fotocycle's "StreetSlut" Build Thread - '95 Kawasaki GPz 1100

27984 Views 56 Replies 13 Participants Last post by fotocycle, Jul 28, 2010

fotocycle

Discussion Starter · Feb 12, 2010

Ever since I did a mild streetfighter build on my old Bandit, I've been wanting to do another one with a bigger motor, a better bike, and a more advanced concept. I had very limited resources and workspace then, and since I don't have a car, my bike could only be laid up for several hours at a time.

I've also gone too long without a sportbike, and really want to replace the cruiser. I found a local GPz 1100 for $500. I went to check it out last month, liked it, and the seller held it for me until tonight. She's a little heavy for a 'fighter, but I should have her at around 530# wet when I'm done. I trucked it over to my buddy's personal workshop, where he's letting me hole up the bike for the next several weeks for just a few bucks' rent.

I can't go totally radical on this bike - I don't have the funds, and since it will eventually replace the Shadow, I still need it to have the pillion seat. But she's gonna get a unique headlight treatment, dirtbike bars, some fresh paint, different tailsection and seats (either from a ZX-12R or an '04 Gixxer), steel-braided brakelines, and customized exhaust. Also new tires, chain and sprockets, all new fluids, fork seals, wheel bearings, some new cables, etc. I'll be doing everything, of course, except for a little welding on the subframe and the exhaust, and the paint.

But first, this weekend: Fresh oil, spray the carbs with cleaner, and a new battery to make sure the motor's still running strong. Strip down all parts that I won't use. Then, two weeks will go by till I get my tax refund and I can buy the rest of the parts and really start doing all the work. I should be ringing it in at right around $2000 altogether - including tires and possible carb work. Finished in 6 weeks or less, depending on how much homework my teachers throw at me.

Check back for regular updates after this weekend.

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fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #2 · Feb 14, 2010

I finally got some time to work on the Kawi today. I went around the bike spraying all the bolts with WD40, removed the rear plastics, took out the carb rack and sprayed it down with choke cleaner, put in some fresh oil, installed the filter pods, and hooked up my Honda's battery to the bike.

After figuring out that this is one of those bikes that needs to have the clutch pulled in to turn on , I not only got it to turn over on the first try - no gas yet - but it actually fired up for a second. Got fuel going to it after that, but I couldn't seem to get it to start again. Checked for spark, and it had a very weak one. Checked for fuel by removing a drain screw from one of the carb float bowls, and had clean gas come out.

I remember that my old Ninja EX500 was very particular about its plugs, and one time would not turn on until I changed them out. I thought of this after I got home (used a new plug in the #4 cylinder wire to check for spark, instead of removing one from the motor), so I might go back tomorrow to pull one out. I really need to get a voltage tester, a service manual - can't find one on the Internet, except in German - and some hoses to redo the vacuum lines for the carbs.

I'm pretty happy that I did hear it run, even if I killed my battery trying a few different things, lol. I had a charger handy, so that wasn't an issue, but now that I heard the engine turn over, I'll get the bike her own battery.

Not much else gonna happen till I get my refund money, so stay tuned...

(The bottle of Joy was serving as a gas tank, since I realized that I'm missing a couple of lines for the petcock.)

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Reactions: 2

spinniker

· #3 · Feb 14, 2010

This is sweet, I am excited to see where it goes

Reactions: 1

evil mechanic

· #4 · Feb 14, 2010

Cool man!

Is that your cali king, or just a pic you found somewhere?

fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 14, 2010

evil mechanic said:
Cool man!

Is that your cali king, or just a pic you found somewhere?

That's Buffy, I've had her since August. She's really cool, she has lots more personality than you'd expect out of a snake. I've got her, a Solomon Island Ground Boa (little guy), a gargoyle gecko, and a fighting betta fish. You have any reptiles?

evil mechanic

· #6 · Feb 14, 2010

I just got out of breeding. I was producing lots of ifferent high end BP morphs. Its crazy what some of these snakes go for. I produced a pastel clown that sold for $5k last year! Thats on top of all the other hets and combos. It was a good year, but the work that goes into keeping 50 + snakes was way more than i cared to do after my kid poped out.

fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 14, 2010

My sister was working towards that, she had about 20 breeders and then 20 hatchlings or so. She had a bunch of normals and some spiders, pastels, and others that carried the right genes for the more desirable morphs. She expected a big wad of cash from a home credit that never came, so she was not able to get the higher-end BPs, and ended up trading out her stock for a bunch of high-end bearded dragon breeders. She still has three of her BPs, though - there's one that's a normal that I really like, and she said I could have him, but I don't have any space for him.

