My 1981 GS650G Thread

[Macguyver]

$45 an hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy sh!t Mac! Thats STILL a deal and a half man. I dont wanna know what it is now. No wonder you've got people knockin on your door.

Yeah, I know, I need to charge more. Unfortunately, the area I live in is chock full o' farmers, who as a general rule, are quite handy, and within 2 rural blocks, I can name 3, maybe four who run auto mechanical/body shops on the side to fill in the time. The only reason I can make some cash on the side is because I charge so little.

Can't wait to see the updates. I REALLY wanna see the fairing completed. Like I said before, I might be stealin some ideas of yours and the louvers on the fairing MIGHT be one of them lol.

I was working on the headlight rig last night, and once I finish that part, the next body piece is the fairing to surround it!

I put some transparent black paint toner into a rattle can of laquer clear so when I heat-form the windscreen I can tint it easily with no worry about peeling tinting film.

I have been working on a few other things lately as well:

4" rise, 4" pullback Superbike bars are on!

You may notice I have the LED bar end signal lights installed too.
Here's a quick tip for people feeding wires through handlebars. Grab a length of MIG welding wire, and make a small hoop on each end. Then attach the wire by feeding half of the strands through the hoop, and twist them up with the other half to secure the wire. Now all you need to do is pull the MIG wire through. Easy peasy.

I chose to put a grommet in the hole I drilled in the center of the bars for the wire to feed through to make sure no chaffing occurs. Chaffing sucks.

I also had a chance to test fit the tail light shrouds. I need to cut the angle on them and play around with the tint of the lights, but they look pretty good IMHO.

If they look kind of familiar to anyone, it may be caused by the fact they are parts from the oval foglights I was considering using for headlights.

That's right! I was removing the oval light from the bike since I had decided not to use them, and it struck me that they are extremely similar in dimension to the fiberglass shrouds I had made. So I grabbed the mold I made for the shrouds, and sure enough, the front cover from the lights fit into the mold! They are not quite as wide as the fiberglass ones I made, but given the choice between fiberglass and metal, I choose metal. This way I can secure them with bolts instead of the 3M two-sided tape I was originally planning on using. Once I get them cut down and remounted I can get on to relocating the battery into the tail section.

I purchased a 4L-BS battery through work, and test fitted it into the tail section. It fits like a glove! I just need to make a mini-tray that bolts between the original rear signal light mounts to hold it, and it will be securely tucked away, very nice and tidy.

I hope to make some time to work on the bike this upcoming week, that is, if the weather cooperates. It's been raining almost all day, with more in the forecast for the weekend, and beginning of next week. The farmers need it , so all is good.

I'll post more when I have more to show, and Bill, feel free to "borrow" any ideas you like, it's not theft if it's given freely!

 

[AF_Bill]

WOW!!!! It's looking great Mac. The mods you're coming up with are beautiful!! The battery mod i really like. Does the 4L-BS have enough power for everything?? What are ya using the stock battery location for?

I'd like to see your bike all lit up so I can see how the bar end lights. Tryin to picture how the amber ends will look with the green under body lights. I plan on doin a similar mod to mine but on/in the side covers. I want to install red lights in the louvers. Not sure about more under the tank and rear fender, but the side covers are gonna get em. I remember I still have taillight repair kit that has transparent red plastic that I can glue/epoxy to the covers. We'll see how this turns out lol.

Keep up the good work Mac. And get that thing on the road already!!!!!

 

[Macguyver]

WOW!!!! It's looking great Mac. The mods you're coming up with are beautiful!! The battery mod i really like. Does the 4L-BS have enough power for everything?? What are ya using the stock battery location for?

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words!
According to Exide, the battery is a 200 CCA, 10 Amp Hour model, so it should be sufficient for the task, and if not, I can return it under warranty. That's one of the few perks working in an auto parts store!

The stock battery location is going to be turned into a storage area for the essentials like a relatively full tool kit, and wet weather gear. I have a crazy cool idea on how to build a fiberglass, water tight "locker" to fill in the space. I just need to build everything else, and get the bike on the road first!

