outstanding..... but...........
while the pipe plugs are a little unconventional, I'm just going to forget about the door wedges.
its kinda like knowing your grandma has a tatoo
great pics.
Hah! I love it!
I have a couple of friends that are competitive sailors, and I remember my first few times below on some of those yachts. These are million dollar boats that when seen from outside are absolute eye candy. A Kevlar sail alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars. In the cabin you will see things held together with shoestrings and prayers. As with every form of racing, whatever will do the job in a hurry, without compromising safety and performance is almost always the solution that is used.
Although, I will admit it is kind of tacky. I do intend to clean up the bottom of the seat (mostly painting it black), but it isn't really a priority until I get the rest of it finished. I think that will go a long way.
And I think the square pipe caps are kinda cool.
I would also like to thank everyone for the encouragement and compliments. If I were alone on an island I would still be enjoying this project, but it is really nice to know that there are people out there that are interested. I must be honest and admit that the pictures are obviously the most flattering ones that I have. Up close, there are definite flaws, but I am really critical of my work. I would consider this a 7/10 on my own scale.
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but it was less than a year ago that I bought my first bike. I've always liked motorcycles (my uncles had them when I was growing up), and I always intended to get one, but I never got around to it. In retrospect, when I think about the jackass I was when I was young (not at all like the mellower jackass that I am know) it was probably for the best.
Anyway, last year I was at the Secretary of State, getting my tags. It was about 4 o'clock on a Wednesday, and there was a huge line. I was perusing the motorcycle owners guide, and a woman behind the counter anounced that it was last call for tests. I asked what she meant, and she said that if you were there to take a test, you had to take it now. I said I was here to take a test and get my tags, could I do them both at once> She said yes. I was about 20 people down in line, and because I said I was there to take the bike test, I was moved to the front.
The test took about 5 minutes, I passed it easily (it was mostly common sense questions) and I got my permit and my tags about 5 minutes later. The guy that was in line in front of me was still about a half hour back. Bummer for him.
I have a lot of buddies that are bike guys, and I told them my story, and said since I already had the permit maybe it was time to by a bike. Everyone was really helpful with picking out a good first bike. There was no judgmental you need this type of bike crap, just a lot of good advice.
I settled on a Craig's List 1992 GS500. I immediately fell in love with it. It was small, fast and a ton of fun. I put 3000 miles on it last summer, and didn't drive my truck for two straight months.
Now, I have always been a project type person. And I have always loved the look of cafe bikes, so I resolved to by a classic and work on it over the winter. My 500 was such a good bike to work on, and a real quality ride, that I was already a Suzuki fan. I also have a couple friends that have various GSes. One of them had a friend that had a 750 in good mechanical condition that he wanted to part with. This was through a trusted channel, so I bought it.
The same guy turned me onto this forum, which has been a lot of help with parts and tech issues.
Anyway, that is the long winded story behind this build. This build is also more a proof of concept than a finished job. I wanted to see what my vision would look like. I of course wanted it to look as good as possible, but it was also done on the cheap. I paid $600 for the bike, and so far am a little over $100 in parts (labor is another story, realistically over a hundred hours). It is my hope that next winter, now that I know I can get the results that I want, I will either redo this bike or do a new one top notch from start to finish. No rattle cans, no cheap sanding. I mean welding, and powder coating, and metal fabricating, and sandblasting. The whole nine yards.
This bike will probably never be finished, because I am sure there are always going to be things that I will want to do to (suspension, wheels, motor, etc.)
Wow, I just got home from the bar, and I must confess that I had a few beers. If anyone read all that, you most likely need a hobby.
Thanks again.
