1982 GS450E Refresh - Scrambler-ish to Cafe-ish

[peteGS]

Yep got it in one CBR! Definitely a bit of  and  going on right now...

I validated the Acewell is most definitely toast last night. Pulled it apart, no water nor unexpected corrosion evident, and a clean up with isopropyl alchohol made no difference whatsoever. As best I can tell it's the actual LCD display itself that's failed as it scrolls through all its functions fine but only displays the right hand two segments of the speedo display so 0kph displays as 1kph. Spinning the front wheel flickers a few other segments of the second digit as well but that's about it, so effectively useless.

I'm contemplating going back to a mechanical speedo at this point, looking at this one: http://mostynindustries.com.au/product/speedo-60mm-black-with-warning-lights/

On the upside, the brackets etc. are all painted ready to be installed which I hope to start tonight. I got the stock brake lever cut down to suit also.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[ShowBizWolf]

Those look fantastic!

I like the look of that gauge you're thinking about.

[peteGS]

Cheers Showbiz! Yeah the gauge looks ok but I'll have to see it in person, unfortunately I'm not likely to get down there until Friday at this point, too many meetings to get out of work early enough to get there until then. Damn work getting in the way of my private life! 

I got the new bump stop installed last night along with the rearsets.

Aside from adjusting the levers everything's good to go, just can't test ride until I sort the speedo out.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[cbrfxr67]

Those look great Pete.  Really well done

[peteGS]

Cheers CBR, just wish I could try them out!

On the plus side a fella I used to ride with about 20 years ago is selling a POSH brand speedo on eBay for about half price even though it's brand new, so I'm heading over this arvo to pick it up. It's a lot more convenient location wise than getting the other one I was looking at also, so I don't need to leave work so early to get there.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Posh-Speedo/283641824949?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649

[mr72]

Looks fab. Wish I could do work that well.

[profile_deleted]

Brackets and rearsets look great.  I need to do something similar on my '05 to move the pegs since I changed the seat. That Posh speedo will look awesome.  Nice choice!

[peteGS]

Cheers guys! Couple of tips from me... welding looks great if you're a good grinder  and a few coats of satin black paint covers many things 

Picked the speedo up yesterday and it does indeed appear to be a quality piece of kit.

I was hoping I could simply swap the Acewell out and use the existing dash and mount but no go. The one good thing with a digital gauge is that you're not really limited with placement and can extend wires if need be. With a mechanical gauge the length of the cable is the limiting factor.

It should be on the left, but the clutch cable would interfere with the speedo drive, so it has to go on the right, and the cable's just long enough to reach.

I'll have to revisit the bracket situation when I have some more time but at least it's useable where it is.

I haven't hooked the idiot lights up yet, ran out of time last night just getting the position right.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[peteGS]

Got the idiot lights all hooked up Friday and got a quick test ride in yesterday finally to check out the rearsets and see how accurate the speedo is. According to the GPS speedo app on my phone the speedo is pretty spot on for accuracy, and the rearsets are in a real good position, just needed to tweak the lever positions a touch to be spot on. I'm heading out for a bit of a twisty ride this morning so I'll see how it all goes!

One thing I definitely miss is a tacho, so I'm eyeing off a GS500 tacho as they're electronically driven meaning I should be able to use the signal from the coil like I did with the Acewell. I've done some searching on here and it looks like I'm not the only one to put a later GS500 electronic tacho on rather than a mechanical one, so it should be calibrated correctly for a wasted spark twin cylinder four stroke. 

[peteGS]

Well it's official, the 450 is fun again!

Had a short ride up a local mountain to meet a mate for coffee yesterday and it was a blast. The clubmans and rearsets make it quite comfortable and the speedo does the job nicely also.

Forgot to get a photo up the top but it's fun for me seeing my little old ratty 450 parked amongst the modern sports bikes

I definitely need to change the front mudguard out though, the dirt bike guard on there is way out of place, so I broke out the stock mudguard last night and figured out where it needs to be cut down. Not sure how soon I'll get to do this though as it's going to be quite noisy with the angle grinder. Don't worry, it's got some road rash and is a bit bent in places so I'm not molesting unobtanium.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[cbrfxr67]

"seeing my little old ratty 450 parked amongst the modern sports bikes"

that's awesome pete!  would have loved to see that pic!!

[peteGS]

I definitely should have gotten a pic, very slack of me! There will be other opportunities though, will definitely get one next time!

[profile_deleted]

I definitely need to change the front mudguard out though, the dirt bike guard on there is way out of place, so I broke out the stock mudguard last night and figured out where it needs to be cut down. Not sure how soon I'll get to do this though as it's going to be quite noisy with the angle grinder. Don't worry, it's got some road rash and is a bit bent in places so I'm not molesting unobtanium.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Not sure if you got around to cutting the front fender yet.  I did the exact same thing to the front fender on my 82 450T and a handheld jigsaw with a metal specific blade did the job quite handily.  Didn't even need the grinder. Just filed and sanded the burrs off after the initial cut.  Best of luck!

[peteGS]

Ah cheers good to know! No I've not started on the cutting yet, only opportunity I've had is night time so noise is out. I did decide to try with the hacksaw but that's going to take hours and hours and hours so definitely not doing that.

I have a jigsaw here with metal blades so that's an option, see how noisy that is compared with the grinder and go from there. This time of year I try not to make too much noise in consideration of the neighbours also, being courteous can be annoying some times

I'm also going to do a garage reorganise during my short time off work between Christmas and the new year so hopefully will have more room to move and work on stuff as a result, as well as room to park the Kat and the 450 side by side properly.

[peteGS]

Happy New Year all! First post for 2020 is a good one for me

I hadn't done any more on the 450 as I've been spending my time off doing a serious garage tidy. This made enough room for a new workbench to do all my bending, drilling, cutting, etc.

Relocating the bench grinder also allows enough room to park both the 450 and Kat side by side.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

As a result, yesterday I got to cut the front mudguard down. I ended up using a metal cutting blade in the jigsaw which made the cutting nice and quick and let me get close to the end result without having to spend ages cleaning up on the bench grinder.

Then I give it and the rusty headlight bucket the satin black treatment.

I got as much of the loose crappy chrome plating as I could off the headlight bucket with a wire wheel then scuffed up the chrome surfaces with some 120 grit wet and dry. Self etching primer then went on along with the satin black, just aerosol acrylic for the moment.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

The acrylic takes 24 hours to fully cure so I should be able to get it reassembled this afternoon or evening.

[Endopotential]

Ah, nice going!  Few things as satisfying as tidying up the garage 

Your bike looks great.  Nice to have some variety aside from all our 500's on this forum

[peteGS]

Cheers! Yeah it's a real pleasure walking into the garage now and being able to just do stuff without having to sort through crap to start with. It's always nice when you can put your hand straight on the tool you want because it's where it belongs.

I got the mudguard and headlight installed last night, looks so much better than the dirt bike mudguard and having a rusty headlight bucket.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[profile_deleted]

That front fender (and the whole bike for that matter) looks great!  

[mr72]

Looks really good. I wonder if the fender is long enough to keep muck off of the front of the engine...  But of you avoid riding in rain like I do...

Reminds me, I need to clean my garage. Bad.

[cbrfxr67]

sweeeeetness right there pete,...

Cleaned my garage yesterday.  Crazy how it piles up,....