Wheel conversion time! I originally looked into fitting a set of wheels from an XS650/400. I love the look of those wheels but it was going to be quite a task to machine adapters to fit the mismatched axle sizes and get the brakes happening. After doing a bunch of research I came across info that a set of wheels from a gs550 would be a easier fit. Everything said the front involved machining and fitting and the rear was a drop in with no issue. My rear wheel was a a horriblly frustrating time, front was a breeze. I started out with a set of wheels that were supposedly from a 82 GS550 which was exactly what I read was what I needed.
I took the GS450 rotor I got to a machine shop to have the OD taken down to the OD of the stocker. He was busy so he walked me 2 doors down to an old guy that has a shop just for his own projects and he machined it down for me no charge.
not sure what the rotor is made of???
I scuffed the contact area and painted the rotor.
Used some washers to space it out. during mock up I was at .23 and painted I went down to .17 on the spacing.
Modified the stock axle spacers and front was done.
On the rear wheel I didn't mock up since everything I read was about how easy it was and a direct fit. Stupid mistake. It didn't fit the brake drum or the sprocket hub. The top is the wheel and the bottom pic is the part of the hub that is supposed to fit into the wheel. Obviously this was a problem....
After much research I determined the wheel was misrepresented from the buyer. I'm still not sure what bike this wheel came on from the factory. The GS forum guys were zero help. So off I went to Ebay to buy parts based on measurements and not bike year. The sprocket hub and the brake drum are from different model bikes....so not sure where this wheel came from. After lots of swearing and Ebay trolling I finally got things buttoned up.
Went with a 110/90/19 front and a 140/90/16 rear. The best theory I got is that everyone I have seen do this conversion used a rear wheel with this pattern:
I'm not a fan so I wanted a rear wheel with the pattern in my pics, and I wanted a 2.75 wide wheel vs. a 2.50 which I noticed everyone had gone with in their conversions. I'm guessing that there maybe was a GS650 model that had my rear wheel at some point and that is what I ended up with.
Bike rode great with the new wheels, handling is fine, clearances are tight but fine. Other that the wheels I switched the battery to a Lithium mini and made a temporary box by cutting up the stock box and making a hold down attached with thumb screws.
I needed to it some mirrors but since my handlebars are 1" and everyone else used a 7/8 bar I needed to find a way to mount them. Since they all mount with these expandable fittings I set out to devise a way to ditch the fittings and just use the bolt that came with the mirrors.
What I did was machine little adapters that I could attach to the bars with set screws and bolt the mirror into. I started with some scrap aluminium round stock and turned the OD to match the bars. Then I recessed them so the mirror would slip into the adapter and threaded them. Marked some holes for the set screws and tapped everything. Works great, they fit perfectly on the bike.
I got all the bodywork done, primed and blocked 3 times then fired up the ghetto paint booth. Sprayed a metallic grey Grigo Silverstone from a 2009 Ferarri.
After Basecoat:
After clear:
I got the color sanding done last night and hopefully will be able to buff and polish today sometime. Here everything is mocked on the bike:
I made a seat last night so after I get the rubbed out bodywork back on and the seat mounted I need to make a taillight/plate bracket and fire it up. I am going to make some mesh panels between the seat and the top frame tube but want to ride so that is not a priority. I'm going to omit the speedo so I am going to try and machine a cap for the speedo drive too. Almost done....cant wait to ride!