'81 GS450L Cafe Project

[gjohnson]

No problem you guys motivate me to keep working on it lol. I am hoping this weekend to prep the room to roll the bike into it and starting pulling off the stuff I don't need. then pull the entire thing apart and start cleaning.

 

[verde]

Cool, turned out nice:clap: Can't wait to see the finished product.

Some ideas for the next time. Waxed foil tape would definitely be easier to release the mold from the thing than the duct tape. I forget what kind of car wax to use/avoid, something about certain types reacting with the resin. The sides also look dead vertical, a slight draft angle, like on cast pieces, and you don't have to spend much time trying to dig the mold out of it... leaving a bunch of bits around for the misses to find.

ex: cast parts draft angle

Here's a higher res pic of the t-nuts picture that was in my video. Like you, I wanted to add some layers after the fact in key places. Especially at that bend in the back edge, at least 3 or 4 more layers after the t-nuts went in since a passenger shifting around can put a lot of torque on the seat there. Since its fully cured, be sure to rough sand it to give a good tooth for the additional layers to grab.

 

[gjohnson]

Thanks for the ideas, I need to post my latest pictures.

So this past weekend i ended up rolling the GS into my makeshift shop. Pushing a gs up a short hill by yourself is quite the task... going to be much better riding it out of the house lol.

Anyways, I started pulling stuff off of the bike I won;t be using (Blinkers, rear fender, etc) there should be a for sale thread up shortly. I am going to sit down tonight and go though the wiring diagram in my manual.

 

[Flaming Chainsaws]

Thanks for the ideas, I need to post my latest pictures.

So this past weekend i ended up rolling the GS into my makeshift shop. Pushing a gs up a short hill by yourself is quite the task... going to be much better riding it out of the house lol.

Anyways, I started pulling stuff off of the bike I won;t be using (Blinkers, rear fender, etc) there should be a for sale thread up shortly. I am going to sit down tonight and go though the wiring diagram in my manual.

You think that's bad? I pushed my bike about a few miles in the rain up and down hills. Damn thing died on me lol. My fault .

So, any updates? I would love to see what's going on .

 

[gjohnson]

Ugh, I was afraid someone would ask that lol. I have been super busy with work and lazy I need to work on it some more. This weekend I am going up to Tacoma, so I won't be able to get any work done on it... I should have an update in 2 weeks.

 

[PoppaDre]

hey gj, i was wondering how you secured the seat to the frame. I have a 79gs850 and the frame under the seat angles down, and was thinking i had to weld on 2 bars to make it flat before i put the seat on. Was your frame flat or did it have a slant? if so how did you fix that?

 

[gjohnson]

I have not secured it yet (the wife doesn't want to let me fiberglass in the house again lol) so i am waiting for a nice week of weather to add some more layers and bondo to it. On my 81 it has a bar across the front, i'll take some picture of the frame when I get home tonight with some mock ups of how the seat will fit for you.

 

[DCrippa]

the wife doesn't want to let me fiberglass in the house again lol

I'd say - you really pushed it with that one! No way that would EVER fly with mine. Nor could I get away with trying to bake any powder coated pieces in the oven... she's already preemptively warned me against that one after hearing about someone who did that... lol

It's looking good - I'm on the fence about going that route myself - the DIY'er in me wants to do it and I may due to my wallets situation... but the thought of the ease of just getting something ready made is very enticing and would have me riding sooner. Anyway, I like your idea of making a plug / mold - so that you could make others. Heck sell a few on ebay and it could pay back the effort.

 

[gjohnson]

Unfortunately, the plug got destroyed after removing it. I was going to bondo it for later use, but got impatient and wrapped it with duct tape instead. But I guess I could wax the inside of this tail and use it as a female mold. Or plaster over the top of it.

I should be home in about an hour to take pics of the mount for ya.

 

[gjohnson]

Alright here are some pictures.

I am thinking the best way to mount it will be to weld a flat plate between the two bars and cut off the back of the subframe. The fiber glass will need some more coats and metal washers in between layers for bolt stability. Then I'll bondo any low spots and sand it all down.

I figure the metal plate will help with any flexing and allow me to bolt the seat to the frame with about 6 to 8 bolts.

I might have to use a 1/2 inch block on the first bar to raise it up so it doesn't have a downward slant.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lord.garrett/KyrstenSGS450L?feat=directlink

 

[DCrippa]

You're going to lower the seat a bit right? or is that the thickness you're going for? What about the frame - after all that are you going to at least rattle can it?

 

[gjohnson]

Yeah i will be cutting about 1 inch off of the bottom of the seat. the frame will be powder coated I have some cutting to do on it first though.

 

[DCrippa]

Nice the powder coat really gives it a pro touch.

 

[gjohnson]

Yeah... but it's spendy.. about $300

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Awesome plans!!! That seat needed it but I didn't want to step on your toes. Please keep the updates coming.
Speaking of which, I'm about due to update my "L" thread.

 

[gjohnson]

The only thing that is limiting it right now is funds getting married next month so that has been #1 priority (saving so i can stay out of the red on it.) Once that is paid for and out of the way I hope to be able to make some real progress on it. I might break down and go buy some polishing wheels/cutting wheels to start getting rid of dead weight on the frame and polishing up the engine.

Slow and steady wins the race lol.

 

[gjohnson]

Made some good progress last night:

+ Trimmed up the seat (took 3/4 of a inch off the bottom of it)
+ Cut the frame down a bit for the seat to sit flush. (I ended up cutting the two seat supports and about 4 inches off of the back sub frame. the seat will sit nice and flush now)
+ Hand beat some knee dents in the tank (This took a while as I have never really worked with metal. I wanted to take my time.) It is a good start but will take a lot more shaping.

And now for the fun part...

 

[Big Rich]

Looks good so far. I may have missed it, but what are the plans for a taillight? I'll admit, I read the first and last page for now.........

 

[gjohnson]

Looks good so far. I may have missed it, but what are the plans for a taillight? I'll admit, I read the first and last page for now.........

I was just wondering the same thing. I was thinking about maybe getting a billet tail light and mounting it on the frame with a plate holder. I have to add some more layers of glass to it so i might try to integrate it into the fiberglass for a smoother look. Still up in the air for now.... but tonight I am getting some bondo so i can finish up that tank this weekend and get it ready for paint.

 

[gjohnson]

Made some more progress on the tank, started the bondo on the knee dents. got 3 layers on with sanding in between. Tomorrow is the final sanding (hopefully) and then some primer.

Supposed to be 82 degrees tomorrow, so it should be fine to spray outside.


Now for the pics

Safety first!

First layer went on pretty thick, took a while to sand it all down for the 2nd layer.

3rd (possibly last) layer