Repairing my 1980 GS450

[oohsam]

That stator looks top shelf. I think its fine. Measure it with a multimeter when u get the thing running. Should be fine.
As for the clutch fibres....Those scratches/wear on the tabs looks a bit odd. I just pulled my clutch out and it didn't look like that.

Good work btw!
Looks awesome!

 

[apopleptic]

I'll upload some more pictures of the clutch plates in a little while.
Meantime here is some more polishing. just because...

and now I've got the nut off of the front sprocket. later tonight or Tuesday I'm going to change the oil seal out. at least I'll find out if I'm able to switch seals and holders on the clutch oil seal easily. Also going to be changing the oil seal for the gear shifter. Wish me luck!

 

[apopleptic]

I realize now I may be working harder than I have to.
I started to sand the valve cover yesterday and realized it was too smooth and too dull to be bare metal. My metal parts were covered in paint which I have been sanding off. Extra elbow grease is not my thing so I took the just of Aircraft Remover and brushed it on. within a few minutes it started bubbling up. I'm glad I finally got use out of it for something since it was useless on the caliper. I guess I just have not idea what I'm doing since the last time I sanded anything was in elementary school and it was wood, never metal.

 

[apopleptic]

So here is a piece polished with 180 then 400 over about 4+ hours time. Also a piece cleaned with aircraft remover and then sanded for just about 30 minutes with just the 400, in the dark so I couldn't really see where I was missing a few smaller spots.
Guess which one is which?

 

[oohsam]

hahah
I am the shortcut king. I hate sanding. Paintstripper is the BEST.
Welcome to my world of stripping...

Uhm...ok that doesn't sound great!

 

[Cdnpt1]

hahah
I am the shortcut king. I hate sanding. Paintstripper is the BEST.
Welcome to my world of stripping...

Uhm...ok that doesn't sound great!

Lol, that's too funny. That bike is going to look sharp when you are done, I better get to work on mine this winter! I ordered the progressive springs you posted the link to today, and have a new air box on the way so I may get it on the road before snow. Thanks for that link again. We are going to have to get our three member PA gs riders group together in the spring and compare all the hard work.

 

[apopleptic]

Lol, that's too funny. That bike is going to look sharp when you are done, I better get to work on mine this winter! I ordered the progressive springs you posted the link to today, and have a new air box on the way so I may get it on the road before snow. Thanks for that link again. We are going to have to get our three member PA gs riders group together in the spring and compare all the hard work.

I think there's 7 ot us in the group now bet yeah

 

[Flyboy]

Nice work on te polishing, the bike is going to look frirst class when you done. Oh, the piece at the bottom is the 4 hour job, the wet one at the top is the 30 min job

 

[apopleptic]

a bit more progress today. would have been more but it's raining

 

[Cdnpt1]

Hey there, got those progressives in last night, man what a difference even just sitting in the garage. Doing the tank cleaning on mine with white vinegar and a handfull of nuts(metal ones) and it seems to be working fairly well, I think I will still put on a filter though.

I have a front fender that is a bit dented only, minimal rust, if you are any good with a body hammer(which I am not) you can have if you find that one is too rusted to rehab. I like the red, looks like things are coming along. We may both be able to ride our bikes to the Ark if this rain doesn't stop.

 

[apopleptic]

here is a test spray on a computer case. wanted to see how the paint will hold up.
the bleeding is why you should never leave your tape out in the rain.

 

[Cdnpt1]

Fender looks good! Good ideaa test spraying too. Got my bike back together and out o the road tonight, couldnt resist..... Smooooooth, love it. Burned out the heaadlight, so one more order to make.

 

[apopleptic]

Lucky you with the bike on the road. They should have the bulbs at advanced auto. I think I replaced mine there a year or two ago.

 

[Cdnpt1]

You mean the small bulb insert into the glass headlight or a whole headlight? Mine is a sealed unit sou you have to buy a complete headlamp and the ones that you can replace the bulb in dont fit my mounting ring.

 

[apopleptic]

I'm not sure what you mean exactly.
I guess my bike is really the only one I have seen up close, but this is what mine looks like and I thought ours were pretty much the same.
Big bulb

Held in with little spring clips

 

[Cdnpt1]

Looks the same, it is a sealed unit, you have to buy a whole big bulb, and advance carries them? Cool. The 450l has removable small bulb that can be replaced in the big bulb. Lot cheaper and easier. Thanks for the heads up. Going to look at an 850 on the weekend.

 

[apopleptic]

I'm pretty sure that replacement was about $7.
I think I had to replace the plug with the standard one, but I would bring the original to the auto parts store and see what they have that will match.

 

[bigbeardan]

hey man, really enjoyin this thread so far! really inspiring me to do more with mine. Ive got an 80 gs450l, i was really surprised our bikes look as different as they do to be basically the same. I got mine running and in remarkable shape so i wasnt worried bout digging in as far as you but now im ready to go to the shop and get busy. hopefully i will get some more riding in before gettin too cold(ignitor went out but buying one from elevatorman71). keep the work goin and the pics comin!

 

[Cdnpt1]

Are you doing the valve cover red as well? What was the final color decision or did I miss that? Turns out I had a spare bulb hidden in the garage, wonder what else I have forgotten bout. Went out to take her for a daylight spin and discovered a hole in the tank. Crap. So my next experiment will be to see if jb weld is all it's cracked up to be.

 

[apopleptic]

BBD, welcome to the forum. glad you like what you see so far.
You should check out the build by Pete, way more involved than mine, and he uses these fancy thumbnails so his images don't suck up your whole screen.
You should update your signature with you bike and update your profile with your location.

Cdnpt, pretty awesome about that spare bulb. If you don't need it and you haven't tossed it yet can I have the old one? wanted to try modifying it be a non sealed bulb.

I haven't figured out the color the valve cover will be yet. I just know it needs some painting because its to contoured for me to sand down by hand. I was thinking about gloss black for it though to match the fork lowers.

I sprayed the tail and the front fender white just now.
Hard to tell after sunset, but I think it looks pretty OK.
I'm going to let it stand for 30 minutes or so then spray one more light coat of white. Then tomorrow it's time for some light sanding and perhaps another light white coat.
I honestly haven't decided 100% on the color scheme yet. I had another discussion going on it where I get some mixed feedback on it.
Part of me wants to paint it black with red racing stripes. I did manage to locate some thin tape for the stripes. I went with 1/2" (12.5mm) but they had all the way down to 1/16" which made me snicker a little bit...