I went to the Daytona show last year, where I got Buffy, and some of those snakes were going for as much as a used car

Back to the build for a second, lol - I took off the bars yesterday, they're the kind that have raised mounts that bolt onto the triple clamp. They gotta go! But, I don't see where I can mount risers for dirty bars - the bottom of the clamp has all kinds of ridges and that I can't really drill through, or around. The original holes are too far in, and at an odd angle. I thought of clip-ons under the clamp, which I'd love, but it looks like they will hit the tank.

Any ideas? Eventually I'd like to swap out the forks for something else with adjustability, but that's not in the budget right now.

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Reactions: 1

fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 15, 2010

3

Here are some better pics of the triple clamp, with one bar removed. Also, one of the spark plugs - not too bad, but it felt damp right above the electrode. It wasn't gas, looked a little like oil but didn't smell like it. All I could verify was that it had too much of that anti-seize stuff on the threads and all over the index washer.

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fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 21, 2010

Got a runner!

arty-smiley:

She ran momentarily last weekend, but this time I got her running until the engine would run out of gas (new 93 octane fuel was still being supplied by the bottle of dishwashing detergent). I put in new NGK plugs and sorted some of the few vacuum lines, after using Google translator to figure out the German repair manual I found online.

I can't find the manual locally, so I will order it now and look into the fuel system too, to see what I need for it (filter and some lines, can't find a pump anywhere but the German manual says it's not gravity-fed).

I also came up with an idea for the exhaust I want to run by you guys, but will make a separate thread out of it since I don't think too many people are reading this one yet, lol. Here's a vid:

Reactions: 4

ROBBO

· #10 · Feb 21, 2010

Itsa good thred mate ,them was grate bikes in tha day and i think it will be a big beefy fighter whe done bro..Got rusty there .Tha top triples gonna ba pain in tha ass fer sure!.Thought about gettin a custom one made ,theres acouple of blokes here woud do that no probs !

fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 21, 2010

robsroadeater said:
Itsa good thred mate ,them was grate bikes in tha day and i think it will be a big beefy fighter whe done bro..Got rusty there .Tha top triples gonna ba pain in tha ass fer sure!.Thought about gettin a custom one made ,theres acouple of blokes here woud do that no probs !

Didn't think of custom... Can you point me in the right direction for that, screen names or something? Definitely a good notion

I was just looking at some 43mm clipons on eBay, thought maybe they will sit far out just enough that they would clear the tank, but I kinda wanted dirty bars for the Slut...

Beefy is what I'm going for with this one, she's 500+ lbs and I want her to look proud of it, lol.

fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 24, 2010

Finally got my tax refund cash today, and spent too much of it already:

Fork seals
Exhaust gaskets
K&N Oil Filter
Gel battery
Front and rear stands
Fork gators
41mm clip-ons
Front and rear footpegs
Clymer's repair manual
Fuel filter and lines

I saved some good money on some things, spent a little more on others, but I think I am coming out ahead at this point.

So I can take out the front end, do the fork seals, do some painting (triples and upper part of fork tubes), install clip-ons, install new battery, finish the fueling, and remove the header for painting and customizing the exhaust. Also need to Bondo the tank and clean the filter pods. That should keep me busy for a while. Next up will be headlight and signals, and fluids change.

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Bigpurpleninja_89

· #13 · Feb 24, 2010

Judging by how thick the front end looks I think it would look sweet if you got headlights to mirror a speed triple

Land vehicle Motor vehicle Vehicle Motorcycle Automotive exhaust

It would complement that fat front tire and the clip ons, it would be cheap because you could get 2 headlights like that at wally world for like 30 bucks, just a thought

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fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #14 · Feb 25, 2010

Bigpurpleninja_89 said:
Judging by how thick the front end looks I think it would look sweet if you got headlights to mirror a speed triple
View attachment 12357
It would complement that fat front tire and the clip ons, it would be cheap because you could get 2 headlights like that at wally world for like 30 bucks, just a thought

Really? Are they real headlights with something like an H4 bulb in them, or are they driving/fog lights? I ride a lot at night so need some proper lighting.

