Howdy

It occurred to me that I haven't introduced myself...

First i want to say I am STOKED to find this place... I just got back from a bike show with 100+ bikes and there wasn't a single Cafe racer there... I'm all alone in a sea of HD's and Victorys here in Illiana!

So I've been riding since I was 16. Hondas mostly; CB's. I'm just getting back to it since college, wife, kids, career, etc... My father in law gave me a Suzuki GN400 to play with and while I'm just going to ride it this season, I'm going to do a tear-down and rebuild this winter.

There's just something about carbureted, kick-start single-cylinder bikes that is refreshing... no sensors, ONE carburetor and it'll still run if the battery is dead! ;D

My dad was a body/paint man at a Chrysler dealership for years and I picked up a fair bit from him. I also embarked on my own powder coating adventure a few years ago so I have some good experience there as well. I'm an electronics geek and spend most of my day behind a keyboard and a bit of my time at home behind a soldering iron. Basically the only skills I don't have are the hard mechanical stuff and welding... that's what friends are for!

Anyway, like I said, I'm really excited to meet you like-minded folks here and I hope I can give as good as I get. (Advice that is.)

-Deek

Welcome to our freak show Happy to have ya!

Jenn

Welcome to DTT.

Welcome! Let's see some pics of your bike. The more the better.

Hey neighbor, Congrats on the Zookie project and welcome aboard!
Saw your comment on "Bulldog" so I know you have good taste, interested to see what you do with the GN400.
Being an electronics guy will be a benifit... most here hate electrical issues.

Thanks, everyone! I've always liked bigger bikes but its time to do something smaller. (not that a 400cc single is really all that small) but it's a far cry from the 750's and 1000's I usually ride.

The Bulldog build really turned my idea of what a bike could be on its ear... I had visions of making my GL a fuel-injected and supercharged superbike but its just not in the cards at the moment. One day...

Then I found that Carpy fellow and even though he works with bigger bikes too, they sometimes have that nimble and minimalist look I'm after.

I'll start a build thread (it will be slow going until late fall) and I like the idea of a build thread only in pictures too!

In the mean time, I'll follow this post up with a shot of the bike as it sits right now. (once I get to a keyboard)

Welcome Brother

OK, here she is in stock trim. Zero modifications, about 20K on the motor. She runs fine but the carburetor is currently off because I got a pinhole in one of the floats... gas was flowing out as fast as it was flowing in!



This is the only bike I've ever dropped...

I have two rules when riding that I NEVER break:
[list type=decimal]
[*]Always ride in full gear.
[*]Never ride if you aren't certain of the mechanicals.
[/list]

The ONE time I broke those rules, I dropped this bike. I knew the front brake was prone to sticking and it was hotter than hell that day; I skipped the jacket and headed back home from a 1 mile ride the front caliper was dragging so bad it slid out from under me when I turned it around. Road rash and a bit of bursitis on my hip were my only ill effects. The bike took the brunt of it; the dent in the tank you see is from my knee!

-Deek

That will be a trick to cafe with the cruiser style frame... not impossible, just not optimal. love the snowflakes (wheels). also as a note, going by the color of the pipes looks like the right side was running a little lean.

There's a pretty sweet example at pipeburn by Holiday Customs and a few other examples around. the biggest issue is the forks; they're really long! Suzuki crammed a dirt bike motor in a cruiser frame and put chopper forks on it... I can't explain the mags but I LOVE them! they've kind of been the inspiration for the design of the whole build. At the risk of going all "Carpy" on this thing, I think I might do a gold frame to match the mags.

I got the tune sorted out before the carb float crapped out on me; it was a tiny bit rich when I drove it last but that may have had to do with the float. It was way lean, as you said. The plug was ashy!

Always good to have another Suzuki around!

Just curious, what size is the rear wheel / tire? The only downfall to the front 18" mag is that it won't take a dual disc brake setup. Of course, you could look into the "Salty Monk caliper upgrade" for the single brake you do have. It uses a CBR rotor and Kawasaki twinpot caliper.

Welcome fellow Noob, Cool peeps here!

Big Rich said:

Just curious, what size is the rear wheel / tire? The only downfall to the front 18" mag is that it won't take a dual disc brake setup. Of course, you could look into the "Salty Monk caliper upgrade" for the single brake you do have. It uses a CBR rotor and Kawasaki twinpot caliper.

Click to expand...

Rear is a 16". Seriously need to do something with the front brake!

-Deek

16", huh? Probably a 120 or 130/90 tire than.

I'd be absolutely amazed if you couldn't swap the rear from a GS450E right on. It is the same size wheel as your front (1.85"*18").

How cool would that be?! I didn't realize that wheel design was available on more than one model.

So would you buy the same tire front and back in that case? (I've never had same-sized wheels before.) I thought for sure there was a difference in construction for rears.

Yep, same size front and rear. The recommended size is 100/90-18.

I actually have a GS450E rear mag in the garage. The lip on it is bent so it's not usable (at least, not to me) but I can take anymmeasurements if you need them. And if the GS450E mag fits, than a spoked wheel from a GS400 will fit as well.

I just went through your GS and GR builds... that is some nice work you're doing there!

My original thought with this bike was to just do the minimum to get it more comfortable and less "chopper" but now that I've seen what's going on here, I've changed my mind.

What I really would like is something in this style but with mags (love the same size idea.. that would take some of the "chopper" look off)



That's lior_baruch's CB... Totally different frame style but I think the overall effect of the bright frame/dark everything else is nice.

-Deek