Boingk's Budget GS850 [Sold...]

[boingk]

Hey guys, finally got myself a real cafe project. For a while now I've been looking for something from the 70's or 80's that I could caffinate. Something with a bit of grunt about it that'd be up for the traffic light GP, as well as long distance work. Something with a reputation for being bulletproof. Something that was cheap, haha.

Enter the GS.

I picked it up with a mate after negotiating the sale over eBay. The '85 GS850g had been bought as a project and hadn't ever been gotten around to, so onto the 'Bay it went. I called the guy and offered him $600, he agreed and it all went from there. Once I got a mate to lend a hand and the time to go and get it, it all started to roll nicely. We rocked up and said hi, then went and had a squiz at the bike itself. Didn't look anything special, but most metal parts were shiny. The fellow admitted it'd been left outside and hadn't been touched in a couple of months, that didn't seem to matter though as it fired right up. He bridged the coils to get it to start, but it ran without hassles or rattles or smoke. As should be expected for a large, understressed bike with 57,000km on the dial.

Right now its in my shed and getting some TLC. I started by having a shot at the electrics, as they were shot to hell. Nothing on the handlebars worked save the light switch. I soldered and heatshrinked away and got the starter, horn and highbeam switches to work. Nothing special. The stuffed 14Ah battery got replaced with a 9Ah one I had lying around, and the oil got replaced with good semi-synthetic Penrite 10W-50.

Next came the carbies...and they were a massive shock:

Not too bad, I thought.

Hmmm, pretty clean bowls...

WHOA!

Extremely clean floats and jets.

So, looks like its had a refurbishment kit put through it at the very least, and probably been given some pretty good care over its lifetime. Its definitely in for some more TLC from me. The next issues are to replace the battery terminals (they're terminal, hahaha...) and fit a non-square headlamp, as well as replacing the indicators. The bars are staying for now, as are the mirrors which will definitely get moved over onto clubmans when I get some. I'm planning to furbish a seat myself from fibreglass, something not as large and unweildy as the one I have now. Classic rear-hump and all that, perhaps relocating the battery there also. The rear light will get ditched and something integrated into the seat cowl. Rearsets are a definite, the current forward positioned controls are a bit naff.

As for an overall image, I'm thinking matt or satin black with an offset double racing stripe in white. Clubmans, large round lamp, lean seat and clean electronics. I'll probably also fit pods, as I don't like the stock air intakes look or design all that much.

Anywho, thats it for now. Any advice or tips are definitely welcome, as are comments and critique.

Cheers all - boingk

 

[JRK5892]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850

that a boy! nice build man!!! stoked to watch this happen

 

[liam]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850

good buy, the GS series was what i recommended to a friend who was looking for an old big capacity bike. they seem to be pretty much the only old bikes which make a good cafe base that are not overpriced.

don't go making it look too good, or you'll drive the prices up on them too!

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850

don't go making it look too good

Haha, not much chance of that happening. Its all systems go as far as bodging is concerned, although it should look at least halfway decent. I'm after more of a grungy, functional look. Think of something the bad guys in Mad Max rode and you'd probably be getting close. As for overpricing, I was lucky to contact the fellow before anyone bid on the bike and strike a deal. He said later that a few people after we spoke had offered him more, but I got in first so it was mine. Top bloke.

I should be able to give it a test ride sometime on the weekend, after reconnecting the battery and fitting a headlamp so I can go for a buzz without attracting too much attention. I just picked the #2 cylinder as misfiring though, which I do want to try and fix pretty soon. I think its electrical problems, as the coils and leads look absolutely shagged and the carbies look very clean and seem to be well adjusted. Could be as simple as a dud spark plug or the battery terminals.

Cheers for the words guys - boingk

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850

Did a bit on the bike, mainly what I said I'd do in the above post. The battery now has a decent set of leads coming from it (old ones disintegrated) and there are new spark plugs in the engine, NGK BR8ES. Seem to make it happier, the old ones looked pretty average. I also got around to striping the tank. Its nothing special, just electrical tape, but it looks the part I reckon. I might strip it and do something more flash in the future but this is how it is for now:

After that was done I patched the tear in the seat with some more 'leccy tape and took her out for a quick spin. No hassles, smooth running, the brakes work and nothing fell off. Woo! It did run into a brick wall around 4k though, I'm thinking carby issues caused by fitment of a 4 into 1 exhaust plus the generally clogged airbox. If anyone has any advice on that then I'm all ears.

Cheers - boingk

 

[TDC]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850

Have you checked out http://www.thegsresources.com ? It is chucked full of good info. There is a illistrated step by step instructions for rebuilding those carbs there. One of the members has this website also dedicated to the old GS's. http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff

Enjoy

Josh

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850

Josh, I already use the GS rescources and found the carby tutorials interesting but not particularly helpful as I'm fairly familiar with carburettors already. Rebuilding isn't that hard IMO; just take apart and make notes or take pictures as you go, then clean up and reassemble. Thanks a bundle, however, for that second site! Wiring diagrams, owner and service manuals...exactly what I was after. I might head back to the shed and have another shot at the wiring now I have some idea of which wires do what, I was using blind luck and intuition before.

