JohnnyL's 1980 GS550L Cafe Build

[JohnnyL]

I can't weld, but to my untrained eye I'd say those welds are really good for only a 3rd timer! What welder are you using?

Thanks. They're by no means purty welds but they are solid. I used to have a Lincoln flux welder and hated it. Only really used it once. I always wanted to learn how to weld but wanted to do it with a gas shielded welder. I broke down and bought a Vulcan OmniPro 220 from Harbor Freight with a 15% coupon. I gotta tell ya...this welder is the *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$. Just dial in what thickness metal your welding and what size wire you're using and it does all the settings for you. I LOVE this thing.

I made a little shield for the back of the seat pan today so stuff won't get up underneath the cowling. I also think I am going to figure out a way to suck the back of cowling down to the frame. Hence the little tap you see on the shield.

 

[JohnnyL]

I have been thinking about my triple clamp and how I am going to mount my new all-in-one gauge. I thought about using the stock triple clamp but I'm not using the risers for handlebars since I will be using clip-ons. I then thought about grinding off the risers but if I do that, the casting is hollow underneath. So I've decided that I am going to pick up a chunk of 1" 6061 aluminum and machine my own triple clamp. This way I can have a clean looking install with my new gauge. I have drawn the triple clamp on the computer. Just need to pick up the aluminum.

Stock triple clamp

No good

New gauge

New triple clamp design from billet aluminum

 

[Spyder]

Dam, you're not messin' around with this thing. Awesome progress so far.

What are you thinking for paint/scheme?

 

[JohnnyL]

I'm still undecided on color layout yet. I know it's going to be black, red and white. I have some ideas but just not sure yet.

Time to call it a day. I was able to get the triple clamp milled out today and a bracket to hold the gauge. I still need to cut slits for the clamps and drill and tap holes for the clamp bolts. I'm pretty happy so far.

 

[dorkburger]

Mmmmm. Tasty. Very nice.

 

[JohnnyL]

I finished up the triple clamp this morning. I'm pretty stoked on how it turned out. One more piece ready for powder coat.

 

[steve murdoch]

Very nice work, Johnny.
No way i would powdercoat it.
You should be showing off that cool bit o' kit.

 

[JohnnyL]

Very nice work, Johnny.
No way i would powdercoat it.
You should be showing off that cool bit o' kit.

Thanks! Maybe I'll polish it instead.

 

[GSXR7ED]

What Creativity!

That's simply "Awesome!"

Ed

 

[bwringer]

Nice to see someone doing it up right! Can't wait to see the finished result.

 

[93Bandit]

Thanks. They're by no means purty welds but they are solid. I used to have a Lincoln flux welder and hated it. Only really used it once. I always wanted to learn how to weld but wanted to do it with a gas shielded welder. I broke down and bought a Vulcan OmniPro 220 from Harbor Freight with a 15% coupon. I gotta tell ya...this welder is the *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$. Just dial in what thickness metal your welding and what size wire you're using and it does all the settings for you. I LOVE this thing.

Cool, I've always wondered about harbor freight welders. I've read good reviews, but have never known anyone personally with experience. I bought a 120-Volt 140 Amp Easy Weld FC-i Flux Core welder "used" (the guy bought it thinking he could convert it to gas but realized he couldn't and sold it.) I've never welded before, but following some online guides and with some practice I should be able to do a good enough job for my needs. I haven't really had the chance to practice with it much yet though. I already don't like flux core though, it's messy and requires more grinding but that's what you get for $100 off craigslist haha.

 

[Spyder]

That gauge may be mounted a little too flat, no? May be difficult to see it. Especially on a bright and sunny day? Superb work so far. Can't wait to see this thing done. Which by the looks of your progress, won't be very long from now...

 

[93Bandit]

...by the looks of your progress, won't be very long from now...

No kidding. I wish I could build mine at just half the pace he's going at.

 

[JohnnyL]

That gauge may be mounted a little too flat, no? May be difficult to see it. Especially on a bright and sunny day? Superb work so far. Can't wait to see this thing done. Which by the looks of your progress, won't be very long from now...

That thought has occurred to me. That?s why I made the gauge mounting plate removable. I can always change the mounting plate out for something with a little angle on it. I won?t know until the bike is assembled and I?m actually sitting on the bike.

 

[JohnnyL]

No kidding. I wish I could build mine at just half the pace he's going at.

I am pretty motivated and as I stated earlier, the bike is literally 10 feet away from where I work my day job. So I am fortunate enough to be able to work on it while I do my day job. I get jobs cutting on my CNC machines and then work on the bike a little at a time. Things are about to slow down though with the holidays coming up and I am about to send the frame and wheels off to powder coating.

Also, I am about to run out of things that I am proficient on. Electrical is my weakness, amongst a few other things. I am going to need ya'alls help on a few things soon.

