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The Beginnings of a Little Cafe Racer ..... GS250 Twin ...Cafenated

  • Thread starter Thread starter bhppy101
  • Start date Start date
What tape do you use? For that matter, what matting (brand, coarse thread, fine thread, etc.) and resin do you use?

If I can move into a place that has a decent size garage, I've been thinking about building a vacuum table and playing around with 'glass and carbon fiber. When I had my Shadow I was missing a side cover. I borrowed one from a friend that had the same bike and another friend made a mold and fabricated one for me using a vacuum bagger. $35 vs the $160 the dealership wanted.
 
where do you stick it?

where do you stick it?

bhppy101 said:
I am leaving it completely open so that you can see straight through. It makes for a cleaner look. No wires, electronics, or battery in the center.All you see is motor and air pods.
Click to expand...
you know how i like your projects:-D, but you have got to tell me how to hide all of the electronics. :shock:where do you stick them i don't have any hidin places on my bike i don't think. plus you should be done with that bike by now whats really going on? 8-[
be goo and god bless

J.W.Napier

BTW likin the little twin so far, great job
 
Been wathcing the transformation... you do some nice work! I am planning a similar transformation to the GS400 for MY girl and your work with the seat, battery and wiring will act as a template.

I have posted a link to this thread at www.dotheton.com as I am SURE members there will be insterested in your work.

Thanks for keeping a record of the build!
 
txironhead said:
What tape do you use? For that matter, what matting (brand, coarse thread, fine thread, etc.) and resin do you use?

If I can move into a place that has a decent size garage, I've been thinking about building a vacuum table and playing around with 'glass and carbon fiber. When I had my Shadow I was missing a side cover. I borrowed one from a friend that had the same bike and another friend made a mold and fabricated one for me using a vacuum bagger. $35 vs the $160 the dealership wanted.
Click to expand...


I use 3M blue masking tape just because it's easier to remove the tape when I'm done glassing.

For fiberglass matting I'm not too picky here I usually just use "Bondo" brand matting...Its a medium grade. or Home Depot has some matting that I use as well. Sometimes I use fiberglass woven cloth (its stronger but takes way too many layers to get the thickness I need.

I usually buy a gallon of "Bondo" resin (about $32) and a gallon of "Bondo" filler ($15). This much resin is usually enough to build at lease 3 seats.....It's cheap and readily available at Home Depot. I used to buy "West Systems" resin....but Its way too expensive for the type of projects that I do.

I have a small Vac Bagging system that I made....But I never use it for my seat projects. I get a lot of people asking me why I don't just make a mold a nd mass produce my seats. The reason I don't do that is because I want each one of them to be a one-off....so I shape each one according to the bike. Every single seat that I've done was just shaped by eye.
 
j.w.napier said:
you know how i like your projects:-D, but you have got to tell me how to hide all of the electronics. :shock:where do you stick them i don't have any hidin places on my bike i don't think. plus you should be done with that bike by now whats really going on? 8-[
be goo and god bless

J.W.Napier

BTW likin the little twin so far, great job
Click to expand...


Hey J.W..

I painted the underside of the frame last night...just waiting for it to completely dry before I put the electrics back in. I'll post a pic of how it's laid out.
 
CanadaDan said:
Been wathcing the transformation... you do some nice work! I am planning a similar transformation to the GS400 for MY girl and your work with the seat, battery and wiring will act as a template.

I have posted a link to this thread at www.dotheton.com as I am SURE members there will be insterested in your work.

Thanks for keeping a record of the build!
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan! first time seeing that site. Looks like they have some AWSOME builds on there!
 
tell me how to hide all of the electronics. where do you stick them i don't have any hidin places on my bike i don't think. plus you should be done with that bike by now whats really going on? be goo and god bless J.W.Napier BTW likin the little twin so far said:
This one is taking me longer than usual...just because of work....and the summer surf calling my name!....lol

Heres some pics of how I cleared out the wiring and electronics. The flat bar that I welded to the frame in the beginning of this project was my main mounting/grounding point for the rect/reg electrics.... the battery fits nicely under the seat hump... I also relocated the battery ground to the angle iron of the battery tray.





Click to expand...
 
I got a little more done today....I primered it.....and I actually like the flat black look!


