Joined
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4,869 Posts
Ok, first off, not a 'build' perse... I'm not actually modifying too much, just finding parts that will fit, or sorta fit, and making them work. I didn't intend to do too much work on this bike, most of what's being done is out of necessity.
I picked this one up about 2 years ago from a deaf lady, spent $400 and since then I've actually lost the title to it. I'm currently undecided about what to do regarding that, but I'll worry about legal issues next year. For now, I just want to get it finished up. [I didn't start working on it until about 2 months ago. It's my tinker toy.]
Since I can't reverse some of the work I've done and take pics, I'll just have to describe some of it in words once I get the pics loaded up. For now, we'll start with a [before] and a [current] pic. I have to pull parts back off it to clean things up anyway, so I can load up new pics of what's been done to accomodate changes as I do that.
One of my first concerns on this bike is weight. It's a fairly heavy little bastard with not much power, so rather than upping the power numbers, I want to make it a little less hefty first. Especially since I'll probably be giving it to the Old Lady if she ever decides she wants to ride solo.
On to the important bits:
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This is when I got it. Pretty stripped down already, had cone filters on it, etc.
After about 2 years of it sitting in that exact spot, I decided to see if it would run. 20 minutes of checking things later, I had the engine on fire because it burped ether back through the carbs and blew it all off the stainless filters that were on it. No damage, except a burnt face and half a raggedy beard missing.
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This was actually the third time I'd had the carbs apart.. the first time I soaked them over night in boiling water and pinesol after removing literally everything rubber from them except the throttle shaft seals. If you do this, ensure that you rinse thoroughly with hot water and blow dry the carbs afterward.
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Of course, as I finished putting the carbs together, it started raining enough that I wasn't gonna go put them back on. G'nite time right about here.
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The stock tank has about 42 coats of KREEM in it, and it's all cracked and nasty, there's shit everywhere in it, and I just generally didn't like the shape of it enough to try to deal with removing that shit. So I didn't. Instead, I called a good Canuckistanian friend and he sent me some parts gratis [I still owe him for shipping, which was ridiculous except for being international.] This GS1100 fuel tank [also Kreemed, but much better and not shitty], a rack of GS1100 carbs so I can build a set that aren't older than Jesus and don't have the jets in the bowl, and some engine mount hardware, since my bike didn't come with any of it.
You remember when I said I was gonna do everything to save weight?
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Just to take out these [and a few more later]
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Post grinder work fitting the tank:
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It turns out that Suzuki used the same neck area on just about every GS from '75 to '89 or something like that. The forward mounts for my old tank were just a little back further than the holes that existed for the bigger GS models. I cut my mounts off w/ the grinder and stuck the left over peg/rubber donut into the [big boy] holes, GS1100 tank slides on perfect and is still about 5 feet too long for the existing rear mount location.
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For shits and giggles, I tried this. Wanted some modern rubber anyway. Turns out, the Katana wheel [by feel] is about the same weight as the alloy wheel I took off [including everything attached to it] and will probably handle MUCH better and be more stable. I need to either extend the swingarm or get a longer one that'll still handle dual shocks. The stocker won't handle 160 tire unless it's got about another 6'' on it.
![]()
Just a rear shot with the 160/60-17 in there. Looks friggin' massive on this tiny bike frame, eh?
SO that's where I'm at now. Don't expect huge leaps of progress on this build, I'm only working on it when I have a few minutes and feeling bored for the time being.
I picked this one up about 2 years ago from a deaf lady, spent $400 and since then I've actually lost the title to it. I'm currently undecided about what to do regarding that, but I'll worry about legal issues next year. For now, I just want to get it finished up. [I didn't start working on it until about 2 months ago. It's my tinker toy.]
Since I can't reverse some of the work I've done and take pics, I'll just have to describe some of it in words once I get the pics loaded up. For now, we'll start with a [before] and a [current] pic. I have to pull parts back off it to clean things up anyway, so I can load up new pics of what's been done to accomodate changes as I do that.
One of my first concerns on this bike is weight. It's a fairly heavy little bastard with not much power, so rather than upping the power numbers, I want to make it a little less hefty first. Especially since I'll probably be giving it to the Old Lady if she ever decides she wants to ride solo.
On to the important bits:
This is when I got it. Pretty stripped down already, had cone filters on it, etc.
After about 2 years of it sitting in that exact spot, I decided to see if it would run. 20 minutes of checking things later, I had the engine on fire because it burped ether back through the carbs and blew it all off the stainless filters that were on it. No damage, except a burnt face and half a raggedy beard missing.
This was actually the third time I'd had the carbs apart.. the first time I soaked them over night in boiling water and pinesol after removing literally everything rubber from them except the throttle shaft seals. If you do this, ensure that you rinse thoroughly with hot water and blow dry the carbs afterward.
Of course, as I finished putting the carbs together, it started raining enough that I wasn't gonna go put them back on. G'nite time right about here.
The stock tank has about 42 coats of KREEM in it, and it's all cracked and nasty, there's shit everywhere in it, and I just generally didn't like the shape of it enough to try to deal with removing that shit. So I didn't. Instead, I called a good Canuckistanian friend and he sent me some parts gratis [I still owe him for shipping, which was ridiculous except for being international.] This GS1100 fuel tank [also Kreemed, but much better and not shitty], a rack of GS1100 carbs so I can build a set that aren't older than Jesus and don't have the jets in the bowl, and some engine mount hardware, since my bike didn't come with any of it.
You remember when I said I was gonna do everything to save weight?
Just to take out these [and a few more later]
Post grinder work fitting the tank:
It turns out that Suzuki used the same neck area on just about every GS from '75 to '89 or something like that. The forward mounts for my old tank were just a little back further than the holes that existed for the bigger GS models. I cut my mounts off w/ the grinder and stuck the left over peg/rubber donut into the [big boy] holes, GS1100 tank slides on perfect and is still about 5 feet too long for the existing rear mount location.
For shits and giggles, I tried this. Wanted some modern rubber anyway. Turns out, the Katana wheel [by feel] is about the same weight as the alloy wheel I took off [including everything attached to it] and will probably handle MUCH better and be more stable. I need to either extend the swingarm or get a longer one that'll still handle dual shocks. The stocker won't handle 160 tire unless it's got about another 6'' on it.
Just a rear shot with the 160/60-17 in there. Looks friggin' massive on this tiny bike frame, eh?
SO that's where I'm at now. Don't expect huge leaps of progress on this build, I'm only working on it when I have a few minutes and feeling bored for the time being.
