1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Guest]

Well... first the potentially bad news... I may have made a fundamental mistake with the battery box cover.

A hinged lid needs room to pivot up... I don't think there's enough room... shortening the sides may solve that problem though. I didn't get the test fit done tonight because I got distracted by the arrival of the Acewell, so I'm not sure if there's an issue yet or not.

As to the Acewell...



Size comparison to the existing gauges:



And I also picked up the tacho plug from the dealer today, and from memory I should be able to remove the tach drive without lifting the valve cover or the exhaust camshaft:



Apparently Saturday week I'm going to get Saturday to do the install, so that gives me a week and a half to get my act together and get it all planned out, although I need to finish the battery cover off first.

The fun bit will be trying to find plugs matching the OEM gauge plugs on the harness so I can try to avoid butchering the harness and be able to put the stock gauges back on if I encounter some major issue along the way.

I think there's a vintage connector place in the US that will have them but there's no way they're going to be here on time so it will have to be somewhere local or find some other way.

 

[Guest]

Did the test fit tonight and had to adjust the brackets a little but it looks like it will work, even if it is a little on the ugly side...

Brackets in for the test fit (ignore the bit of rust on the left, I need to touch that bit up, not sure what happened there):



Lid in and up to see if there's clearance to slide the battery out... nup!



Sitting down:



You can also see the front bracket poking out in front of the lid there as I'd bent it a little more than 90 degrees. I bent it back to solve that.

So, I then trimmed the length of the sides a bit and cut the diagonal off at the rear and I now have clearance to slide the battery out:



And sitting on again:



And then after adjusting the brackets and putting a notch in the front so it would clear the side cover mounting tab there:



And here's how it looks from both sides as it is:



Not the prettiest, but I'm hoping once I give it the brushed look it won't stand out so much, and I'm still thinking of replacing the black plastic side piece with alu.

So, still to do is smooth it all off, rivet the cover to the hinges, get the lock on, re-route the trickle charger + connection, and then get it all mounted back up properly.

I also started this thread tonight looking for some stock style harness plugs somewhere in Aus as I won't have time to get them shipped internationally before next Saturday when I should be doing the Acewell install:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=189622

 

[Good Times]

Nice Pete. "Good on ya!" (Is that an acceptable phrase or is it another example of Americans butchering your colloquialisms? It was on TV so I'm sure that it's correct. LOL)

 

[Tim Tom]

That's what I'm talking about with the box cover! Although I would paint it black so it hides in the frame a bit better. No need to call attention to your battery

 

[Guest]

Nice Pete. "Good on ya!" (Is that an acceptable phrase or is it another example of Americans butchering your colloquialisms? It was on TV so I'm sure that it's correct. LOL)

Hahaha thanks mate, that'll do fine... she'll be right... haha

That's what I'm talking about with the box cover! Although I would paint it black so it hides in the frame a bit better. No need to call attention to your battery

Cheers Tim! I agree on the painting, although I think for the moment I'll give it a brushed look as a temporary measure as I won't be able to get to paint it for a while yet. I might have to cope with an ugly bit for a while... If I could find some rattle can paint that sticks well to alu. in a semi-gloss I reckon that'd do nicely, no need for 2K on that bit...

 

[Guest]

I only got about 15 minutes in the garage tonight, so all I got done was rivetting the lid to the hinges:



The more I look at it the more I reckon it really needs to be black.

I typically get 20 minutes or so spare in the afternoon after I get home from work so in theory if I have it prepared that should be enough for a couple of coats of paint... I'll just need to pick up some semi-gloss or satin acrylic in a rattle can and some etch primer...

 

[ndaugbjerg]

Careful there , "Good Times". I was watching "Animal Planet" the other night and if I understood correctly, the "Grey banded Australian Colloquialism was put on the endangered list Jan 1, 2012.
ndaugbjerg

 

[Good Times]

Careful there , "Good Times". I was watching "Animal Planet" the other night and if I understood correctly, the "Grey banded Australian Colloquialism was put on the endangered list Jan 1, 2012.
ndaugbjerg

I like mine fried with a little gravy.

 

[ndaugbjerg]

Good Times,
While on the subject of "critters" I must plead ignorance. I figured out what a Kat was but what the hell is a "skunk"? Down here in Texas he's either a little black creature with a white stripe down his back, or a politician. Somehow I don't think that's what you guys are talking about.
ndaugbjerg

 

[Good Times]

Good Times,
While on the subject of "critters" I must plead ignorance. I figured out what a Kat was but what the hell is a "skunk"? Down here in Texas he's either a little black creature with a white stripe down his back, or a politician. Somehow I don't think that's what you guys are talking about.
ndaugbjerg

It has to do with the white stripe on the tank of certain year model GS1000's.

http://www.bertaut.com/gsgallery5.html

 

[SVSooke]

A Skunk is a 78 GS1000E,see why now?

