79 GS850 Streetfighter/Modernized Project.

[cal_look_zero]

About 5 hours after I brought it home...

The plan-ish. Shaft drive limits my rear end options. but the front end/aesthetics are on point.

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^Just had to get my welcome thread copy paste out of the way.

So I've had the bike for 5 days now and stripped it down to the fork, frame, and 80% of the engine. Everything else is in well marked baggies or put out of the way for now. I have a moderate "needs" list for repairs and replacements (I was missing a good amount of parts)

Missing:
Carb to head boots
#3 float assembly
Air box
Headlight
Throttle assembly
Turn signals
Gas cap
Misc. hardware
Battery

Needs repaired:
Front M/C
Brake pads
Tires
Brake lines
Front wheel bearings
Oil pan gasket
Fork seals
Rewired
Valve shim adjust

Along with a general reassembly and good cleaning.

Right now I have the carbs torn down and waiting on o rings. I'm soaking each body + parts (Individually) for 24 hours in carb dip. Replacing all soft goods on the carbs (O rings and gaskets) to mitigate any needs to pull them off in the near future.

I drained the secondary and final drives and the fluid was brand new it looked like. Considering the bike hasn't moved under it's own power for 13 years, nice to see it was stored properly-ish.

The drain plug was some goofy well nut set up, and I'm confused as to why considering that the threads are in good shape. I pulled the oil pan on recommendation and didn't discover anything scary, save for really nasty old oil.

I did a wet/kick start compression test and all 4 cylinders ranged between 117 and 126psi.

Basically I'm going to get it together and road worthy, let my girlfriend ride it over the summer (when I'm not obviously), and let some ideas stew around for what direction the project is going.

Right now it could be anywhere from the machine posted above, to a wild custom, to a basic restomod. Just have to see what my gut says about it.

 

[Flaming Chainsaws]

I like old bikes turned into a street fighter . The shaft drive will limit options though... I will keep a watch on this. My bike is 12 years older than me, haha!

 

[cal_look_zero]

I've decided that I'll be running a no bulb set up like I have on the CBR. All of the gauges, turn signals, and the tail light will be LED, and I'll run a projected HID in a classic looking bucket(or buckets) for my headlight. From the horror stories I'm seeing about the electrical, I think I'll be better off with the most minimal draw from lighting.

Thinking a speed triple headlight with projectors will look top notch... and not entirely out of place.

 

[Guest]

Looking forward to this thread. Sounds like you've got some interesting ideas.

 

[cal_look_zero]

I'm not known as "The Mad Scientist" in my circle without good reason...

I learned to carry a notebook (well, note APP on my phone now) To jot down all my crazy ideas. About 40% of them work, 20% end horribly, 40% never happen, and 100% make for good stories.

I think the worst part about the build so far is the waiting. Waiting for paycheck, waiting for parts... So impatient.

 

[Guest]

subscribed

 

[Jason the terminator]

I wounder if you could swap the rear wheel with one from a 91 or newer GSX 1100G? Kinda neat and could go to radials on a 17x4.5 tubeless wheel. I was wanting to try this myself.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-S...rcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f050aeb2a

 

[cal_look_zero]

I wounder if you could swap the rear wheel with one from a 91 or newer GSX 1100G? Kinda neat and could go to radials on a 17x4.5 tubeless wheel. I was wanting to try this myself.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-S...rcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f050aeb2a

That really looks like the same spline as the GS wheel has. A set of those wheels would look pretty on point with the rest of the project. I'll keep that in mind for sure.

My only concern would be tire clearance on the swingarm due to a wider rim. Time to start measuring...

 

[Guest]

I'm not known as "The Mad Scientist" in my circle without good reason...

I learned to carry a notebook (well, note APP on my phone now) To jot down all my crazy ideas. About 40% of them work, 20% end horribly, 40% never happen, and 100% make for good stories.

I think the worst part about the build so far is the waiting. Waiting for paycheck, waiting for parts... So impatient.

Ok I gotta come along for this ride! My brain does that stuff to me sometimes, but I don't note it all down... probably safer for everyone that way

I feel your waiting pain too, I'm in exactly the same boat with my exhaust, tyres, paint, suspension...

