gs1000 bobber/rat build

[po-boy]

That lookin great man... Also sent ya a PM.

 

[4x4fab.com]

Well it's been a while since I've got to work on the bike......My plans were to keep the bike short, and a low seat. Unfortuantely, I can't have both.....I am considering extending the swingarm, or building a new one now so that I can get the seat lower. This means, I'd basically be starting over on the airride.......I dunno..........If I do this and lengthen the bike I'd might as well put a springer front end on it and sell my GSXR forks.........

 

[po-boy]

Just an idea, you obviously got the weldin skills to do a hardtail, so why not slam it down low w/ a hardtail and still have the low seat and short look yur wantin. By the way, if yur still willing, I'd like to get those downtube inserts welded up. PM me and we can hash out the details. Hate to see ya give up on an idea you put so much time/thought into...

 

[4x4fab.com]

Nah, it will be airride for sure. I'll probably fab an entirely new swingarm.

 

[4x4fab.com]

Well, I cut everything off. I'll be fabricating a new swingarm to lengthen the bike and get the low seat height that I'm going for.
Now I've got an extra polished aluminum swingarm sittin around. If anyone is interested, make an offer.
I'll post up some some 3-d renderings of the swingarm when I get around to workin on the bike again. I've got a few other jobs to finish up first.

 

[Hammered]

How much slack did you give yourself on the swingarm limiting chain? Ive been trying to think up an idea for how I wanna do mine. What size bags did you go with? I found a set on Flaebay that were 2.75 dia. and about 3" fully extended.

 

[po-boy]

Well, I cut everything off. I'll be fabricating a new swingarm to lengthen the bike and get the low seat height that I'm going for.
Now I've got an extra polished aluminum swingarm sittin around. If anyone is interested, make an offer.
I'll post up some some 3-d renderings of the swingarm when I get around to workin on the bike again. I've got a few other jobs to finish up first.

That stretched out heap sittin next to yours in the shop got ya motivated huh? Your build looked even better in person, I love em low...

 

[4x4fab.com]

How much slack did you give yourself on the swingarm limiting chain? Ive been trying to think up an idea for how I wanna do mine. What size bags did you go with? I found a set on Flaebay that were 2.75 dia. and about 3" fully extended.

Uh, I dunno really. It depends on your ride height. I just set the bike at ride height, and then welded them in place.

I can't remember the physical dimensions of the bag, but it's made by contitech and it's rated for 2500#. The way I "had" it setup, required quite a bit of PSI in the bag. I'm not too sure yet, but I think I will mount the bag horizontally under the seat, Possibly under the bike. This way I will run tubes from near the wheel mounting area to increase the leverage. If your gonna run airride, I would suggest doin it that way. The way I had it setup worked, but not as good as it could.
Heck, if you wanna go with a setup like I had, I'd sell you my swingarm with the lower mount, or do sometradin.

 

[4x4fab.com]

That stretched out heap sittin next to yours in the shop got ya motivated huh? Your build looked even better in person, I love em low...

Ha, yeah it does motivate me a little. However, I've got to finish cleanin the place up, and install some more lights. The electrician is coming to install a 200 amp service this week, and I gotta buid 2 atv bumpers this week.
I think I have some material for your frame sleaves, I just need to order some tubing the same ? as the frame. It may be a week or two before I get to mess around your bike though.
BTW, I like the 12 gauge shells, nice touch.

 

[Hammered]

Ill be extending my swinger and altering the gusset plate where you had yours. Im going to mount the new one at roughly a 45* and have the upper coming off the rear engine cage down tubesAfter I extend my swinger I should have the clearence to lower the seat. Still a work in progress though. You gonna run a compressor or a spare air tank? I had thought about a little 45/4500 paintball tank. I have a couple regulators that are low to high pressure and very adjustable. You can pick them up in Steel, aluminum, fiberglass and carbon fiber. Ive got an old steel and a fiberglass sitting around from my days playing.