 

[ndaugbjerg]

SVSooke,
Thanks for clearing that up. Probably a lot of other newbies on the forum wondering the same thing but embarrased to ask. Another nice thing about getting old; fewer and fewer of your inhibitions get in your way.
ndaugbjerg

 

[Guest]

I only found this out myself about 6 or 8 months ago when another newby asked the same question... I was always a little confused but thought being a member for quite a few years I should know...

 

[ndaugbjerg]

Pete,
I started to ask you several times but I was afraid that having jerked your chain so much, the payback would be hell! I'm happy to know you are only 6-8 months smarter than I am.
ndaugbjerg

 

[Guest]

Pete,
I started to ask you several times but I was afraid that having jerked your chain so much, the payback would be hell! I'm happy to know you are only 6-8 months smarter than I am.
ndaugbjerg

Haha it's all good Niels, I ain't easily offended... plus I bring it on myself plenty of times by acting like a knob anyway...

 

[Guest]

Well I didn't make any real progress as such tonight, but I did give the Acewell a quick test. Just simple stuff like put power to it and make sure it turns on and all the indicator lights work, and I also flipped the magnet past the sensor to make sure it registered some speed, so that's all good.

I had a look at where I could mount the sensor, and there's two locations that seem like they would work ok. One would require me to make a mount that would bolt to the bottom of the left fork, and the other I think I could simply cable tie it to the fork. Not sure I'm real keen on relying on a couple of cable ties though, especially due to the fact that if it came loose, it would likely catch on the front disc at speed, and I don't want to think about that any more...

I also printed out the wiring diagram for the GS and another copy of the Acewell diagram so I can match things up easier.

I also started sketching out a mounting bracket so I can keep the Acewell centred but also so I can keep the stock gear position sensor.

And, finally, I also managed to get up to Supercheap today and picked up some Meguiars wax to finally give the paint job its wax, as well as a bunch of cable ties because I was out and some etch primer and satin black for the battery box cover.

So, hopefully I can finish the battery box cover off this week and get prepared for the Acewell so come Saturday I can just get stuck in and get her done.

 

[Guest]

Rightio... I got stuck in last night and tonight, finished up the battery box cover and made up the Acewell speed sensor bracket for the front fork as well, and they're all hanging outside in primer tonight.

So, first off, got me some supplies on Saturday:



Then, last night I worked out what I needed to do for the Acewell speed sensor so I could mount it in front of the fork and within the 8mm required from the magnet. The magnetic bolt will replace one of the disc bolts and the centre of the disc is recessed so it needs to be mounted just right.

So, cut the basic shape out, and the three holes there are so I can mount it with cable ties and the cable ties will go through the holes. I figure if that's how Acewell mount their bracket officially then it's good enough for me:



Rechecked all my measurements, trimmed it up, drilled the sensor mounting holes, and bent it to the required shape:



Sensor test fitted:



And this is where it will go, I'll stick a piece of rubber on the back to protect the fork leg also:



And all smoothed and rounded:



Then I went back to the battery box cover to get the lock mounted so I can finish it off and paint it.

Test fitted with the lock installed:



And it seems to open ok and do the job still:



The only issue at that point was the left side hit the back of the K&N pod when opening, everything else seems to be good.

So onto tonight...

 

[Guest]

So, I need to get the painting done tonight and tomorrow night at the latest as the rest of the week it's supposed to be raining and if I don't have the Acewell speed sensor bracket painted and cured by Saturday, there'll be no point installing the Acewell, so the aim tonight was to get it all in primer.

As per expected fortunes, it started to rain just as I was getting ready to spray the primer... I waited til it stopped and crossed my fingers... what is it with me, painting, and rain? My whole paint job was a race against the rain and now here I am four months later and I'm *still* battling rain while painting! Sheesh...

Anyways... got all the battery box corners rounded off and sharp edges smoothed with a file:



And trimmed the front edge of the left side so it won't impact the pod anymore:



Then I got into the battery box cover, bracket, and speed sensor bracket with 280 grit followed by 400 grit wet/dry to get them as smooth as I could before priming and to make sure the primers got the best chance possible to bond with the aluminium:



The it was a good once over with the wax and grease remover and hung on a bit of rope out under the back balcony with a bit of a makeshift protected area with a plastic drop sheet:



And two coats of etch primer later:



So, even though the humidity was up a bit, I'm hopeful it will all be good and I can paint tomorrow night. I need four coats of the satin black I got so I'm just hoping there's no rain for that.

Can't wait to knock these over and get onto the real fun stuff like getting the Acewell installed and working

 

[Good Times]

Good stuff Pete. Progress is a good thing isn't it. Nice fabrication.

 

[Guest]

Good stuff Pete. Progress is a good thing isn't it. Nice fabrication.

It is indeed!

Thanks mate, it's a little rough around the edges but once it's in place it should be ok I think...