Thanks a million - boingk

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850

Righteo, instead of doing wiring and so forth as suggested in my last post, I ended up going to the hardware store and getting some fibreglassing materials. 1sq/m of chop and a litre of resin to be precise, as well as 6 blocks of florist foam. I decided I wanted to stay a bit boxy to keep the lines in touch with my tank, and integrate the rear frame brace to let me put my stock seat back on should I wish to go 2-up. Before I get started, I want to give a big shout out to HerrDeacon for his seat build thread and easy, step-by-step method and pictues. It made a daunting job pretty straight forward for a first-timer.

Shaping of cowl, as well as a ridged seat pan for, er, ridgidity:

After two layers of fibreglassing:

I'm pretty pleased with the results considering I've never used fibreglass before. The rear cowl looks a bit dodgy from some angles, with a sunken band halfway, but it'll be an easy fix with some filler and a bit of sanding. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a cheap way to get a better looking seat on their ride, especially if your bike isn't widely catered for. As a rough estimate for 'glassing, I used a double layer of thick chop and went through almost a sqaure meter of the stuff. I used a litre of resin to impregnate it. One change from the initial design was to use two raised runners in the middle to make the seatpan ridgid, instead of three sunken valleys. This was just because I thought it would be easier to shape the 'glass around.

I spent $67 on materials, and anticipate not spending more than $100~120 total including filler, paint, padding and covering. Keep in mind that I'm working on a large sport-tourer and not a small sports or commuter style bike, which would most likely need less materials for the same amount of work. If you're keen on this, stay away from fibreglassing 'packs', which at my local hardware store cost 4x the amount of buying materials seperately in larger quantities (ie by the meter/litre). Also make sure you have a smooooth cowl shape to avoid bumps and lumps that will need fixing up later with bondo, like mine will need.

Anywho, thats it for now.

Cheers all - boingk

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

After a bit of umm-ing and ah-ing I figured the best way to rescue my botched fibreglassing attempt was to use a lot of fibre-filler and bondo. I started by roughing the rear cowl with a hacksaw blade, just holding it at both ends and scraping it along to give quite a rough surface. The fibre-filler mostly went into an ugly sunken area halfway back on the cowl. This could have been avoided by making a nice smooth consistent male mould, but theres no teacher like experience. After half a pound or so of filler, I got to bondo-ing the thing. This smoothed things out a lot more, and after some sanding I gave it an initial shot of primer.

I'm pretty pleased with the overall shape of the cowl now, and just need to use a bit more bondo to fill in depressions and uneven areas. After that its some more sanding and refining, then hopefully painting and apholstery. I scored some seating foam and block vinyl from a local place I've used before, $22 for a quarter square meter of vinyl and enough foam to ensure a good seat and bum stop. Two-inch for the seating area and one-inch for the stop are what I'm thinking of, the vinyl glued around the foam and the foam glued down to the seat. If anyones got some pointers on this I'm all ears.

The placement of the cowl is about as good as I could get it without resorting to a frame chop, the raised bar right on the tail supports the stock seat at the rear and I had to build the cowl around it. Its out of view and gives some stability to the cowl, which is more than welcome. The whole affair fits snugly and can be removed easily. I like the lines its giving, so I don't think it'll change dramatically. The materials have come to about $150 including paint and apholstery. I reckon another $10 of bondo and that'll be it.

Cheers all - boingk

 

[Rocan]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

wow good job on making a decent seat to go along with that tank!

looks like its coming along....


may i recommend hacking up (or totally removing) that front fender? would look great!


P.S. - Personally im finding it to be be a better idea to just re-run all the electronics then to bother with whats in it... Usually they can be simplified a whole shit load... Like instead of having 4 wires for the ground, run them into 1 thick wire, with a 4 connector at the end. It makes it easy to find a problem, not to mention looking pretty damn good.




About the wall at 4k- check that the ignition is set up to factory spec. If its a carb issue, the engine would probably cut out or stutter- checking your plugs after riding at the problem rpm for a minute or so could probably tell you a shitload about how the bike is running.

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

Thanks Rocan, and I'm definitely thinking of doing something with the fender. Only thing is I want to try and keep everything legal and removing the fender would definitely not be that. I'll figure something out. The electrics are being looked after, I was thinking of doing a total rerun from the start, make it totally custom and make my own wiring diagram as I go. Might be a PITA but it'll be worth it as you said.

At the moment the rear cowl is going to have its final coat of bondo and then it'll get the spraycan treatment and some stripes to match the tank. I've decided the seat vinyl is going to wrap right around the base to keep unsightly bulges out of view. The bulges are there because I really didn't want to do a frame chop in any regard, and I wanted to keep the stock seat mountings so I can throw it back on to pillion somone.

Anywho, the final thing for the cowl after the paint and striping will be lights. I'm thinking a simple integrated rear/stop/plate light and small, simple indicator lights mounted on the sides of the cowl. Not sure at this stage if I want a round or square tail light, any opinions would be nice.

