Customiser Getting a GS500

[cbrfxr67]

good stuff here!

[pattman]

Cheers dude, totally winging it

Carrying on, blasting out rock and blues in the garage, had an epiphany of what to do with the top tube....  I didn't really, it sounded good though.  Formers worked ok with a bit of brute force keeping it straight.  Need to come up with a name for it now, its getting to the point where it should have one.  Bits of sh*t welded together just doesn't really have the ring to it.  Anyway, pictures and more pictures.

Frame rails cut, notched and channelled for the down tube and axle plates





I worked a length of tubing through a ring roller making the constant curve, offered up before notching



After notching and tacked





Welded in with a crossmember taking the end to the frame rails, i'll gusset this later on to make sure the bastard is solid



With a cross member to keep the shape and deter distortion, also gives a nice shape for the fuel tank I'll make later on.  The lower rail is on a backwards fall so giving the tank a natural flow to the right place.  Forward thinking or what!



The rear frame rails will be something like this.  I'm planing on taking the seat down as far as possible so your low to the ground but as the bike will only be roughly 400mm wide and 6" off the ground, leaning through the corner will be easy, hopefully.



I'm liking where this bike is going and the shape its taking, probably the best looking one so far.  I want to change the wheels though, looking at Kawasaki 8-9 spoke  mag wheels instead of the three spoke things, I'll see how it looks when they are on, with good tyres its purely for looks.

[ShowBizWolf]

Neat!!! I'm certainly watching :popcorn:

[ajensen]

Great imagination and workmanship--I'm really curious about the gas tank.

[pattman]

Nice quiet weekend rocking out in the garage building a bike frame, bliss. *Frame is all but complete, some brackets / gussets*(oh matron!) to make and weld in, engine mounts, exhaust mounts, tank mounts, battery box, electrics box, rear brake torsion arm and loads of other stuff I've probably forgotten.

Rear wheel is in for now, need to make some cross members for the mud guard to fix to and figure out where the indicators and associated cables are running. *I've got a plan for the brake light to make it a bit different but inconspicuous.... now thats got you thinking hasn't it....

Rear frame rails cut and welded in place, cross members yet to go in



GS getting dismantled. *Now the problem here is that the exhaust studs are nakerd, big time. *Looks like its weld a nut on the end and try to get them out that way but the heads are rusted to crap and falling apart. *May drill them out and try the lock nut approach on the studs.



Rear wheel in and spaced roughly enough with what I had to hand. *Think I'll be going for either straight bars or mini Z bars depending if I get them made or I make them.



Had to have a go making bike noises, its compulsory you know, everyones got to make a twat out of them selves at some point and I'm the master.

[qcbaker]

Great progress pics! Can't wait to see what this bike looks like when its done.

[cbrfxr67]

My fav thread right now,...sweee-eet.  Bliss on a weekend in the garage fook yes

[Ne0n]

Holy sheet, this looks like it could be one of the best gs builds out there.
Keep it cominG!

[iamhiding]

definitely not my cup of tea but F**K i can appreciate the work you're putting in, good stuff man, cant wait to see how it turns out   

[The fink]

Good stuff here, excited to see it continue 

[pattman]

Three hours.  Three f*****g hours to get two exhaust headers off thanks to two rusted bolts rounding off then sheering off and having to be drilled out.  But they are off and the engine can come out at last.  Just as well I'm making a new pair from the header back as the mid section is rusted to hell and fell apart when I took it off literally snapping in half leaving me with end can in one hand, headers in the other and pile of rust on my shoes.
When the engines out I can get it aligned with the rear wheel, mounts made and bolted in, petrol tank can be mocked up with loads of cardboard, electrics box etc etc, the list goes on and on...... but tomorrow its the weekend, van shopping first, needs must, and then back to building stuff and making a mess with loads of Motörhead.  Absolute epic bliss.

[pattman]

Small update.  Been busy with my business with the run up to Christmas so haven't had a lot of free time to get on with the build.  I've managed an odd couple of hours here and there, mainly trying to remove a snapped engine mount bolt.  Resulting in hours of shouting at it, welding on nuts, blow torching, squirting penetrating oil like a teenager with a porn mag and the good old fashioned drill the fecker out.




