82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Done!

[peteGS]

Hey all, just joined and figured I'd stick something in here. This has been ongoing for a number of years, but the last couple of years I've really got stuck in, hoping for completion by the end of this year.
 
Started like this:
 

 

 
Currently like this:
 

 

 

 
Still a long way to go for sure, but it's definitely taking shape finally.
 
One of my aims was to keep it as stock as possible, so I haven't done any frame modifications, although I did use the frame work from the duck tail to weld on some curved bits of metal rod to form the tail piece.
 
It's been through a complete frame up rebuild to where it is currently.
 
It's got a tail light from a CL360 on it, modified front guard from a GTR1000 as the rear guard, and I got the pipes made by a local mob here called Tranzac.
 
I'm currently working on a fork brace and front guard.
 
Haven't decided on paint yet, but am planning on a pair of lengthwise stripes and painting the knee dents the same colour as the stripes as well as making some rubber knee pads for them.
 
Other plans are for a bash plate, hand guards, and mesh stone guard for the headlight, which I also need to replace.
 
I also made up an adaptor so I could use the 'bar mounted choke lever from a newer GSX as I hate having the choke lever on the left carb.
 
I'm just hoping the rest of my work can do that pipe justice!

[Big Rich]

Thanks for starting this up over here Pete. It's easy for me to miss an update over on the GSR.

Don't know if I told you or if you saw it, but I mounted a plastic fender to the 2 bolts on the bottom of my triple tree. The third bolt to support the fender will be from my headlight bucket (also why it's mounted so low to the fender).

[hillsy]

G'day Pete.


Same here - I don't really keep a close eye on the GSR threads so it's good to see your bike over here 


Refresh my memory - is the motor running as yet? I knew you were trying to find an ignitor / build one a while back....

[haplo_84]

God i love those pipes man! Did you give your left nut for that or what?

[peteGS]

Thanks for starting this up over here Pete. It's easy for me to miss an update over on the GSR.

Don't know if I told you or if you saw it, but I mounted a plastic fender to the 2 bolts on the bottom of my triple tree. The third bolt to support the fender will be from my headlight bucket (also why it's mounted so low to the fender).

No worries Rich, glad to oblige 


I probably won't go into as much detail here (GSR thread is now 1280 replies and over 20000 views... a little hard to replicate that 


I'll try to keep it up to date though that's for sure!


I didn't notice the plastic guard but I'll go look in a tic.


I scored a generic plastic dirt guard off eBay for $5 plus postage which is what I'm planning on using once I get the mounting sorted. Not sure if you saw that over on the GSR or not so I'll chuck a couple of mock ups up...


Up high just doesn't work at all, I think it's the 18 inch wheel that just doesn't make it work, and mounting would be a royal PITA as the brake line, main wiring harness, and speedo cable all go around the bottom triple clamp where I would need to mount it:





I think this is how I'm going, mounting on top of the fork brace I've yet to make up. The masking tape front and back is where I gotta trim it:

[peteGS]

G'day Pete.


Same here - I don't really keep a close eye on the GSR threads so it's good to see your bike over here 


Refresh my memory - is the motor running as yet? I knew you were trying to find an ignitor / build one a while back....

Mate I'm having the opposite problem... too used to the GSR and still working out how to keep an eye on the stuff over here. There is so many more threads over here... so many sub forums and forums in comparison... at least I finally worked out how to turn reply notifications on! 


I've got a circuit sorted that lets me use a pair of the HEI modules for the ignition, but the first time I fired it up I had rags over the carb inlets that were too restrictive and I couldn't get it to do more than an idle. I didn't work out until too late that it was too rich that was the problem, otherwise I could've ditched the rags and seen what happens.


I've got the K&N's on now as well as the pipes so I'm gonna test fire it again this Saturday to see if the ignition's sorted or not and to test out the charging system.


One of the other guys on the GSR got an electrical engineer dude to compare the stock circuit to the HEI setup I have and he reckons they should pretty much work the same, so fingers crossed it'll be sorted!


I'm also having email conversations with a dude at Dynatek at the moment so we can work out if their DS3-3C can be adapted to the 450's or not as it's only designed as a points replacement for the 400's at the moment. Everything I can find so far says it will work, but the 400's don't have the oil pressure switch under the timing cover so there's no cutout for that in the pickup plate for the ignition, and I have no idea if the mounting is the same. If it does work, that means there's be a real supportable ignition alternative instead of just my dodgy home made circuit... The only real difference I can find at the moment is that the 400's have the advance set at 20 degrees BTDC below 1650 RPM whereas the 450's are 10 BTDC, above 3500 RPM they're both the same at 40 BTDC. I'm no ignition guru but I think that's workable if the DS3-3C uses the existing advance mechanism...


