81 GS550 Tracker - Miami to St Louis

So my father in law wanted a motorcycle and came to me to put it together for him. I had a 1980 GS550 whole but no title and the engine/tranny were shot. I had been contacted by a guy a few hours north of me that had an engine but also had a frame with a title. We made a deal and I picked up the engine and frame (still waiting on the title).

The bad news was the frame had a hackjob of a hardtail welded on.


It was going to take a lot to get the swingarm pivot area cleaned up...


So I ended up cutting both frames in half in the engine cradle area.


Not having a lathe, I am fortunate to have a friend that's a machinist by trade. Got slugs made for the frame rails.


Tacked together.


I am also working on my brother's 1977 GS550 and have changed damn near everything on it so I'm reusing a lot of stuff off his bike. Here I have mounted the 77 GS550 tank (they have different mounting points) and cut off some of the rear frame.


Cut back the shock/frame gusset to weld on a seat hoop.


Tacked on the seat hoop.


Kicked up the seat hoop and threw on the 77 GS550 front end. Don't mind the rear end, it's from the 80 GS550.


My father in law asked for bars that were comfortable (ie he didnt want to be throw over the tank with clipons or clubmans).


Mocked up the layout for the electronics tray that's going under the seat. I will not using sidecovers. After this picture I opted to relocate the CDI under the tank to relieve some room in the tray. Above the ignition switch, next the battey you'll see circuit breakers which are replacing the fuse box.


Mounted the tail light & license plate bracket.


How it sits at the moment.


Next up is a seat pan which will be foamed and shaped and prepared for upholstery and I will be sending the tank off to get painted by the end of the week. I will be working on the electronics tray and relocating the coils a bit because they hit the tank.

Looks good. It's nice to have family that supports your hobby!

Nice work saving that frame. I'm onboard.

Looks good. I have a GS850 that I'm looking to start modifying a bit cosmetically.

I'll be following along with your build.

Only update at the moment.
Made the seat pan and added mounts. I should be foaming it this afternoon.

Got some stuff done this weekend.

Used silicone bronze to weld up the tank badge mounts. Throwing bondo over the area will only lift it and bubble the paint at some point.


Used the ol' yoga mat seat padding & shaped it.



Started working on blending in the frame/shock mount gusset.


Laid out the template for the electronics tray.


Mocked it up and arranged the components. It's roomy because there will be a good amount of wiring passing through. I didn't want to clutter it up too much.


Here's a side shot. I'm using circuit breakers instead of a fusebox.


Then made this little plate that I might rivet beside the ignition switch. Going to make another one for the circuit breakers.

It's looking good! Gives me inspiration for the cb750 I'm about to put together..

Cool projekt man!Little question:how did you shape that yoga mat and get such nice and soft egdes?

Ryan Stecken said:

Cool projekt man!Little question:how did you shape that yoga mat and get such nice and soft egdes?

Click to expand...

I used an angle grinder with a flap disc to knock off the excess then used a belt sander to round the edges and get them as even as possible.

Welding up the electronics tray. Using 1-2-3 blocks to make sure the joints are straight.


Finally cut out and bent the electronics tray.


It's been mounted to the frame and I made attachment points for the starter solenoid and CDI. And made a short frame around the battery just need to make a strap to hold it down. (will get pics)
I just received the LED flasher so I will get to making the mount for it this evening.

Blended in the shock/frame gusset.


Made a little mount for rear turn signals.

Been working and not taking pics as much as I'd like... even still progress is slower than anticipated.

Tray bolted on.


The 4-1 that was on the original donor bike was shot. The collector was boogered up with JB weld and other crap... in fact I was able to snap it apart by pulling on some of the header tubes. So I used a 1977 4-2 system. It wasn't fitting originally because the kickstand is in a different position but I bit the bullet and cut the kickstand off.


Still waiting on the new mufflers but I added tabs for hangers on the frame, then took it all apart.


Finalized all the detabbing, welding, grinding, etc and started tripping the paint off the frame.


More paint stripping today. Then priming and painting.

Its looking nice man...makes me wanna get back on my build...

Excited to see what you're doing here. Proportions look great.

Progress has been uninteresting. I'm degreasing, cleaning, polishing, painting, etc.

Had to share this. Found this under the dust boot on the forks. Forks came off my brothers GS550 that he purchased from a vintage dealer in West Palm Beach. Theyre being rebuilt.


Got the tank back from Magic City Kustoms. Found the right color vinyl for the seat. Should have it back this week.


Frame with one coat of paint and the painted tank.

love the paint. looks great!

I am normally against painting an engine "aluminum" because it never looks as good as actual aluminum. In this case, I'd have to put A LOT of time into cleaning them enough to be presentable so I went with a 'cast aluminum' engine paint.



* The side covers will be polished and bolts replaced with stainless allen bolts. I also have a gasket kit when it comes time to reassemble after paint. *

So... total mistake in not testing the engine when I first got it. It had sat for 5+ years. My friend suggested a compression test (cold). Very disappointing results but after reading some stuff online I figured I'd hook up the coils and carbs and test it on the table. Looks beastly with the cut header tubes pointing up.


And here are the compression numbers before and after.


Some frame shots. I started getting impatient so I bolted some stuff on before I threw the engine in.



I need to drill out 3 exhaust bolts that were torched off by the previous owner but that's all I need to do before I throw the engine back into the frame.

what did you use to shape your yoga mat seat?

growler76 said:

what did you use to shape your yoga mat seat?

Click to expand...

I used an angle grinder with a flap disc first then used my belt sander to even it up.

Finally put the engine in the frame.


Then made it a roller.


Now it's time to polish the side covers and get the valve cover wrinkle coated. There is still a lot left to do!