Hi so first thing i better so is introduce my self, my name's  Rob, and I thought I would post up my new project, having changed jobs recently where i can viably ride to work, i thought it would be a good excuse for a new bike build.

I want this to be a much faster build than my last one (cb200) http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=43873.6  as I want to be riding it to work in the late spring! we'll see how this pans out.

Im basing this build on a GS500 because they are cheap and plentiful, so parts are easy to come by and I can do a decent enough resto of the rest of the bike as i go without breaking the bank!

I've been posting this elsewhere but figured this would be a better place for it, so I'm going to quickly bring this thread up to speed.

This is the inspiration:



I have no idea who built this, but i love the simplicity of the new sub-frame and it has inspired me to build something similar.

And so it begins...




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So ive started with a project bike and a spare frame, first thing that ive done is cut the nasty rear sub frame of the back of the bike, it really is a nasty bit of box section! Ive then welded some plates to fix up the frame and am currently waiting on some plasma cut brackets to weld on to it. Its looking better already!





8mm steel plate Brackets:




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Welcome to the site Rob! Awesome thread, I'll be following along for sure

knowing the limitations of my metal bending capabilities I found a friendly fabricator who made this seat frame up for me on eBay to my dimensions. You can see it below on the parts bike to give an idea of scale, its more rounded than the frame on the inspiration bike but i wanted it to be a softer look and a narrower seat to make the Tyre look wider. 










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Ive also machined up some brackets on lathe for the new bolt on subframe. I made these at HACKSPACE london, if any of you guys are UK / London based you seriously need to check out Hackspace, I cant praise it enough.







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I've also rebuilt the carbs with a 147.5 main jet, new seals etc - I'll be putting on a Delkevic full exhaust system and pod filters so hopefully it won't be running too rich!





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So I've welded up and ground down the lower subframe arms this evening, due to the angles involves they couldn't be bent in the garage so I've made them out of schedule 10 stainless bends and pipe - my first time working with stainless and probably my last 😂





I did buy this little badboy the though, worth its weight in gold! And did a great job of finishing up the welds.



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This arrived in the post today too - A katana (gsx750) rear wheel for a wider rear tyre!


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Brackets have turned up, I just need to get them tacked up and get the subframe notched and mounted up.





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So I've started notching the subframe tubes I went the traditional route and semi eye balled it with a notching template that you can find online.



I also used a jubilee clip to get some straight lines around the circumference of the tubes.

Fitted the template inside the jubilee then traced over it to give the waste that needs to be removed


Removed the waste tube with a hacksaw slowly, then tidied it up with the mini belt sanded that just so happens to have a 1" diameter top roller so it made tidying up the notching a piece of cake!



[emoji108]

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Things are starting to move forward now! This afternoon I've tacked on the upper brackets and tacked the upper subframe, once I'm content I'll take it down to the local fab shop and get it tigged up.



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I jigged up the lower mounts last night



And notched the lower stainless legs, which was really very easy - not sure what I was worried about now!





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So I've got the lower legs tacked on today, and it's starting to take shape!




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So my frame is off at the fab shop being welded up, so whilst I wait for the frame to come back and a stream of parts to arrive I have been playing around in Photoshop, I'm thinking of a very simple colour scheme like this, what do you guys think?



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So I picked up my frame early this morning from the fab shop, really glad I paid to have this welded professionally, so much better than I could have done in the shed!






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Modified frame as it currently stands after a bit of tidying up of the welds, Its off to be shot blasted tomorrow!

I also had some near new front shocks delivered today so will start rebuilding the front end shortly. More to follow soon!

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Today I got my new forks fitted and my clipons arrived in the post so i got them fitted on too, it's starting to come together i just need a front brake lever and a fresh headlight and the front ends pretty much done





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So this evening I made a start on stripping back on of my fuel tanks ready for a coat of epoxy primer.

The paint stripper here in the UK is shocking, due the EU regulations  they took the good stuff out of it, so it would barely touch emulsion paint let along 2k clear. After adding some of the good stuff back into a can of normal paint stripper it went through the paint on the tank like a knife through butter. I DO NOT recommend doing this, and it was carried out in very well ventilated area with all the PPE I could find.

This is the finished result after hitting it with a wire brush on a grinder, next job is to kill the rust with some jenolite and hit it with some Epoxy primer.


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Tank filled and in primer

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So that's where I have got to so far! Apologies for the rapid fire posting, hopefully it makes sense, more to follow soon!

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