It's funny that you mention the dual setup, by the way - I was just thinking about that after seeing it on another bike at a dealer over the weekend. I am planning on a single light with oval amber signals above it, angled so that it looks like an angry demon with yellow eyes at night, but I like the dual lights too. May have to stop in at Wally World....

Bigpurpleninja_89

· #15 · Feb 25, 2010

Yeah technically they are considered driving lights but you can go to your local auto store and pickup the true white bulbs by sylvania for like 4 bucks a piece and they make a HUGE difference if you go look at my Ninja 500 build thread I have them lights on my bike with those bulbs. If you do that make sure you get the true white bulbs becaus sylvania also has a different set called ultra white bulbs which are the blue white light for 20 bucks a bulb lol:nuts: Also, as a side note, of course they arent dual stage bulbs but, your like me I ride alot at night and all I did is at like 15 feet aimed my left light at where I want it on the ground then used the right light and aimed it a little ahead like, say, 10 feet so you have a nice large area of light, and its worked excellent for me and it wont bother and vehicles ahead of you.

fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #16 · Feb 25, 2010

Bigpurpleninja_89 said:
Yeah technically they are considered driving lights but you can go to your local auto store and pickup the true white bulbs by sylvania for like 4 bucks a piece and they make a HUGE difference if you go look at my Ninja 500 build thread I have them lights on my bike with those bulbs. If you do that make sure you get the true white bulbs becaus sylvania also has a different set called ultra white bulbs which are the blue white light for 20 bucks a bulb lol:nuts: Also, as a side note, of course they arent dual stage bulbs but, your like me I ride alot at night and all I did is at like 15 feet aimed my left light at where I want it on the ground then used the right light and aimed it a little ahead like, say, 10 feet so you have a nice large area of light, and its worked excellent for me and it wont bother and vehicles ahead of you.

Nice build, I still have a soft spot for the EX500 (my first bike). I think the big difference is in the actual light spread, and that comes from the shape of the bowl behind the bulb (providing you have a powerful enough bulb). But those driving lights just might work with the right bulbs, so thanks for the tip - I'm gonna check out the lights tomorrow after work, I have to go somewhere close to a Wally World anyway.

Kaos

· #17 · Feb 25, 2010

Nice buy mate. Can't wait to see what you do with the little slut. Some alley shots on her knees will be great! lol

fotocycle

Discussion Starter · #18 · Feb 26, 2010

Kaos said:
Nice buy mate. Can't wait to see what you do with the little slut. Some alley shots on her knees will be great! lol

Jus' wait til I've got her all dressed up, she'll be looking rightly abused and loving every minute of it

Bigpurple, I found those lights at the local Wally World, $20 but they did not have the upgrade bulbs in stock. I got the lights, though, they look pretty solid and remind me a lot of the "wave" headlight that's still pretty popular for customs. I've got some old cut-up fork mounts for lights, I could make a flat bracket that would span between the tubes and mount the new lights on it, along with turn signals.

Thanks for passing along the tip :rock: I also got my front and rear stands today, so parts are starting to come in...

Bigpurpleninja_89

· #19 · Feb 26, 2010

Bigpurple, I found those lights at the local Wally World, $20 but they did not have the upgrade bulbs in stock. I got the lights, though, they look pretty solid and remind me a lot of the "wave" headlight that's still pretty popular for customs. I've got some old cut-up fork mounts for lights, I could make a flat bracket that would span between the tubes and mount the new lights on it, along with turn signals.

Thanks for passing along the tip :rock: I also got my front and rear stands today, so parts are starting to come in...

Well good to hear it man can't wait to see what it looks like

Jackstand Johnny

· #20 · Feb 26, 2010

The bike sounds great dude, I never like having my bike out of commision for more than a week at a time so all my work has to get done asap when the bikes apart. Im gonna keep an eye on this thread and see what you can put together.

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