1980 GL1100 Bobber/Cafe build on a budget

[Jtdougherty]

Hi all!

First off, thank you to everyone that posts on this site!
There is no way I would have been able to tackle a lot of this stuff with out reading through some of the "how to" articles on here. Especially the timing belts!

I took my motorcyle endorsement test on my Dad's GoldWing when I turned 16 (18yrs ago), but have never owned one.
I wanted a cheap bike for the summer, and found this on Craigslist for $200. (The guy was asking $600, but said "make me an offer" so I threw out $200 and he took it!

It wasn't running and had been sitting for a year outside in the Oregon rain. The previous owner assured me it "ran great" when it was last parked. I figured it was worth the gamble at only $200.

I got it home, put it on the charger, tinkered with it for a few hours, replaced a ground wire and it turned over and started!
Took it for a ride and it was mostly in good shape. Forks leaked like crazy, and it has a little hiccup off the line from the carbs, but overall ran really well.

The bike sat in my garage for about a week and then I started unbolting everything and anything to strip it down.
The PO had rattled canned it flat black and taken off the fairing already so that was a decent start towards the naked look I wanted.

Here is a pic the day I brough it home (not bad for $200 eh?

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[Whiskerfish]

200 bucks and you were able to ride it already is a fantastic deal!! Just make sure to address the safety stuff first. Like brakes and timing belts and tires!!

[aussiewingman]

two hundred...thats a lucky find, i wished i can get two hundred of them...

[Jtdougherty]

Next mod was the exhaust:

First I chopped the stock tip off, but then it popped on deacceleration and the mufflers were still rusted anyway.
So I searched around this site and found the FLAT OUT bike, this became my inspiration for all future mods.

I looked on Craigslist again and found Harley Sportster mufflers for $30 in Black.
I cut off the stock headers and welded them up. With the line I chose to mount them, the stock mounting tab lined up on one side perfectly, and was only about an inch off on the other. (made a small bracket from plate steel for the other)

Here are some pics:

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I'm guessing you noticed that the frame and rear wheel are now a freshly painted Black?
More on that in the next post...

[Jtdougherty]

Next up - Frame/Wheel Paint, and NO Fenders!

I chose to use Duplicolor Black Truck Bed Coating for the frame and wheels.
This stuff isn't hard and sand paperish like real truck bed lining... It is soft to the touch, but has texture which is really good for hiding flaws in the 32 year old frame. I used about 6 cans at $9 each.

I scuffed up the frame, cleaned it, taped the motor off, removed the fenders and starting painting.
For the wheels, I removed them too. While I was at it, I removed and painted the inner part of the rotor, and greased the rear drive unit with moly.

Here are pics of the front fender before and after, along with paint:

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[trevor42]

Welcome aboard! Looks like you're off to a flying start. The exhaust looks great.

[Jtdougherty]

So I've read this site enough to know that you're all probably wondering when I'm going to do the timing belts!
Well, I wanted to paint the motor black, but knew I should take a break from cosmetic work and knock these out before hand. So with the help of posts and articles on this site, I took the radiator off, and dove in.

It was harder than I thought it would be, and a little stressful at times.
But about 3 hours later, I had the new belts on, and did a valve adjustment as well.
I then crossed my fingers and fired it up.

It started quicker than it ever had, runs tighter and the ticking sound from the valves was gone!
I was shocked, I figured I probably screwed it up... I also changed the oil while I was at it.

So now that it was all back together, it was time to paint the motor.
I degreased it, taped off the frame and other parts and started painting.

I used (two) $25 a can Harley Davidson Texture Black Motor Paint - Part #98606BF
Its expensive, but it looks great, hides flaws, sticks well and is made for motor temps.

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[Jtdougherty]

Next on the list was Fork Seals, so once again with the help of this site I dove in.
I took off the forks, and tore them apart, then ran into a problem. I separated the upper from the lower, but the metal bushing stayed in the lower?? So somehow the larger end on the upper passed through the smaller bushing and left it lodged in the lower. Very strange... And there was no way to get it out. Also, on the other fork leg the drain bolt was completely stripped. I drilled it out, but that wasn't fun.

Anyway, because of the bushing issue, I was stuck and couldn’t rebuild them. I looked at a local salvage yard trying to find a lower leg, but no luck. So I found a set on Ebay for $70, they were complete forks with trees. Once they arrived I opened them up, and checked the oil and springs. The oil was ok, but the springs were soft and two pieces. That's when I realized I must have progressive springs in my original ones since they were one piece (I think they are progressive at least?). So I swapped in the other springs and filled with oil. The existing seals on the eBay forks were fine so I left them in.

While I was at it, I painted everything black with Duplicolor.
I also ordered and installed fork boots (gators) - I got them from bikebandit.com for $14 (Daystar "58" Series Fork Boots)
This made a huge difference in the look!

I wanted to lower the bike about an inch, so I swapped in some rear air shocks from a Harley Dyna Glyde (12") To compensate on the front end, I just moved the forks up through the tree’s by 1”.

It worked great and doesn’t affect handling at all.

While I was at it, I also painted the headlight black, swapped in superbike bars, and painted the hand controls with black plastic paint (krylon) and then removed all of the gauges!

Removing the gauges had a huge impact on the look and feel of the bike…I added in a iPhone mount from RAM, and downloaded a .99cent app for a speedo and tripometer/ODO.

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[Jtdougherty]

And then front turn signals, grips and bar ends.
Turn signals are Bike Master Universals for $19.99 per pair .
Grips were $8, and just labled as "superbike" grips.

Still need to add bar end mirrors, any good suggestions?
I'm tempted to order the $20 ones off eBay, but know they'll probably just break in a week...Just don't want to drop $100 on mirrors.

Oh, and I also welded up a custom license plate mount. Just need rear signals and brake light now to get back to street legal.

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[Jtdougherty]

Next up was the seat. I rode the bike around the neighborhood a few times with no seat, and really liked how low I was sitting so I started shaving the seat foam until I was happy.

It was getting better, but still too long and high.
So I decided to REALLY give it a haircut and bob the backend of the pan. I also cut about an inch off of the pan all the way around the sides, and then welded in a new backend peice and new nuts for the mounts.
(site only allows 5 pics so this will carry into another post)

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[Jtdougherty]

And even MORE trimming of the foam, now it was low enough!

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[Jtdougherty]

I looked on Craigslist and found an upholstery shop that was really cheap.
He works out of a public storage unit in a ruff area of town, but the price was right!

$70 to cover the seat, and same day service...! took him two hours.

After mounting it up, I decided to chop the last inch or so off the frame to clean it up.
Next I'll tuck a nice slim LED turn/tail/brake unit in there...

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[Jtdougherty]

I had another seat off an old Yamaha 360 that I bought for $20 from a salvage yard, and the upholster talked me into covering that also. So now I have one low/cool seat, and one for longer rides that is more comfy.

The Yamaha seat fits perfect with no mods. (by the way, I may sell it if anyone likes it, as I really like my low seat)

Here are some pics of that one:

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[Jtdougherty]

So that's where I'm at two months after purchase.
The tank shelter and side panels go out for paint this weekend (gun metal)

Will post updated pics soon. Hopefully I'll have a brake light by then also.

In the meantime, here is what the wing sounds like in the video below:

[Roady]

! WOW !

Two months!? That's an amazing transformation.

Looks lean and mean and I really like that seat (didn't know the '80 had a metal pan). Actually, I like both of those seats.

You've done a really clean job, congrats.

Keep on keepin' on and sharing your progress.