1982 GS300 Project - Where do I start

[Guest]

Hahaha nice Jake, I like it! A gift for you!

The 'bars look good too, much better!

 

[Tim Tom]

Interesting round indicator 'gauge'. Is that standard on the 300? Certainly unlike the bigger GS's if so. It looks good, is the other a speedo+tacho or will you be doing without one? Or is there gonna be three gauges on your dash?

The frame is also looking great by the way!

 

[hjacobmiller]

Thanks guys!

Pete - I teased my girlfriend saying that this was my "family Christmas card." She didn't like that ha ha.

TimTom - You caught me. I slightly misspoke with saying the "tach." Its just the speedo on the other side. I'm not sure if this indicator gauge is on any other models. I quite like it, except there are a lot of bulbs that could potentially go out.

Ahh I want to work on her so bad but I found out on Thanksgiving that I passed the 3rd or 4 of my state board exams so I only have one more to go! I'm going to take it in January, so hopefully I'll be done with it and get a little extra cash saved up in the mean time to finish her out.

I read something interesting in someone else's thread about having the tank cleaned and sealed by a radiator shop. Anyone know anything about this?

Mechanix - no comment on the x-mas tree?

 

[Tim Tom]

TimTom - You caught me. I slightly misspoke with saying the "tach." Its just the speedo on the other side. I'm not sure if this indicator gauge is on any other models. I quite like it, except there are a lot of bulbs that could potentially go out.

I read something interesting in someone else's thread about having the tank cleaned and sealed by a radiator shop. Anyone know anything about this?

Indeed that is a unique panel to the 300 then. All the other bikes had tach there, and the idiot lights were in a vertical stack between the two circular gauges.

About the tank thing, I took the gas tank of my '73 Triumph Spitfire to a local radiator shop, and they were able to clean the inside and seal it up for me. They even painted the outside with something like POR15 but for a MC tank I don't think this is wanted. That gas tank has not leaked for 6 years now. The radiator shop did the trick on it.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Interesting... Might look in the old yeller book and see if I can find a place near by that would do the same.

Did they derust it or just degunk it?



Does anyone have any electrical upgrades that they think are absolutely necessary for my bike?

I've seen a lot about "relays" & other mods but I'm not sure I'm up to par on what exactly those accomplish or how to do them.

I definitely will be replacing some connectors, removing the left over OEM ignition wires that are pointless and re-wrapping and rerouting things.

Any other absolute electrical must-do's?

I think that is about where I'm with her - because I wont' be able to carry her up the stairs if I add any more hardware!

 

[Guest]

If the 300 just has a single main fuse like the 450, ditch the dodgy old glass one and get an inline blade one. Can't remember if you've done that already.

Get some good electrical contact cleaner and go over every single connection.

Make sure your grounds are good. One big fat one from the engine block to battery negative and one from the harness to the frame and battery negative.

If you get all that right, then you most likely won't need any coil relay mods etc.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Roger on the fuse situation. I didn't have to swap the glass type for a fuse. There was no fuse in there when I got it (which is why I'm guessing everything electrical was fried on it as we later found out)

So I've unwrapped the harness and I started thinking about if I want to do anything differently.

Do any of you folks have an opinion on taking out the wires that previously went from the ignition pick ups to the ignitor box? They've just been hanging dead since the Dynatek went in and I'm going to try and hide everything electronically that I can and clean up the disaster of wiring that it was... I may have asked this question earlier, but I'm curious what the masters Pete and Mechanix have to say...

I also was tinkering with the idea of relocating the r/r to somewhere, but haven't thought of a convenient place. Without going to pods there isn't much room to work... Any suggestions?

Also, I'm swapping out all of the hard, old plastic connectors with new ones. I may have shared this link before and I think it's on BassCliff's site, but here's the source:

http://vintageconnections.com/

Are there any general suggestions about wiring this thing? I just want to eliminate everything that is unnecessary and clean it up.

 

[Guest]

Well... if it were me I'd do what I did and just clean the existing harness and connectors up as best you can. Concentrate on getting the contacts clean and cable tie it neatly out of the way.

If you want to start ripping stuff out of the stock harness, I'd leave it and make a custom harness from scratch. But that's just me...

As for the R/R, if you're leaving the airbox and side panels as they are, there's really no need to move it... otherwise you could always do what Triumph does and mount it under the headlight.

 

[Guest]

Only other thing I would do is go with a larger size wire for the main red wire from the fuse to the ignition switch.

While your in there. Put an Electronic flasher in. You would need a ground wire for it but that mod alone allows you to use what ever bulbs you like and if the battery was really low on voltage it would still make the lights flash.

If you don't ever have any plans on using the original ignition again then there's no point in keeping the wires in there.

