New to me 1983

[Kevin Werner]

Again, styling is a very personal thing; some prefer them left original and appreciate that. I cringe at modifying a nice pre-1978 and especially pre-1973. '78 and later: I have little compunction hacking away at 'em - very much an opinion thing

I like 'em all stock too...

 

[650Skull]

I will gladly take some ideas on chassis enhancements. I am leaning towards the scrambler/tracker use case. I have a great bike for canyon carving and having something road capable but back road worthy sounds like a great addition to the quiver.

Can't do to much to the chasis as a such. Suspension upgrades, rear shocks, on the front there is an updated take, (by 5T), on the Minton mods that will improve the front suspension without costing an arm and leg. The upgrade also allows for further improvements, (without having to replace factory parts), with emulators and straight weight springs if they are in the future.

Replace steering head bearings, with tapered roller bearings.

Front fork brace. MikesXS sells a nice one or if you want one that is less noticeable there are others that straddle the top of the front forks.

Change the handle bars to a lower set to get the look. That causes a problem on the 83's choke control. The cable is to long shorter ones cannot be bought aftermarket to suit...........may be able to get someone to cut it down. The other cables can be shortened by buying aftermarket.

Seat is a bit problematic. Texavana make nice seats replacing the clip on seats with a lower profile seat using the same mechanism. If going another route all the tabs on the frame stick out like dogs balls so unless you want to de-tab the frame there aren't many choices. Can cut down the seat you have to take out the hump................another option is to find a Seat from an 80SG,

These seats still have a hump but is less pronounced to look a bit more sleek and is more comfortable because you can slide around on the seat.

I would ride it with some n-mior changes to get the look your after after, (lower handlebars and change the seat), and to get a feel of the bike, sort out any issues and do the upgrades (to suspension and head bearings, swing arm bushes), and after those have been done the bike can be made to your taste and your still getting the benefit of being able to ride it

At the end of the day it is your bike and if you want to do radical changes to the factory look that is up to you as the owner not any of us.