finally some pics of my frankenstien

[TheCafeKid]

This is my 1977 GS750B cafe project thread. I bought this bike a little over a month ago, and it runs fortunately. Unfortunately its ugly. It looks as if the guy who owned it before me attempted some sort of bastardization of a drag/tracker/cafe/bobber. I rescued her from his garage and as soon as I saw her i fell in love with her. Yeah she was ugly, but she had tonnes of potential. Aside from the bits that fellow GSR member Steve and I have done just to get her running well (shes a little sick, not much tho) I have done nothing engine wise just yet, as that will come this winter when I can't ride anymore and dont feel bad tearing her down to the bits.

Here's a couple snaps of what she looked like when i brought her home.

 

[TheCafeKid]

Here's what I've done to the tank..can't really see from the first photos, but the tank was a bit smashed. Looked like she'd been knocked over at one point and had a bit of a flat side on it, and a few "push-ins" on top and a couple creases on the other side. I had never used bondo before this, so it took me a couple of trys to get her right, but for the most part im pretty please with the results..

Here's what she looks like now, keep in mind that's rattlecan paint, I dont have a whole lot of money to spend on a paint job, and im building a cafe bike, not a show bike, so the rattlecan, when done right, will work for me...

 

[80GS1000]

Lookin' good. Got any bigger copies of the first set of images? Kinda hard to see the whole cause they're so small....

 

[TheCafeKid]

Unfortunately no i dont. These are all actually from my cell phone. I cant find the damn usb cable for my camera, so this is all i got. Thanks for the encouragement Like i said, she was a bit ugly but she'll come 'round. I have a pair of NJB Racing shocks that im going to put on her, right now she's a rigid, which is no good for my arse. And the rear is too low to mount my H2 style cafe seat (from airtech..nice stuff!!) I'll have to sort out a couple bits when i do that, cos he had the V&H 4into1 mounted to the swing arm. I think i have that figured out, but the rear fender ill have to modify and remount as the bottom bracket is also mounted to the swingarm. If you could see that rear fender is actually a front, with some tabs welded to it. Ah well..lol I cut it down today, because i DO want a fender there to keep $hite from flyin all over the electrics, but i want it nearly invisible. Im going to have to relocate the mount tab tho. I may just start with something entirely different, different fender or something...we'll see..I love playin with these things..its like art isnt it??

 

[Ironriot]

Hey man there's nothing wrong with a little (or alot) of rattle can paint. Done right it can still look badass. I'm liking the bike. And I dunno why but I REALLY dig the original copper/gold paint job. Dunno know why though lol. Keep up the good lowbuck work. And I too put in a vote for more pictures. So look for that cord!

 

[beergood]

Good luck with this project. I can testify that there is a ton of cafe potential in a 750.

I have often thought of removing my locking gas cap cover. It kind of gets on my nerves, due to its rattling at high speeds. I am just a little worried about the cap getting stolen. Gotta say it looks a lot cleaner without the cover.

Keep us posted on progress.

 

[Ironriot]

Good luck with this project. I can testify that there is a ton of cafe potential in a 750.

I have often thought of removing my locking gas cap cover. It kind of gets on my nerves, due to its rattling at high speeds. I am just a little worried about the cap getting stolen. Gotta say it looks a lot cleaner without the cover.

Keep us posted on progress.

I want to get rid of mine. Looks horrible. Where can you get a good replacement? And not to mention mine doesn't even have threads on the inside. It just has slots that the OE cap drops into

 

[TheCafeKid]

man Beer, that looks pretty fantastic!! I didnt have the guts to pound on my tank, but now ive got some pointers from a few people, my next GS cafe will for sure have knee inserts. I dug how you managed to keep the stock tail look, i always liked that look...I have NO idea on fiberglass, so i am buying one...lol

this'll be the one..

I have a plan for bolting it up using quickclips like on the hood of a muscle car, and some heavy duty velcro for added security. That way it comes off quick should i need in there. I dont have a stock seatpan, nor would it fit now anyways.

 

[TheCafeKid]

I want to get rid of mine. Looks horrible. Where can you get a good replacement? And not to mention mine doesn't even have threads on the inside. It just has slots that the OE cap drops into

Ebay-alicious brother..tons of oem caps there...mines leaky gaskets gone south on it, so ill be ordering another too..

 

[Ironriot]

Ebay-alicious brother..tons of oem caps there...mines leaky gaskets gone south on it, so ill be ordering another too..

Was talking about getting one like the small round one you gots on yours. I have the giant rectangle gas cap. Its fugly and I hate it. And another note on ebay. Damn ebay there's so many things I want to buy and DO buy. They should just give me an ebay charge card \\/

 

[TheCafeKid]

actually, this cap on mine simply replaces your cover...it only has slot posts onit, no threads...

 

[beergood]

I have a plan for bolting it up using quickclips like on the hood of a muscle car, and some heavy duty velcro for added security. That way it comes off quick should i need in there. I dont have a stock seatpan, nor would it fit now anyways.

I plan on making another tail this winter, and I am leaning towards something a lot simpler, maybe a little similar to the airtech. I have been mulling over different mounting strategies. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Let me know if you want to kick around any ideas.

