my 89 GS500e

[The Buddha]

softened the rear shock up, bought new comfy grips and TADA! I can ride it!

I'm also going to have the seat repadded with memory foam and breather liner!

I'm am going to try to keep this bike!

now here are some pics

I think this is the best café out of a GS that is ever possible.
Perimeter frame and that bulbous tank pretty much put it in the non café-able category. But this is awesome.

Cool.
Buddha.

[GS500Schultz]

softened the rear shock up, bought new comfy grips and TADA! I can ride it!

I'm also going to have the seat repadded with memory foam and breather liner!

I'm am going to try to keep this bike!

now here are some pics

I think this is the best café out of a GS that is ever possible.
Perimeter frame and that bulbous tank pretty much put it in the non café-able category. But this is awesome.

Cool.
Buddha.

THANK YOU! and where there is a will there is a way!  That and money always helps lol

I loved the bike but I had to buy something more comfortable for the GF and I to ride on.

[The Buddha]

The big wide tank/frame with a narrow tail actually looks fine. What I seem to really cant get over is the GSXR tails on the GS, which are fatter and more angular than the GS tank. That looks wrong to me.
But a café is ideally a twin or single motor with a center spine frame and everything about the same width as the motor. But hey, this works. Those 4 cyl's like Yamaha maxim's look awful when cafe'd. Worse yet is the Hack job bobbers that have flooded Craigslist, and the fuglier it looks, the more $$$ they want for it.
Now a V twin like a virago being cafe'd also looks wrong to me. But that's from the sides.

There was a bike that came factory café - called a MZ scorpion sport (I own one of these and cant remember the exact model - its not tour, that's all I know) and its full fairing and perimeter frame and café. I still think it looks odd, owned it for 5+ years, rode it, blew it, and am 90% done rebuilding it. Still works better naked. IMHO - That was called the Tour. Own one of those too, and yea it is better IMHO.

Cool.
Buddha.

[Daeouse]

Every time I look at those pics I feel like its pornography.

Simply exquisite in my opinion. I will probably be doing a build like yours with my bike in the semi-near future.

[GS500Schultz]

started my Katana project

cracked fairings don't scare me time to mod!

how it was originally (cracked fairings, crappy plastidip, and missing bolts..



now time for fun





working on the rears


good bye cracked parts!


DONE!




NOW time for the seat! ordering some seat vinyl  tonight and deciding on what color to paint the bike... also have the tank off and ready for sand blasting

[The Buddha]

I hope you're not turning the katana into a naked ... The tank and frame in that thing are not meant to live in the open, they look like crap.
80's GSXR's look better IMHO, and that's saying something.
Cool.
Buddha.

[GS500Schultz]

ohh no not 100% naked, doing a half fairing look and keeping the belly pan as well.

I was going to do naked with a cafe upper fairing but decided against it because of the tank

[GS500Schultz]

started to sand blast the tank and who the HELL puts 4 different layers of paint on their tank?!?!





also on the fairing as well

[The Buddha]

1/2 fairing ? as long as its the middle 1/2, it works. But then the lower end of the thing will rattle like a mofo. Might as well stay full fairing IMHO.
Cool.
Buddha.

[GS500Schultz]

the full fairings cost a lot of money and cutting off the broken parts saves me alot of money. This is the only picture i have of the "half fairing"

I'll take some better ones tomorrow

[GS500Schultz]

moving on...

Tank is painted the best i could with rattle can and now to hide all the errors with a but load of stickers until next winter when I have the extra cash to get a new tank and plastics.
or I sell the bike and pick up a motard...