nerdsports
Active Member
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.
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.