The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Blastard by GS Motor Company

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Blastard by GS Motor Company

Over the last few days we’ve been talking about all of the small displacement motorcycles being imported and modified in countries all over the world, except in the USA. Well, there is a small displacement affordable bike available for modification here, the 500cc Buell Blast and Greg Socha’s GS Motor Company has one example of what you might do with it, it’s called the Blastard.

It’s pretty basic and clean with a lot of old style touches. The only brake is up front and it’s a mechanical drum. Like the customs from Japan, it’s not over done and like those bikes, it stands out with its simplicity.

It’s easy to look at the Yamaha SR and similar bikes not available here and get frustrated. The other option is to look at what we do have here and come up with custom solutions based on those bikes instead. Greg did a nice job. It may not be exactly what some of us had in mind when looking at the bikes from Deus or Bratstyle but on the other hand, if more builders look at the Blast as a source for an engine and parts, maybe a few other creations would be even better.

We’ve seen a few Blast customs here before, maybe more builders should give this bike a second look.

Link: GS Motor Company and AMD Championship

Related: Buell Blast Cafe Racer
Related: Red Buell Custom by GS Motor Company

Blastard by GS Motor Company

Comments

  1. I enjoyed my Buell except I thought Eric should make a dual purpose model. Mine was so low I had to watchout for high centering on speed bumps in parking lots.

  2. i had a Buell XB9R and i never had any worries about ground clearance. even with the under slung exhaust i could go over the tallest of speadbumps.

    that blastard looks like a pretty fun home project.

  3. I have a Blast now! The biggest issue when it comes to customization for them is the availability of aftermarket parts. I was able to pick up a really nice set of rearsets by Crossroads used, but they are now out of production, it seems. Banke also makes rearsets as well. The Blast seems to lend itself pretty well to the Streetfighter style, and with a few simple modifications, can be made to look just as tough as the other Buells. And, honestly, the Blast looks dorkier in photos than it does in person, imo.

    The engine is a Sportster derivative, and can really be hopped up if you want to throw money at it. There’s even a kit to get it up to 600cc (maybe even bigger?). I know somebody makes a mounting kit to fit the Blast engine into an XL frame, which would really open up some interesting possibilities. Single-cylinder Sportster Cafe Racer, anyone? =)

    I still wish they would make a street version of the XR500, though. I would have bought one of those over the Blast (it uses the same engine).

  4. Oh! I forgot to comment on the Blastard!

    Really nice…I’m not so hot on the rims, but overall, I like it =)

  6. Ok, where do I start: No rear brake so it’s not legal in any State; the chain / countershaft sprocket will take out your foot; two carbs for one cylinder, that should be fun to tune; the battery will get knocked-off in the first week; did I forget the 1948 Morris Mag from a John Deer. I just love really good engineering!

  7. There’s always one guy who doesn’t get it around here. I’m just waiting for the other one to point out the lack of helmet locks, TS&M, or something else equally stupid.

    HINT: LOTS of big singles came from factories with 2 carbs……

    Never got a ticket for running without a rear brake on mine, either. Or hit the chain with my foot, etc……

  9. You’re right Rohorn You’re the guy. You’re not getting it.

    We were talking about doing something in the U.S. like Deus has done in Australia; that is, take a relatively cheap, traditional thumper like the SRs and sell them, not as customs or one-offs, but as semi-production bikes.

    That means the bike has to comply with every law, emissions, everything, if you hope to license it. Once you’ve got it home you can do what you like, and in some states you’ll probably get by with it. In others you won’t.

    It’d be interesting to know what Sucker Punch Sally went through to become “a licensed manufacturer” — and the engines they use are already in the U.S. I’m betting the hoops Deus had to jump through were much worse.

    You’re joking right? There’s probably only one guy in the world who’s going to buy a bike like yours and he already has it. (You mean “not yet” right? Those things haven’t happened to you yet.) 🙂

  11. Phoebe is right. ROHORN is always to quick to speak for his own good. Why would you ever need mirrors if no one is looking into them (a tree falls in the forest…). The front brake is there to slow it down when wheeled off a trailer.

    It’s a really nice show bike, nice that is in execution. I’d probably have fun trying to ride it around town too but not daily. I’ve been told the Blast has a number of problems so adding to them is not a good way to make a daily driver. Since this is not intended as a commuter bike it looks cool and complete.

    I say good job, nice original direction and choice of platform. That said, the Blast is no SR500 but it’s the closest thing you can get in the US. I have no idea how well it sells but Yamaha probably does and uses that knowledge as an excuse not to import their singles.

    The Hond XR650L is also an inexpensive and easily modified platform to use. Plus they’re tough as nails (and heavy and slow as a bag of rocks…). See what this guy did with his:
    http://www.4strokes.com/guests/imagedetail.asp?ImgID=1765

    Since I don’t have a picture yet of my XR650L, here’s what I did with an XR350 and a bunch of left over parts:
    http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tsorel/My%20Photo%20Album/?action=view&current=bde6.jpg

    -todd

  12. What do they have against brakes? I like a lot of things about this bike, but I’d insist on three disc brakes and a front fender…

  13. I only use my rear brake when im adjusting my gloves on a hill at a stop light. And something tells me this bike isnt heavy enough to necessitate a giant amount of braking power up front. And i think front fenders are overrated.

    That being said, i think that thing is butt ugly. sort of a bastard child between a honda cub and a schwinn grey ghost.

  14. What was wrong with what ROHORN said?? I think he was responding to the post above him.

    And Phoebe, as far as I know, the Blast is still their best selling platform. If someone was ambitious enough, they could probably source a fair quantity of Blast motors for their own small-batch made bikes.

