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My 78 GS550 Cafe Project!

  • Thread starter Thread starter bhppy101
  • Start date Start date
nice work!
looks super clean w/ the lighter silver paint.
you squirt that yourself?
looks good.

just need to get all snappy with your glass skills and fab some sweet triangle side covers to match.

man! i wish i had wires! look so classic.
 
Nice, you should get a bicycle speedo or those smaller gauges to finish the look off. Are you going to put a fender ont he front?
 
pozzi said:
nice work!
looks super clean w/ the lighter silver paint.
you squirt that yourself?
looks good.

just need to get all snappy with your glass skills and fab some sweet triangle side covers to match.

man! i wish i had wires! look so classic.
Click to expand...

Yep....I'll be making some panels tonight...

I painted it with Duplicolor spray cans.....shot it with 3 coats of primer.... 4 coats of base.....and 6 coats of clear......sanding betweet coats with 1500 grit and did a final sanding with 2000 grit wet. Polished it out with compound and it was done!
 
bgmart450 said:
Nice, you should get a bicycle speedo or those smaller gauges to finish the look off. Are you going to put a fender ont he front?
Click to expand...

The gauge cluster will be gone soon.....I just need to get a wiring diagram so that I can get rid of it without cutting something that I need.

I will probably go with a small speedo.....just need to find the right one..

I chopped up my front fender and will be painting it silver....but it will be back on tonight!
 
bhppy101 said:
Yep....I'll be making some panels tonight...

I painted it with Duplicolor spray cans.....shot it with 3 coats of primer.... 4 coats of base.....and 6 coats of clear......sanding betweet coats with 1500 grit and did a final sanding with 2000 grit wet. Polished it out with compound and it was done!
Click to expand...
nice DIY!

rattlecan for life!
if you do it right, you can get it to come out just the same as a pro.
getting the right colors is normally the hardest part.

there is a thread about gauges here.
from www.mikesxs.com

these are probably the ones i'm gonna go with, since they have a few warning lights in them...
save you the trouble of rigging up a set of warning lights using boat dash lights.
 
bhppy101 said:
The gauge cluster will be gone soon.....I just need to get a wiring diagram so that I can get rid of it without cutting something that I need.

I will probably go with a small speedo.....just need to find the right one..

I chopped up my front fender and will be painting it silver....but it will be back on tonight!
Click to expand...


You won't regret it, I like mine with no dash at all :) Now I need to find a smaller (dual perhaps) headlight!
 
fiberglass covers

fiberglass covers

OK.....I started fabbing up my covers tonight. Heres what you see so far:

I taped off the frame and other areas
I made a 2 cardboard templates...one for each side (matching exactly)

I positioned and taped the cardboard so that I can get a general shape and ensure that they mirror each other.

I poked a bolt through the cardboard where the original mounting grommet is so that I can glass the bolt head in the cover and use it for mounting.

I layed sown 2 layers of chopped mat to get a workable base...making sure that the bolt od thouroughly soaked for a good permanent bond.

Heres what it looks like so far.:

Left side



Right side
 
dayum, very nice

Did you make the rear fairing out of fiberglass as well or did you do what most do and find an old gas tank to cut up
 
CamaRod said:
dayum, very nice

Did you make the rear fairing out of fiberglass as well or did you do what most do and find an old gas tank to cut up
Click to expand...

I made the rear seat/cowl out of fiberglass as well....I used some 1/2" plywood and cut my seat base......Chopped off some of the rear frame.......took some green shaping foam (bought it at Michaels Hobby...its used to stick fake plants in) and glued it to the rear of th seat......Shaped the foam to my liking.......masked the whole seat and layed about 6 layers of fiberglass matt and cloth.....Sanded it down....added some body filler to smooth things out....and presto.....I got a new seat!.....I also had to make another fiberglass base for the actual foam part of the seat....so the assembly is actually 2 pieces.


Heres how my side covers are turning out.....I layed another couple of layers of fiberglass matt and cloth.....then I cut it to its general shape.

