Hello all!
It's been a while since I've been on this Forum (Broke the GS and started riding the FZ6 everywhere). I'm thinking I want to resurrect the old girl in the form of a Cafe' Racer, But I'm looking for a little help with a few things since the project isn't officially going to start until I move to Texas (3is months). So here is the list of things I want to get organized before I dive into this very extensive project!
I would like to move the single internal rear shock to duel externals, I was wondering if I could get some advice on how to mount these shocks, or if I'm off my rocker for even trying?
Dose anyone know of a site or place in the USA that makes tanks and seats to fit the Cafe' style and the GS frame? My search has so far come up empty and I'm not skilled enough to do that part on my own.
Tires! I would like to put a thinner tire on the back to fit the look, but I'm not sure if that is even possible on the GS, any ideas?
PS. I've never done anything like this before so I'll be learning a lot on the fly.
Thank you everyone! You've all helped me before just keeping the thing running a couple years ago! :cheers:
One last thing, The engine is going to have to get a complete strip and rebuild. Anyone have favorite mods for power?
Hmmmm..... this is an odd one:
While it is possible to swap the single shock for dual shocks, I would highly recommend against it. There is a lot of fabrication just to add the mounts top and bottom, but you would have to get the proper length shocks and position them at the proper distance from the swingarm pivot and at the proper angle. And remember : the GS subframe was never intended to have the load of the suspension pushing up on it. So like I said - possible but not easy at all. Besides, any dual shocks that are even worth putting on a bike will start at $200. Really nice ones are around $1000 a set.
I've never seen anything other than homemade "cafe" seats and tanks on a GS. But if you call up Sean at RocCityCafe.com he will make you a custom aluminum tank (figure around another $1000 for that too).
Skinny rear wheel? Probably the easiest would be from an 88 Katana and I'm not 100% sure it would work. But it is 3" by 17" so you might have a tough time finding a rear tire that would fit. Since it is a different spoke pattern you would want the front wheel from an 88 Kat as well.
The best advice I can give you is look for an older GS450 to turn into a cafe. They are cheap, readily available, and many parts swap from the 500.
Thats kinda what I was thinking about the shocks, I've seen some with the single that look good, but I like the duels. there is going to be some fab work regardless, but I would like to keep it a bit simpler if possible. Price isn't a huge issue (not that im going to blow 50k) but I realize its going to be expensive and I'll defiantly sell it at a loss if I ever sell it.
Thanks for the tank guy, I'll have to look him up!
For the dual shocks I can offer this advice. Pick them out, but don't buy them. Find out the eye to eye length and then mock up that size on the bike. Pick your mounting points on the swing arm, and the sub frame and mark them out. It's safe to say the passenger pegs will have to disappear, and a new mount for the exhaust will have to be figured out. Once you have everything mocked up, on the INSIDE of the subframe, weld some reinforcing plates between the lower and upper frame members. This will give you the strength vertically you need. Next, I would suggest welding inner gusset plates to the area that the frame and subframe come together. That should eliminate any undo stress on that area as well.
Quote from: Big Rich on February 15, 2014, 03:15:32 AM
The best advice I can give you is look for an older GS450 to turn into a cafe. They are cheap, readily available, and many parts swap from the 500.
What he said.
The 500 does not lend itself to being café'd. Big box section frame, single shock, wrong wheel sizes.
450s OTOH have a ton of potential and are dime a dozen.
Forget custom tanks... they are stupid expensive, always take three times as long to complete as the most pessimistic estimate, they always lead to a ton of other mods you didn't think about, and half the time they don't do that much for the visual appeal of the bike. Good paint jobs do the trick much more effectively in terms of time/money.
This was my kinda take on making the gs500 a cafe racer. I too thought about running dual shocks but its a bit of a hassle ( I believe it has been done tho) as far as the seat, you can try re welding the sub frame frame for something a bit straighter and flatter. This would help with the dual shocks too. Btw If youre not a big diy person look up Honda sabre cafe racer build. The youtube channel is hackaweek. This guy is pretty good about showing what all you need to do for a custom seat and tank :)
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Here is a GS500 that was listed on ebay a few days ago... has dual shocks and a café look... it was listed as a flat tracker... but it doesn't look like a GS500 frame, and has a lot of custom work...
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u477/BockinBboy/gs500cafe2_zpsbe922f5c.jpg)
(http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u477/BockinBboy/gs500cafe1_zps8ef9b7fc.jpg)
- Bboy
Yeah, that's definitely a GS450 bike with a 500 motor in it. The owner had a problem with the original motor and found a 500 motor cheap / nearby. All he had to do was have a custom exhaust made to clear the down tubes and he was golden.
I have to weigh in on the tank and seat topic.
I'm doing something similar with mine. I am going to cut the frame back and little and flatten it. And build a simple banana kind of seat similar to the Ellespede one I am sure you have seen.
As far as the tank and frame...it is what it is. One of the beauty of cafe bikes is that they are simple, minimilistic, and streamlined... The frame and tank combo on a GS really hurts that look...
There is this GS that was done REALLY well: http://s117.photobucket.com/user/URALISTA/media/lafoto6.jpg.html
And they appear to have added some sheet metal to the tank to create a kind of skirt and give it more of a streamlined look. While this is awesome looking, there is nothing DIY about this bike so, for most of us who are poor, thats probably out.
So my solution was having the tank and frame be the same color. My frame was silver, so I painted my tank to match. It did wonders for giving the bike more of a streamlined look and helping the tank look not so damn bulky.
Back to the seat. You HAVE to build a new one. I've seen people just cut the frame and take off the fairings and then leave the stock seat on there, sitting up at that 30 degree angle and it looks retarded. If you cut that frame, you've got to cut off the support piece that hold the seat up and build a seat that sits flat on the frame... it just looks ridiculous otherwise.
You guys are right about the GS not being a good cafe bike... but I had a GS given to me with less than 1000 miles, and as far as the ride of a GS, its great, the looks just aren't my style and a cafe is, so I'm just going to do what I can with the free bike I was blessed with.
Good luck!
There are also some really great (but not all that cheap) cafe headlight cowls you can order that really will give it a more streamlined look. Try Airtech Streamlining.