GS1000 streetfighter idea w/ picture

Funny how serendipity works sometimes.

I was about to get the sprocket carrier machined down a bit more to resolve the chain dragging on the frame issue on this project. It was really close to being OK, the chain was only dragging on deceleration when the chain went from taut to slack.

Then I took a close look at the GSXR 750 while lubing its chain, which has a DID 520 ERV3 chain fitted, and noticed that the DID chain that was fitted to it looked narrower than the EK 520 chain I had bought for the project.

Intrigued by this, the calipers came out and the DID measured out to be 18.6 mm wide, where the EK was 21 mm wide. Big difference when every mm counts.

So I ordered a new DID 520 ERV3 chain with the hopes this would resolve the chain dragging problem on the GS, and figured in the worst case I could bust off the master link and use the chain for the GSXR instead.

Well, the chain arrived yesterday, and I immediately mocked it up. It didn't drag on the frame anymore (\\/ x 1000). Also, sprocket alignment was nice and straight. I modified the rubber chain runner on the GSXR 1000 swingarm so it'd fit with the GS frame, which worked out great. No worries then about chain to swingarm contact.

By the way, if anyone else is new to shortening a chain and installing a rivet master link (I was), there's a great instructional video on Youtube on how to do it.
Part 1 Part 2

After breaking two separate clip master links on this project, I wanted to go with a rivet type for a bit more security.

I also ground off the head of the rivet I wanted to remove with a Dremel before hitting it with the chain breaker as there have been reports of the Motion Pro chain breaker tool breaking if you try to remove links before grinding down the rivet. With the rivet ground down, the chain breaker made short work of pressing out the rivet. 3 links wound up being removed.

With the links removed, I installed the rivet master link per the directions in the video, torqued down all the nuts and bolts on the bike, put the front sprocket cover back on (which shockingly didn't need to be modified even with the 5/8" offset 520 sprocket), and crossed my fingers. With the bike on the ghetto-dyno (rear wheel off the ground using a swingarm stand), I hopped on and started up the bike. Ran it through 1st through 5th gear, rear wheel speed up to about 65 MPH or so. No problems, no telltale clank-clank-clank of the chain hitting anything. \\/

So at this point I was pretty $%$%'ing excited because it meant I could go for an actual shakedown ride. Geared up, and took it for a 40 mile test ride around town and in the local mountain twisties.

First impressions:

The good:

This thing STOPS, right NOW. GSXR brakes with stainless braided lines are the bidnezz.

The bike handles well. The Michelin radials, the frame bracing and the revised steering geometry plus new running gear seem to be working well. It is much more stable in corners than before and turns much faster than before. The mid-corner wallowing and weaving is gone. Having the chassis being unsettled by a mid-corner bump is a thing of the past.

The not-so-good:

Wow, this seat is a freakin' mattress, and way too tall. It's comfortable, and insulates you from a lot of the bumps in the road, but doesn't suit my riding style. Hanging off in corners in the twisties like I do on the GSXR 750 isn't possible because of the seat. Needs to be cut down to resemble the Zerco racing seat that Cooley and Emdie used on their Yoshi bikes.

It seems to be slower accelerating than I remember even from a month ago, and doesn't rev quite as fast as I'd like. It's got a rough idle too, so I think a carb clean is in order. I was dumb and left gas in the carbs while the bike sat for a month. :P

The new speedo doesn't work, and neither does the rear left turn signal. I've still got a bit of electrical work to do apparently.

The paint is all faded and tatty and looks like @$$, but then again, it always did.

All in all, I'm super stoked to have this bike back on the road with new running gear. HUGE THANKS to everyone who offered help and interest in this project, seriously it couldn't have been done without you. :-D

a link - an old Cycle World article.

PDF about Yosh Suzuki

Ulrich investigates and rides the superbikes bikes -

As for color, white with blue or red with white.

Here's a high-res scan of that article I made from an original copy of Cycle World:

http://www.slcelectronics.com/GS1000_Build/Yoshi-Article/

The blue/white Yoshimura GS1000 was the bee's knees IMO:

a link - an old Cycle World article.

PDF about Yosh Suzuki

Ulrich investigates and rides the superbikes bikes -

As for color, white with blue or red with white.

I'm a bit puzzled that you're afraid of "wadding up" your bike at the track. Wouldn't a track day be the safest way to find out if all the radical changes you've made to your bike work well?
As for the turn signals, Have you tried removing the Stock Gauges' wiring harness & center section & figuring out a way to mount it to the new front end?

Terry

Thanks for the comment. It'd be interesting to see if this bike would pass technical inspection for a track day.... Test rides so far have been when there's not a lot of traffic etc. Happy to say it turns, stops, and accelerates far better than stock. Feels a LOT like my GSXR 750 in terms of turning and stopping, very agile with powerful brakes. It accelerates like a bat out of hell from dropping weight and adding a bit of power with the pipe/pods and rejet.

All the steering geometry engineering (rake/trail, wheelbase, linkage angles, shock angle, forward/aft weight distribution etc etc) was borrowed from the GSXR 1000, so I'm pretty confident it'll work well. My job was basically to study the GSXR 1000 and copy and adapt all their suspension engineering to the GS1000 since Suzuki already figured out the ideal configuration.


Just gotta resolve the chain issue. The turn signals work well now, turns out the issue was that the battery wasn't charged enough to get them to flash. I mounted the front ones to the headlight brackets by drilling a couple of holes in the brackets which works well.

