SWEET gs650 (that's the plan anyway)

[mbrand721]

Got this:

Wanna make it like this:


Here's my journey..

Bike Info:
1982 GS650E that I picked up yesterday for 800 bucks with a title. Came with all the original parts and a cafe racer rear cowling. Hoping to have this thing finished with a total cost of less that 1200 bucks which I feel is a reasonable budget considering I'm the Master Macgyver. I have old bmx handlebars that I cut for part of the tail section, and plan to use a...legally obtained... street sign (shhh...) for an electronics box.

Feel free to chime in with shit talking, words of encouragement, irrelevant rambling, whatever!

[Jonny_C]

I look forward to this build!  I picked up an '83 GS650G last week and am going to do a build on it as well.  I'm currently trying to figure out the seat pan / electronics tray, along with...well...pretty much everything else

[Jonny_C]

Here's the information on the bike you posted

http://www.thegsresources.com/halloffame/2003/gs_photo_jan03.htm

I was thinking of doing what he did with the rearsets, basically just mount them on the existing frame mounts.  Can't figure out how to do the linkage for the rear brake though.

Any other plans for the bike?  Would be nice to bounce ideas off of each other since there are so few cafe GS650s out there.

[mbrand721]

Honestly dude, I have NO idea about any specifics. haha I'm just gonna try and figure it out as i go

[gk45011]

Love the ZUK's. I'll be keeping an eye on this.

[mbrand721]

So I've got a good idea of what I'll be trying to get done to it this weekend as far as getting the rear cowling mounted. But, it looks like I'll need to get a rebuild kit for the petcock because the damn thing keeps leaking on me! I really wish they never went with the vacuum petcock. But, she runs and rides and does what she needs to mechanically, so time to get her all purtied up so I can get out and ride. I plan on riding this to school and cutting my commute time in half (as well as cost of gas).

[Big Rich]

Watch that leak - it can fill the crank case with gas.

And I've tried the rebuild kit along with a new petcock from Z1 (for different tanks). While I've never had the rebuild kit fail, I have heard there is a 50/50 chance that it will. Just something to consider.

[Jonny_C]

I actually have a petcock off of a Yamaha Raptor showing up tomorrow.  It's ON-OFF-RES just like it should have been from the start (don't like unnecessary moving parts).  Cost around $20 from Ronayers.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1251932429

[mbrand721]

Sweet dude! And you're sure it will fit in the stock mounts on my tank?

[Jonny_C]

I'll let you know tonight when I get home

[mbrand721]

Ha, alrighty! If it does, I'm ordering it tomorrow and solving all these damn hassles! FYI, for your electronics tray, a street sign fits inbetween the frame damn-near perfectly 

[Jonny_C]

Not sure if you planned on going with rearsets, but I'm looking at the possibility of getting stock GSXR rearsets with master cylinder to mount up.  Would be cheap, and would avoid the hassle of trying to get off-the-shelf rearsets to hook up to the stock master cylinder.

I need to get a cafe seat/cowl though to so I can start planning on how I'm going to mount it.

[mbrand721]

I was going to just go with the stock rear sets for now and maybe in the future move the pegs back to where the passenger pegs are and just re route the shifter and brake linkage. That will come with handlebar changes though. This bike is meant to be a daily rider.

I just started tackling the mounting of my cowling today. I bought a 1/2" rod that fits perfectly into the stock forward seat mount and will run flat bar off of that that will bolt onto the bottom of the fiberglass. Then I can put a cushion on it and it will still be removable. I'm thinking the rear will latch in with a home-made spring detent system that i've created in my head. When I have pictures, I'll show you.

[Jonny_C]

That's awesome that your thinking of utilizing the stock front seat mount as well as some type of detent system.  I was trying to imagine a way to utilize the stock key detent thing mounted under the seat.  I certainly want to be able to take the seat/cowl off without having to bust out a wrench.  I was thinking of using the stock seat pan, but it rises up to much towards the back and there will probably be nothing left of mine but a pile of rust once a sand blaster hits it

This weekend will be spent sanding and polishing the aluminum side covers though.  It's certainly a laborious task since mine are so oxidized and scratched up.

[mbrand721]

Mine are in pretty good shape, so they'll do for now. And I was thinking about cutting apart the stock seat for it, but I figured I could sell it easier =)