I saw the GL you have now when 5bikeMike first got it - and it very much needed the work and parts Mike put into it. The monoshock/linkage style rear end should be helpful in getting a really spare tail, so it's a good start in that way. The original owner's (out in Terrace?) fetish for almost-but-not-quite black paint and powdercoating created some visual confusion in my opinion, in comparison to the one you have pictured, which I like very much. It was lucky Mike still had some original-finish valvecovers at least.
Nobody I know has really attempted a modern USD forked, 17" wheel streetfighter/cafe crossover - expensive parts make for expensive project bikes. To justify the spendy suspension, you'd want a worthy frame to hang it on. and there aren't many from the days of the air-cooled dinosaurs that would merit the open wallet. Most of them would just drag the Ohlins USD forks down, and the fat modern radials would exacerbate spindly-tube frame-flex. An older belt-drive Duck, or even better, a bevel, might be worth the trouble and return enough ride satisfaction to justify the budget. As Hans says, Dennis has boldly sliced into his latest project, excising much of the original sub frame, and blue-skying his own monoshock swingarm - certainly more ambitious than anything I have tried. He will be reading this tonight perhaps - he has been working very hard on this project and needed to take his wife out to dinner tonight, or he might have weighed in already.
