1979 GS1000S cafe build complete

[jwm2k3]

Thanks for the details....it's amazing.

[lak-o-wits]

Thanks! Glad you like it

[mzdagrl]

love it, though I would change those bends too. Chrome it out and it'll take it up a few notches. Beautiful work, though!

[lak-o-wits]

Thanks MZDAGRL. Maybe you should supply me with some Woodcraft pieces to accesorize it

[obsolete]

Yeah, your not the first person to tell me that(and I've told myself 100 times). I used those initially as proof of concept I guess, because they were a lot cheaper than mandrel bent tubing. My plan was to replace them before I was done, but I never got around to it. At this point, I am kinda sick of working on it

I'm with Chip, you make some seriously cool stuff but please look here http://www.summitracing.com/search?S...drel%20exhaust

Other than that this thing is really awesome man.

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What did you have to do to fit the forks?

[lak-o-wits]

Thanks man. Forks were not terribly difficult. used the GSXR triple tree and stem, just had to source the upper stem bearing in the appropriate size, and also make spacers for the cbr900rr front wheel. I have been to Summits website and Jegs as well. for some reason i thought the mandrel bends were more expensive, but I guess not....next time. Like I said, the owner is happy with it the way it is, I just want to get it out of my garage and get paid Then on to the next project. I am think of picking up another late 70's early 80's superbike and going the Sanctuary/Racefit look..total muscle bike!

[Rambunctous]

Awesome.

[lak-o-wits]

Thanks..I tried

[gumby]

Lak- You've got a problem once this bike is gone. You won't have any excuses to give your wife for being in the garage all night.

[Tricklidz]

Fantastic build!! Well done, yeah the exhaust is a little off, but i actually kind of like it.
My next build might be a Japanese cafe bike.

[obsolete]

Thanks man. Forks were not terribly difficult. used the GSXR triple tree and stem, just had to source the upper stem bearing in the appropriate size, and also make spacers for the cbr900rr front wheel. I have been to Summits website and Jegs as well. for some reason i thought the mandrel bends were more expensive, but I guess not....next time. Like I said, the owner is happy with it the way it is, I just want to get it out of my garage and get paid Then on to the next project. I am think of picking up another late 70's early 80's superbike and going the Sanctuary/Racefit look..total muscle bike!

Do you have to make changes due to the length of the steering tube on the frame? Or is that just taken up by 2 triples being closer or further away? Also, how do you source a bearing? Is it just a change in the size of the outside diameters?

[ZX11D]

You're 150% spot on with that thing, but those autozone elbows kill it for me. If you ever have somebody rectify that with some real tubing, you'll have a dream bike.
Elsewise I absolutley love it.

Ditto on the tubing and everything is else the bomb.Nice job.

[jwm2k3]

The exhaust does not bother me...could it be better? Maybe. Could the wheels be better? Maybe....but thats the charm, as a complete bike.

I'd be super proud to own it....and even more proud to have built it.

[lak-o-wits]

Thank everyone! Obsolete..no changes necessary to the triple tree, other than getting the steering stops to work. I can remember where I sourced the bearing, it ended up being a pretty weird size. The GSXR bottom bearing fir with no problems, just the upper i had to change due to the OD of it.
I am not a huge fan of the wheels either, but that is what the owner picked out. i really wanted him to get some wheels from a Ducati sport 1000 or sport classic, so we could runs spokes with modern sized rubber, but it was cost prohibitive.
Gumby...I will find another excuse to be in the garage, no worries about that!

[lak-o-wits]

Here are a few more photos:













Still a bit of tidying up to do here and there before the guy comes to pick it up in a few weeks....

[Imbeek]

Nice work! Wish I had the patience to stick with a project long enough to do something like that. I already have a good low mileage air cooled candidate for a project bike, but will probably just sell it in stock form in the spring, before I destroy it by doing it partway and losing interest.

Like everyone else, I'm not a fan of the materials and inconsistent finish on the exhaust, but I actually really like the shape and flow of it. Pretty sure those are sportster mufflers, not big twin...at least they are much smaller than the ones that came stock on my harley.

Again, congrats on the accomplishment!

[tsorfas]

Out of curiosity. If this was to sell how much would it fetch?

[lak-o-wits]

time to fix the exhaust apparently!

Hmmm, good question Tsorfas...to be honest with you, not really sure. This is a 78 GS1000s, which is the Wes Cooley bike, which makes it a little more rare. If it was stock and in good shape, it would be worth quite a bit, but obviously when i got it, it was beat to hell and missing most of the parts that would have made it worth anything. As a modified bike, I have know idea. I know how much I am getting paid for my labor, which is roughly $3000.00. Based on some of the prices I see on Craigslist for complete hack jobs, I would say I could probably sell this bike for maybe $3000-$4000...I could be way off base though. Its one of those kind of bikes that might be worth a lot to one person, and nothing the next. Mostly what you would be paying for is the uniqueness.

[jwm2k3]

The swingarm is a masterpiece.

[Imbeek]

time to fix the exhaust .

Wonder if color to match the forks would be too much?

[lak-o-wits]

Wonder if color to match the forks would be too much?

i think it may be