GS450 Rebuild

[sam000lee]

No kids, but I think you were right. Swapped the plugs out and everythings A-OK. I've put 1,000 miles on the newer engine now pretty much without a hitch. I think I need to bump the pilot jet up a size or two since I'm getting some popping when I let off the throttle quickly and am still getting those occasional carb. backfires.

New grips, or at least the left one, I'm going to use a thinner leather on the right side since it has the throttle tube under it:

I made up a new front brake line thanks to the Homemade Brakelines thread in Popular technical info. (shout out to Nessim for giving me a bunch of tips and answering my questions). Very straight forward process and looks great and works great, too. Cost $43 + $15 shipping so $58 total.

Before:

During:

After (Sorry the picture sucks):

 

[sam000lee]

Pod/Exhaust update as a reference for others.

I have UNI Pods and Emgo Shorty exhausts. I was running 130 mains, 35 pilots and the needle shimmed by 1 washer (stock setup is the width of 4 washers). I had been experiencing a dead spot on acceleration that was mostly noticeable in first and second gear.

Well I took out another one of those washers so now there are 2 washers above the clip (2 less than stock setup) and the acceleration is much smoother. Plugs look good and I'm getting 50mpg on the highway cruising about 65mph.

 

[Guest]

I seem to remember that the pilot jet for a 450 was a 45. I'm not sure where I read that; I'm running 40s but that's what came with some GSX400 carbs I'm running on a 450 - stock air box and pipes - because it's what I have.

Maybe look up the original part on cmsnl.com . This could/may be part of your popping problem. They also set up the US models pretty lean compared to other markets, so using a Euro spec jet may give you more room on pilot jet adjustment.

You'd think these bikes would do better mileage than that, but that's about all mine gets at highway speed. Bigger motors suck more gas in town, but once you're rolling it's a wind resistance game and a two cylinders wider motor doesn't change that much. Half as many cylinders working twice as hard and spinning faster evens thing out.

 

[Jmanor]

Pod/Exhaust update as a reference for others.

I have UNI Pods and Emgo Shorty exhausts. I was running 130 mains, 35 pilots and the needle shimmed by 1 washer (stock setup is the width of 4 washers). I had been experiencing a dead spot on acceleration that was mostly noticeable in first and second gear.

Well I took out another one of those washers so now there are 2 washers above the clip (2 less than stock setup) and the acceleration is much smoother. Plugs look good and I'm getting 50mpg on the highway cruising about 65mph.

I am going with the same set up Emgo shorties and pods from Z-1. Can you send an updated pocs of pods and exhaust. I have a 82 GS1100. Thanks.

 

[sam000lee]

Don't have any more pictures at the moment but I'll put some up when I get a chance.

 

[sam000lee]

Not the best pictures but gives you idea of what the pods/exhaust look like. Performance will obviously be different for you since it's a different model.

 

[sam000lee]

This question is for a different bike but I didn't want to start a whole new thread so I'll pretend its for this one - I'm looking for a compact battery for my other GS450 project. It's going to be similar to this one (currently running great through the winter) but I wanted to have a bit more room in the middle of the frame.
In the set up for this 450, there is enough room for me to roll up a sweatshirt and put it on top of the battery behind the air filters and it would be awesome if I could get a sleeping bag in a compression sack in there.

 

[sam000lee]

I've been casually looking for a set of GS500 pistons/cylinders/camshafts/carbs for a while to make some upgrades to this bike. This entire top end came up on ebay and I'm trying to figure out how usable the parts are.

Pistons/rings look to be in good shape. Cylinder oil stud is broken and the cam faces look to have a good bit of surface rust.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182370821042?ul_noapp=true

Is it worth it? I've heard others say they got the pistons + cylinders for <$75 but I've had a hard time finding them for that little.

 

[sam000lee]

Taking a break from my GS750 project (and trying to avoid digging into the '77 cb550F I just got) to spruce up my GS450 a little bit. What I'm doing:

- Cleaning - lots of road slime everywhere.
- Painting some parts (mainly triple trees and maybe touching some stuff up)
- Putting in some progressive fork springs + new 15w fork oil.
- New electronics tray
- Cleaning up some wiring. Considering having a go at making a complete harness.
- Handlebar clean up. I currently have CB350 bars on there and a spare set of CB350 switches that allow wiring to be routed internally I might try to hook up. Also have a spare set of superbike bars I was thinking about.
- Getting my front fender in shape and back on
- Mounting an LED auxiliary light.
- Custom dash to fit Oil Pressure, Neutral, Signal, etc. lights.
- New headlight ears
- Carb tuning - Did plug chops when I was out last week and was running lean. Going to bump the main up by 2 sizes and try again.

