Suzuki GS650 Monoshock Conversion Cafe Racer

[Dennis]

I am pretty happy with my 4 into 2 exhaust now.  It took a bit of heating and bending, and two sets of brackets, but they are symmetrical and look period correct.





Rear view with tail light and licence plate bracket.  I need to adjust the licence plate bracket.  It is made out of plastic.  I drilled the holes before I bent it.  I guess the bend wasn't perfect because its on an angle now.  Easy fix later.



Big ugly instrument cluster reduced to  just a speedo



Relocated the regulator rectifier.



I won't be using a starter button.  This is a simple automotive starter switch.... off/ignition/momentary (for the starter motor)



The seat pan is plastic.   I have made two like this before.  The upholstery guys can staple into the plastic.



I still need to mount my starter relay and ignition module.  The ignition module will go under the tank no problem.  The starter relay will be a bit more of a challenge.  The one I have is obviously not stock (made in Boston, Massachusetts).  It is rather large.  I will check Chiefton Auto tomorrow to  see if I can get a smaller one.  I may have a poke around Ebay also.

Peace & Grease, Dennis

[Dennis]

After looking at a few starter relays at Chiefton (and actually buying one) I decided to use the one that came with the bike.  I had to weld on a bracket.  It hangs about a cm below the seat, but unless you are looking for it, its fairly hidden.



The brake reservoir was pretty easy.  I will need a long hydraulic tube so it doesn't kink.



The ignition model is nice and close to the coils.



I will fabricate the gas tank mount, but not weld it on until I have stripped the bike down.  Many of the welds need finishing, and I want to do those when the engine is out of the frame so I will have room to work.

I have been persuaded by Guy and others to postpone digging into the engine.  My plan is that as soon as we have a warm day (next weekend according the the Weather Network) I want to hook up my pressure washer to the hot water tap and, after soaking the engine down with de-greaser, give it a hard mechanical wash.  If it looks like I can make the engine pretty enough, I'll just polish her up. 

I can't paint until a warm day.  I don't mind spraying in a closed shop, but I like to open the doors up and clear the killer solvent from the air immediately after.

Peace & Grease, Dennis.

[Sr.X]

Dennis, where did you get the seat tailpiece? Might look good on my XS 400 now that the frame is home. ( thanks to Shep and my friend Jason who brought it home for me. )

[Dennis]

The fiberglass part is from Roc City Cafe Racers.  Here's the link.
http://www.roccitycafe.com/store.php

The one I purchased is the Daytona model.  I see it is temporarily unavailable.
Mine was about $150 after shipping.

Peace & Grease, Dennis

[Dennis]

Please see my other posts about farming out some work.  I am shooting for the Father's Day Show 'n Shine and am not going to make it without farming out some tasks.  See my post under Tech nights.

Dennis

[Dennis]

I farmed out the tank and fiberglass tail piece to Stuntman. 

I farmed out the seat to Mike Hyland.  Saw Donovan's Goldwing seat at his shop... looks great.

Here are some pics of the frame ready to get sand blasted.  I couldn't pull the bearing races so they are blocked off with rubber balls and hockey pucks.  I threaded in bolts where I don't want the threads blasted.







Pipes are off to the blaster's also.



Engine got a complete "rattle can" rebuild.  I'll save the real rebuild for after it smokes or makes funny noises.  It was running great when it last ran three years ago.  Here's hoping.  At least it will look good for the Show 'n Shine.





I've started the long an labourious job of polishing the aluminum.  This will take hours but at least I can do it with a beer buzz on.



I am still hoping to reign in Fast One for the carbs.  They look pretty grubby right now.



Peace & grease, Dennis

[Dennis]

I have one more weekend before the Show n' Shine.  I still have lots to do.

Rack of bits mostly cleaned up and ready to go.



I only planned on cleaning the wheels.  I sprayed on heavy duty degreaser and hit them with the pressure washer.  The rear survived the assault but the front one lost a lot of paint and looked like hell.  Hence, last weekend was spent masking and painting.  They look good from a metre away.  I guess I'll just have to keep people from getting too close.



This is where the assembly is before I get rolling tonight.



I would have taken a picture of the beautiful paint job Dave (Stuntman) did for me but ... during the degreasing of the wheels, some of it sprayed onto the paint.  I think with some slightly abrasive polish I can restore them to their former glory.

Peace, Grease and 9 days left.  Dennis

[Dennis]

No photos for this post.  My hands have been too greasy for fiddling with a digital camera and computer.

Progress has been slower than expected because each part I thought would just bolt in, ended up needing further attention.  Case in point, my front brake master cyclinder.  I purchased a new replacement resevoir.  It should have been a quick "out with the old in with the new."  I pulled the old stuff fairly recklessly (even put the plastic resevoir in the vice).  Tossed the old seal in the garbage.  Opened the new package and discovered its the wrong part.  Its close, but that only counts when playing Horseshoes or with hand grenades.  An hour or so later, I was able to cobble back together what I hope will be a functioning brake.

