Suzuki GS400 - Another Bike Project.

I've been busy... with wood. And I'm not a very accomplished woodworker. Prefer metal, but I wanted to create something out of junk. Pallets in this case. They'd been sat outside where I work for awhile, and were going to be broken up, so why not?

Exhaust Fabrication on the GSX750 Cafe - Part 1.

It's simple.
All I need to do is make a basic two-into-one link pipe to join the downpipes/headers to the reverse-cone mega's. The headers are made of mild steel (possible GS1000) and, in my wisdom, I decided to make the link pipe out of stainless. 

Because it'll look awesome!

The first thing that struck me was how hard it is to fit all that into the space I had left. Ideally, the collector would have collected a little closer to the front of the bike, but I'll work with what I bought on eBay (for the right money). 

The pipes arrived painted in some sort of grey, but rubbing it back slightly with 400 grit wet & dry had them looking great. Not bare metal, but more rough and ready, hmm... well I like  them.

GSX750 Cafe Racer Progress - Battery Box.

Back in the garage.
Finally got some time to crack on with the wiring and battery box. It's been bugging me for a while because I wanted the loom to look perfect, but sometimes you just need to make a start and fix any issues later. 

I'm still unsure on what sort of speedo/tacho combination I'm going to use too. I'd like two separate units to mimic the typical sixties/seventies bikes, but I have a certain budget too. The modern digital versions get very expensive when you go for quality versions. And although there's plenty of Chinese versions on eBay, do they actually work for more than ten minutes? Decisions...

Black Animals Special Bikes

Dirty Bastards? Excuse my Italian.
Just like great bikes, great friendships evolve, sometimes from the last place you'd expect, and the old 'two-wheeled bond' is always good.

So who are the Black Animals?
A drunken coming together, mixed up with incoherent chat about building a bike from scratch - probably. But no matter, it was the start of something good and Dan, Mirco and Giovanni began to tear down some unlikely tourers as they began to knock some cafe racers into shape. 
When I say unlikely, I mean old Gold Wings and GSX750ES's (who in their right mind would try and cafe race one of those?), but that's exactly the spirit we need to see in the custom scene. A love of anything two-wheeled, a not too serious attitude and the ability to sink several beers/wines while doing it. (Actually, that's probably the entire custom scene.)

Dan, drunk, again. Trying to ride a Gold Wing van.

Mirco first got in touch with me because of a common interest, the old GSX750ES, yes we both own one (it's just that mine looks like it's been run over by a cement truck, twice). So, with formalities formalised, I was invited to share in the madness that is the Black Animals on Facebook and now enjoy their antics from Italy everyday. Not just great taste in bikes, but music too! Think I need to visit - more wine vicar?

The projects so far

Mirco's GSX750ES

GSX750ES and a cool looking workshop.

Strewth, even the tank is still in good nick.

Mirco trying the GSX out for size.

GSX750ES tail piece. Very impressive!

Dan's Gold Wing

Heavy Metal!

Wish my forks were as straight as that!

                 

Blasted alloy looks so cool!

Great contrast, love those cases!

Giovanni's GSX750

So, why Black Animals?
I was baffled, but then I don't speak Italian. Dan explained:

"this is a lost in translation, as the "black animal" in italian is like saying "dirty bastard" or something like that"

That, my friend, makes it crystal clear and will do for me. Check out their antics at Facebook today.

Suzuki GS400 - Possible Cafe Racer?

One Rolling Chassis, One Blank Canvas.
With an issue (read hatred) of cutting up a perfectly good frame, I've always steered clear of "chops". Built your own frame? Brilliant, love it, but a classic bike that's been ruined, or butchered, isn't my cup of char. Standard sells, and motorbikes should be cherished - but hey, that's just me.

But, when all that's left of the bike is the frame, forks and wheels I figure there's a certain amount of leeway available. So the latest addition to the garage is a bare bones, back-to-basics '79 GS400 (with no engine). Hence the blank canvas.

Are you seeing the potential?
Yeah she's rough, but doesn't that make it all the more worthwhile? Next stage is to edit the photo into a drawing, and start sketching the shape of the tank and seat hump. An engine wouldn't go amiss either. 

Perfect! Time to pick up a pencil and start designing the parts that need to be bashed out of steel.

Am I loving this!

And it's ready to be delivered - just not to me!

Mixed views from the biking world but, in my opinion, it's beautiful!

Well done Norton for making such a great looking bike!

Cruise to http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com now to check out the new model variations and start saving those pennies.

Looking for a Project. Buy Buy Buy!

Just missed out on an old XL250 on ebay. Yes I should have put a higher bid in but sometimes, when you're in two minds, you chance it to fate. It's not exactly a classic BSA or Triumph so I'm not too bothered.

So that leaves me scouring the web pages for restoration projects that are close enough to drive to. Never used to be a problem in the UK, but in Australia, it could be a days travel to get to the next state, let alone the other side of the country!


The post above was the start of BikeTech7.
Not very interesting was it? No pictures, hardly any text. Back then I thought you just wrote something in your blog and everyone was desperate to read the rubbish you churn out. Not actually the way it works, but then you knew that... didn't you?
I started the blog to keep an online account of my projects, and help others who were going through issues of their own and maybe had no prior knowledge. It's all a bit of fun, and hopefully helps you keep your bike on the road, or gets you closer to finishing it. 
Got questions? Just ask, I love to hear from you.

Meanwhile, here's some pics of one of my previous bike projects. It's a 1964 Norton Jubilee. The smallest capacity bike Norton ever built, it's a 250cc parallel twin and, although not completely original, looked pretty good when finished.

Thanks for checking out Biketech7 and I hope you can stick around.