StryfeS13

I'm not sure how many of you will appreciate this, since most of us Zilvians are stubborn assholes. But I wanted to share this with you guys. This is a bike I just recently built and sold for $1500. I'm kind of regretting it, I thought it was really unique and cool.

I work (used to) at a motorcycle salvage yard in Fresno, CA and I stumbled across this GN400 in the lot one day. The reason it struck me was simply because of the big single and kick start, I had to have it!

So I brought the bike home from work and started tearing it down and turning it into what I want it to be, and this will be my build thread. My build is much inspired by the Holiday Customs GN400..

So this was the first day that I had the bike..it was pretty ugly haha!



First thing I did when I got it home was check for spark and clean the carburetor. I'm no longer using this carburetor though because I picked up a VM36 at work..





The gas tank was very rusty inside and still is...I need to clean it out still



And here's how it looked after I took everything I didn't like off.

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StryfeS13

I decided that I didn't really these huge brackets so I removed them..



I bought some drag bars but I'm seriously considering going with clip ons instead..



Painted my stock mags black..I don't know if I'll like how these look or not. If I don't like them I'll get spoke wheels.




I pulled the motor out to freshen it up, clean it, paint it, etc.







Also, I removed the "D" in the intake port (not cleaned up yet)

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StryfeS13

I bought some stuff from DCC and it arrived! Rear hoop, speedometer, frame slugs, headlight brackets



De-tabbed my frame..




Rear hoop ready to be modified and welded on...frame slugs needed to be ground down too. I used a drill and grinder





Frame slug ground down (left) frame slug from DCC untouched (right)



Then I decided I wanted to cut the frame shorter so I marked it and cut...



Cut the rear hoop to the length I wanted it. It was too long.



Fit the slugs into the frame, welded rear hoop on!



And done!

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StryfeS13

Been pretty busy but got some progress done. Installed swingarm and rear shocks...started electrolysis on my tank - trying to get the rust outta there



I work on and have 240SX's so I used one of my old Tomei stickers on the swingarm and it looks pretty cool haha..



My rust removal contraption lol



Painted the triple tree with some rustoleum "appliance" epoxy. Heard good things about it

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StryfeS13

For some reason the only fork seals that would fit my forks were ones from a TZ250..so I used those. The GN400 fork seals I ordered were 35x48x11 which were too tall for my forks, I needed an 8/9.5 (tz250, xj550, etc)



I also did some more electrolysis in my tank..gross!



I'll be lowering my forks 2" internally. Here are my forks all torn apart..



So I finished lowering my forks and also used some aircraft stripper to remove the yellowing clear coat that was on the lower tubes. I wanted to polish my lowers instead of painting them since there is already a lot of black on the bike.



I also got the bike rolling again! It will have to come back apart though, I have to re-paint the front wheel and maybe the frame...the frame paint I used seems to just chip off with my fingernail. Anyone got some suggestions for good frame paint?

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StryfeS13

Got some progress done today with the GN!

My clip-ons arrived, and so did my black o-ring chain. The clip-ons are a little long but they are adjustable so that can be fixed of course!



Then I started making a template for my seat pan...ghetto but it works!




I went to work for a little bit and glassbeaded my gas tank...I will be painting it black I think. The bare metal look is a little played out.



I cut out and started shaping the rear half of the seat pan





Now I just need to weld the pan together and get it upholstered.



I tossed the motor in to see what it looks like. The tank will not be that bare metal look when finished.




After I get the wiring and all misc brackets/odds and ends done I have to strip it back down to the frame because I've decided to re-paint it. The current paint won't fully cure. So I might powder coat it...Idk yet though.

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StryfeS13

Got some more work done to the seat pan.

Welded the two halves together and ground it down..




Shaped it a little better..




And then I mounted/welded studs for it to mount to the frame




Got some shocks to test fit from work today, some Red Kote, and a battery. It's a little big but it'll work.



Made a battery box that mounts under the seat pan.

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StryfeS13

Got the frame all re-painted with some PJ1 and it's holding up a lot better than the rustoleum I used before. Started putting it all back together...I put the new shocks on it but I think they are too long..? Opinions? Keep in mind the bike is leaned on the side sand so it may appear higher. The new shocks are 13.5" eye to eye. I dont know if I like them...I mean it evened out the front and rear but I swear they look too tall.




Also I coated the inside of my tank. This stuff is pretty cool



Painting motor mounts before I re-install the engine..



Well the bike is all back together for good this time...And it runs with the VM36 on it

A familiar sight of everything tossed around the garage lol



All cables and everything back on. Carburetor, brakes, etc.



Did some work on the tank and primered it. I think I might keep it this color! Looks pretty cool.



Speedometer, clip ons, etc.



And I also adjusted my valves. Manual says to tighten them all the way and back out 1/8 (45 degrees) of a turn. Was pretty easy.

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StryfeS13

Here's the seat after I upholstered it...



And this is how it looked around the time when I sold it. I don't know why I do this, but whenever I finish a project, I sell it...Anyway, that's the build thread - hope you guys enjoyed this short little project.

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HiddenCharacter

Nice, ended up looking way better than when you first got it.

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HiddenCharacters Crew

TheRealSy90

Man that thing was cool. I can't wait to build my first bike.

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Agamemnon

The bike looked like it was fun to ride.

You should do a Japanese bobber now.

StryfeS13

Thanks man!

Yeah it was. I've built a lot of bikes since I used to be a motorcycle mechanic. I sold this thing for only $1300.

Super fun to ride! Weighed in at less than 280 lbs.

My friend and I actually just built a GS550 monoshock bobber. Here's a picture of it when it was about 1/2 way finished. I'll see if I can get some updated pics.

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StryfeS13

Okay...?
msglength

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