What's up everybody. I'm attempting to rebuild my 1980 Suzuki GN400 that I bought back in the beginning of June. My dad and I have been tinkering around with it for a while now but we are finally starting to get to the good stuff. I bought it for $750, which I thought was a fantastic deal at the time. I still think it was a pretty good deal, but if I had known some of the problems at the time, I probably would've gone with something a little nice. On to the good stuff. When I bought it, the guy said it had electrical issues, but it ran like a champ. Got it home and started riding it around the neighborhood. I live in the middle of nowhere so there were no cops to pull me over (I didn't have my license at the time and the flashers didn't work.. whoops). Eventually, we took the seat off and found that none of the wires were connected. We eventually got it all hooked up. The flashers would light up but not flash, the head light was dead, and one of the front flashers wouldn't even light up. Now you're caught up to where I am now.
Schools out for the winter which means I have five weeks to work on the bike before I go back. However, that doesn't mean it will all get done in this time. I am a college kid building this on a college kid budget so not all of it will get done in five weeks. For all I know, none of it could!
So here's what I want to do with my bike.
I'm 6'2 and if you don't know anything about a GN400, they're kind of small (I think anyways). I sit on the back seat so my knees don't cramp up. Sitting on the front seat makes me look funny. I want to make a flat seat (probably out of some sheet metal and workout mats). That way I can sit lower and farther back without looking as ridiculous.
I would love to repaint or have someone repaint the gas tank. The previous owner decided it would be a good idea to spray paint it... My dad works at a truck shop and has guys in the shop that will repaint the tank and shine it for me. We're just waiting for some warmer weather and for the shop not to be busy. Soon.
I want to get a flatter handlebar or even some clip ons. I like the buckhorn style handles and all, but I grew up riding dirt bikes so I want something more standard.
With the new seat, we're planning on taking off the fender and wiring two LED lights to the brake switch. That way the seat can sit lower on the frame. We'll also have to take a metal bracket/something-or-other off. I'll probably do away with the turn signals and just use my hands unless we can get them working and somehow attached. I've also seen lights at AutoZone that I could probably rig up, but that's not really first priority. I bought a 6 to 12v converter off eBay that might fix the light problem. The headlight and brake light work fine so the flashers will run off 12v and head and brake off 6v.
That's all I think needs to be done as of now.
The below pictures are my bike now and an idea I found on here for how I want my bike to look. Shout out to the guy that built the bike in the second picture. I'd give your name but I forgot who's it was. So props to you!
Schools out for the winter which means I have five weeks to work on the bike before I go back. However, that doesn't mean it will all get done in this time. I am a college kid building this on a college kid budget so not all of it will get done in five weeks. For all I know, none of it could!
So here's what I want to do with my bike.
I'm 6'2 and if you don't know anything about a GN400, they're kind of small (I think anyways). I sit on the back seat so my knees don't cramp up. Sitting on the front seat makes me look funny. I want to make a flat seat (probably out of some sheet metal and workout mats). That way I can sit lower and farther back without looking as ridiculous.
I would love to repaint or have someone repaint the gas tank. The previous owner decided it would be a good idea to spray paint it... My dad works at a truck shop and has guys in the shop that will repaint the tank and shine it for me. We're just waiting for some warmer weather and for the shop not to be busy. Soon.
I want to get a flatter handlebar or even some clip ons. I like the buckhorn style handles and all, but I grew up riding dirt bikes so I want something more standard.
With the new seat, we're planning on taking off the fender and wiring two LED lights to the brake switch. That way the seat can sit lower on the frame. We'll also have to take a metal bracket/something-or-other off. I'll probably do away with the turn signals and just use my hands unless we can get them working and somehow attached. I've also seen lights at AutoZone that I could probably rig up, but that's not really first priority. I bought a 6 to 12v converter off eBay that might fix the light problem. The headlight and brake light work fine so the flashers will run off 12v and head and brake off 6v.
That's all I think needs to be done as of now.
The below pictures are my bike now and an idea I found on here for how I want my bike to look. Shout out to the guy that built the bike in the second picture. I'd give your name but I forgot who's it was. So props to you!
