1980 Suzuki GS850 Cafe Racer Project

Re: Re: 1980 Suzuki GS850 Cafe Racer Project

99Rocketman said:
What gauges are these please?
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They don't have a name brand but dime city and many other stores carry. I have a couple sets. Good minimalistic stuff. 70 bucks each roughly. Make sure you check the drive type.
 
Re: Re: 1980 Suzuki GS850 Cafe Racer Project

HollywoodMX said:
They don't have a name brand but dime city and many other stores carry. I have a couple sets. Good minimalistic stuff. 70 bucks each roughly. Make sure you check the drive type.
Click to expand...

10-4, They look good, and at that price with warning lights I think thats what I will buy.
 
And today is the day I picked up my seat!



Went for a vintage/distressed colour. Think I will put some water proof boot polish on the seat to make it look a little shiny. I think he made it too big. But it is very comfortable!

Without or with the mudguard?





I'll see if it grows on me more once I shine it up a little.

 
Re: Re: 1980 Suzuki GS850 Cafe Racer Project

andrewmac805 said:
And today is the day I picked up my seat!



Went for a vintage/distressed colour. Think I will put some water proof boot polish on the seat to make it look a little shiny. I think he made it too big. But it is very comfortable!

Without or with the mudguard?





I'll see if it grows on me more once I shine it up a little.

Click to expand...

I vote without. Like you said its a bit big but I'm guessing your ass ain't complaining about it. :)
 
I really like the sear on the BMW inspiration. Your upholstery guy must like em big, cause that seat is, shall we say, AMPLE! Perhaps you could get another thinner one from a different shop, tho one you have looks very comfortable, but it isn't what you told him you wanted and frankly diminishes the whole build. I'm sure you don't want to have it done over, but you may find this an area of dissatisfaction, on an otherwise very nice bike.
 
The seat looks great. It is a little large but just remember that the foam will compact with age. Don't go for looks over comfort, after a long ride I am sure you would rather have a comfy seat then a sore arse.
 
For whatever reason, (lack of communication, etc.) your seat does not suit the bike. The back is completely unsuitable for the rear cowling. It just doesn't match up at the top or the bottom. The bulky hump where the bike meets the tank is visually jarring, too. It looks like an experienced car seat guy tried to do a motorcycle seat for the first time.

It just doesn't work. When you look at your bike, that you've spent all that time, money and effort on, do you want to see a big ugly piece of junk that you settled on? Or something that you know is right and that you are happy with, and proud of?

Maybe your upholstery guy can smooth out the lines if you bring him the bike as a visual and measuring aid?
 
Killman77 said:
For whatever reason, (lack of communication, etc.) your seat does not suit the bike.
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It looks too fluffy, like you want to recline with a TV remote...not what you would want on a cafe racer. Fluffy is not more comfortable, as your butt just compresses the fluffiness immediately. Overall, love the proportions of the bike, but that seat draws the eye like a hairy mole on a beautiful woman.

For the fender: trim the front, paint the last two inches of the back black. I realize some people take fenders off, but I once saw a guy on a nice day riding with just a white T-shirt on a fenderless bike and he looked ridiculous after one tiny puddle. Plus, any engine cosmetic work will be water and sand-blasted away quickly.
 
If you are going to cut the front fender, make sure you leave enough at the bad so that the engine doesn't get covered in all sorts of road crap like mine does!
Good call Caferay!
 
You could probably just get a can of black colour change for the seat (it's suede or velour?).

Have to agree - it looks out of place.
 
Hi gennabean!

No progress on the seat! Been lazy on that front. Going to take Killman77's advice and need to trim the pan on the lower edge and I think I'll shave the seat foam a little myself and take it back to the guy and have him recover it.

It doesn't bother me as much as it first did, and it is really comfortable. That turd just needs a little polish!

I did buy some new rear shocks. It is a budget build so I went for the China special RFY shocks. They are a lot better than the 34 year old original shocks that's for sure! Doesn't feel like a boat rolling through corners now. They are a little hard tho. Over bumps they kinda bounce you up! But there are ways to rebuild them if I want better performance and have the patience!

I also upgraded the front brakes. Got the stainless steel braided lines and swivel banjos by Goodridge from Z1 enterprises. Just order the length you need and screw in the ends you want! Make sure you buy the the 1.25mm banjo bolts which are used for 90% of the bikes! Unless you have a brembo caliper or ducati I since learned! NOT A 1.0mm like I ordered :mad:

I also upgraded the master cylinder, got a kawasaki ninja EX650 lever. Looks good and works great! Also put in some EBC sinstered V-pads.

HERE'S MY BIGGEST TIP! Buy a vacuum brake bleeder!!!!!!!!!

I spent all day trying to prime the master cylinder. I have always managed it, but I guess cause I have 2 brake lines coming from the master cylinder now I just kept getting air in the lines and EXTREMELY frustrated! Went to harbor freight armed with my 25% off coupon and bought the $40 vacuum pump brake bleeder kit. Literally 2 minutes, without dripping brake fluid everywhere. I wish I had bought it sooner, looking back at all the hours I spent dicking around sticking my finger on the end, priming the pump and trying to screw in the banjo bolt before the fluid spilled out and it lost its prime! Failing, and repeating the process!

I also rebuilt a GS1100 rear caliper and put that on since I broke the bleeder nipple off the original one and haven't been able to bleed it properly, and it has half a nipple stuck in it, and half a cheap ass easy out in it! Another tip! DON'T BUY HARBOR FREIGHT EASYOUTS! That one is a no brainer, but I guess I had no brain.





I am in the middle of rebuilding the front forks now. I hammered the forks (with a rubber mallet) out the headlight ears and snapped the air valve in the process, so that was a $20 mistake! Drained them and cleaned them, put new fork seals on them and am installing Sonic Springs which are straight rate springs, not the typical progressive rate springs that most people upgrade to. I have heard they work a lot better for my bike from people that have upgraded from actual Progressive springs to the Sonic springs. We shall see!

My fork boots arrived yesterday, so that'll be my project for the day! Then I can take her for a spin again!
 
Got the Sonic springs in and the fork boots on! Think it looks better! Also tides really nice and tight!

Next I'm going to wrap the exhaust and do a coil modification to bypass done if the old wiring to give me a better spark.

And also fix the seat haha!
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Which way to the beach?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
lookin good. :)

did you experience any issues with the speedo/tach cable routing after installing the mini gauges? my cables push up against the headlight bucket and the cables don't spin well. gonna have to get longer headlight ears or fab a bracket.

good tip on the vacuum brake bleeder - i gotta rebuild my calipers soon.
 
Yeah my cables are hard up against the bucket too. But the metal bend is pressing against the bucket. Doesn't really seem to effect mine that I've noticed.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
Great looking bike! I also have a GS550 I'm restoring and turning into a Café racer, it's my first build, and I'm looking to go with some clubman style bars. The only problem is DCC has 10 different types and I'm unsure of which style/size fits properly, and what size shocks are those RFY's?
 
andrewmac805 said:
jorge0136 here are my new mini gauges. They have some of the warning lights, guess you could just buy that speedo gauge and swap your one out with it, and that would solve some of your problems!

Click to expand...

where did you get these gauges?
 
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