I have completed the most difficult parts of the wiring (ignition circuit, starter, charging circuit).  These circuits take the most thinking.  I still need to wire in the accessories and switches, but they are all on the bike, functioning, and only need wiring to bring them together.

Three nights left.   If I work from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. thats like three full days.  Easy smeazy.

Peace & Grease, Dennis.

[Dennis]

5:30 p.m. Wednesday.  I've ben saying I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for so long now, that I am starting to think its a train wreck about to happen.



1:30 a.m. Friday morning.



8:30 p.m. Saturday Evening.   I'm counting hours now.  The wiring is completed and tested.  The stuff hanging out just has to be pushed in.  I left it exposed while I did the testing.  Fast One and Blair are meeting me at 9:30 to hook up some fuel and see how she runs.  After that I only need to clean up the messed up paint on the tank and tail piece, and pop them on.  Handle bar grips still need to go on.  Only this afternoon did I realize I forgot to get a set of mirrors.  My wife (bless her heart) actually suggested that I could take hers off and use them, but her bike is at my office, so for now, I will just skip 'em.  Besides, bikes look cooler without them.



Peace & Grease, Dennis.

[Fritz]

Wow Dennis...Looks like a lot of Hard work went into that...Nice Job so Far....Looking forward to the finnished Pic...

[fast1]

  Runs decent and looks badass, He will be tired but will make it, good job buddy. Cheers.

[Dennis]

It was close, but alas, at 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning I made the executive decision that the bike was going nowhere.  The finishing included simply putting on the tank and hoses.  Rusty came over around midnight to help.  We put the fuel tank on and started filling it.  A small pin hole quickly made its presence known with a steady stream of gasoline squirting out. 

I thought I had some of that epoxy gas tank putty, but I guess I'd used it somewhere else.  Can't buy it at 1:30 a.m.  In almost desperation I mixed up some JB Weld and gooped it on where the hole was (after carefully sanding away the paint.



After an hour it was obvious it was not going to harden up in time to give it a squirt of paint.  I was done. Rusty was still hanging out and I sent him home.  I was in bed by 4:30.

If I had not given myself the challenge of an artificial deadline, the project would likely have been a typical two year build.  As it was, I started late December, and other than the gas tank leak which I will fix, and some tuning, its basically finished and I am pretty happy with it.  It looks and sounds great.



The highlight of my day had to be when Lauri gave me my Father's Day gift.  She spent the morning searching around town, and with the help of Blair, secured me a POR Gas Tank Repair Kit.  I am not even opening the package tonight. 



Peace & more Peace, Dennis

[Dennis]

I thought some members might want to see some pictures  of using a POR 15 gas tank repair kit.  The instructions are very good and they not only explain what to do, but they explain why. 

The process is basically threefold; clean, etch and coat.   What isn't apparent until you start going through the process is that you need access to lots of hot water.   While using the dishwasher to clean engine cases will always meet with resistance from your spouse, access to the laundry sink is a must and probably will not leave you sleeping in the garage.  I have a hose hooked up to the hot water (for brewing) which helps a lot.



The exterior of the tank needs to be protected.  This instructions say to wrap it with rags, but I used plastic wrap and tape.  I sealed it tight around the filling hole, and put duct tape over the petcock hole.  This worked well, but a small amount of moisture did seep in between the paint and the plastic.  Another assault on Stuntman's paint job, but some mildly abrasive polish cleaned it up nice later.



Before the final sealant goop goes in, the tank must be absolutely dry.    This tank cannot be simply tipped and emptied.  There is a lip at the filling hole which prevents all the fluid draining when upside down.  There is a large and convoluted tunnel which also trapped fluid.  I did the google/you tube thing and saw where some guy made swabs on stiff wire to dab up water.  This was an excellent idea, and I would not even try doing one of these kits without making up some swabs.  No matter how much hot air I used and shimmied and shaked the tank, I could still hear a small splashing sound.  With the swabs, you position the tank so that all of the fluid will flow to one point, and then carefully dab out all of the fluid.  The first few swabs (after much air and shaking) came out soaked.  Once the swabs were coming out dry, I then blasted the tank with the heat gun until I could barely hold it.  I let it cool down and repeated the process a couple more times. 



The swabs are just paper towel wrapped around iron wire.

I hope this was informative.  The job took about 6 hours from start to finish.  A lot of that was for the drying time.

Peace & Grease, Dennis

[Dennis]

I'm re-invigorating this thread after many months.  This is my "must ride" bike for the Show 'n Shine 2013.  After last year's near miss, I need to redeem myself.  The bike will have new rubber and a fresh carb rebuild.  It will have last summer's riding patina for credibility.

Peace & Grease, Dennis

[Dennis]

Kinda fun following a bike's history.  Bike was sold in 2015.  The highlight was seeing the new owner out for a ride, and persuading him to pose for a forum shot. 



Peace and Grease, Dennis