And the end result



But I did manage to align and mount the engine, just the top rear engine mount to sort out which will have to be removable for the engine to come out.



Soon to start on mocking up the exhausts and templating for the fuel tank.

[yamahonkawazuki]

squirting penetrating oil like a teenager with a porn mag lol
Aaron

[cbrfxr67]

sorry for your frustration but lovin the progress

[The Buddha]

How do you plan to get a tank to fit in that odd curve ? Or you making your own ?
If you did, I'd call it an umbrella tank - or umbrella bike for that matter.
BTW, hard mounted rear wheels beat the hell out of axle bolts and the holes for the axles in the frame. You probably need to have some sort of suspension - and no not just a seat spring. Remember as heavy as you could be, the bike still out weighs you by say 2X.
Cool.
Buddha.

[pattman]

I'll be making a tank to suit the frame, worked it out to hold near enough 14-14.5 litre / 3.1 gallon.  Should see me far enough in-between stations for refilling without having to worry about running dry.  Definitely not going the peanut tank for 60 mile range as seems to be the dumbass trend in the custom world.
I plan to solid mount the seat but haven't worked that one out yet.  I'll more than likely make it from dense foam to suit the frame and seating position and have it upholstered.  I did run the old chop solid mount for 18 months and only fitted springs when I sold it for a wider target market - it was sold within a day from listing on the net.

[ajensen]

I am really eager to see your tank. I appreciate the high quality of your workmanship.

[pattman]

Manifolds.  Every bike needs them and being an awkward sort of muppet I am in using a single VM38 I needed to make one.before fabing the rear engine mount.  My pipe bender crinkles the hell out of thin wall pipe so I ordered a couple of mandrel 45 bends from 42.5 x 1.5 steel tubing and where delivered the next day before Christmas but I've been either to pissed, to stuffed or building lego with my kids to go out to the garage.  I think I had more fun than they did, parents prerogative.

So, I marked it out on the bench as a plan so I could keep everything near enough parallel and its easier to mark the cut lines.



Aforementioned bend



Bend met the angle grinder



And the other bend felt left out so I chopped his ass off too



Part welded ready for the inlet tube



Inlet tube tacked and soon to be shortened to suit



The tubing is slightly bigger than the original carb outlet so I stuck the rubber manifolds on the lathe and the internal ridge down to suit the tubing



Manifold plate for the VM to bolt to



Plate welded to the manifold



Carb bolted on and mounted to the bike







The carb has a choke lever assembly (enricher rather than a choke but same principle - ha, for once I almost sounded like I know what I'm on about) built into it so theres no need for a choke cable, the carb cable will be running into the carb via a 90 bend to miss the tank and not screw the cable and as the carb has an internal slide spring there is no need for a return cable.  Now thats out the way its the rear engine mount then frame is almost done bar a couple of gussets, foot pegs and side stand.  As soon as thats done the forks can go on and fab up for exhausts can begin.

[pattman]

Finally, the pain in the ass top rear mount is fabbed and fitted apart from a couple of gussets.

Made some sleeves for the bolts through the frame





Now the sleeves come into use





Welded and fitted





Now what to do next on the massive list of stuff to do....

[pattman]

Got the forks off the old bike and onto the new frame to decide on a number of parts I need to make and what I can't make and need to order.  Mainly to decide on the seating position and foot peg position.

Theres a choice of two foot positions really.  Either



Or like this



The way the gear rotation works with the box means the foot control will need to be on a double joint if I use fowards so it'll need a bearing mount as well as a new clamp for the gear shaft, but it was the most comfortable position.  I need to get the mudguard sorted as that pretty much dictates what size seat, shape of seat and how it gets mounted - either solid or sprung.

Fuel tank and new cables for the clutch and throttle to make, electrics to alter, handlebars to either make or buy depending on the style and price, electrics box, battery tray or box, coil housing, indicators, sissy bar for carrying gear to rallies, the list goes on and then theres the paint; sprayed or powder coat, colour, finish....