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New to the bobber Scene

  • Thread starter Thread starter Shafty850
  • Start date Start date
S

Shafty850

Guest
Good after noon everyone, so this weekend I was talked into starting some bike projects by the boss (wife). We picked up a GS850 and 550, for crazy cheap and we planned on starting in the next week or so. I'm new to bike building but from what I've read on this forum you guys are a pretty cool community so I just wanted to jump in and say hi!
 
Shafty850 said:
Good after noon everyone, so this weekend I was talked into starting some bike projects by the boss (wife). We picked up a GS850 and 550, for crazy cheap and we planned on starting in the next week or so. I'm new to bike building but from what I've read on this forum you guys are a pretty cool community so I just wanted to jump in and say hi!
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Very few into the bobber scene here. The bikes in question would have to be pretty rough to be chopped up. Renovating and or upgrading these classic GSs back to their original luster is the big thing in this forum, anyways, howdees back.
 
Hi ya, Shafty.
Plenty of diverse builds on this site.
Your bike...you get to do what you want with it.
If you put your location in your signature it might turn out that you have a helpful GSer nearby.
 
Welcome to the forum.

I would recommend that you get the bike running well (If it doesn't already). Before modding it.
 
Highway_Glider said:
Welcome to the forum.

I would recommend that you get the bike running well (If it doesn't already). Before modding it.
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Yup. Get it working right before you attack it with a hacksaw.

We're not just being grumpy old poops around here when we say that.

Obviously, we don't know what you're planning, or even what your definition of a "bobber" is. But many first-time builders have the mistaken idea that the first thing to do is to start lopping off hunks of the frame, and making other irrevocable changes.

The thing is, this is just plain backwards. It's insane to start drastically re-engineering something when you have no idea what you started with and even less idea of where you're going with it. Please don't approach your project like this -- we've seen it fail every single time. Many times.

Starting and finishing a chop/bobber/cafe/whatever project is MUCH easier and a LOT more fun when you start with a running and riding bike. As in the original spirit of the whole modification thing, you're making one change at a time to truly make the bike yours. There's something to do every weekend, and you can explore different ways of making the bike yours. And, of course, you can actually go ride the thing sometimes, which is the whole point, isnt' it?

That's how our Grandpas and Dads did it -- every payday, they'd be poring over blurry ads in the back of disreputable hot rod and biker mags (these days we have blurry photos on disreputable web sites), or haunting junkyards, or drilling and filing and welding out in the garage. The dangerous, sloppy crap you see in half hour TV episodes doesn't work in real life, when blood and bone and lives are at stake.

The GSR community is actually very receptive to modifications and customization, even those on the outer fringes of taste. We're not concerned with originality, either -- there are plenty of rough bikes to go around. Even very stock-looking bikes like mine are modified in dozens of ways.

What we do detest around here are doofs who just start lopping parts off with no thought for little things like running, stopping, going around corners, a place to sit, wiring, noise, steering, or lighting. CrackList is already plenty full of thoughtlessly hacked up, abandoned "boober" projects.

Best wishes for your project! Post lots of pictures, and please search and ask if you have any questions.
 
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Thanks for the welcome! I plan on getting the motors out in about a week, the 850 motor turns over but the tank is junk so I haven't really bothered to get it started yet. The 550 has no controls so I haven't tried to start that one yet, more than likely going to tear down both motors and clean them out really well and probably re-ring and get a gasket kit for both. Going to try to get the motors freshened up, then get my wiring in order before we do any frame fabbing. I don't plan on turning this thing into a trashcan just personalizing it to my wife, so as long as its safe its however she wants to build it. I would like to keep her away from a hardtail for the sake of her kidneys and other lady bits haha. And for Mr.Bill here, I live in the north metro area of the twin cities in Minnesota, land of the funny accents!
 
Shafty850 said:
The 550 has no controls so I haven't tried to start that one yet, more than likely going to tear down both motors and clean them out really well and probably re-ring and get a gasket kit for both.
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No idea how it runs so start with tearing the engine apart.

OK, I can see where this one is going.
 
Hello, I'm in Meadowlands, about 175 miles North of you. I'm working on a 79 1000L and a 78 750e. I haven't noticed any accents around here :rolleyes:.
 
tkent02 said:
No idea how it runs so start with tearing the engine apart.

