Progress!!! 1978 GS1000E Restoration/Performance Rebuild

[T8erbug]

Dooooooood. Just wow... Seeing a bike that clean makes me extremely happy. What a beaut! Also, my vote goes toward the round black mirrors you just found. Don't worry about the black between parts matching exactly unless it's two body panels. Black varying between parts is A) a lot less noticeable B) generally still looks good C) widely accepted because anyone who has ever built something of varying metals and finishes knows it's darn near impossible to get a match part to part/brand to brand. In the end, most people who lay eyes on the bike will be almost entirely distracted by the overwhelming cleanliness of the bike anyway.

 

[boris.h]

A full wes cooley front fairing?

 

[limeex2]

What a beautiful build. Better than new! At this rate it will be BOM before it is even finished...

 

[philosopheriam]

A full wes cooley front fairing?

Not likely

 

[philosopheriam]

OPERATION MAKE THE PINSTRIPES LINE-UP
Idea: Shim the tail piece upward by placing a couple washers/spacers underneath the standoffs that mount to the rear fender.
Problem: Once the piece is moved upward 1/8" to 3/16", the threaded studs on each standoff are not long enough to install a nut to clamp it to the fender (insufficient thread enagegment)
Solution: Make shoulder nuts from 5/16" grade 5 bolts. Cut them down, drill them on center, tap for M6-1.0 threads, and voila!



Right Side:


Left Side (not perfect, but significantly better, the striping is a bit high on the left side seat trim):

 

[philosopheriam]

Chain guard installed:

 

[philosopheriam]

Emblem restoration...

Before:


Soda Blasted:


Black, 1st step (gold lettering will come later, stay tuned)

 

[80GS850GBob]

Looking good...love the pin stripe re-alignment thing.
Per your emblems...if you hadn't already painted them I would've suggested a small ball peen hammer to smooth some of those dings out...worked on most of my emblem dents - but I wound up buying new badges anyway{lol}.

 

[nvr2old]

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Left Side (not perfect, but significantly better, the striping is a bit high on the left side seat trim):

Ahhhhh..much better. Looks great!

 

[roeme]

Ooooh, gotta stay tuned for the emblems. Have about the same issue.

Very, very, impressive work so far.

 

[alke46]

Agreed, the pin-striping realignment looks great. Nice job.......

 

[philosopheriam]

Sorry for the delay in progress updates - work has been hectic and I ran into a few small issues, but nothing that couldn't be overcome...

I decided to re-soda blast the emblems and pound out a few more of the dents (as best as possible). The end result has x1 light coat of primer, x2 light coats of semi-gloss black, Testor's metallic gold model paint for the lettering, and x2 light coats of gloss clear.



Mirrors mounted (went with the round ones as mentioned earlier in the thread)




This was the biggest setback, yet these are the kind of things that happen when you have a custom project - I temporarily mounted the tank to check for clearances, etc, and found that at full lock, my headlight bucket brackets were within 1/32" (maybe less) of touching the tank. Whoa... Too close for my comfort. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone - If I moved the fork tube brackets further apart, there would be plenty of clearance. Also, the bottom fork tube bracket could then be used to hold the bottom triple cover in place. So, I had a set of brackets machined at a local shop from 6061-T6 aluminum that would allow the fork tube brackets to be moved apart yet keep the actual headlight bucket brackets in the same spot. I will be sending them to my powdercoater in the near future. See below.


There is a 1/2" black ABS plastic spacer in between the lower fork bracket and the decorative bottom triple cover - the lower fork bracket sits against this spacer and in turn, hold the triple cover in place


Overall, the bike is 98% done - I'm having some *possible* paint issues with my gas tank, of which I will report on when they are solved - the tank is at my painter right now. The engine has been heat cycled a couple times, oil changed, and I just need to check the valves. From that point, bolt on the tank, connect the fuel lines, drill the index holes for the controls, glue on the engine emblems, install the horns, re-check every bolt/nut for proper tightness, and take her for a spin

 

[steve murdoch]

Clever and trick looking solution.
I don't think i had ever paid attention to the mileage. 43,000 miles on a better than new bike...amazing.

 

[philosopheriam]

Clever and trick looking solution.
I don't think i had ever paid attention to the mileage. 43,000 miles on a better than new bike...amazing.

Thanks Steve - best part about the machine work is that the shop I used does excellent work at very reasonable prices. A lot of shops won't do small jobs like this, or, they want so much $$$ it's ridiculous.

 

[Philthy]

dannnnngggg soooo nice very well done man !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

what size/brand model tires are you using?

 

[philosopheriam]

what size/brand model tires are you using?

Pirelli Sport Demon - will post sizes later tonight.

 

[philosopheriam]

Pirelli Sport Demon (bias ply)
130/90-17, rear
100/90-19, front

I'm running tubes in mine...

 

[philosopheriam]

Folks,

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but the long story short is that the bike will be rideable in Spring. I'm still dealing with a paint issue on my tank, but other than that, the bike is 99% complete.

I will do a full photo spread when its nice outside again.

Happy Holidays, too!

 

[philosopheriam]

Back from my painter - was an issue with the glaze wax and not the clearcoat/paint. Whew! I installed the emblems today.




Fork tube brackets are at my powdercoater and will be done next week.