 

[TheCafeKid]

airtech has about 50 or more different designs for cafe's even old school Rickman stuff. Hell they even have full on vintage race fairings and fibreglass tanks!! course, they're illegal for street use, at least around here. And god help you if you drop her. You'll look like Ricky Bobby except REAL fire. Thats pretty much why i stuck with the stocker...that and i dont have to mod the frame a bunch to make her fit.

 

[TheCafeKid]

Hey Riot here ya go..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SUZU...004QQitemZ140166472244QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

[Ironriot]

Hey Riot here ya go..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SUZU...004QQitemZ140166472244QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Hey thanks man. Do you think it'll matter if my bike's an 81 and those caps are only listed up to 80?

 

[TheCafeKid]

eww..i dunno..You have an E model?? Im really not sure, but if your tank is the same as mine id think so, and even if not, cos the 80 E had the different tank too, so maybe it will. Im not real up on the later models so i dunno if they went to a different cap, the laters had fuel sending units and all that jazz so i couldnt really say for sure.

 

[drhach]

airtech has about 50 or more different designs for cafe's even old school Rickman stuff. Hell they even have full on vintage race fairings and fibreglass tanks!! course, they're illegal for street use, at least around here.

At the risk of hijacking this thread, I'd like to set the record straight, in the U.S., Fiberglass tanks are not illegal, anywhere. You can run them on the street. Canada and Japan are another story. The reason that you don't see them a lot in the U.S. is because they are hard to mass produce. Therefore the big companies won't bother with them. Plastic tanks (polyethylene) are a different story. They are easy to mass produce (as easy as making a two-liter soda bottle), but they don't take paint and generally don't have the cosmetic appeal that a painted tank has. Many people will try to say that plastic/fiberglass reinforced tanks are illegal. This is hype, and more to the point; absolute bull****. It's mostly brought out by companies that don't have the willingness to make them, so they try to spin it in their favor by saying that they heard from a guy who knows someone who blah, blah, blah. I looked high and low and I never found one federal regulation outlawing fiberglass tanks for street use in the United States. Hell, they use them on airplanes which are way more regulated than bikes and cars. All new cars have plastic tanks. Many new bikes have them. If anyone can point to a specific regulation stating otherwise, I'd love to see it.

On another note. Did you paint the lower fork legs gold? I like it. Nice touch, keep up the good work.

 

[Ironriot]

eww..i dunno..You have an E model?? Im really not sure, but if your tank is the same as mine id think so, and even if not, cos the 80 E had the different tank too, so maybe it will. Im not real up on the later models so i dunno if they went to a different cap, the laters had fuel sending units and all that jazz so i couldnt really say for sure.

Uhm I think its its an L model. I don't know how to tell for sure though

 

[TheCafeKid]

At the risk of hijacking this thread, I'd like to set the record straight, in the U.S., Fiberglass tanks are not illegal, anywhere. You can run them on the street. Canada and Japan are another story. The reason that you don't see them a lot in the U.S. is because they are hard to mass produce. Therefore the big companies won't bother with them. Plastic tanks (polyethylene) are a different story. They are easy to mass produce (as easy as making a two-liter soda bottle), but they don't take paint and generally don't have the cosmetic appeal that a painted tank has. Many people will try to say that plastic/fiberglass reinforced tanks are illegal. This is hype, and more to the point; absolute bull****. It's mostly brought out by companies that don't have the willingness to make them, so they try to spin it in their favor by saying that they heard from a guy who knows someone who blah, blah, blah. I looked high and low and I never found one federal regulation outlawing fiberglass tanks for street use in the United States. Hell, they use them on airplanes which are way more regulated than bikes and cars. All new cars have plastic tanks. Many new bikes have them. If anyone can point to a specific regulation stating otherwise, I'd love to see it.

On another note. Did you paint the lower fork legs gold? I like it. Nice touch, keep up the good work.

Well, i will have to say i may stand corrected...i'll have to research myself, heresay will do that to you...but i did take this right off of Airtech's site

Please note these very important items!
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Please note!!!! These gas tank are not recommended for street use, these are fiberglass gas tanks that will not dent!!!! It is possible that the gas tank will rupture and spill fuel possibly catching your motorcycle on fire if you happen to crash on the street. This lightweight racing gas tank is recommended for racing purposes only!!!![/FONT]​

and on the for legs, i didnt paint them, but i drew the rest of my idea from that, i like that contrast. Thanks for the compliment!​

 

[TheCafeKid]

Here's some more pics..i painted the side covers yesterday and i'm not sure about the stripes. I didnt like them horizontal, and im not sure about them vertical, what do you guys think??

I also chopped down that rear chrome fender, and painted it black..thats probably going bye bye when my new shocks get here, as like i said its mounted at the bottom to the swing arm. I want a small fender back there, but im not sure how to go about it. I do like it tucked in and under so you cant really see it.

I also painted my headlight bucket. I was going to take the stripes up the bucket, as i thought that would be pretty sweet looking, but i couldnt get the damn tape to lay right around all the compound curves...maybe with some more practice...I have yet to figure out where im going to move the light switch, and the little starter togggle is useless as its currently kick only. (which is fine by me...at least that will hardly ever break..lol)