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1981 GS450E Rebuild

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Been doing some Google image searching this morning, think I should've got a reverse megaphone instead of the conti style end. Considering he won't have started yet, hopefully I can call him Monday and get him to change... :pray:

Also, the images I've seen of well done Triumph Scramblers really enforce that I need to raise the front gaurd, as well as trying to find a stone gaurd for the headlight and a bash plate. I've thought about all these before, and I definitely need to do them to get it looking authentic.
 
Experiencing much frustration at the moment, I can't really do anything! The garage looks empty without my bike (even though there're two cars in there) and everything I need to do at the moment I can't really do either at night or without the bike...

I'm hoping tomorrow after cleaning the house I'll get a spare hour to start trying out some welding, but we also need to fix the plaster in the study and wash the filthy water marks off the walls, and we're going out to dinner... could be pushing it a tad me thinks...

Just having a ramble here now really waiting for MotoGP to start...
 
Is your bike running yet Pete?... I know you started it but didnt think you had run it yet. If so does the exhaust shop know not to start it?...
 
I should've mentioned lack of a key and a tank too... just the small stuff really :rolleyes:
 
I managed to get about an hour yesterday to start messing around with trying to learn how to weld. At the moment, I'd say I suck... but only my first efforts so... you know. Haha





My first efforts were very spotty, couldn't get a run on at all, but I sort of ended up doing some runs.

Welding the rods on is ugliness, far too much welding over and over for anything good, but all I really need is some tacks, so I ended up doing the first one:



Even uglier, but it worked, however I did run out of time to clean it up.

I also ran a couple of strips of masking tape down the tank the other night to get an idea of how the stripes I want will look:



Didn't get time to fill in the knee dents, but I think those stripes will be good.

I won't be getting more done today, but tomorrow I should be able to start on the tank repair as well as getting more welding done.

I do need to call Tranzac a little later on though...
 
go the stripes!

welding, try moving the rod slower, and check the angle your holding the stick at, looks like your too vertical, I bet the electrode kept sticking to the job.


John
 
davidduarte said:
I think the stripes will look pretty sharp.
Click to expand...

Cheers David! I was liking them too... I think the width and spacing is pretty spot on as well, just a fluke on that one!


Ricko19 said:
Stripes look awesome Pete - I like that colour too :)
Click to expand...

Cheers Rick! You're the third person to say they like that colour, aside from myself when I first bought it of course :)

I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't stick with it if I can find it somewhere...


john82q said:
go the stripes!

welding, try moving the rod slower, and check the angle your holding the stick at, looks like your too vertical, I bet the electrode kept sticking to the job.


John
Click to expand...

Spot on John! I did have quite a few times of the electrode sticking, so I will definitely angle it some more. I should be back on the welding tomorrow while the tank dries from derusting read to line.

So far it sounds like the stripes are a winner and not just in my mind, so I hope I can pull them off in reality once I get painting...
 
Well, as much as I hate them, I must admit today was my birthday... and the reason I mention that is I got some cool gear from my wife and my house mate. AGV Vyrus helmet and a pair of gloves, so I now have all the gear I need, just no bike to ride yet :rolleyes:

That's also why I'm doing the Tranzac thing and taking this week off to attempt to get some stuff done, as a sort of birthday present for myself.

I also had the pleasure of my mother telling me her and my father are getting divorced... what awesome timing of her... sheesh... and she wonders why I don't talk to her much anymore... oh well, I always knew they were a little odd... Plus they're only about 20 years later than they should've got divorced...

Anyways, haven't spoken to the Tranzac guy about the reverse megaphone just yet, left a message for him this morning and haven't heard back, so I'll try again tomorrow morning.

I did duck down to the garage quickly tonight to do a couple of things.

First off I was sick of digging through my mess on the workbench to get to the power board, so I got that mounted up on the wall:



And I also like a little music in there while working, and we took the el-cheapo radio out of the spare room on the weekend, so got that in and working to keep me entertained down there:



As a bonus it has an iPod dock that sort of works, so if the radio annoys me I can put some real music on.

Anyway, to finish off what I've been thinking of for the tank, I put some masking tape and paper over the knee dent to see how it would look with the stripes:



That would be like leaving the whole knee dent area painted white.

And I then brought it in the width of the masking tape from the edge:



I think once it's on the bike, leaving the entire knee dent area will look better, especially if I can manage to make up the knee pads and stick them in there.

I think the smaller area looks a little better in isolation there on the workbench, but once combined with the seat and the rest of the bike I don't think it will look quite right.

I'll try to get it into the GIMP onto one of the other mockups and see how it looks at some point. I mainly wanted to get that out of the way now before I start with the tank lining, which should be underway tomorrow... as well as more welding of the duck tail.
 
I agree with ya Pete leave the whole indent area white. Unfortunately I was sick with the flu all weekend and got nothing at all done on my project. Being Military you hope to get sick during the week because you get paid anyway. It really sucks when you get sick on the weekends.

Paul
 
Cheers for the feedback Paul, and yeah that really sucks, I hate bein' crook, especially on my free time!
 
Coming on nice there Pete, i like what you are doing with the paint scheme.:clap:
I think you have nailed it spot on with the stripes and the knee pad area, can't wait to see it once you have put paint down.
 
Thanks Flyboy! Will be a while yet until painting time, but I need to get these thoughts out of my head so I can get a clear picture of where I'm heading with it.

I still haven't decided on colour yet, but I'm thinking either blue or the same maroon as what's on there now as my preferences.

I'm starting to like the silver on the gaurds too instead of the same colour as the tank etc. as well... lots more mulling over to do yet.

Just sucking down some coffees quickly now so I can get into some welding and tank derusting today... very keen to get a lot done today :D
 
I know the feeling, just when I think I have made up my mind as to what clothes jennifer is going to wear, I see something else that looks like it may work well, and I like, so still undecided, maybe I should stop reading the appearence section and oogling over Larry's work until I am done.
Good luck with the welding, just keep at it, you will crack it in no time, before you realise it.
Just remember, arc welding is exactly that, you are earthing the base metal and supplying positive current to the rod and then bringing the two close together for the electricity to arc across, and in the process melt the metal, which then fuses together, kind of like a spark jumping the sparkplug gap, for want of a better example.
So keep the 1 or 2 mm gap between the stick and the job so the arc can sustain and do the work of fusing the metal, no contact is the key, then you are just creating a dead short, not an arc, strike to get the juice flowing, then back the rod away 1-2mm from the job and maintain that distance, and if it keeps sticking, turn up the juice a little bit at a time.
A bit of practice and you will hack it in no time.
Oh, and don't forget to wear safety goggles when you chip away the slag, that **** is hot, a piece in your eye, and you will know all about it, it fuses onto your eyeball and they pick it out with a needle, ask me how I know?
 
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Choosing a colour,remember that.Ask my wife how many possible colours I thought about.Drove the woman crazy,myself to come to that.The colour I ended up with is just the last one I liked at the time to get paint.
 
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