Firestarter
Been Around the Block
Thanks to my very loving wife, it was possible recently to pick up a pair of Suzuki GT550 two-stroke triples. One is in really pristine shape other than a few pirated parts- lenses, chrome, etc are in almost new condition, tank is already stripped for paint, and the cases have no oxidation and barely a scratch on them!
The other bike is lowered, missing the signals front and rear, no seat, no tank, and is a perfect candidate for a full-scale cafe assault! So then the plans are:
Bike one- restore to as original condition as possible. The work/parts list to do this is:
Recover seat, looking for a reproduction OE cover, having it done is a last resort
Paint tank- again an OE paint scheme or a modified version of the same, with original badges etc.
Restore or replace gauge panel -probably the hardest part! No idea how to do this exactly, just watching ebay, forums, etc and hope the right parts pop up
Replace carbs
Bike two- full-on cafe rebuild-
No need to strip/paint the frame as the paint is in fantastic condition
Aluminum tank unless I can find a nice used one somewhere
Cafe seat, possibly aluminum
has a set of dirt-bike bars on it now, probably replace with Clip-ons or Clubmans
paint for bodywork and tank, no idea on color yet
expansion chamber exhaust
Already has pod filters but it too needs a set of carbs
make up a set of rearsets
figure out some sort of speedo/tach arrangement thats not as goofy as the OE
hide or eliminate as much of the wiring as I can
Other cool little touches Ihave no idea of yet
Ok pics!
The other bike is lowered, missing the signals front and rear, no seat, no tank, and is a perfect candidate for a full-scale cafe assault! So then the plans are:
Bike one- restore to as original condition as possible. The work/parts list to do this is:
Recover seat, looking for a reproduction OE cover, having it done is a last resort
Paint tank- again an OE paint scheme or a modified version of the same, with original badges etc.
Restore or replace gauge panel -probably the hardest part! No idea how to do this exactly, just watching ebay, forums, etc and hope the right parts pop up
Replace carbs
Bike two- full-on cafe rebuild-
No need to strip/paint the frame as the paint is in fantastic condition
Aluminum tank unless I can find a nice used one somewhere
Cafe seat, possibly aluminum
has a set of dirt-bike bars on it now, probably replace with Clip-ons or Clubmans
paint for bodywork and tank, no idea on color yet
expansion chamber exhaust
Already has pod filters but it too needs a set of carbs
make up a set of rearsets
figure out some sort of speedo/tach arrangement thats not as goofy as the OE
hide or eliminate as much of the wiring as I can
Other cool little touches Ihave no idea of yet
Ok pics!