I still need to do some shaping and filler to round things out:

 
bhppy101 said:
I made the rear seat/cowl out of fiberglass as well....I used some 1/2" plywood and cut my seat base......Chopped off some of the rear frame.......took some green shaping foam (bought it at Michaels Hobby...its used to stick fake plants in) and glued it to the rear of th seat......Shaped the foam to my liking.......masked the whole seat and layed about 6 layers of fiberglass matt and cloth.....Sanded it down....added some body filler to smooth things out....and presto.....I got a new seat!.....I also had to make another fiberglass base for the actual foam part of the seat....so the assembly is actually 2 pieces.


Heres how my side covers are turning out.....I layed another couple of layers of fiberglass matt and cloth.....then I cut it to its general shape.

I still need to do some shaping and filler to round things out:

Click to expand...
okay, bhppy101...yer my new hero!

dang bro, wanna whip up a nice triangular set of side covers for my 450? ;)

thanks for the inspiration on the DIY...i was thinking about fabbing much of my own bodywork like yourself (seat, side covers, etc...) and you have motivated me to jump in and gett'er dun myself!

keep us updated once you paint those side covers to match.

BTW: how much glasswork experience do you have prior to this?


i've never really messed w/ it on my own but have helped others in the past myself. if i take my time, i don't think it can be all that hard.
 
pozzi said:
okay, bhppy101...yer my new hero!

dang bro, wanna whip up a nice triangular set of side covers for my 450? ;)

thanks for the inspiration on the DIY...i was thinking about fabbing much of my own bodywork like yourself (seat, side covers, etc...) and you have motivated me to jump in and gett'er dun myself!

keep us updated once you paint those side covers to match.

BTW: how much glasswork experience do you have prior to this?


i've never really messed w/ it on my own but have helped others in the past myself. if i take my time, i don't think it can be all that hard.
Click to expand...

I am by far not a professional at glassing.....lol....I have done a few things with car repair....but believe it or not....I mostly used fiberglass with my RC glider addiction! I fly high end fiberglass/kevlar rc gliders and have been repairing them the for years.

Glass is really easy once you get the hang of it and keep a mental picture of how you want your finished product to turn out.
Just remember....the glass is just the structual base....you have to shape and add to it to make it asthetically pleasing to the eye.

I plan on finishing these up tonight and I will post some pics of it as soon as they are done.

Thanks for the compliments!
 
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Very, VERY cool.


I'd definitely get rid of the guages, and get a 4-1 pipe (unbaffled, of course).

Get rid of the chrome springs on the shocks, and bob that front fender. Personally, I'd have left it with no side panels, and relocated the batter to the tale with a gel-cell.


But nice work on the panels, and it really pops with the silver paint.


-Q!
 
bhppy101,

Fantastic work!!! I'm glad I caught this thread. I don't have the skillz you do, but you bring on great ideas! I look forward to more updates.
 
I have been waiting patiently for someone else to make some side panels...
You could definately make some money producing Side panels for GS's
Many people always looking for replacements-
I have contemplated doing some, but do not have the time with my schedule :oops:
Great work BTW, impressive :-D

Also note:

You only need these circuits to run your street bike-

a) Start/Run
b) Charge
c) Lights (street use)
 
Thanks for all of the comps....I havent had much time in the past week to finish them....I took my carbs out and found out that I need some new intake boots.....so I won't be able to ride for a week or two....which really sucks! I am trying to locate some boots because the stealership has to order them. $34 bucks a pop! I guess you gotta do watcha gotta do.:shock:

I am buying some origonal panels and I might be able to reproduce some duplicates... We'll see!
 
Ok...heres a quick update....please excuse the mess in the garage....

I chopped the front fender and made my first polishing pass at the front forks

Painted and rebuilt the front calipers and added new pads

added some pinstripes and a few checkers

painted the new side panels (thanks to zookII) black

Took the idiot cluster out and I'm fabbing up a mounting bracket for the speedo and tach

 
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MAN.....What a mess!!!!!!!

I should be getting my intake boots and getting her back on the road tomorrow....and should have garage again!....lol

 
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