All that should be able to be done by mid next week, although my 21st bash might get in the way haha. Stay tuned for updates.

Cheers all - boingk

 

[ROne]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

Doing well man.......you are more 'adventurous' than me with some of the things you have done (ie: making the seat & cowl) but it's definately fun tackling some issues and finding solutions to them isn't it?

It gives you a nice feeling of accomplishment, even if they don't always turn out exactly how you imagine. I thoroughly enjoyed modifying and customizing the CX and yet, there is always still more I want to do to it but I'm very happy with the outcome for now.

Keep being inspired as your project really seems to be taking shape. Call me weird, but I kinda get more of a buzz riding something that I've customised/personalised than simply buying something that's 'straight of the showroom floor', especially when you get tons of positive comments.

Good luck and Ill be keen to watch the progress.

ROne

 

[seven54]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

That's a great looking ride...

I wish I'd known about these before forking out 2500 OZ dollars for my 78 CB750.....

Anyhow, just a thought. I reckon the cowl is sitting back a little to far.

Below is a rough mock-up, cutting and pasting the rear of your tank for a cowl, and pushing it forwards a bit.

 

[Deviant1]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

I like that! My seat is made from the back part of a tx500 tank, and the shape is very nice indeed.

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

Hey seven54, thanks for the post, I don't mind that at all. Only thing stopping me from doing it is the big, gnarly frame member that loops upward across the rear section. Its under the cowl about halfway back, you can get a good squizz at it in the foam mock up picture. I don't really want to cut it off, but I'll see what happens.

Anywho, I picked up some indicators and a tail light the other day. Nothing special, just oval clear-lens indicators and a circular trailer marker/stop/plate light. Should be throwing them on the cowl after it gets its last few coats of paint.

Cheers guys - boingk

By the by, 2.5k for anything thats in decent nick isn't too bad. I just skinted my way into getting this project, low bid and DIY all the way. Lots of wrenching ;D

 

[loudest143]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

One thing that I've found that these bikes are very finicky in the air/fuel ratio category. Meaning, I had some of my boot clamps a bit loose from vibration, where the airbox clamps to the intake side of the carb, and the thing ran awful. Tightened them up, and she's back to running like a scalded cat. Another tip, change your drive oil when you change your regular fluid, about every other standard oil change. I skipped it the last time, when it was due, and I can feel a bit of clunkyness that indicates I made the wrong decision. Probably a pretty standard tip, but hey, I like my GS850. Also, on my 82, I mounted a fork brace and removed the front fender. The thicker gauge aluminium did wonders for that front end wiggle. If you've had the bike over 65mph, you know what I mean. With the brace, you could almost let your hands off the bars at 70, it feels that smooth. (never tried that, of course)

Your stock seat may be a sought after commodity. Here in the states it would be. Maybe down under, where you guys got MORE 850s, not so much. Stainless brake lines are next on my list, even though the stock lines are pretty good. My brakes work well, but I've got to think that the stainless braided lines are light years ahead in the braking performance category.

Good luck and have fun. You're gonna get lots of compliments on this bike. People envy us, because we have fast, nimble and comfortable bikes.

loudest143

 

[seven54]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

Good luck with that,

I'm in Melbourne and I was interested in where you got the materials for your seat.

I'm currently making a plug (checkit out here) for mine and up to to $350 for materials alone. My project has stalled a little with the cold weather.

Still have to dismantle the wheels to get them powder coated and I have some rear sets coming from France.

When I get enough work on the way I will be posting it here.....

Cheers

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

Thanks for the tips, loudest, especially on the seat which I just assumed was a bit average and wouldn't be 'in demand'. Still reckon I'll keep it though. As for the oils, I've changed the motor, bevel drive and gear oils. It cost me a whopping $9 for some decent Penrite oil to do it with, haha.

Seven54, theres no way you'll need to spend that much on materials. My total cost including fibreglassing, paint, a lot of filler, padding and vinyl is about $170. Try your local hardware store, I went to 'Magnet Mart' but I'm guessing most chains will carry matting and the setting compund.

Cheers - boingk

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Seat stage two underway]

Righteo, the cowl is now (more or less) as it'll be on the finished bike. The finish is far from perfect, but I didn't intend for this to be a show bike. Its intended to be ridden, and if it looks alright while thats happening then so much the better. Words aside, heres the cowl and bum stop:

The garage is getting trashed, but the project is going ahead so it evens out, haha. The tail light is wired through a single hole in the cowl, providing power for the marker/plate and stop lights. You can juuust see an indicator in the third picture, I've wired them up but still need to mount them. The flasher unit is trashed so that'll get replaced too. The bum stop is a bit big, but I don't think I could be bothered redoing it.

Any comments or suggestions are more than welcome.

Cheers - boingk

 

[boingk]

Re: Boingk's Budget GS850 [Final seat stage underway]

Got around to the seat today, I'm happy that its on but not totally happy with how its come out. Anyway, its on there so check it out for yourself.

Cheers guys - boingk