97 Gixxer 1100 transformation

Well I found a solo seat from a 93 Gixxer 750, only thing is I think I would have to modify the subframe, and the auction ends in 22 hrs.....maybe even a 99 Gixxer solo tail....I doubt I'll be carrying any passengers anyways this bike is for ME!

I just want something to lift that tail up a bit, it seems so low compared to other fighters.

Ryan

CdnStreetfighter said:

well damn, that makes things a little easier now, thanks guys!!! BUT...from what I gather, the 93 750 subframe should be the same as my 97 1100...

Ryan

Click to expand...

almost, but not exactly. i don't recall what the differences were, but i know i tried to swap plastic between bikes of about those years, and it didn't work. but i think if you're gonna use a race tail then it will work. i once had a 93ish subframe on my 7/12 with an 1100 race tail, worked fine. just have to drill a few holes.

The last two evenings I have been painting, wet sanding, painting, wet sanding, and the rear fairing is almost done. Tomorrow I plan to start on the tank and front fender. If I can get these done by tomorrow evening, I'll post pics of the bike put back together! So far I'm $40 into paint and sandpaper, and I'm sure I'll have more than enough to finish the bike. Painting it myself ain't so bad!!!

Ryan

yeppers, used plastic primer, wet sanded, primed again, wet sanded again, then started with the paint, and wet sanded between coats. the paint I ended up using is duplicolor bumper paint, supposedly guaranteed not to fade or crack.

Being single has its perks, my gun room has changed into my paint room for now. so it was painted at around 20 C or 70 F....tomorrow I tackle the tank and front fender!

Ryan

Tank is completed!!! 4hrs of sanding and painting...not bad. So in all my paintjob cost me roughly $60 in paint and supplies. I'm now just waiting for my camera batteries to charge up so I can get some pics on here. Stay tuned!!

Ryan

I put on 2 coats of primer, then dry sanded, stuck on another coat of primer and wet sanded, then a coat of black, wet sand, coat of black, wet sand....I just kept repeating until it was silky smooth. I waited roughly 15-20 minutes between coats before wet sanding (dry to the touch, don't worry about leaving fingerprints since you'll be wet sanding it again anyways), even less for primer, I think the flash time for primer is like 60 seconds? All together I think I have about 6-7 thin coats of black overtop 2 coats of primer.

For dry sanding I used 50, 100, 150, and then 180 grit (this was to get the old crappy paint off and get it as close to being down to the bare metal as possible, I love those little electric detail palm sanders for this), then 1000 for wet sanding, and before the final coat I moved to 1500 grit, make sure and rinse the part very well after each wet sanding.

well I'm off to take some pics now, stay tuned!

Ryan

Clear can be your best friend or your worest enemy...Thats why I went with a flat black, no clear!....the clear will bring out every single little blemish you failed to see, and make it 10 times worse. If its a blemish which started when you put primer on, its a bigtime pain in the ass to remove it! Thats why after every single coat, inspect and wet sand the paint you just laid down, it will cut down on any imperfections in your paint.

Ryan

So out of boredom today, I hacked up my old scratched up side fairings. My attampt with them is to creat a sort of "bellypan" if you wish.

So far I've cut them down, sanded them, clearcoated, and tonight I'm going to attempt at assembling them, smoothing all the joints with apoxy, and painting it to match my bike....pics to follow later!

Ryan

Well shit! its all done now, but my camera batteries are dead!!! After looking at it on my bike, I decided that the "scoop" needed some sort of protection from rocks making it look like it went thru a small war, so I bought some of that rocker panel spray and coated the scoop and the lip with that, looks much better and should protect it nice. Maybe tomorrow if everything goes well I'll mount it up and take some pics. I've got to come up with a way to support the front of it since all I have are two itty bitty screws located on the side of my frame for mounting it. Tomorrow I'll have pics for sure!!!

1000rr tail got damaged in shipping, crushed by a forklift.