82 GS450E Scrambler from Aus - Done!

[peteGS]

I got the new jets real early this morning, so I whacked 'em in (discovered I could remove the float bowls with the carbs still on the bike  ) but now the pilots are too rich dammit! Black plugs...


I've ordered the in between size and hopefully they should rock up tomorow. I've got another day off tomorrow but I'll be a bit occupied getting my wife to a job interview...


I was going to go register it today, but I found out to get the CTP insurance I physically have to walk into an RACQ storefront, then I need to go back home and get the bike and ride it with all my paperwork to a DOT office and get the rego. sorted. No time for that today unfortunately but hopefully very soon...

[JustinLonghorn]

Congrats, sir.

[peteGS]

Congrats, sir.

Thanks Justin! Just need to get rego sorted and there'll be no stopping me
 
Really want this rain to go away so I can get it done...

[peteGS]

Little bit tonight, got the 25 pilot jets in:





Then figured I'd clean up the plugs before firing her up again so I can get a good reading.


Before:





After a quick go over with a wire brush:





Working from home on Friday so as long as the weather holds out I'll be able to go get her registered...

[JustinLonghorn]

Is that blood on the floor? No project is complete without a little spilt blood.

[MotorbikeBruno]

Is that blood on the floor? No project is complete without a little spilt blood.

Agreed.

And good luck with the weather! Hope it holds out for you! 

[peteGS]

Is that blood on the floor? No project is complete without a little spilt blood.

Hahaha no just a bit of exposed timber on the work bench where I got a little enthusiastic with the drill 
 
I have definitely spilt blood on this project though!
 
Dropped a drill on my foot while setting the workbench up, bit first down the side of my foot.
 
And I pinched the meat of my thumb between a hammer head and the end of the shaft at full force with an improvised slide hammer trying to get my rotor off the crankshaft. Nearly severed the chunk of meat but not quite... still feels funny 
 

Agreed.

And good luck with the weather! Hope it holds out for you! 

Thanks mate! Forecast is the same for tomorrow... let's hope it stays that way!

[peteGS]

I decided I'd better do something about my back protector last night.
 
I got a jacket and back protector for our wedding anniversary earlier this year, but the back protector is a generic one that needs to be trimmed to fit my jacket.
 
Left side is what's in the jacket to use as a template, right side is the protector:
 

 
This is how it sits in the jacket and you can just make out the shape of the pocket for it:
 

 

 
Overlaid:
 

 
Shape traced:
 

 
Just used the box cutter I used for the seat foam and it was nice and easy:
 

 
Cut to shape:
 

 
And ready to go:
 

 
And I also dug out and cleaned up my old disc lock which still works:
 

 
Probably should get a more modern one though that has the fancy cord you can loop over your 'bar so you don't forget it's on... and this one was bought in about 1998...

[peteGS]

Then I decided to give everything a quick once over again to make sure it's all good, and in doing so I found a bit of moisture around the T piece feeding fuel to the carbs... turns out I hadn't got the fuel hose down quite far enough and it looks like it worked it's way up a little even with the clamp on it...
 
I had to take the breather filter off to get in there again...
 

 
Best I could get but it doesn't really show the issue...
 

 
And after much fiddling and fluffing around I finally managed to get it seated down properly and if you look closely in the little mirror you can sort of see it... should've used that mirror in the first place!
 

 
That's the mirror you get in the POR 15 tank repair kit, has been handy on a number of occassions now
 
And all back together...
 

 
I got all my paperwork filled out last night too so hopefully the weather holds out today and I can go get her registered...

[Big Rich]

Tough about the minor gas leak - better find it now than later though!

And good job on that back pad Pete! Looks better than the original.

[MotorbikeBruno]

SOOOOOOO whats the weather like today!!!   

[peteGS]

Tough about the minor gas leak - better find it now than later though!

And good job on that back pad Pete! Looks better than the original.

Yes definitely glad I found that leak when I did Rich! Would've sucked to have gotten to the Dept of Transport to find fuel leaking everywhere... 
 
And thanks mate, the original is really more of a template for cutting than a back protector, so I'm glad I got that done now
 

SOOOOOOO whats the weather like today!!!   

Today... crap... but yesterday was nearly perfect 
 

[peteGS]

So she got registered yesterday!!! Woot!!! 
 

 
I like how they've designed the number plates to match my paint scheme perfectly 
 
Weather was nearly perfect, just a few clouds by the time I was heading home... awesome!
 
Got nearly 50 km's on the clock all told as I just had to go the long way home of course, but I did need to log back on to do some work so I couldn't just ride the whole avo unfortunately...
 
I definitely need to do some jetting work...
 
I had to pull over just up the road after leaving in the morning as the idle went up to about 4000 RPM's and stayed there! Ugh! Had to shut her off so I could get my glove off and wind the idle screw back out, then she was right.
 
It seems I haven't been warming her up enough when trying to do the mixture settings... and as a result she's too darn rich on the pilots! I could feel it all the way there and round about yesterday, bogging down off the line dammit, and this is after dropping back another pilot size the other day, so last night I went back to the original purchase of 2 sizes up... figures!
 

 
I also noticed it looked like my bike was as excited as I was:
 

 

 
I saw this the other day and put it down to being a little enthusiastic on the chain lube, but I figured I'd best pull the sprocket cover and have a look last night.
 

 

 

 


The light in the part of the garage where the bike was last night is crap so it's hard to tell properly, but it looks to me like the shifting shaft oil seal is ok and isn't leaking and all of that is still coming off the chain, but I'll have to look again in the daylight at some point to verify that.
 
The overall feeling today was just awesome.
 
Those Ikons ride so well, the front end feels a lot firmer and planted than it used to, although I realise some of that will be due to the tyre too. The rear end wasn't harsh either...
 
The front brake is soooo much better than I remember it now I have the 13mm M/C on there with the braided steel line and everything having been rebuilt.
 
As for the engine... well the pipe and pods have done something that's for sure. I never used to get really good get up and go until about 5000 to 5500 RPM's, but yesterday it was more like 4000 - 4500.  It also feels like it pulls stronger than it used to, although some of this could be imagined purely because I haven't ridden it for so long... love the intake noise of those pods too!
 
The only down side is the speedo seems to be a bit sticky so I need to take care of that soon...

[MotorbikeBruno]

Hooray!!  Congrats man. She's a great lookin' scoot! 

[JustinLonghorn]

Fantastic news, sir.