stabiliser bar, and engine mounts. I can't seem to get good light in the garage for photos I'm sorry, it's either too glary with the door open or too dark with it shut. I need to get the electrician back and get some more light in there!

There are some slight runs in a couple of places, but very hard to see unless you're looking for them so I don't think anyone will notice.

You can also see some brush strokes on the engine mounts as I found it very difficult to brush the whole piece in the same direction, which is what POR 15 recommend you do when brushing.

And I've painted the feet of the centre stand, so I guess I'll get to see just how tough this paint really is once I start putting the bike on the stand later down the track.

 

[Guest]

And I just worked out going by Cycle Parts Nation prices I'm being ripped something fierce here for NOS parts.

If I do what I'm thinking, and use OEM base, head, and valve cover gaskets, that will set me back $189.10 plus interstate shipping for NOS parts.

If I get those same parts from the US, it will be $90.39 (including exchange rate) plus shipping!

And the bit that really hurts... piston rings $77.30 per set here, $25.89 (including exchange) in the US...

If I need the drive shaft, I'll have to get ripped here for it because shipping costs will be huge I would think and Cycle Parts Nation don't have one. For the rest I think I'll be sending my $ overseas and getting an Athena set locally.

I've emailed CPN to ask what shipping costs are like in case that blows it out as I can't see any shipping costs on their website.

 

[dedfish]

If I can help you out in anyway let me know. I don't know if it's cheaper having someone pickup the parts at a dealer in the us and then mail or if it's cheaper to order from a us website and have them mail. Anyway the offer is there to help if I can.

 

[Charlie G]

I vaguely remember one of the members was getting his parts from Alpha or someplace which is known for being expensive but he claimed the shipping was good. Shipping from US to AZ or NZ isn't something all dealers want to do. What I'm getting at is; you should check several sources here, because I find that part prices can vary from place to place as well ashipping costs. One part is cheaper at a store this week and next week a different part is cheaper at another place.

cg

 

[Guest]

Cheers for the offer Dedfish, hopefully it will be simple and not too expensive straight from the store, but I'll keep your offer in mind.

Charlie, what you say makes perfect sense, and I have seen Alpha's prices and they're definitely dearer than CPN, but I haven't seen shipping prices for either yet.

My wife buys jeans and shoes from the US every now and then and the postage on those varies quite a lot also, so I won't be surprised if one dealer's shipping outweighs another dealiers cost...

 

[Nessism]

Nice job on the rebuild Pete.

Can't believe I'm even suggesting this but partsnmore in Canada sells Athena gasket kits for cheap. https://www.partsnmore.com/cat_index.php?model=gs&category=engine

If you get an OE base gasket I think you will be okay. Ordering parts from the US might be a good idea too; the PO here has what they call a "small flat rate box" that ships for pretty cheap pretty much anywhere in the world. I'll be glad to help you out too by relaying parts your way. I'm going to be placing an order in the next few days so let me know if I can help.

 

[Guest]

Cheers Ed, no more work this weekend (mother's day) but I hope to keep going soon.

Parts Canada is cheap and the Aus dollar rate is even better in Canada than the US, but the shipping looks a tad scary, minimum cost is $69.02 Canadian and they say things like gasket sets may be more expensive due to Fedex charging by box size, not weight.

However, the price of the Athena set here in Australia isn't too bad, it's the NOS stuff that really hurts.

And thanks for the offer too

 

[Guest]

So a helpful reply from CPN this morning:

Shipping will be calculated at checkout.
-cpn.com

So I guess I get to create an account and all just to see if shipping's too expensive... oh well you gotta do what you gotta do

In the meantime, if I spend the total of $20.70, I can get the gasket and O rings for the crankcases as well as the base gasket, and I will endeavour to get a new clutch oil seal as well, except I forgot to get a price on that one.

I can then do the rest with the much cheaper Athena alternative, but at least I won't have to split the cases or replace the base gasket if they turn out to be crap.

 

[Guest]

Ok I emailed the guy with the NOS parts and I'm getting the O rings and gasket for the crankcases, plus the clutch and crank oil seals and the base gasket.

That totals $46.80 plus shipping, but hopefully that will mean the crankcases and barrels won't have to come apart again any time soon after I get them together again.

When the guy with the Athena gaskets gets more stock, I'll get a complete set and see how they go.

In the meantime, I have lots to do

 

[herostar]

I'm tagging along for this build!

As others have stated, it would be great for us 450 owners to get a little more love on these forums. I often try to find info about upgrades and replacement parts, but the info is tough to come by and quite limited...

Good luck with your build! I'm interested to see what you end up doing with the carbs/K&N filters/re-jetting!

 

[bgmart450]

Watching this one too. Can't wait to see the finished result.

 

[Guest]

Cheers guys, just don't be holdin' your breath for a quick end to this, you may find yourself in a pine box quicker

However I am hoping to get a start on my frame today and I think my parts should probably be up at the post office waiting for me also.

I discovered yesterday I haven't cleaned my brushes real well so I need to give them a soak in some turps today otherwise I may have to replace them before painting the frame.

 

[Guest]

Nothing done yesterday I'm afraid but I did get a present in the mail...

 

[Guest]

And nothing done all weekend, so next update should hopefully be next weekend, although I'll be on call for work so may not get much done, we'll see.

In the meantime, I realised I had no real before pic's of the swingarm, centre stand, etc. so I've taken some proper before pic's of the side stand so I can have a real comparison this time.

I hope to do the same for the frame also.

 

[Guest]

Finally got some more time on it today. Not a lot done, but I did manage to get the side stand, battery box, and frame cleaned up and sanded.

Next step for all three is to hit them with the Metal Ready and paint.

I have a day off this Friday so hopefully I can do some then, but my old boss is trying to lure me to his new workplace so I may end up having a job interview instead.

Battery box and side stand after cleaning and sanding:





Frame after cleaning:







I also removed the solo seat compliance plate from here, but forgot to photo the plate itself today:

 

[Guest]

And the frame after sanding:





So as you can see, there's quite a bit of surface rust around the place on the frame, between nearly 30 years of road rash and various parts of the wiring loom flexing and rubbing the paint away.

Given how easy it was to sand through the paint to bare metal in a few small areas, it looks like the coating from the factory was pretty thin also.

Can't wait to get these painted up, then I can put the side stand, centre stand, battery box, and swing arm back on and might even be able to see a little progress

 

[Guest]

And I mustn't forget that I got hold of a bottle of kerosene the other day, so I also can get started on cleaning up the transmission and crankshaft etc. ready to start reassembling the engine.

My birthday's coming up soon too, so I think it might be a good time to compile a list of stuff I need such as a torque driver, gasket set, head and barrels to be blasted, etc.

 

[Scott W]

Nice to see you progressing. I am still tearing down and can't wait to get down to just the frame. This project is teaching me how to be really patient. Thanks for the pics.