 

[cal_look_zero]

Yes... My weekend starts in exactly 1 hour.

Plans:
Get home and get carb #3 out of the dip, and get #4 in.
Wire in my license plate light on the CBR (darn 5-0 has it out for me!)
Go to bed

Tomorrow:
Pull forks, drain, get old seals out, prep for new seals and oil
Pull apart and clean all 3 calipers.
Yank wheel bearings out
Start taping and checking continuity on wiring harness
Adjust valves
Find a new drain plug.
Finish stripping bike down to engine and frame

Edit: Almost forgot that I'm going to crack open the gauges (hopefully not literally) and wire in all LEDs. Write up to follow.

 

[cal_look_zero]

Well today was successful. I loaded the bike and parts up and did a nice little pressure wash. I'm about 99% sure that my gas tank is totally shot, but I'll be trying some POR product to save it.

Yanked the calipers all apart and they need some serious love, but aren't too bad.

Forks are KILLING me. They're sitting in my garage with 200psi and a liberal coating of wd40... Yes I removed the spring clips lol.we'll so about those tomorrow.

I have the wiring harness laid out and wow... it's ugly. I'll have a post up in the electrical section shortly.

The gauges, didn't go smoothly, but the end result was well worth the trouble. Pics and write up tomorrow.

I need sleep.

 

[hillsy]

Forks are KILLING me. They're sitting in my garage with 200psi and a liberal coating of wd40... Yes I removed the spring clips lol.we'll so about those tomorrow.

Unbolt the damper rods and take them apart. It's the only REAL way to clean all the gunge out of the forks anyway.

 

[Guest]

I feel your pain with the gauges... I at least figured out how to do the LED's for backlights without straying too far from OEM... did the speedo but I have yet to do the tacho. Very fiddly and time consuming...

 

[cal_look_zero]

I feel your pain with the gauges... I at least figured out how to do the LED's for backlights without straying too far from OEM... did the speedo but I have yet to do the tacho. Very fiddly and time consuming...

I did the tach first. My method is not for the faint of heart however.

Unbolt the damper rods and take them apart. It's the only REAL way to clean all the gunge out of the forks anyway.

I see that now. I was going off of the Bike Cliff site where he said to pressurize the heck out of them. I'll try and bust that allen head loose.

I also forgot to mention had I happened to have a rethread insert and tap that fit my oil pan. Upon close inspection the threads weren't stripped but were definitely a little wowed out. So I tapped it out, put in the insert, got a new drainplug from oreillys and now I'm waiting for my packages to arrive with an oil pan gasket and fork seals so I can get that stuff back together.

I love finding useful stuff in my collection of tools and parts.

 

[lemmon95gt]

i built a 82 850gl shaft drive cafe/street fighter project. I know its a shafty but i did it anyway and i love it! My posts are in the forum and on my profile album..

 

[cal_look_zero]

The perfect cheap damper holder. That's a standard 5/8" sparky socket inverted and 18" of extensions.

Onward and upward!

 

[cal_look_zero]

Love it when USPS has something besides bills for me.

 

[Charlie G]

I have a Morgan carbtune set up for syncing the carbs. Let me know if you need a hand. I'm no expert but i've done it once. One hour south.

cg

 

[cal_look_zero]

Yesterday was very productive! I reassembled the carbs as much as I could (#3 is missing a couple of things) and installed all the new o rings and gaskets. Installed my intake manifolds after soaking them in armor all for 24 hours. Did new o rings and ss allen heads on those.

Have the gauges about 90% finished now. Repainting the trim rings and hoping to reassemble tonight or tomorrow. Also soaked the gauge enclosure in armor all in hopes of bringing out the nice black plastic... it worked decently.

Painted the fork lowers and the triples before reassembly.

Decided to pull the valve cover and attempt the valves. I've seen a few cam lobes in my short life, and these look like they can't possibly have 40k miles of wear on them. Either that or these GS cams wear really well. Thoughts?

Just waiting to buy the rest of my engine gaskets and carb parts before I can fire it up. How exciting!

 

[Guest]

Mate you're flyin' along! Everything looks good and well covered off so far

As to those lobes, mine's done 96000km's and they look like that too, so I think they're just built tough like everything else on these GS' (except the electrics).