 

[po-boy]

Ha, yeah it does motivate me a little. However, I've got to finish cleanin the place up, and install some more lights. The electrician is coming to install a 200 amp service this week, and I gotta buid 2 atv bumpers this week.
I think I have some material for your frame sleaves, I just need to order some tubing the same ? as the frame. It may be a week or two before I get to mess around your bike though.
BTW, I like the 12 gauge shells, nice touch.

No problem. The shotgun shells were an attempt to fill that empty hole w/ something other than a flat plug, which seems to be what alot of guys do. After the frame gets coated or painted, I'll sand em back to brass then clear em. I had em and they were free, and like I said, I'm buildin this thing on a vision and little cash...

 

[4x4fab.com]

Ill be extending my swinger and altering the gusset plate where you had yours. Im going to mount the new one at roughly a 45* and have the upper coming off the rear engine cage down tubesAfter I extend my swinger I should have the clearence to lower the seat. Still a work in progress though. You gonna run a compressor or a spare air tank? I had thought about a little 45/4500 paintball tank. I have a couple regulators that are low to high pressure and very adjustable. You can pick them up in Steel, aluminum, fiberglass and carbon fiber. Ive got an old steel and a fiberglass sitting around from my days playing.

That would work. It would just suck to run out of air. I have a small 12v compressor, and a small airtank. On the mock up of my plumbing, I installed a valve so I could add air from another source (gas station pump, whatever) incase my compressor ever fails. And plus, I could fill my system before I leave my house if I don't wanna run the pump. Bad thing is of course I can only fill to about 145 psi. Meaning I will need to run the pump everytime I raise the bike. Your idea would be great, especially with some sort of back up compressor..

 

[Hammered]

That would work. It would just suck to run out of air. I have a small 12v compressor, and a small airtank. On the mock up of my plumbing, I installed a valve so I could add air from another source (gas station pump, whatever) incase my compressor ever fails. And plus, I could fill my system before I leave my house if I don't wanna run the pump. Bad thing is of course I can only fill to about 145 psi. Meaning I will need to run the pump everytime I raise the bike. Your idea would be great, especially with some sort of back up compressor..

The PB tank regs I have have on/offs. So once you set the pressure in the bag, you just shut off the tank. And these tanks are cheap to fill, you can even take them to a scuba shop if you dont have a paintball pro shop near.

 

[cplcrawlerUSMC]

I am considering going a similar route with my 78 GS1000. Instead of an air bag I want to Mono shock it or, to be different, put 2 smaller shocks side by side like a mono shock would be. Looking at your pictures answered a lot of my questions of "where the hell am I gonna put the battery and all the electrical stuff?". The answer is, "now I really dont know". I'm not really going for the as low as it can go look but I don?t want it to look like a dirt bike either.

This is what it looked like before I took everything apart to get rebuilt or cleaned up. There is still a lot of work I need to do to get it on the road from where it was before I took it apart. SO I got a lot of work ahead of me.

 

[cplcrawlerUSMC]

BTW, I like the 12 gauge shells, nice touch.

Where are these said shells located on the bike? They would work well with the design on my tank.

 

[4x4fab.com]

The shells are on po-boys bike where you cut your frame off behind the seat..... I too considered a mono shock a while back. I have a 94 Kawasaki kdx 200 that I consider using the swingarm, shock, forks and wheels from. I figured it would be too much weigt for the forks to perform even decent, and plus I ended up restoring the kaw.

 

[cplcrawlerUSMC]

I was hoping thats where they were at. Good to know if I decide not to go monoshock. I like what you are doing with your bike, looks good.

This bike is where I got my monoshock inspiration from.

 

[wcrase]

like yalls building, I am looking to do an hard tail bobber on my 78 gse, any one know about finding extended forks for it, not looking for insane ones but an extra 4" would be cool???

also what kind of bracing would need to be done to the frame if I went hardtail???
I've seen many cut everything off behind the tank and weld a tube from below the tank to the swingarm, any additional bracing needed beyond that??


thanks in advance for any advice!!

 

[tpo1990]

Nice.

Nice.

It looks awesome. Great progress your are making.

 

[cowboyup3371]

You both do realize this thread is about 3 years old and hasn't been touched for about that long?