 
I started the seat pan (holds the seat foam and is wrapped with vinyl). I taped off the seat area to protect the seat and so that after the glass hardens...I can remove the pan easily.

First flayer was fiberglass woven cloth. I than added 4 layers of fiberglass matting and after the last layer....I used extra resin to smooth things out a little more.

Once the glass hardens... I'll remove the seat pan fron the seat and use an angle grinder to trim the pan about 1/8" smaller than the seat. This gives me enough room for the vinyl.



 
this thing is pretty badass. i like where its going. how are you gonna mount the seat pan? velcro?
 
simon_C said:
this thing is pretty badass. i like where its going. how are you gonna mount the seat pan? velcro?
Click to expand...

After the pan hardens, I drill holes to bolt it to the seat. I usually use three 1/4" bolts....one on the back rest (or you might call it @ss rest...lol) one in the middle....and one in the front of the seat. I put the bolts in and glass the heads directly to the pan once they are pushed through so that you get 3 studs sticking out of the bottom of the pan ....than you thighten them up directly under the seat with washers and nuts.

I'll post some pics to better explain the process.
 
Have you ever considered "T-nuts"? I've used them a lot when fabricating sissy bar backrests. There are some with teeth for driving into wood, and smooth ones for setting into fiberglass or welding on metal. Seems like it would give it a more finished look instead of studs sticking out.

Of course, your bikes have a more finished look than most new factory bikes, so who am I to talk......:?
 
txironhead said:
Have you ever considered "T-nuts"? I've used them a lot when fabricating sissy bar backrests. There are some with teeth for driving into wood, and smooth ones for setting into fiberglass or welding on metal. Seems like it would give it a more finished look instead of studs sticking out.

Of course, your bikes have a more finished look than most new factory bikes, so who am I to talk......:?
Click to expand...

Like this: :-D



Yep....I've got a billion of these in my parts bin and I've tried using the the smooth blind nuts as well.....but I found that the studs make it easier to locate the seat placement when putting the seat on.
 
Ok...pulled off the seat pan.....as you can see...I used more than 2 layers of tape. This makes it easier to pull the pan off the seat.

I removed the tape (blue painters tape makes it easier to take the tape off). I trimmed the seat pan just past the lines that where naturally made by the edges of the seat.


 
After trimming the pan about an 1/8" inside of the seat.... I marked and drilled the mounting holes.

After drilling I put some strips of tape on the cowl so that when I fiberglass my bolts in...any seepage wont stick to the actual seat.


 
I pushed some 1/4" bolts through the pan and the seat. I took some fiberglass matting and cut it to shreds so that it's like strands of hair....the reason I do that is so the fiberglass can mould itself and contour around and on top of the bolt head....

I brushed on some resin and added about 4 layers of fiberglass cloth (cut into squares) on top of each bolt head. I'll wait about 45 minutes for it to cure than I'll add my seat foam and shape it to the pan.


 
Have you ever considered using neoprene (wetsuit material, specifically) for your seat fabric? Wonderful stuff, waterproof and much more comfortable than vinyl or leather.
 
txironhead said:
Have you ever considered using neoprene (wetsuit material, specifically) for your seat fabric? Wonderful stuff, waterproof and much more comfortable than vinyl or leather.
Click to expand...

Thats a great idea!!....I need to find out where I can get a hold of some black.

Funny thing is.....I use Neoprene just about every day out in the water....lol
 
Surfing...motorcylce customization....man, I'm in the wrong engineering work because I don't have that much time! ;)

Great stuff so far, fun to see how you put it all together. I'm picking up my CB500 this weekend, so I'm antsy to work on it too! :)

You ever try painting a chrome fender? A paint-matched fender would look pretty neat on that bike.

~Adam
 
AOD said:
Surfing...motorcylce customization....man, I'm in the wrong engineering work because I don't have that much time! ;)

Great stuff so far, fun to see how you put it all together. I'm picking up my CB500 this weekend, so I'm antsy to work on it too! :)

You ever try painting a chrome fender? A paint-matched fender would look pretty neat on that bike.

~Adam
Click to expand...

You and me both brother...Ol' bhppy101 here has turned out about 3 bikes in the time that I haven't even finished one... He must be a consultant!
 
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