GS1000 streetfighter idea w/ picture

Making progress...

The shock mounts were fabbed up and tack welded to the frame. I then sat on the bike and wheeled it out to the driveway. The bike is now a roller! It now feels much lighter than before and it rolls so much more easily with the radial tires.







Next, the shock mounts will be blended into the frame, and welded in permanently. Then the frame bracing to support the shock mounts, and to keep it from flexing under the load of the new wider rear tire and suspension setup.

Sag is negligible since we set the preload before putting the weight of the bike on the shock. Rake is set at 24.5 degrees - quick steering, but not too quick/twitchy.

Huge thanks to Todd, my welder/fabricator who's done *great* work.

no i haven't, it's been a crazy week around here work/house/weather/time...
everytime i go into the garage and look at the bike i'm thinkin' this bike's been around for me for a couple of decades...i really don't know.
but if i could find a good home for it, i'd sure could use the money to finance part of the next project...
i haven't advertized it or anything but i realize it's a passion and there's no way any of this is justifiable.
...not even owning one of these old bikes, we're all sick! or at least i am. somebody hep me!!!

I dunno man, I have to think that money is easier to find than another GS1100 with all those tasty mods - it's really one of a kind and must perform great. I'd keep that bike if I were you, but it's really up to you what to do with it in the end.

What project do you have in the works?

Justifiable? Nope - extremely fun - you betcha.

Any sane person wouldn't spend over 7 months amassing and engineering parts to graft a new sportbike suspension onto a 27 year old bike in the hopes of building a custom, agile oldschool bruiser of a sportbike, but I have, and it is indeed a passion. One of the most interesting and engaging things (to me at least) that I've worked on lately. I find myself sketching out parts at work when I should be, *ahem*, working.

I've reached the point in this project that I want this thing to be done, NOW. It's warm out and I want to ride.

Have you decided what to do with your 1100 yet? That's a sweet ride for sure - if you sell it, hopefully the buyer will appreciate all the work you put into it.

no i haven't, it's been a crazy week around here work/house/weather/time...
everytime i go into the garage and look at the bike i'm thinkin' this bike's been around for me for a couple of decades...i really don't know.
but if i could find a good home for it, i'd sure could use the money to finance part of the next project...
i haven't advertized it or anything but i realize it's a passion and there's no way any of this is justifiable.
...not even owning one of these old bikes, we're all sick! or at least i am. somebody hep me!!!

Good advice regarding frame paint - I'll keep that in mind for sure.

I'm with Solo here. Get it working right, before you put all the time into prep and paint. You DON"T want to have to go back and weld some other bracket over your freshly painted frame. Don't ask how I know this, just Trust me....

me i would just shine it up nice and ride the thing for a season
have fun with it, get all the bugs worked out...
paint will be a nice 'winter project'
all your paint suggestions are winners!

True enough about the paint, don't have to do that right now.

Have you decided what to do with your 1100 yet? That's a sweet ride for sure - if you sell it, hopefully the buyer will appreciate all the work you put into it.

me i would just shine it up nice and ride the thing for a season
have fun with it, get all the bugs worked out...
paint will be a nice 'winter project'
all your paint suggestions are winners!

Really coming along nicely now, good work!!

Thanks, we're in the home stretch now. Another week or so and hopefully the monoshock mounts will be welded in and the bike will be a roller again. :-D
Also need to have a steering dampener bracket, exhaust hanger bracket, instrument bracket, and new battery/electrical mounts made up. The paint on the back half of the frame is missing in a few spots from Mr. Grinder taking off a lot of the stock tabs, so it needs to be repainted.

Then it's wheel and chain alignment time, hook up all the electrical/fuel gear, and hit the start button. Hopefully it'll start back up the first time I try...

As for body paint, I can't make my mind between blue/white Yoshimura replica, red/white Yoshimura replica, or just repainting in the stock ruby red, all of which are good looking color combos. What do you guys think?

The tank and tailpiece are both very sunfaded on top - whoever owned this bike before me left it outside for a good portion of its life.

Gotta have this thing done before the Yosemite GSR rally in July, but ASAP would be even better.

Really coming along nicely now, good work!!

Shifter rearset bracket made

The bike was trailered over to a welding/fab shop last Sunday to have some parts made up, and to have the frame bracing and monoshock mounts fabbed up and welded to the frame.

Tonight we made a rearset bracket out of 1/4" aluminum plate for the GSXR shifter to mount it on the GS frame. The bottom two bolts bolt up into the stock footpeg mounting holes. It works really well and looks pretty good too IMO. :-D

Did you use the wheel and sprocket carrier spacers from the the GSXR 1100, and how'd you check that the rear wheel lined up with the front? Thanks.

can't remember what the combination was except for the GS carrier into the 5.5 wheel('90 to '92 at least). i do remember that the earlier gsx-R 4.5in wheel was different. the caliper/brake side was again a combo of GS/gsx-R parts. sorry, but it was 13 years ago

thanks,
the swingarm is off the same donor gsx-R 1100. it stretched the wheelbase about 3in. and stabilized the bike a bit, at least to 200kph
you could fit the 180 in the stock aluminum swingarm (something i may end up doing with the Kat) but i like the look on the Big GS

Did you use the wheel and sprocket carrier spacers from the the GSXR 1100, and how'd you check that the rear wheel lined up with the front? Thanks.

Solo-

Love that 1100. :-D Thanks for the info.

Are you using the stock 1100 swingarm, or something newer?

thanks,
the swingarm is off the same donor gsx-R 1100. it stretched the wheelbase about 3in. and stabilized the bike a bit, at least to 200kph
you could fit the 180 in the stock aluminum swingarm (something i may end up doing with the Kat) but i like the look on the Big GS

Solo-

Love that 1100. :-D Thanks for the info.

Are you using the stock 1100 swingarm, or something newer?

not sure if it's usefull but i've used a 5.5 from a '92 gsx-R with the carrier from the GS on my '82 GS no problem
i've also used a shaved carrier but ended up having to 'shave' the edge on some make of tires ie: metz 180 but not some of the other makes!

been using that set up since 1994 so...works for me but i know i couldn't run a 6in if i want the sprockets to line up and to clear the frame without modifying