I'd like to see your bike all lit up so I can see how the bar end lights. Tryin to picture how the amber ends will look with the green under body lights. I plan on doin a similar mod to mine but on/in the side covers. I want to install red lights in the louvers. Not sure about more under the tank and rear fender, but the side covers are gonna get em. I remember I still have taillight repair kit that has transparent red plastic that I can glue/epoxy to the covers. We'll see how this turns out lol.

Keep up the good work Mac. And get that thing on the road already!!!!!

I need to get a solid day of work in on the electrical, then I should be good to go on lighting it all up. I will post pics as soon as I can.

When it comes to LED's, the more the merrier. Since a full lighting system like what I have installed takes very little power, I would say go big or go home. I know I am likely going to be installing more sets once I have the bike on the road and the lighting tuned with diffusers. What I have installed so far is the baseline version, to see where I may need more light and to see if I need to adjust the aiming of the LED's.

Installing the LED's on the inside of the side covers would be pretty trick, and should look pretty sweet when done. I can't wait to see how it turns out for ya!

 

[Guest]

Hiya Mac,

I've followed your build for quite a while now and it's looking good!

One thing I can't seem to find at the moment though is what those fork gaiters are, where you got them from, and what diameter forks are on the 650? Trying to get a set for my 450 and am having no luck with size except for what looks like maybe some old GT380 ones which will run about $40US each

 

[Macguyver]

Hiya Mac,

I've followed your build for quite a while now and it's looking good!

Thanks for saying so Pete!
I try to do the best I can with what I have, and if I'm lucky, she'll come out of this looking better than she did going in.

One thing I can't seem to find at the moment though is what those fork gaiters are, where you got them from, and what diameter forks are on the 650? Trying to get a set for my 450 and am having no luck with size except for what looks like maybe some old GT380 ones which will run about $40US each

The gaiters are generic motocross gaiters I ordered from the local honduh/yamahaha dealership. I believe the front forks on the 650's are 35mm diameter. I paid $27 IIRC for the set for the front, and about $18 for the rear set. The rear set was about 3 inches too long(shortest I could get), so I cut the top off of them, and used black zip ties to secure them.

Take a measurement from the top of the lower leg of the fork where the dust cap goes on, to the bottom of the triple tree. Add around an inch to the measurement to make up for the removal of the dustcap, and that will be length you should need for the forks.

The catalogues they had in the dealership only had a few length choices, and IIRC I went with the ones *slightly* longer than I needed. Hence the bit of bunching in the folds of the gaiter. I was told they will wear in a bit once I have the bike on the road, so they won't bunch up anymore. Time will tell on that one.

There should be a plethora of gaiters available on ebay if your local dealership can't/won't find a good set for you, search by the length you need and I am sure you will find ones that will work well.

One tip, make sure your fork seals are good before buttoning up the forks with the gaiters on them. Most of the ones I looked at only had venting on the top end of them, so it would be impossible to tell if you had a leaky seal once they were on and secured.

Best of luck in the search, and let me know if you have any other questions I can help with.

 

[Guest]

Cheers Mac, that's great help.

I'm trying to make time this Saturday to get to a dealership as I need to get a couple of screws and washers also.

We'll see how we go...

 

[Guest]

looks awesome man, I love the tail lights. How are the bar ends? I looked at them in a catalog the other day and wondered how they worked/looked. (any pics of them lit?)

 

[Macguyver]

looks awesome man, I love the tail lights. How are the bar ends? I looked at them in a catalog the other day and wondered how they worked/looked. (any pics of them lit?)

Thanks, encouragement is always welcome, unless it's to do something which would put me on the naughty list.

The bar ends have been lit up after I made them, but before I put them on the bike. I need to finish off the electrical first before I can light them "on-bike". They are pretty much a proof of concept prototype right now, so I may end up tweaking the design once I test them under real world conditions. In case you missed it, here's the pic of them lighted after construction.

I hope to make some time to work on the bike this week, it's driving me bonkers not being able to ride it yet. Every morning heading to work I think to myself "It would be a perfect day to take the bike to work." Soon it will be on the road, I just have a few more things to build, and line up insurance.