Where did you tap into for power for the dyna and coils? If its the orange wire then trace it back to the off/run switch. I think its like 12 feet of wire before it gets there. On the 400's and 450's the orange wire comes from the run switch down 8 feet and then back up before it reached the coils.
Might want to make that route shorter. I think on mine I jumpered the part going down the harness with the part going up because it was closer to the coils. That and the larger main wire negated a need for coil relay mod on mine.

Wire in a second fuse for any extra's you might need down the road. Or maybe a connector that you could build accessories for. Usb, Heaters, Trickle charger etc...

The RR is fine where it is unless you want more room to fit a fuse panel.

Daam that RR looks small though :-k

Heres one place for the RR

 

[hjacobmiller]

Been a couple weeks - back to working a lot, the holidays, etc. Managed to get the harness stripped, cleaned and re-wrapped for the most part. Don't have any pictures, but I used a combination of the black tubing, 33+ electrical tape, etc. Pretty durable.

Replaced a few of the connector terminals and the plastic connectors. Soldered all the connections and shrink wrapped most everything. Not going to be any shorts in this harness!

Did have a couple quick questions though...

Mechanix - electronic flasher? I think that is what is in there now... It has a 12v to it and a light blue ground from the turn signal switch? Idk, maybe I'm misunderstanding.

Didn't have 12ft of wire for the Dyna/coils. It's the orange a white and it is a straight shot from the headlight bucket connectors.

I bought a 12v cigarette lighter power supply that I was thinking of hiding somewhere for power supply for a GPS. Do you think I can just tap into the extra leg from where the old ignition box got 12v from and give it a ground without draining too much from the system? I don't know what the constraining factor with electrical systems is, but I'm guessing I can't just keep adding things that use power without replacing it....

Also, what is the minimum gauge wire I can use to go from the positive battery post to the starter solenoid? I want to make a new one because the original one is in pretty poor shape.

I'll see if I can post some pictures of the progress. In terms of physical labor it wasn't that much but man I'm getting the itch to ride!!

 

[Guest]

Adding a cigarette lighter socket in is a good idea and I did that myself and have it attached on the handlebar clamp for my little video camera.

I have a separate switch to turn it on independently of the ignition and have a separate 10 amp blade fuse for it as well. Running a GPS or camera or something like that will add very little load to the charging system and should be no dramas.

It's when you start adding heated vests and gloves and whatnot that it starts getting dodgy.

As far as minimum gauge wire goes, I'm not really sure, but I used some fairly flexible wire rated at 50 amp continuous for my starter motor. You need it nice and thick to keep the resistance down while being able to cope with large amounts of current. 50 amp continuous will take a fair bit more than that for short bursts while starting. I *think* it might be 8 gauge wire...

 

[Guest]

Been a couple weeks - back to working a lot, the holidays, etc. Managed to get the harness stripped, cleaned and re-wrapped for the most part. Don't have any pictures, but I used a combination of the black tubing, 33+ electrical tape, etc. Pretty durable.

Replaced a few of the connector terminals and the plastic connectors. Soldered all the connections and shrink wrapped most everything. Not going to be any shorts in this harness!

Did have a couple quick questions though...

Mechanix - electronic flasher? I think that is what is in there now... It has a 12v to it and a light blue ground from the turn signal switch? Idk, maybe I'm misunderstanding.

Didn't have 12ft of wire for the Dyna/coils. It's the orange a white and it is a straight shot from the headlight bucket connectors.

I bought a 12v cigarette lighter power supply that I was thinking of hiding somewhere for power supply for a GPS. Do you think I can just tap into the extra leg from where the old ignition box got 12v from and give it a ground without draining too much from the system? I don't know what the constraining factor with electrical systems is, but I'm guessing I can't just keep adding things that use power without replacing it....

Also, what is the minimum gauge wire I can use to go from the positive battery post to the starter solenoid? I want to make a new one because the original one is in pretty poor shape.

I'll see if I can post some pictures of the progress. In terms of physical labor it wasn't that much but man I'm getting the itch to ride!!

Your flasher only has two connections.

Its a normal current driven flasher.

The one you want has 3 connections.

1 is the ground that you need to add
2 goes to the 12 v source

3 is the output. This goes to the light switch. From there the switch decides left or right.

The advantage of an Electronic flasher is that as long as there is something connected to the output it will make the relay click and the light flash.

So something like an LED that takes a really small amount of current will work.

The normal (current driven) flasher Requires two 23w bulbs in parallel and at least 10 volts which is 4.6 amps just to make the thing flash!

Any less and it won't flash. So it will definitely never flash with LED's unless they have resistors build into them.

And then if they do. Your still wasting power.


Best bet is just to get an electronic flasher and add the ground wire so you have the choice of using LED lights to save some power. And they turn on quicker than incandescent bulbs which is safer because your noticed sooner

The electrical system will easily power a phone or gps or even heated grips.

Aim for less than 3 amps continuous and you can be sure that its safe. You can do more than that temporarily but soon your charging system will not be able to maintain voltage under that load.

