Suzuki GS 400 1985

Wanted to share a minor build we did(doing) in my shop. Not a big job, but a fun one.

When we got the bike it was missing the rear part of the frame. It was cut clean off right after the shocks.

It was also missing blinkers and the exhausts have been cut by someone either with parkinson or someone who sneezed while it was done. It was sh** to say the least.

And it was missing a seat. And the rear fender. And a fuel filter, and a tacho cable (its a mechanical tacho wich IMO is way cool). And other stuff i already forgot.

The intention of the previous owner was to make it into a cafe racer, but Im personally not confident enough in my sexuality to ride around on that, so I choose a Scramber/tracker/mad max style. The idea was at the same time to make it a quick build as it is a spare bike to my less-than reliable Cagiwa W600.

So to start i got a seat in Harley Davidson style for it. I wanted to break with the Cafe-racer style and also make it more comfortable.

For the seat i built a bracket so follow the contur of the seat, and wealded an 8 mm x 80mm nut into it. I wanted to make it sping cushioned, so the bolt would make up the hinge for the seat itself. I welded some tubing to the frame to follow the contour of the seat. Originally i wanted to make a round tube to follow the countur of the seat but i had no luck with the pipe bender i had and i gave up. To get it done i welded some square tubing in same size and some flat iron in 6mm to reinforce it. The part will be covered by the tail light and license plate, so it makes little difference what its made of, as long as it doesnt give under stress.

I ended up changing the tail light from the original (2 round ones) i had put in it, as it didnt fit the style. The head light was also changes from a LED Jeep-like light to the one it now.

Regardin the exhausts i used the original cores - or what was left from the exhaust - and build a new pipe. The angled pipe tail was made with 12,25 Dergees on a pipe cutter and then Tig welded together. Its wrapped in black power wrap, and the brackets attaching it to the bike were made while the finished pipes sat on the bike - best way to make sure it sits 100% as you want it to.

I made a skid plate from a 1mm plate, and used dimple dies to make it look like it actually belonged there. It was a bit problematic to fit it to the bike, as i wanted to be able to take it on and off, so i had to build a square tubing bracket across the frame and weld it to the frame. It turned out ok.

For the fenders i chopped up the original ones, which i dont think fit the style. Rear one is welded to the frame, front one is screwed to the fork.

Lights were bought, not built, same for the levers for break and clucht. Those were rubish.

Still waiting for speedo cable.

Im thinking about changing the paint scheme a bit.. have a couple of ideas.

Keep up the good work and all the best with the project, bikes are fun to build and I’m sure it won’t be your last.

Thanks Nigel

Almost done with the bike. Took a couple of pictures i wanted to share with you.

We are still considering color - what would you think, just black, or should some of the parts be bare (rusted) metal?

Check out a couple of more pictures here Elkroad Garage Suzuki Webpage

Not really my thing, but makes a cool "rat-bike" - just be safe on it!

I decided to paint it all black. The rust thing looked to artificial, and i wanted to get it done as we have a ton of other projects backing up.

Let me know what you think :)