OK, I can see where this one is going.
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Well even if it does run, I'd rather have it gone through once just to clean everything out, the 550 hasn't been on the road since 91 (well at least the tabs on the plate say that).I can only imagine that the oil is nice chunky in there. A buddy of mine tore down his xs650 during the winter and there was tons of carbon build-up, and sludge build up, rather be safe then sorry!
 
Shafty850 said:
Well even if it does run, I'd rather have it gone through once just to clean everything out, the 550 hasn't been on the road since 91 (well at least the tabs on the plate say that).I can only imagine that the oil is nice chunky in there. A buddy of mine tore down his xs650 during the winter and there was tons of carbon build-up, and sludge build up, rather be safe then sorry!
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Great idea on a Honda, not so much on a GS. These things are anvils and have a bunch of their own idiosyncrasies, so it's best to get a motor running before you tear into it. As non-intuitive as that may seem, it is usually the correct course of action with a GS series bike. That's probably why you got them so cheap, the other guy didn't understand the engine.
 
Thanks for the heads up, always open to advice from people who have actually done what I'm going to try to do. Guess I'm assuming a clean engine is a happy engine regardless of how bulletproof it is. Keep in mind also, the bike was parked in 91, and hasn't been maintained since as far as I know. Just don't want to cause more problems by being neglectful is all.
 
Check out the Mega-Welcome page at http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/GSR_Greeting.html to get you going on what needs to be done.

The GS motors are somewhat like the old air-cooled VWs in that the bottom end is many times more solid than it needs to be and most of your routine procedures are different enough from other bikes that people who 'know about bikes' oft have a hard time with them just as most general mechanics will be stumped these days by a Karmann Ghia. Just go through the procedures in the link (valves, o-rings, boots, carbs, etc.) without cutting corners or skipping steps, give her some fresh oil and chances are high that you'll have a solid motor right out of the box.
 
I bought a 83 750 2 years ago that had sat dormant since 85. I put some fresh oil in it. Turned it over a couple times with the coils disconnected to prime it. Hooked it to the battery jumper and she fired off. Ran like a charm.
Its hard to kill these motors, try to fire it and see what it needs.
 
welcome and such.

not sure about this accent business you speak of.
 
Mista M said:
I bought a 83 750 2 years ago that had sat dormant since 85. I put some fresh oil in it. Turned it over a couple times with the coils disconnected to prime it. Hooked it to the battery jumper and she fired off. Ran like a charm.
Its hard to kill these motors, try to fire it and see what it needs.
Click to expand...

Just to give a heads up, and maybe I should upload some pics so you guys can see (when I get home). There is no key, battery, tank, or controls in general on this bike, it was mainly a parts bike but more so for the minor things. Engine is put together with the exception of the shift lever is missing, but it is in neutral. I can transfer some of the parts off the 850 over to the 550 just to get it to fire up, but I plan on doing a complete rebuild from ground up pretty much. But if you guys think I should run it before going anywhere that's what I'll do!
 
You seem mechanically able, so download the service manuals from Bass cliff's site. Use the wiring diagram to hotwire the ignition and clutch switch. take the carbs off and try to crank it off ether.
 
Shafty850 said:
Just to give a heads up, and maybe I should upload some pics so you guys can see (when I get home). There is no key, battery, tank, or controls in general on this bike, it was mainly a parts bike but more so for the minor things. Engine is put together with the exception of the shift lever is missing, but it is in neutral. I can transfer some of the parts off the 850 over to the 550 just to get it to fire up, but I plan on doing a complete rebuild from ground up pretty much. But if you guys think I should run it before going anywhere that's what I'll do!
Click to expand...

Just run it so you know what you have. It would suck to do a top end rebuild only to find out the case is cracked or the crankshaft is bent, or perhaps tear it completely apart only to find everything is as new inside.
 
Mista M said:
You seem mechanically able, so download the service manuals from Bass cliff's site. Use the wiring diagram to hotwire the ignition and clutch switch. take the carbs off and try to crank it off ether.
Click to expand...

Yeah I had considered doing this, just wasn't sure where to get that diagram, now that I know, I will go check it out.
 
Shafty850 said:
There is no key, battery, tank, or controls in general on this bike, it was mainly a parts bike but more so for the minor things.
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Hopefully you got a title for each bike. :-\\\

It would really suck to put all that effort into a bike that you could not register. :eek:

.
 
Steve said:
Hopefully you got a title for each bike. :-\\\

It would really suck to put all that effort into a bike that you could not register. :eek:

.
Click to expand...

We have a fix for that now too, its called Vermont.
 
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