Ive been working on the bike a lot lately since the weather is starting to warm up down here and its been in the 60’s+ regularly. I cleaned up the wiring harness an cut/lengthened wires as needed to get everything to fit under the seat. Currently everything is still “rough” but once all the kinks are worked out and its set up the way I want it, It will all get stripped and painted/powdercoated/polished.
I was kicking around the idea of buying a headlight stone guard so I whipped one up quick out of wire I had to get the general idea. Im still not 100% on how I feel about it so Im leaving it like this for a while to think about it.
I traded some parts for some spoke rims. Aluminum rims with steel spokes. Lighter than the mags that are currently on my bike, and spokes fit the look im going for a lot better. Tires to be mounted soon.
Also bought some progressive springs for the front end as well as some now shocks/springs for the rear. Stock rear shock length is 13.2" and Im going with some 14.5" ones to give me added clearance between the under seat panel the holds the batter and the rear tire, as well as lift the rear a little so it turns in better.
So Ive been itching to get some rear sets lately so I jumped on ebay and scored a pair from a 91 GSXR1100 for $30 shipped. I started by making templates out of cardboard and then transferred them to 1/4" plywood. So far, this is what I have:
Now that I have the general idea down, im trying to figure out what to make the brackets out of. I have 1/4" aluminum plate as well as 1/4" steel plate already but open to better suggestions. The only area of support for the brackets are the 2 bolts at the bottom where the stock foot pegs bolted to the frame. I want to make them out of the aluminum but Im afraid it is going to bend or twist with my weight on it (~175lbs) or when Im cornering hard and have weight on the rear sets. Suggestions?
I have been building two identical bikes over the past 6 months. One bike is in storage in Atlanta, the other bike is here in NC with me and that is the one ya’ll have seen. When I first started my build, I really wanted to build a yoshimura replica bike bike I also wanted my first build to be something that I would keep for a while and would remain classy. I started out with a bike I bought in Atlanta and did most of my rough mock up on that bike. I then moved back to Charlotte and bought another bike here that was just too good a deal to pass up. Both bikes are Suzuki GS1000’s. One is a 78, the other is an 80. Im currently riding the 80, and have been working out the kinks on it for a few weeks. Once me next shipment of parts comes it, It will be mechanically 100% and then I will start the tear down for paint. While I have it torn down, Im going to go down to Atlanta and pick up my other bike and build both of them, side by side, in my garage. My daily will be the one you have seen in this thread albeit a new paint job, and some added “class”. The other bike is going to be the Yoshi replica with modern suspension. I havent figure out if Im going to keep the Yoshi, or sell it once Im done, but Im looking forward to my next project. Currently Im looking into a mono shock rear conversion with some GSX-R forks but Im still not 100% sure if I want to keep it period correct or go modern. Leaning towards modern right now but I need to price some of this out to see if its worth it.
Ive been working on a new seat for the past 4 days and have gone through 7 different renditions but couldnt seem to get a shape that compliments the tank. I think I finally nailed it down, what do y’all think?
Motor and carbs got a LOT of love lately. Carbs completely stripped, rebuilt, painted, polished, and then reassembled with SS hardware. Motor got new gaskets, plugs, valves checked, clutch springs replaced, and SS hardware.
Motor was painted cleaned meticulously, primed and painted with VHT Nu Cast Aluminum paint. Side covers still need some love, but thats for another day.
