GR650 anybody?

[Big Rich]

And it was brought up elsewhere that my fork brace may cause the forks to bind. Ben2go mentioned popping the tops off the forks and checking the travel of the forks:



Originally, I didn't use the ratchet strap to lift the wheel / fork lowers, I just slid them up by hand. But when I did that, some washers popped out of the forks, so I needed the strap to hold the lower assembly up to put the washers back.

[peteGS]

Excellent work Rich! Man I gotta say I'm missing not having a project to get stuck into at the moment...


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[Big Rich]

Thanks Pete! It's nice to have something to tinker with in my spare time. Hopefully you can your projects back underway soon.....

[peteGS]

Yup very true! And yeah very keen to get my hands dirty again! Doing the relay mod'd on the 450 was something but it's not quite the same...


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[Big Rich]

My Tokico 6 pots showed up the other day:



But I realized I have an issue with my front wheel spacing now. I used a triple tree from an RF900, and forks from a second generation Bandit (the triple tree from an RF and first gen B12 is identical except for stem length btw....). The only thing I can think of is that the fork spacing changed from the first and second generation Bandits. Which means I'm looking for a new triple tree and top clamp, and may have to do a stem swap. We'll see......

[Big Rich]

Finally bought a gas tank for my welder. No more dirty flux core welds!



While I'm thinking about it, I installed a threaded insert into the top fairing mount. They are 6mm coupler nuts with the hex head ground down enough to slide into the tube. Once they slid in, I drilled a 1/4" hole on each side and welded the coupler nuts in place (sorry for the extreme close up pic):

[Big Rich]

One of the biggest obstacles with my GR was the shape of the frame under the seat. Suzuki dropped the frame down to make room for a huge seat, and that interferes with anything I want to do under the seat. With a little bit of planning, this happened:



And here's where everything is sitting at now. The extensions are 1" diameter 16g DOM tubing, with 2" long slugs welded in for strength. I need some more tubing to do the rear loop (around the tail light) and then I can cut out and replace the seat rails:

[Big Rich]

So this showed up today:



From a Bandit 1250 (same as a second generation Bandit 1200). I looked it over before heading to work, and it definitely has a wider fork spacing than my current triple...... by about 5mm, which is about what I shaved off the axle spacers to get the wheel centered. I didn't get a chance to accurately measure the stem lengths, but throwing a scale on each one shows about an inch difference.

[peteGS]

Awesome stuff Rich! 6 pot front brakes hey? Nice! One day I will be able to weld like that... maybe... 

[Big Rich]

Cheers Pete! I'm excited about having the ability to weld.....it opens up a lot of possibilities, that's for sure. The cost of getting started though......ouch!

So I've been really preoccupied lately, but I did get some garage time last night. First thing first, the motor is out of the frame:

[Big Rich]

The seat frame is still in the works along with the front end, but I'm waiting for parts & material to do both. But here are the lower fairing mounts:



I made arms that bolt to the frame tabs I welded on a couple weeks ago, and tabs that bolt to the frame. The "cross tube" is just a tube with more 6mm couple nuts welded in. With that tube in place, any pressure transferred from the fairing will go to that tube (and not the tabs welded to the frame). That's the plan, anyway.....

[Big Rich]

And the upper fairing / mirror mounts:



All the nuts & bolts pictured are just ones I had laying around. So they'll get replaced in time. And all the edges are a little bit rough for now, but it's good to have the framework in place.

[peteGS]

Just getting better and better Rich 

[Big Rich]

Thanks Pete! New steering stem showed up today, and it's good news - it looks like everything will fit perfectly. Here's a comparison of the two (Bandit 1250 on the left, 98-06 Katana on the right):



The new stem is from a 98-06 Katana 600 / 750. The reason for the 98-06 stem is because the upper portion that sticks thru the top clamp is identical to the Bandit, so there's no messing around with that. And the length of the Katana stem is perfect for the GR frame. Some time over the next couple days I'll be pressing the Kat stem into the Bandit lower.

[Big Rich]

Pressed out and swapped stems yesterday:



Happy to say everything is fitting together nicely now.

[peteGS]

Nice Rich! A subtle change can make a big difference... especially for fork spacing!!!

[Big Rich]

Finally getting some time back in the garage. Most of the stuff I've been up to isn't really picture worthy, but I do want to share this..... somebody asked how I know the rear wheel is lined up with the front. Here's a link that explains it better than I can:

http://classicmotorcycles.about.com/od/technicaltips/ss/Classic-Motorcycle-Wheel-Alignment.htm

And some pictures of me doing it - look close and you'll see the 8# fishing line:





I installed the fairing mirrors, and welded in some new steering stops, but didn't take pictures specifically for them. More updates soon....

[Big Rich]

Time for an update! My ADVMonster Model 50 showed up:



Here it is crammed into the Derbi headlight (on top in the pic, bottom light is an H4):



I wasn't able to take a picture of the light output, but I will eventually.

[Big Rich]

Here's what I've been working on so much recently.... the seat frame. Just a reminder where it was stalled at:



Notice the dropped section right behind the gas tank mount. I cut that section out, bent the rails until they pointed straight back, and made some slugs for new rails:

[Big Rich]

Bent up some new tubing, and welded it all together, along with a rear loop.



Here's a comparison of the new rails (bare steel) compared to the original (painted black):