For instance, I want to lower the front end slightly. I know absolutely nothing about suspension. I was thinking I could just push the forks up into the triple clamp a little higher and that would get me what I need. But after watching For the Bold's YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/3A0RF87ly6E, I am confused on why he needed to cut the springs. As you can see, I am trying to build the bike right. I read this,

Doing a cafe build of a 1973 T500 that has a GT500 forks. (T500 & GT500 are pretty much the same bike except the T500 has a front drum brake & the GT500 has a disk.)
Am using the GT500 triple tree. Am using the 1981 GS550T fork assemblies + the single-sided salty_monk brake upgrade.
Using a 320mm EBC brake disk, MD1124LS. (Has the same offset & bolt setup as the GS disk, and is actually for a Honda that wasn?t sold in the US.)
The EBC disk with a gold center that matches well to the tank badge gold:
cafe-T500-0808 by jabcb, on Flickr


Picked the GS550T fork assemblies because it has 35mm inner fork tubes, bushings on the inner fork tubes, and uses the large OD disk brake.
The GT two strokes & early GS four strokes use the same front hub. The GT500 & GS550T also use the same axle & speedo drive.


Am looking to maintain the original ride height. The GT500 forks have 4.25? travel & the assembly length is ~29?. The GS550 forks have 5.9? of travel & the assembly length is ~30.5?.
So I have to deal with the extra 1-1/2?.
Both bikes have a 3.25-19 tire. I?m using a 2.15-18 rim + metric tire. That addresses about 1/2? of the extra length.


Question 1: The GS550T top out springs are a bit under 1? long. I?m considering using a second top to shorten the forks.
Do the top out springs compress much when the forks are statically fully extended?
Will use TNK fork inner tubes, Racetech emulators, aftermarket fork springs & spacers to get the correct preload. Any issues with this setup?


Question 2: front fender options?
Per the Tarozzi fork brace listings, the GT500, GS550 & lots of smaller GSs has fork tube spacing of 175mm.
Am considering using a chrome front fender shortened to look similar to what I have on the GT550 build. Any used fender suggestions?
The GT550 fender:
cafe-GT550-1082 by jabcb, on Flickr

taken from jabcb's thread here: https://www.thegsresources.com/_for...-fork-assemblies-for-cafe-build-%97-questions. Might as well be speaking yiddish to me. None of this makes sense to me.

Someone please explain to me what I need to properly do to my front forks to lower the front end slightly. Thanks.

 

[Spyder]

You mentioned that you will be using clip-ons. That leaves no issues for you to just run them up higher in the triples. In my opinion, it will add to the "cafe" look of it. Plus, if you ever feel the need to change the ergonomics, or handling geometry, you just need to adjust it. Cutting the springs down is tedious, and absolute.

 

[JohnnyL]

You mentioned that you will be using clip-ons. That leaves no issues for you to just run them up higher in the triples. In my opinion, it will add to the "cafe" look of it. Plus, if you ever feel the need to change the ergonomics, or handling geometry, you just need to adjust it. Cutting the springs down is tedious, and absolute.

Thanks Spyder. Where in NW Indiana are you from? I grew up in Valpo.

 

[bwringer]

On the forks, most of us toss the impossibly soft stock Suzuki springs right away and move to straight rate springs.

http://sonicsprings.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=31_198
As far as the correct spring rate, that depends on your weight, preferred riding velocity, and the bike's weight.

In your case, you should be able to retain stock fork travel and just pull them up in the triples a little depending on available clearance between the headers and fender; not sure how low you want to go. I'd probably just start with that.

However, if you do decide to reduce fork travel (very likely not needed, and definitely not recommended for handling) then you may need to make some spacers for the damper rods and increase the spring rate.

What are you planning for the rear suspension?

 

[JohnnyL]

On the forks, most of us toss the impossibly soft stock Suzuki springs right away and move to straight rate springs.

http://sonicsprings.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=31_198
As far as the correct spring rate, that depends on your weight, preferred riding velocity, and the bike's weight.

In your case, you should be able to retain stock fork travel and just pull them up in the triples a little depending on available clearance between the headers and fender; not sure how low you want to go. I'd probably just start with that.

However, if you do decide to reduce fork travel (very likely not needed, and definitely not recommended for handling) then you may need to make some spacers for the damper rods and increase the spring rate.

What are you planning for the rear suspension?

That’s some good info Brian. I will definitely check out Sonic.

i purchased some cheap rear springs early on in the build because they looked cool and well...they were cheap. Lol. I wasn’t sure what the caliber of the build was going to be at the time. I’m not sure these springs are going to worth a hoot now. They do look cool though. Any suggestions? I mean...I’ve got an insane amount of money in the bike at this point so I might as well spend the dough on some decent rear shocks.

 

[steve murdoch]

If you want to keep the piggyback look you might consider sending those ones off to CL Moto.
He has several levels of refurbishing them into quality shocks. Different springs, valves and oil.
http://chrislivengood.net/wp/clmototech/

Another option would be to check out Hagon USA.
MANY options.
http://hagonshocksusa.com/