 

[Guest]

cool and your welcome.

If you dont mind I might borrow an idea or two from you too

 

[Macguyver]

cool and your welcome.

If you dont mind I might borrow an idea or two from you too

I wouldn't mind if you wanted to borrow a lot of ideas. Ideas are best when shared and allowed to roam free. If someone can use one of my ideas as a springboard to an even better idea, all the better.

 

[AF_Bill]

Mac, they say that Imitation is the greatest form of flattery (or something like that). LOL
I've always been a HUGE fan of military style/paint schemes. Hence the fact I follow your build religiously. When I got my 650, I was debating between 2 builds. Orange, black, and chrome. OR OD Green & flat black like yours. But after I primed her in white, it stuck. I would like to say that because of your build, and a few other posts I've been reading, my next project bike will look SIMILAR to your bike with a few details (bobber mainly). Thank you for the inspiration and help.

sorry to jack your thread.

 

[Macguyver]

Mac, they say that Imitation is the greatest form of flattery (or something like that). LOL
I've always been a HUGE fan of military style/paint schemes. Hence the fact I follow your build religiously. When I got my 650, I was debating between 2 builds. Orange, black, and chrome. OR OD Green & flat black like yours. But after I primed her in white, it stuck. I would like to say that because of your build, and a few other posts I've been reading, my next project bike will look SIMILAR to your bike with a few details (bobber mainly). Thank you for the inspiration and help.

sorry to jack your thread.

Well, color me flattered then.
I am just a simple man, leading a simple life, who loves the look of olive drab/black paint jobs.
Before I bought my 650, I was planning on doing an in-depth redo of my Sunfire in the olive drab/flat black scheme. Then fate and Mr. Suzuki interveined, and here I am now. I just need to get off my arse and get the bike finished up already!

I am going to a wedding this weekend, so I won't get too much time to work on the bike, but I intend to get the new electrical tray in and wired up, provided I can finish the body job on a buddys' sidekick first, and the weather cooperates.

I will update with pics when I can.
Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[Skateguy50]

Enough hiding, I want to see some updates Summer is almost over up North right? :-\\\

I got a pile of parts in my living room waiting for a spare weekend myself but you need to get out and ride while the ridings good.

 

[Macguyver]

Enough hiding, I want to see some updates Summer is almost over up North right? :-\\\

It had better not be! Did I hibernate during the wrong months again???

The weather has been quite crappy these last 6-7 weeks, as in, torrential downpour virtually every weekend, and most nights! I knew it would happen as soon as I moved my bike to the out-side of the in-side!

I got a pile of parts in my living room waiting for a spare weekend myself but you need to get out and ride while the ridings good.

I have been trying to buddy, I have been trying.
Right now I am waiting on some overdue parts to come in so I can finish the headlights off, then tie up a couple loose ends, and then I can get her safetied!
Once that is done, I just need to sign my 1st born over to the insurance company, and I will be terrorizing the local roads!

 

[Skateguy50]

Is insurance that bad up there? I got a horrible driving record (all older issues in the cage but still on the file) and its like $90 for the year. When I turn the plates in come oct/nov I get $40 of it back.

Just keep plugging away, figured the thread needed a bump.

 

[Macguyver]

Is insurance that bad up there? I got a horrible driving record (all older issues in the cage but still on the file) and its like $90 for the year. When I turn the plates in come oct/nov I get $40 of it back.

Just keep plugging away, figured the thread needed a bump.

Insurance in Ontario is, quite frankly, insane.

I have a spotless driving record, been constantly insured since I was 16 (insured for 17 years now, going on 18 in September), no tickets(I know the back roads really well) , and the cheapest insurance I can find is still just under $1000/year. The real kicker of it is that I can't insure the bike for the riding seasons and take the insurance off for winter, nope, gotta insure the bike the entire year, payable up front.
Once I get an MSF course under my belt($400 later), it will only drop my insurance by $200 a year.

That's why I want to eventually get another set of rims and put some knobby tires on them for winter. I figure if it's insured, I might as well use it!