    Then again, the US EPA and ARB requirements are not that difficult to meet if you wanted to import a motor or a whole bike. They even have a specific chapter on that in the federal code.

  15. Anonymous Coward, or “Golly Gee” for short:

    I’m talking about the bike IN THIS THREAD. I could give a rat’s ass whether or not it is DOT. If I was terminally dull like Todd or terminally inexperienced and/or ignorant like Brian above, then I’d spend all my time looking at DOT approved bikes. I don’t – which is why I come here. Or used to. The rest of your comments, especially regarding my work (which you and todd clearly missed the point of regarding my bringing up my experience) are stupid enough not to warrant a response. In the mean time, submit your work…..

    But everytime Pavlov here rings the American Custom Bike bell, the dogs with internet connections (and absolutely NO other qualification) post their drool.

    Todd,

    Thanks for posting your work. It is exactly as I imagined it would be.

    Paul,

    If the Gollys, Brians, (the one above, not Mr. Case….) Todds, et. al. of the online motorcycle world are your bread & butter, then I’ll stick to the real world and keep this site safe for the group reinforcement these keyboard experts clearly crave.

    I have NO desire to write for “riders” like that.

  16. Thanks Mr. Case – I was hoping somebody would get it. I hope you and everyone else understands that you aren’t the “brian” I was referring to!

  17. Wow, this ROHORN guy takes internet blogging way too seriously. He definitely needs to lighten up a little. At least thanks or the comment on one of my bikes. Many other people were supprised what could be done with a non running bike, a bunch of scrap parts, and zero dollars.

    BTW, I’ve built a number of cafe-street bikes like this, using small capacity trail bikes as my core. When I sell them they go like hot cakes. I’m really surprised at how many people out there will spend a lot of money on what someone can put together with little or none. This has always led me to believe there is a strong market (at least here in the San Fran area) for light weight roadsters. I’ve often considered making a little business out of it; mainly converting and/or offering kits to turn DRZ’s and other plentiful small bikes into cafe racers. I’m sure people like ROHORN who only like big Harleys without decent road worthy equipment wouldn’t get it. I’m not too worried about that. As they say, “the proof is in the posting”.

    -todd

  19. Brian, yes supposedly the Blast is their best-selling bike…which makes me wonder why the aftermarket is so poor on it. There’s no problem finding go-fast parts for the engine (not a surprise since it’s more or less a Sportster V-Twin with no rear cylinder), but anything else…good luck.

    I’m not complaining too much, though. There’s *no* aftermarket parts for my other bike. Granted, my other bike is 38 years old… 😉

  20. I do not always agree with Todd, but this time I completely support the idea of the cafe built on some trail bike 😉
    That’s the way to go, it looks good, simple, it’s just more like the “1 motor and 2 wheels” concept that should drive the design of motorcycles, in my humble opinion.
    And I wish there were not that much aggressivity in the posts … we are here just to share and enjoy, not to bash each other … ?
    (Todd, I can’t open the link you sent, is there any way you can send me some pics of your bikes ?)
    Nicolas

  23. Nicolas, maybe this link will work:
    http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tsorel/My%20Photo%20Album/bde6.jpg
    or:
    http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tsorel/My%20Photo%20Album-xl350-CR-/

    Granted, it’s nothing special, devoid of fancy paint and expensive rims. But it did at least 80 mph (above that I couldn’t see straight through all the vibration), was light and handled well, and always got a lot of attention.

    If you ever get a few spare weekends I’d suggest building one yourself. This is one of the few I wish I kept but because I sold it I was able to buy and build others.

    -todd

  24. Thanks for the link, Todd. It was actually an issue due to my computer.

    I’m also a big time supporter of what makes the trail bike enjoyable : it’s simple, light, a thumper has it’s own unimitable character, and you don’t need 100+ hp at the rear wheel. Now the trail bikes have a high center of gravity, and are often not looking good. The supermotos are going on the right way but can be kind of exclusive.

    I entertain the project to build my own bike based on some 500-650 trail bike, but I’m not ready now, (primary reason is wife and $$ ;-)) and (sorry Paul) I’m collecting a lot of design and technical ideas in this site … to be continued !

    What do you have in progress now ?

  25. I think I’m the guy who does not get it, but I’m not sure. In any event, last summer at the TWT, that stands for “Two Wheel Tuesday”, here in Milwaukee, we had a guy show up riding an S&S engined custom that cost somewhere around $45,000.00. Every part on the bike was CNC’d and chromed, except that it could NOT TURN RIGHT. When the rider tried, he came within an inch of dropping the bike. He had to walk the bike out of the parking lot. So here is a guy that purchsed a product from some builder that claimed to know what he was doing. That owner will never be able to sell that custom to anyone, unless the “Greater Fool Theory” still works. By the way, I’ve been designing racing & motorcycle engine components in Milwaukee for 15 years, I think I get it.

  27. No, but it would be the Nascar Winston Championship, induction systems and the 24 Hours of LeMans winning team, engines for IMSA championship teams, AMA superbikes, the heads for Don Vesco’s world record Kawasaki streamliner. I’ve been not getting it for over 30 year in the high preformance business.
    Brian

  29. If you are going to run a mag ignition why not put the battery in the garbage can and run a low slung pipe. Oh and while you are at it hang a 50mm Keihin CV carb off the side. It worked great at Bonneville!

  30. My latest project is a flat black XR650L with CBR600 rims. Yeah, it’s about a mile high and the gearing is a bit too short for extended highway time (GB500 primary wich is lower than the XR!), not to mention the seating position. Maybe I’ll put some stainless fenders on it, lower it and add clip-ons…

    -todd