Anyway, I intend to take a vid of it starting and running, so I'll post that up here as well.


This'll be the first time I hear those pipes in action too... can't wait!!!

[peteGS]

God i love those pipes man! Did you give your left nut for that or what?

Thanks mate!!! I'm married, I have no nuts! Hahaha just kiddin, my wife's awesome


It wasn't cheap, but it was about half what I expected to pay...


Everytime I go in the garage at the moment I stop and stare for a minute, can't believe how perfectly the guy at Tranzac interpreted what I told him, he was spot on!


Idiot me forgot to take my work iPhone with me so I couldn't show him pic's of the cardboard mock up I did or anything, and he doesn't have net access in his shed, so I had to explain it and point... he did the rest!

[haplo_84]

Wow i have to say then if he did all that with just word description that man is a true exhaust artist guru!

[peteGS]

Wow i have to say then if he did all that with just word description that man is a true exhaust artist guru!

For sure! I've seen/heard Tranzac pipes a few times and the always look and sound great, but I'd never seen his custom work until I got this one done. I've never heard even a hint of negative feedback about Tranzac, and now I know why! 

[peteGS]

Got myself set up for testing the ignition on Saturday and finally getting to hear what the pipes sound like:








I really need to do something about that crap wiring on the prototype for the ignition setup too, a couple of wires are way too short so I have to mount the modules one on top of the other for the moment.

[dtDoug]

Greetings Pete, 
I like what you have done with the bike,  good work.  I like your ignitor hei modification.  I have a gs250 that uses the exact same Igniter part number as you.  Could you please forward your hei schematic to me?  What components do you have on that bread board and how are they hooked up?
 
Thanks so much.

[peteGS]

Thanks Doug! Definitely no reason your 250 shouldn't work with this setup, providing the setup actually works!
 
I've only tested it once so far and it only got as far as idling because of my rags over the intakes, so if you're going to make one for yourself, remember it's not fully tested yet!
 
I'm not sure what the etiquette is in regards to posting links from other forums, but there's way too much info to repost it here, so here's my thread over on the GSR about the ignitor stuff, definitely worth a look I think:
 
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=171781
 
Here's the circuit for one coil, you need to duplicate this, one for each coil:
 

 
If it works like it is right now, you'll need 2 diodes, 4 resistors, and 2 transistors as well as some board, wire, etc. as well as the 2 GM style HEI modules. I believe in the US they're Wells brand DR-100 or compatible modules. I'm using some made in Taiwan style knock offs I got on eBay for $9.99 each.
 
Once I know it's definitely working correctly I hope to do a build guide for it.
 
I also can't take credit for this setup, there are a few guys over on GSR who have contributed to this a lot more than I could, as well as a guy on the KZ forums called Lou who seems to be a bit of a guru adapting HEI modules to bikes.
 
Alternatively, if you're not keen on electrical stuff like this, then if the Dynatek DS3-3C looks to be compatible, that could prove a good alternative, but of course will cost some $$$ in comparison.

[dtDoug]

Greetings Pete,
Just to clarify, the parts list has Resistors specified as 47K ohm 1/4 watt and 4K7 ohm 1/4.  Can I assume that the 4K7 ohm is also a 47K ohm?
Thanks
Doug

[peteGS]

Hi Doug, nope, that won't work at all... 4K7 ohm as in 4700 ohms, and 47K ohm as in 47000 ohms.
 
The transistor is to both invert and amplify the input signal from the pickup coils, so those resistor values are pretty important for amplifying the signal.

[peteGS]

Well bugger me! Doug, if you're doing the HEI modules, hold on to your hat.


I kicked it over with a mate today, and the timing's about 180 degrees out, so all it wanted to do was sit there and backfire, idled like crap.


So the richness I encountered the first time that prevented me getting the timing light to work made me miss that completely.


So glad my mate was around today or I would've been completely lost!


Swapped some connections round on the HEI modules which didn't change a thing, and ended up he went back to his place and extended the holes in the signal generator plate that should hopefully let us get it back timed correctly. He also made an extra "F" mark 180 degrees out on the advance plate so there's a mark to time against there.


Of course fixing the circuit so it isn't 180 degrees out would be great too, but I haven't figured that one out yet.