 

[AF_Bill]

$1000 a year for insurance??????? Ever think of movin to the US?? LOL. You'd cry if I told ya how much mine is a year. ANYWAY, I like the way you think (snow tires on a bike). And I too, feel your pain of not being able to ride (still in Afghanistan).

As far as the bar ends go, if your first prototype doesn't fit your fancy, more LEDs to be added?? OR different color?

 

[Skateguy50]

Sounds like when I got my first car, $800 for the car $2,000 for the insurance. Also cant take it off for winter... thats crazy, I have to pay mine up front but they refund whats left when I send the proof I returned the plates in. Get a new set every year, $10 for new plates $15 to renew them... not sure who does the math here but I would think charging less to renew would save money in not making more plates.

Oh and in my $90 policy includes towing coverage specific for the bike (aaa wont cover it without paying extra)

 

[Macguyver]

$1000 a year for insurance??????? Ever think of movin to the US?? LOL. You'd cry if I told ya how much mine is a year. ANYWAY, I like the way you think (snow tires on a bike). And I too, feel your pain of not being able to ride (still in Afghanistan).

As far as the bar ends go, if your first prototype doesn't fit your fancy, more LEDs to be added?? OR different color?

I have thought about moving to the US a lot recently. Winter just doesn't do it for me. Never has, I despise the cold.

For the bar ends, I think more LED's would be in order, while still retaining the amber color since they will be used as running/signal lights as well.

Sounds like when I got my first car, $800 for the car $2,000 for the insurance. Also cant take it off for winter... thats crazy, I have to pay mine up front but they refund whats left when I send the proof I returned the plates in. Get a new set every year, $10 for new plates $15 to renew them... not sure who does the math here but I would think charging less to renew would save money in not making more plates.

Oh and in my $90 policy includes towing coverage specific for the bike (aaa wont cover it without paying extra)

I can't get over how cheap is is for you lucky guys south of the border for insurance! $90 a year! I would have had my bike on the road for two years now if my insurance was that cheap! Then I wouldn't have worried about it being off the road for a couple weeks here and there while doing work on it. Sheesh, $90 a year!

My buddy that I rebuilt the topend of his Yamahaha for is paying $1600/year for insurance, he thinks that's cheap since he lives in Toronto.
It's only a 400CC Maxim, BTW.

Once again, Ontario is insane on insurance. It's also a more serious crime to drive without valid insurance, than it is without a valid licence.
Just goes to show which one the government values more.

Man, if I had a decent job in the US lined up, I'd be down there as soon as the work visa paperwork cleared! $90 a year! Wow.

 

[Macguyver]

Headlight Setup

Headlight Setup

So after much humming and hawing, I finally decided that the full-size projector headlights I was planning on using were just too darn big! I made as small of a mounting bracket as I could for them, and they still stuck out over 7" from the headlight ears.

So off to the wrecking yard to see what other options are out there for me. I found a set of mini-style projector lights from a 99 Oldsmobile Aurora that were just the right size.

I made up a bracket, mounted the reconfigured dash in place, made up a wiring harness for the new lights, and hooked it all up. I wired it so that low beam is one light, high beam is both lights. I have yet to really aim them, not to worry, it will be done once I finish up the rest of the electrical. Here are the results so far:

Below is the accessory harness with diode:

Since I was really liking the way the new lights were looking, I decided to do a walkaround shoot so I can see how it fits in with the rest of the bike. I am diggin' the naked front, I may leave it like that for a while until I convince myself I need a fairing up there.

Each light is left/right individually aimable, and the set is up/down adjustable. I built in a bit of a drop on the bottom (low beam) light so there will be a larger spread of coverage when they are both on for high beam. At 38 Watts each, they should light the road up pretty well indeed.

I still have a bunch of work to do before I am road ready, but I am optomistic I will be done it all soon.

I also painted/mounted a new Fiamm low-tone horn, unfortunately, it is the only one to have come in so far, but I will paint/mount the high-tone when it shows up.

That's it for now, I will update with more when able.