Building one

[charlie brown]

Guys,
I was first bitten by the GS Bug about 22 years ago in the south of France. I have always wanted an 80 0r 100 but ended up buying an 1150 6 years ago and a 1200 A in 07, I need the 12 for the Wales to London commute and still want one of these little beauties. I do not have the cash to just buy one of the hot ones you have all put on the site and I am now thinking about buying a donor bike and building one for my self. Would an r80 / 100 make a suitable donor bike? Or would I be better off buying a scruffy early gs and fixing it up slowly.....

Are there any land mines I need to be aware of when looking for either of these?

Thanks in anticipation

 

[Rob Farmer]

Personally I'd try to find a half decent Paralever. It doesn't take much to run up a huge bill - A replacement exhaust system will set you back £700. Rechromed forks another £160. Gearbox rebuild £350 and valve job another £250. You will get a nail for £1000 and something tidy for £1800 to £2300.

If you start with a road bike there isn't much that's going to be useable unless you get a Late 100R or an ST

 

[fayeslane]

Cost of project depends on what level you want to take it to eg new paint for my R90S A$2000. Am currently doing a budget conversion of an R80 fitted with KTM front end and other bits. By using Ebay and wanted adds you can keep the cost down, my project including the donor bike has cost me A$500 so far. Also selling off surplus bits helps the budget.

A useful formula for projects is:
Carefully add up the realistic cost of all bits and services required, omit nothing. double the this figure. The end cost will exceed the doubled figure

Buying a scruffy bike can be false economy, it can easily end up costing more than a tidy example of the same thing to get it useable DAMHIK

 

[Beemerboff]

Another tip is to multiply others claimed costs by 10 to get the actual figure.

But yes, get all the big numbers in and double them and you wont go too far wrong.

As Rob says, it is hard to buy a nail cheap enough - Rob forgot tyres, battery shocks paint and seat which will probably need doing too.
Before you get to overpriced charging systems,fancy ignitions ,HID lamps, GPSs , and the rest of the , err, specialist, gear.

Bog standard and HPN lookalike bikes seem to go for the most money -but if you only want a rider there a few good specials out there that offer good value for money and will probably do the job better than the alternatives

 

[fayeslane]

"Unfinished project" appears all the time in the various selling forums accompanied with the "lost interest" claim. I interpret this as the reality has set in as to the final cost of the project or someone near and dears reality has beén imposed upon the seller

Be honest with yourself re mechanical ability and depth of pockets

If you run out of funds/interest half way through you'll end up selling to some bottom feeder like me who will give you f*ck all for it and make a fortune parting it out to others project optimists.

Seriously - buy a good bike, ride it heaps and make it better over time is the best option IMO Didn't Rob already say this?

 

[bumpmuncher]

as the dalifarmer says, £1500-£2500 gets you a complete useable paralever GS that you can modify to your taste as and when you decide what you want to change on it. rather than getting a huge expensive pile of bits that you assemble and find it rides like a piece of shit and has cost £3000 or more

 

[BigyellowGS]

Projects can (and are) sometimes fun.. And something can be done on the cheap if you are very lucky!

this was pretty much how my R80 bitza ended up after 6 months... And a couple of very lucky finds (ie the bike @ 400 quid and the majority of the major parts came from a nice chap on here for a good price too (thanks again Rob)).

All in it owes me about 1200 quid.. but as I say thats purely down to some very good luck!

Like most projects it's not really finished.. I did mot it last year.. but I've done less than 10 miles since (my Elefant sits infornt of it in the garage so gets more use)... I'm now toying with making it even lighter and or replacing the front end with a Yam XT item and extending the swing arm/shaft and fitting better rear shocks (well they cant be any worse)

As I say.. in the end.. its a nice enough bike.. But a good standard GS would be soooo much better at everything and wouldn't look quite so.. er.. qwirkey! also a good GS wouldn't be that much more money wise.

So.. really it depends on how deep your pockets are and how much time you want to spend sourcing parts, getting covered in oil and inevitably swearing at stuck bolts!

Good luck.. whichever way you go..J

 

[bakerlonglegs]

It doesn't take much to run up a huge bill

Spot on. I bought a 'project' with a view to doing it up slowly but there came a point when I had no choice but to strip it down and then it quickly got expensive.....

The project bike cost £1700 to buy, but the rebuild costs quickly passed the £2000 mark on top of that.

 

[GS Weissbeer]

Since you've already got a functional bike and in no hurry to get another bike put together, I would recommend getting a low price G/S or GS and fix it up over time. In that way expenses are spread over time and not so hard on the wallet. Especially if you can source parts through ebay etc.

I sometimes regret bying my G/S with the plan to create a "HPN-sort of bike". My regrets are mostly due to lack of time and a suitable place to wrench. A newer GS would have been the way to go in my position but they don't really have the same attraction to me as the airheads has

Good luck whatever you choose

 

[Rob Farmer]

And a couple of very lucky finds (ie the bike @ 400 quid and the majority of the major parts came from a nice chap on here for a good price too (thanks again Rob)).

You're not kidding. I think I sold you my RS bevel box by mistake

That's the last time I help anybody out with any parts.

 

[charlie brown]

Many thanks guys

Ok I think I sold my bus to my Inspector today as long as he comes up with the cash a GS Para it will be. I am ambitious not daft.

Thanks again for the advice

O

 

[fayeslane]

I am ambitious not daft.

Well, you are one up on most of us............we're both

 

[r100/7]

Projects can (and are) sometimes fun.. And something can be done on the cheap if you are very lucky!

this was pretty much how my R80 bitza ended up after 6 months... And a couple of very lucky finds (ie the bike @ 400 quid and the majority of the major parts came from a nice chap on here for a good price too (thanks again Rob)).

All in it owes me about 1200 quid.. but as I say thats purely down to some very good luck!

Like most projects it's not really finished.. I did mot it last year.. but I've done less than 10 miles since (my Elefant sits infornt of it in the garage so gets more use)... I'm now toying with making it even lighter and or replacing the front end with a Yam XT item and extending the swing arm/shaft and fitting better rear shocks (well they cant be any worse)

As I say.. in the end.. its a nice enough bike.. But a good standard GS would be soooo much better at everything and wouldn't look quite so.. er.. qwirkey! also a good GS wouldn't be that much more money wise.

So.. really it depends on how deep your pockets are and how much time you want to spend sourcing parts, getting covered in oil and inevitably swearing at stuck bolts!

Good luck.. whichever way you go..J

i have just fitted my rm mudguard on to my r100/7 and have just made a slot in the side of it so i can get my seat to fit and just got the fit the smaller flasher on and then sort the front brake and it be done