Reconstruction 78 GS1000

This is where the story started.... A Craigslist ad for a 78 GS1000 that had not been started since 1990....$400
I thought it would be a good parts bike for 78 GS1000 I already had.
The bike looked complete, but the Arizona sun had scorched everything within the suns range.
The engine was free, so that was all I needed to know to go through with the deal. I brought it home, and thats when the plan started to change.

Even though I had planned on parting it out....that ugly fairing had to come off before I would park it in the garage....

I figured now that it looked abit better, I would take it to the car wash and clean off 25 years worth of desert dust...It was looking like a bike now....I started to think....Maybe I should see if I can get a spark out of it...???

I knew the crank would turn, so I thought I should see if I could get it to cough to life.I hooked up my battery charger, turned the key on, hit the button, and it turned over fast and smooth.I took some starting fluid and sprayed it into the airbox, turned it over again.....and it fired up immediately...:banana:
So I thought WTF, I'll check the compression and see if the engine might be in better condition than the one in my other GS.
Shot a bit of oil in each cylinder, taped open the throttle....and had an even 130psi all across. I couldn't believe that it sat untouched for 25 years and still had life.I put the plugs back in, and figured I had nothing to lose.....so I put a fuel bottle on the rotting fuel line, plugged the vacuum line (tank off) filled the bowls (no leaks) turned on the choke......
And it fired up on all four cylinders, a minute later i idled it down and was purring like a kitten..... I couldn't part it.....
It deserved to be brought back from the dead.

Needless to say.....it took about six months to finally get a title for the bike. In the meantime I started collecting parts I thought I might want to use, as I still wasn't sure how I wanted to build it. Since I originally hadn't planned on having another project, the bike got pushed off to the side for a while, as I had a CBX to finish up (another long term project, that was so close I had to finish)
Sorry about posting a Gurls blouse pic.....

Once I got the CBX going again, I spent a bit of time playing with the GS... I knew what parts I didn't want on it, but was not sure the parts I did want to use
So it was time to dig in.....

I originally had the rear spoke wheel saved for a GT/TR750 project (that is still a long way off) But I wanted something somewhat oldskool, yet cool and updated just a bit.
So I stole the wheel from the GT and grabbed a GT550 hub, found a 18x2.75 matching sun rim, and had stainless spokes made to fit them together (laced the front myself/first time) The rear was originally on a old drag bike and is a Sun 18x3.5 aluminum rim.
After test fitting the bike with the GS1100 swing arm and wire wheels....I was 98% sure that was the route I was going to take.
The GS1150 rotors were a perfect look/fit I was going for.
The swingarm actually came from Japan....These 1100 swingarms are going for crazy money here in the USA. This one came from a GSX1100S (1984 home market Katana) for about $20. I also was buying parts for one of my RGV's so shipping wasn't a big deal.

The rat rod look.....I actually had thought that was the route I would take, and try to use the tank. Tape up the seat....keep it rough looking but still able to haul ass.
So I attempted to rescue the gas tank....I put in some vinegar to get the rust out from the inside, but planned on leaving the outside as is.
After about 4 days the vinegar was gone and close to 50 holes appeared...!!!! So it was time to look for another tank, and some new ideas.

I finally bit the bullet and decided to do this project right, and pull the engine.
I do EVERYTHING on my own, so I did the proven lay the bike on it's side method...
Worked great..

Once the engine was out, I wanted to soda blast it and get it back to fresh aluminum. Repaint the top end. Then pull all the covers and polish them back up like new, and check the bottom and top end before I put everything back on with new bolts.