'79 gs550 cafe budget build

[gotgixers]

seems as though you all have seen tons of these type builds in here. And this one is nothing special. Nothing here to drool over for sure. And deff nothing new to this site. Just a reletively cheap, do it yourself kinda cafe project. Just taking a avg looking small old bike, and making it semi-kewl, for a daily rider. If y'all are interested I can post up the complete build as it continues for the next couple weeks. Anyways, here it is, a 2 owner, 12,000 mi $350.00 GS550, when i brought it home a couple weeks back. EXACTLY how I bought it, haven't even tried to clean up on it at this point. It was deff a good starting point!

 

[gotgixers]

I pulled the GS into the barn work shop. where I went ahead with some basic surgery, removing pieces parts.Going to go through the carbs, and bump the pilot jets up to 17.5 from 15. Then bump the mains up to 87.5 or 90, from 80. and move the clip down 1 notch on the needle. This is because I am putting a NOS Jardine 4 into1 and a set of POD's on it. So, I have removed the front half of the factory airbox. The rear half has the electronics mounted to it......pulled the seat in preperation for a modded cafe style seat and tail.

the Took the bars and controls off, and front fender.

 

[gotgixers]

My Progressive front springs came in....

 

[gotgixers]

ok, some more progress. got the center stand, rear shocks, rear foot pegs, inner fender plastic,headlight assy,forks,front wheel and exhaust removed today. And i found an '03 gsxr 750 nissan front brake master to run on it along with new lines, and an '88 gsxr 750 clutch lever and perch assy. in my used peices parts inventory.I cleaned on one side of the rear wheel and it came up like new. So, Im pretty stoked about that too. Got 1 fork tube scuffed down, primed and painted gloss black also. I will post pics of the forks when they are both done ...

 

[gotgixers]

moar pro gress ....

got the forks, triples,and headlight bezel painted; It's all in Ceramic enamel, and I have some Spray Max 2K clear coming to go over all of it with...

I also got a H4 conversion in black chrome. It is going to be HID here soon. Here is what it looks like in the bucket I painted right now....

 

[gotgixers]

The wheels are coming up REAL nice... Thinking about a satin black for the spokes and hubs...What do you all think??
I layed out a drilled my OEM front rotor also...

 

[gotgixers]

here is the rotor....

 

[gotgixers]

The new rear shocks came in ...these are those cheapie one's off flea bay. I did alot of reading on them. Most say they are at least better than the old stockers, so they will do for now...And I wish I had ordered the 14.5" one's too ... I got the 13.5's, as they were supposed to be longer than stock by about an inch...But don't realy look to be much longer.
Next i will be replacing the chain and sprockets, and cleaning up the swingarm ect ...

 

[bottobot]

I like where this is going but some of your pics are broken!

 

[gotgixers]

Thanx, and I am going to try and fix that pic problem....

There, should be fixed ...

 

[musicman]

Let me know how that headlight works, I have the same one on a shelf. I never got around to using it.

 

[Toasty]

Man I can't believe you got that for $350, it looks in such good shape! I'm jealous , and its coming along nicely.

 

[wally]

That is a very nice looking headlamp (and project off course!!)

 

[nikosg]

will follow this with interest!!!!! nice job! and absolute steal.

 

[gotgixers]

Let me know how that headlight works, I have the same one on a shelf. I never got around to using it.

Will do... I have an 80/110 w offroad Hella bulb in it . But it will get an HID conversion, possibly before it's ever ridden.

 

[gotgixers]

Thanks guy, I'm going to pop the valve cover off and go through the valves while it's easy to get to. Carbs have been soaking in Pine Sol for a few days now too. About time to get them out and blow em out and reassemble them. Header should be here this week also, along with the Dyna S, oil filter and head stock bearings.

 

[gotgixers]

Man I can't believe you got that for $350, it looks in such good shape! I'm jealous , and its coming along nicely.

The guy I got it from has owned it since '89. He said he had hundreds of emails and calls on the bike. He basically "interviewed" me for about an hour on the phone before he would even come let me look at it. Then when I got there, did the same thing for about 45 min or so, before he told me he would "let" me buy it from him. He was a good guy, just wanted his old bike to have a good home. He actually called me up a week after i bought it and told me he would buy it back if i decided i didn't want it any longer. I told him there was no chance of that happening, and thanked him for selling it to me again. He asked me to please send him pics when i was done with it.

He only sold it because he can no longer ride. has no balance any longer. He dropped this bike one time back in '05, then parked it in his garage, and that's where it's been since. He had drained the gas and kept it fairly clean all these years. It only took about 15 min to get it running again when i got it home.

 

[gotgixers]

Got the crash bars off and pulled the cover waiting for the Dyna S to get here.So far this one is cleaning up pretty nice ....

Got the forks rebuilt today as well, the fork gaitors came in too ...

This is what was waiting for me when I got the side cover off today ...

This 550 had the 2pc progressive springs in it factory too ...haven't seen too many of these myself....I guess it's fairly common on these....

 

[bottobot]

I have the two piece progressives in my '79 750. Don't know how common they are.

Where did you get your gaiters from?

 

[gotgixers]

got them on Amazon . com from Powersport Superstore. They are Daystar D83's. They fit the forks and legs perfect, are a tad on the long side, but will work just fine.
They also come in others colors if thats your thing ....