1980 GL 1100 Cafe build

[kermit]

After bringing a 1980 GL1100 home for a parts bike and washing it, quickly discovered a nice bike that deserved to be turned into a cafe racer. The bike was sat for over 5 years and the gas was very stale. I started off this project in the introductions and now and moving the posting to the restorations.

After preparing the bike with the usual checks and removing the old gas and putting in premium, the bike was started and ran beautifully. Further starts resulted in very quick starts and a good clean idle with no smoke what so ever. The clutch is very good and all air shocks still had air. All fluids were clean. So the bike was stripped down to pieces.

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The engine and frame are very clean with no major corrosion. I was planning on powder coating the frame however given the condition of the frame it does not make sense. The swing arm needs to be rattle caned as it has some brake fluid damage. The frame has a good dent in the bottom RH corner however I will weld it in and one stud is broken which needs repair.

I have already procured the seat and other parts such as the seal kit, lights,bars,mirrors, all new filters and lots of misc parts as well.

The engine is ready for a good final clean then paint. The valve covers, carb tops and front belt covers head to the powder coater tonight.

[kermit]

The false tank lid now welded in one piece and hinged from the top was readied for the application of the mat black carbon wrap. The wrap might be very temporary depending on how it looks with the new paint. If we do not like it then I am going to cover the lid with leather. With the leather I will either leave black or cross stitch it with copper colored V69 thread or V98.

The false tank and the side covers were given to a friend at work to paint in Chrysler "Copperhead Pearl" which is copper with a slight lean to the reds as opposed to the oranges. I am trying to keep the bike more vintage and leaned towards vintage colors.

The frame damage was welded and temporarily painted. The dent which was caused by something very sharp and hard was 3/4 inches wide and 3/4 inches deep. It was located right on the corner too?? The kick stand had corrosion damage that was bad enough to warrant a patch repair. I made a saddle patch and installed it over the cut out corrosion. The broken stud was cut off and the boss was tapped for a new stud. The fame was completely gone through looking for any other signs of stress or corrosion and now is ready for a really good cleaning.

The power coating will be at least two weeks away which is OK as I have a couple of major projects that also need my attention and can not wait. The tank is also at least two weeks away too. The engine needs to be final cleaned and prepped for paint (staying with the original color) however the oil filter cover and the coolant nipple will be powder coated "polished aluminum"

Sorry for the lousy photos as the flash was on...

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[kermit]

The frame was too large to go into the powder coating oven and ended up being painted in my garage instead. The frame was painted in a satin black which we though would go better with the copper paint on the false tank and sides. All pieces were given 4 solid coats and the frame received 5. The false tank and side covers were painted by a friend at work in Chrysler Copperhead (Copper colour). He laid the decals and clear coated over top. The new seat was put on to check the fit. I thought that I would include a few pics.

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[CYBORG]

Very nice!!!

[twerth]

Love the colors. Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

[wingrider]

Lookin' Good!

[914Driver]

Very nice Kermit! Please tell me about the seat.


Dan

[kermit]

The seat was from texavina.com and I am very happy with the product. The fit was very good and the workmanship was excellent. The price was $225 plus shipping however that was off evilbay and it is cheaper dealing with them directly. The unit is made in Thailand however it took about two weeks to fabricate and about 10 days to ship it. It was packaged very well with lots of protection. The seat is the 28 inch model and as you can see leaves the tail piece of the frame which is still going to be used for the rear lights and a modified removable luggage frame. They make the seat in a 30 as well.

[Easter]

Looking good, really like the color. You were very fortunate to get one that runs good after sitting for so long.

[kermit]

There are quite a few around here that are for sale with fairly low miles due to our short winters. We have had several where I had to behave and just look away!! There is a 1976 yellow that is perfect for $3000 however that is around 2000 for the US folks...there has been a few that have gone around $1500 (1000 US) and if things don't improve around here there will be a lot to choose from well under that.....Parts bikes have been 200-400 lately too....

[kermit]

The powder coated pieces came back and in some cases it was good and in some cases not so...I learned a lot about the process and what is worth powder coating and what is not. Any flaws are magnified ten fold, so corrosion issues where blending is required really show up, especially in "chrome" or "polished aluminium". The fender that I bought used in chrome had some corrosion on it. After sandblasting the fender it had some pitting left which showed up in the powder coating which I will live with for now, however I am going to have my painter friend redo it in paint. I had the powder coating done to get a hard finish on the fender due to stone chipping. The valve covers was a lesson for the guy carrying out the powder coating as he tried to get wrinkle gloss by clear coating over it...it just flattened out the wrinkle and looked awful. He redid them again in wrinkle without the clear and as you can see they look good. The oil cover and the carb tops came out nice too.

I picked up the sandblasted exhausts of which one was rusted, the damage looks easily repairable and I am building a collar to weld over the damage. This area is going to be wrapped as well so you will not see the repair.

The engine was cleaned of all corrosion and is ready for primer. The engine is going to be painted slightly brighter silver than original (the paint has ceramic in it as well). All servicing caps will be high lighted in gloss red as will be the oil viewing area. The fuel cap is also gloss red too...I am painting the engine this weekend along with changing the belts.

The coolant pipes on the top look like they came out of world war two and lost...

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[Easter]

Looking super. This is the stage that really starts to be exciting and fun.

[ofb]

Looking good
It's nice to hear positive words about the seat you bought, I've got one on order from the same guy

[Sugs]

I like that wrinkle coat on the heads, looks pretty cool.

[kermit]

I managed to save the exhaust muffler that had the corrosion issue. A muffler adaptor was cut in two and shortened as necessary to cover the damage and welded on. This area is being covered with high heat wrap anyway so the repair will not be noticed. I hope to have the engine finished by the end of this long weekend however it depends on the weather and if it is nice then my manager will expect that I will be driving her to the beach in the boat.....

Thanks for the words of encouragement !! it is appreciated....I am learning lots as we go along too.