Haven't decided yet. Would love to, but wadding this thing up in a corner would be a heartbreaker.
Turns out the turn signals won't flash because there's not enough resistance in the system for the turn signal box to make them flash. If you plug the stock gauges in, they flash just fine. Now there's gotta be a way to fake out the flasher box...anyone? [-o<

I'm a bit puzzled that you're afraid of "wadding up" your bike at the track. Wouldn't a track day be the safest way to find out if all the radical changes you've made to your bike work well?
As for the turn signals, Have you tried removing the Stock Gauges' wiring harness & center section & figuring out a way to mount it to the new front end?

Terry

Just grind the frame a bit if it's not too bad - on my bike the part that rubs is where a brace is welded on - wouldn't hurt the main structural piece to grind down the weld, which is what I'll be doing if it rubs (I'm getting really close to trying it out).

[renobruce]

I bought a 06 GSXR 750 to have a bike to ride while working on the GS and have been riding the wheels off that thing.

From a bit of test riding, the chain drags on the frame on deceleration so it's back to the machine shop with the sprocket carrier.

Pretty hard to get any work done with that new rocket in your garage, eh?

I bought a 06 GSXR 750 to have a bike to ride while working on the GS and have been riding the wheels off that thing.

From a bit of test riding, the chain drags on the frame on deceleration so it's back to the machine shop with the sprocket carrier.

[first timer]

you have been to quiet! whats been going on?

Any updates? You got that beast flying down the road yet? :-D

Thanks for asking. The sprocket carrier came back from the machine shop yesterday, so I took it for a test ride last night, and man it feels quick! Feels super torquey now, hit the gas a little bit in any gear and you accelerate HARD right away. Up a few HP with the pipe/pods/rejet and minus 90-100 pounds of weight. Turns and stops really nice too. Sounds incredible too when you get on the gas. Everything was going great till the clip master link came off when I was gunning it, which caused the chain to come off and the bike to have to be towed back home. 8-[ This thing is definitely in test mode right now.

As for the rally, I'll bring the bike if anyone wants to check it out, but will most likely be riding a GSXR for the weekend until the kinks are all worked out on the GS.

[renobruce]

Also starting to doubt that this bike will be ready in time for the Yosemite/Tahoe rally, but there *is* a 2002 Bandit 1200 with only 1200 miles in the local classifieds for a song....

Any updates? You got that beast flying down the road yet? :-D

In case anyone's curious, here's an update on the sprocket/chain alignment issue.

This is the current rear suspension setup:

2005 GSXR 750 rear wheel (5.5x17"), 180 section Michelin Pilot Power rear tire
2005 GSXR 750 sprocket carrier
2006 GSXR 1000 cush drive rubbers cut down 15 mm
520 chain conversion, 5/8" offset 520 front sprocket, rear sprocket flipped over for more clearance
2006 GSXR 1000 swingarm w/ custom fabbed/welded monoshock conversion
2005 GSXR 750 wheel spacers

Some notes:

The 2005 GSXR 750 wheel bolts right up using the 750 spacers into the 2006 GSXR 1000 swingarm. The wheel alignment and brake rotor alignment is spot on. A bit of unpowered downhill coasting road testing shows that the bike tracks perfectly in a straight line with this setup, and falls into corners and holds a line very well. The steering geometry and radial tires make it feel like a modern sportbike.

Turns out that the 2005 GSXR 750 sprocket carrier is a bit narrower than the 2006 GSXR 1000 carrier, which is good because it brings the sprocket in a few extra mm.

Trying to quantify how much the sprocket/chain alignment is off has been tough. I used an additional 1.5 mm spacer behind the 5/8" offset front sprocket to offset it an additional 1.5 mm and rechecked front/rear sprocket alignment with a straight edge. The alignment was perfect, although the chain would hit the frame if you tried to mount it that way. So if 1.5 mm is milled from the face of the sprocket carrier to bring the sprocket inward an additional 1.5 mm with the 5/8" offset front sprocket, it *should* line up perfectly.

Here's the sprocket carrier:




Need to find a machine shop with a good lathe now. Also starting to doubt that this bike will be ready in time for the Yosemite/Tahoe rally, but there *is* a 2002 Bandit 1200 with only 1200 miles in the local classifieds for a song....

8 & 1/16" for mine, although the sprocket carrier sticks out from the wheel and could be reduced by ~.25". I think you'd definitely have an easier time with a 5.5" wheel.

Mine measures the same as johnnay's from sprocket to rotor on my 17x6 PM wheel.

Does the trimmed down dampers really move the sprocket carrier in? You still have the bearing support which if the correct one will keep the sprocket carrier at the same position even with trimmed dampers. The bearing support would need shortening too. You would need to shorten the side between the sprocket carrier bearing and the hub bearing the same amount you trimmed the dampers.

The trimmed dampers do move the sprocket carrier in on the newer GSXR wheels, up to a point, because they act as spacers as well. After that, hard parts like bearings, spacers and the cush drive/sprocket carrier themselves start touching and you can't move it in more without modifying them.

The distance between the outside of the rear sprocket and the rear brake rotor before trimming the dampers was 8.75"; I got it down to 8.25" by trimming the rubbers, and it needs to be 7.75" for proper chain alignment. That last 1/2" is a bear because that's where metal starts touching metal. If the same ratio of width can be trimmed from the 5.5" wheel to get the sprocket carrier moved inward, it should work a treat for getting chain alignment right, I hope.

The sprocket sticks out too far to the left by about 1/2", even with the cush drive rubbers shaved down 15 mm.

Does the trimmed down dampers really move the sprocket carrier in? You still have the bearing support which if the correct one will keep the sprocket carrier at the same position even with trimmed dampers. The bearing support would need shortening too. You would need to shorten the side between the sprocket carrier bearing and the hub bearing the same amount you trimmed the dampers.