If you wire the socket into the ignitor lead that means your only going to get power to it when the Run switch is on. That's fine if the engine is running. I ran mine directly to the battery with a fuse and a switch. You could wire it up to the headlight or ignition switch but the advantage of running it on its own with its own fuse going directly to the battery is that if you accidentally short out the socket that will only blow the fuse for the socket.

If you connect it to the bikes power that means any short will blow the main fuse.



Hey if you replace your tail light with an 1 Watt LED that means you save 22 watts so you have saved almost 2 amps right there to run accessories.



6 gauge wire is what I replaced mine with.

 

[hjacobmiller]

What would I do without my wise mentors Pete and Mechanix...ray:

Is this what you're talking about Mechanix? You've sold me on it, now I just need to get my hands on one...

http://www.superbrightleds.com/more...-universal-motorcycle-electronic-flasher/193/

Not sure I understand how to wire it in and hook up the existing wires to it though...

Can you put LED bulbs in any light fixture or does it have to be specifically designed for LEDs?

You've also sold me on hooking up the cigarette directly to the battery. Wouldn't want to be cruising down the road and have the main fuse blow... It would shut the whole bike down right?

I also want to throw a voltmeter on there. With the r/r burning up my last ignition and all the trouble i went to trying to get the Dynatek, in. I want to be safe. Plus its a pain trying to poke the probes down in underneath the airbox.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for an inexpensive but quality voltage meter?

I'll have to head to the hardware store this weekend and see if I can pick up some 8 gauge wire.

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Nope

This one http://www.ebay.ca/itm/3-pin-Electr...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a114b0eb4

Its the exact one I used.

Very easy to hook it up.


Plug it in using the original conector into the left (B+) and middle one using the L shape connector. Your Right tab goes to ground.

The only thing you add is a ground. And it just works.

You can put LED's anywhere. And you can get some that are already made for what you want.

So for The tail light you need an LED 1157 bulb and it just drops in and works. IT has high and low build into the bulb and it runs on 12v like the original one.
Like this http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2X-1157-LED-...111?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1bd3f447

For the Turn signal lights You need an LED 1156 Bulb like this http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2X-1156-LED-...345463?pt=US_Car_Lighting&hash=item3f1b52b7b7

Its a drop in replacement for the turn signals.

For the voltmeter:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Blue-LED-Pan...400?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6e9d3cf8
Its really small and you can fit it anywhere.

 

[Guest]

I use this single 10mm LED monitor and so far it saved me when my cheap Taiwanese R/R bit the bullet:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GAMMATRONIX...857?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c587692c9

 

[hjacobmiller]

Seriously, you guys are amazing. I am so glad I found the GSR because building/restoring/whateveryoucallit this motorcycle has been a great learning experience and I would've never been able to get this far without the help.

Just bought two of these because they were so cheap and why not for $3?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Pin-hot-s...319&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=1&sd=251112791738&

Have these lined up in my wishlist on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Bikers-Choice...ID=Tx2SXANM4A9SUJ0&noLL=1#CustomerDiscussions

This at Dimecity:

http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vinta...-retro-chrome-hot-rod-taillight-62-21660.html

And will see if I can source the led 1156 & 1157 locally.

UGGH I NEED TO GET WORKING ON THIS! SPRING IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!!

 

[Guest]

Those lights are dual element.

With that you could have running lights and have the other brighter element for the flasher

When you get the flasher just check the wiring first,

That L shaped connector might be backwards.

So just check before you plug it in. Orange One is going to be battery power and the other one is going to the switch.

I just vaguely remember having to switch the wires around on mine.

 

[Guest]

C'mon Jake, get into it! You don't wanna miss a minute of riding season

 

[hjacobmiller]

Hey Folks - sorry about the long time without any updates. Work - uggg.

First, I have to admit I'm getting more and more nervous with the engine sitting out in the shed, drained of oil and in freezing temperatures. Should I be? Do I have anything to be worried about? AHHH I don't want to have to do anything to the engine other than paint it!

Anyways here is some of my progress.

Before:

After:

It will get tightened up a little more as I have more time, but what a huge improvement. Should I put some liquid electrical tape over that post for the fuse box?

Also, I'm just running 10 gauge from the battery to the fuse box. Should that be thick enough?

My additions (not quite done bc I am waiting on the flasher and I need to decide what to do about a tail light):

I want to bring everything from the harness to ground at the bottom left bolt and run a piece of ten gauge from there to the battery.

I can't believe how tiny the volt meter is!

Where should I tap this guy in at? I was thinking I have an extra 12v at the coils so it wouldn't be on unless the bike is on. I need to make a waterproof case because the back is just circuitboard.

A little bit more:

You can see the new mini harness I made for the Dynatek there.

Some more new connectors and things that I still need to clean up:

And here how she sits now:

 

[DannyMotor]

Very nice so far!! I used the same gaiters and actually... the same frame color as you

Can't wait to see the finished product!