First Project - 1980 Suzuki GN400

I decided to do a little more before I headed back to school tomorrow. I dug a little deeper into the electrical stuff in the tach (lights, wires, etc.) and turns out the tach and speedometer don't have lights in them which makes night riding difficult. Not that it matters, but still. I may or may not order those or some other lights that it needs since they aren't necessary. Yesterday, I painted the side cover that was actually on the bike and it turned out pretty nice. It's nothing crazy. Gloss black with "GN400" in red paint in the original sticker design only bigger. Definitely needs to be touched up, but it's not bad for my first attempt. The red and black look looks sweet so that will probably be by bike's color scheme. I'm going to do the gas tank black, with the suzuki logo red, and some dark/metal gray lines. I might take the engine out and paint that black with some engine paint this winter, but who knows.

Before and after
 

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I'm also looking for a left side panel/cover (goes over the air filter). When I got this bike, it only came with the right side. Suzuki Partshouse, Partzilla, Gearhead all have it for $50+, but I'm sure I could find a cheap one out there someone. Worst come to worst, I attempt to make one. So if anyone has one, let me know.
 
This past Sunday was the perfect day to go out for a ride. Unfortunately, I'm having electrical problems again. Every light on the back of the bike won't work (didn't stop me from riding though). The wire for the brake light broke. Easy fix and I had it all goo do to. Started the bike up and it didn't light up. Turns out the wire that connects the converter (brake and tail light are on the converter) to the battery melted part of the plastic and the wire broke off. At least that is what it looks like. Unfortunately, I know very little about electrical stuff so I called the shop that worked on it back in March. Hopefully they can tell me what happened.

On a happy note, I decided to do some more painting on my own instead of having it professionally done. It's not amazing, but it looks pretty dang good for doing it with spray paint. Took me a solid 4 hours to do with drying and all that. I need to redo some of the black and touch up the gray. The paint sprayed out too fast so there are drips. Need to fix that, probably this winter or when I get some free time.
 

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Update: I fixed the electrical issue. The voltage rectifier was busted so I had to order a new one. The part I was sent superseded the original part so I had to do surgery on a couple of wires. I also painted the back piece where the license plate light was and moved it over to where the license plate is now. Glad I got that pain out of the way. Hopefully no more issues for a while. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc.

Considering getting a new muffler/exhaust pipe, but not sure what I would do.
 

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This is probably the dumbest question I could possibly ask. Feel free to stone me if you must.

How do I make my bike go faster? I've maxed out my speedometer at 85. I plan to buy a new one eventually, but it doesn't seem to go any faster than that and I would like to be able to go faster. Is there anything I can do or do I have to live with it until I can buy a new bike?

Also, anybody have any thoughts on a paint theme? I'm torn right now. I love the Black, mechanic gray, and red, but I'm considering doing an Interstate Battery type theme, black, mechanic gray, green, and white. I also thought about doing some army green/tan. So many paint ideas, only one bike to paint...

I also want to redo the back end. I'm just starting to realize how ugly it looks after working on my buddies '78 GS550.
 
Buy a faster bike, I think the GN400 is the same engine as the DR400, and the only way to make one of them do more than 85 is to throw it off a cliff.
 
Stripes came out good. Hand taped?

I just cut these decals for the GS550 in my shop. They can be used as stencils, cleared over, or just left on top since they're weather resistant.

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I would search for another engine.
The GN400has a low rev count, and I suspect that has to do with the valves. (just a guess though) Could also be because of the heavy piston (400 cc on 1 piston)

Now way to alter those things radically (in a cheap way). Maybe there are some heads you can swap to from another bike with the same engine but other top end? This way it may be possible to get the rpm up.
Bigger carbs also pump up the top end, but you will lose bottom torque. (I guess you have enough of that with that engine though). I saw that the compression is 9.3, you could boost that to 10 to get more power overall. Play around with ignition timing if possible.

Or you could go for the chill cruiser brat bike and refrain from touching the engine 8)
 
Hand taped, yes. I'm debating on giving it a new paint job though. Not quite sure what the design is going to be. Those side panels look good though! Very impressed.

adventurco said:
Stripes came out good. Hand taped?

I just cut these decals for the GS550 in my shop. They can be used as stencils, cleared over, or just left on top since they're weather resistant.

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That's what I'm planning on doing as of now. It goes fast enough for me. I'm just used to driving my car faster than that so I was hoping my bike would be fast too.

Once I put on new shocks, it will be next to perfect for me.

japstar said:
I would search for another engine.
The GN400has a low rev count, and I suspect that has to do with the valves. (just a guess though) Could also be because of the heavy piston (400 cc on 1 piston)

Now way to alter those things radically (in a cheap way). Maybe there are some heads you can swap to from another bike with the same engine but other top end? This way it may be possible to get the rpm up.
Bigger carbs also pump up the top end, but you will lose bottom torque. (I guess you have enough of that with that engine though). I saw that the compression is 9.3, you could boost that to 10 to get more power overall. Play around with ignition timing if possible.

Or you could go for the chill cruiser brat bike and refrain from touching the engine 8)
 
Decided to have a go at painting the muffler. Turned out pretty good I think. Out on some high temp black paint on the pipe and assy and left the clamp chrome.

Also picked up some 16inch shocks (they were supposed to be 15s) for 66 bucks on ebay. They look nice, but they're way too big for my bike. They're about an inch and a half too long for my bike. Anybody have any tips for shock work?
 

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Did a little painting yesterday. I was getting sick of the black so I went with a machine gray with brown stripes and chrome/silver emblem. Also bought some 13" RFY shocks to give me a little boost in the back. Can't want to get out and ride this spring.

Sent from my LGLS992 using DO THE TON mobile app
 
A buddy of mine has a Honda CM400 that we've been working on. Not necessarily cafe racing, but customizing. Painted her on Saturday. Still needs to be touched up, but it turned out pretty good. He bought some gray Honda stickers that are going to go where the old stickers went on the sides of the tank. Should be sweet.
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