Here it is during our freak 65 degree weather last week:

New electronics tray:

The front is angled so that it ends behind the rails when looking from the side

In there needs to go: SH775, Starter Solenoid, Signal Relay, Ignitor, fuse holder, wires.
I was thinking about lining the bottom with cork or a rubber mat to reduce vibration - any ideas for common household things that have rubber sheets I can pull off?

 

[Larry D]

I have an old inner tube that I use/cut up for vibration dampening.

 

[sam000lee]

I have an old inner tube that I use/cut up for vibration dampening.

That's a good idea I think I have some old bicycle tubes lying around.

 

[Chuck78]

New electronics tray:
The front is angled so that it ends behind the rails when looking from the side

In there needs to go: SH775, Starter Solenoid, Signal Relay, Ignitor, fuse holder, wires.
I was thinking about lining the bottom with cork or a rubber mat to reduce vibration - any ideas for common household things that have rubber sheets I can pull off?

the Regulator-Rectifier needs to be mounted in an area with good airflow in order to protect the internal components. Also, the reg-rect especially, all electrical components need to be grounded well. ESPECIALLY the regulator-rectifier and ignition!!! If you do vibration isolation mounts, do it for the whole tray, & run a sizeable ground wire off of it (rr case bolt) to the frame, and also from the ground terminal on the r-r to the frame.
the starter relay just plain won't work with no grounding.

 

[sam000lee]

Can't insulate the tray since it's welded on! I do have (well, need to re-implement) an SPG set up right next to the R/R and am finalizing a wiring diagram for making a complete harness so will make sure I have GOOD grounds. The starter relay grounds via a wire and not through it's body IIRC so I'll be putting some kind of rubber under that, too.

As for airflow, both the front and back of the tray are open which should give sufficient airflow.

 

[sam000lee]

Thought I would put in an updated picture. Over the winter I made up a better battery tray, a new wiring harness and gave it a bit of a makeover. Got rid of the dash and am speedo only for right now. I put a little LED in my headlight bucket for the oil pressure and still need to put the rest of the dash lights in there, too.

Currently has superbike bars on it but I think they're a little too low for my liking so I'll probably put the CB350 bars back on (and then I can also try to run the control wiring through them ).

 

[MechMessiah]

It looks nice. The location is pretty cool as well.

 

[sam000lee]

Okay I'm back at messing with this since the cold is setting in. I got a lightweight supertrapp 2 into 1, a 18" wheel from an S model GS450 and welded a rear hoop on today. I have a week off before starting a new job so hope to at least make the a new seat and get my rear fender/lights sorted out.

 

[Chuck78]

Oh man....
Where on earth did you find a Supertrapp for a GS twin?!? Is it a custom header with a Supertrapp on the end? Or all factory Supertrapp?

Did this bike have a 19" on the front originally? Or are you talking about the rear? Must've been a 16 or 17 rear? The 400/425 came stock with 18/18 but I'm guessing not the L model
Sorry been a long time since I've read the early parts of this thread

 

[sam000lee]

I got it on ebay and believe the whole system is supertrapp (based on what the ebay seller said - it weighs about as much as one of the stock headers and is definitely not a MAC). It came with a really beat up can that I'm not going to use. I have pictures in the thread below, I'm sure you can tell a lot more than I can about it and I would be curious to know:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...-suptertrapp-exhaust-how-do-these-things-work

The bike is an L with a 19" up front and I replaced the 16" rear. I have progressive springs up front and had a pair of 14" Hagons to use in the rear that gave it a little too much extra lift (especially with the extra 1" from the larger rear wheel) so am still looking for rear suspension upgrades (maybe will just find a pair from a GS850 or similar). I have a set of GS500 cylinders/pistons I'm going to put into my extra engine at some point and also have a set of GS500 cams I might put in. Once I do that I'm going to upgrade from the UNI foam filters to some K&N's or velocity stacks a la Pete.

 

[Guest]

Good stuff! And yeah I had no idea Supertrapp made a 2 into 1! Nice score!

The engine upgrade sounds like fun, and I have my thoughts on a GS500 engine with 450 head and a set of rearsets for mine once I get my Kat finished.

Out of curiousity, what's the width of your front rim? I'd love to run a 19" and just slightly wider front rim so I can broaden my choice of tyres. Being a commuter I'm always killing the centre of the rear first so I have to replace it when there's plenty of tread on the sides, but no (good) dual compound tyre options include a 90/90-18 front. The Bridgestone BT45's are a good option but the smallest front is a 100/90-18 and that profile is just wrong when pinched on a 1.60 rim...

 

[Chuck78]

Look into a Bridgestone BT39SS or BT39. I think the front comes in a width like that. It is more of a high performance tire for small lightweight bikes, but still in the Battlax line as is the BT45. I believe the rears come in a much larger size than what would fit your rim though.