1981 GSX1100 Katana Based Project

[Shin-Ken 1074]

OEM rear indicator with OEM steel mount bracket. Aluminium and file time!

OEM indicator steel mount by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Rear guard done.

Rear guard 18 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Why use nylon bolts? Lightest bolts available and only used in areas that don't impact on safety. These are the four bolts for the front guard, Ti vs nylon.

Front guard Ti bolts by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Front guard nylon bolts by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Rear guards now installed. Forward section of the guard including OEM grommets.


Rear guard 17 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear section of the guard with modified washers, M8 nylon bolts and M6 allen bolts.

Rear guard 16 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Running tally = 169,202 grams.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Using a very soft foam pad and 1000g paper I have sanded the guard ensuring to start at the top section and drag the pad in one direction towards the bottom edge of the guard. Run the pad past the edge of the guard and start again from the top. Use the pad in straight lines and overlap with each pass. Once sanded I used a plastic treatment product as directed on the bottle. Although not perfect it is presentable and with regular buffing it should stay looking good.


Rear guard 10 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 11 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 13 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 14 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 15 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Agree 100% with what steve murdoch said. It's clear that this is a passion project.

Passion or obsession? Depending on the day it can be either or both!

Cheers.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Your attention to detail on this project is amazing.
I have just used 0000 steel wool and a Back to Black reconditioner on black plastic. Looks great for a couple months. I will try your method on the next round.

Hi Steve, thank you, yes, I do like details! Have 1000g wet sanded the rear guard and used black plastic treatment on it. It will never look like new but it looks O.K. and certainly much better than it did before the tidy up so I am happy with it. Any of the plastic treatment products I have used over the years have needed follow up buffing every few months depending on use and weather of course. Here where I live it is Sun damage, Queensland UV is pretty harsh.

[Diirk]

Agree 100% with what steve murdoch said. It's clear that this is a passion project.

[steve murdoch]

Your attention to detail on this project is amazing.
I have just used 0000 steel wool and a Back to Black reconditioner on black plastic. Looks great for a couple months. I will try your method on the next round.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Cleaned up a set of rear guards for the DW 180 and although they are not impact damaged the rear guard has some UV damage. Used a boxcutter blade to scrape the grey powdered dead plastic away until I got down to solid black plastic. Used 400 grit to wet sand today and tomorrow will use 800 and 1200 grit to refinish the plastic ensuring to keep the grain in one direction.

Then use some black plastic restorer to finish the job.

Rear guard 1 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 2 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 3 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 4 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 5 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 6 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 7 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 8 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Rear guard 9 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Next is to clean up a set of inner and outer rear guards and fit them. After the guards are done there are only a few parts left to be fitted:


front guard
tank
seat
pipes
brake lines
side-stand
indicators
gear selector
headlight
tail light.


A few of these parts are not plug and play by using OEM parts. Like making an aluminium side-stand and ally rear indicator brackets to replace the OEM steel brackets and the anchor that is the OEM steel side-stand. Will also make an aluminium tail-light bracket as well as having a set of HEL brake lines made so there is still plenty to do.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

There are mirrors out there that weigh a lot less than genuine Suzi mirrors however, to have crystal clear buzz free rear vision it is pretty hard to beat the quality of factory mirrors. The other reason for using factory mirrors is to have a stock-ish look and factory mirrors help with that. They are somewhat heavy, the penalty for quality glass and anti-vibe packing and the steel stem doesn't help to keep weight down.

Genuine Suzi by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Fitted the rear seat lock.
Mirrors and lock by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Running tally = 168,486 grams.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

A few more parts bolted on today:

aluminium clutch cable pivot lever
Left and right grips
2 x seat support rails and bolts
Aluminium front seat bracket
2 x front tank mount rubbers
rear tank rubber pad.


seat support rails by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Running tally = 167,398 grams.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Swapping the OEM front master and clutch lever for later model adjustable levers.


Clutch lever 1 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


OEM cable adjuster
OEM cable adjuster by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Ally cable adjuster
Ally cable adjuster by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Adjustable master.

front master by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


adjustable front master by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Running tally = 166,768 grams.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Calipers installed but with steel bolts instead of the usual Ti bolts. Will order some Ti bolts next week, those M10 steel bolts are way to heavy! Will amend the running tally once the Ti bolts are fitted but for now I am stuck with the steel.

GSX 750 caliper by Max Mutarn, on Flickr



Running tally = 165,946 grams.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

I did use some science when looking into extending the life of the igniter and Reg/Rec and not "The Force", this time.

By installing the second heat sink with fins between the two units offers an air gap to assist with bleeding off excess heat. The igniter is not well positioned to benefit from direct airflow and its position in a compact area exposed to air heated by the engine is not ideal and this hot air could lower the effect of the heat sink as the heat sink temperature will be equal to the hot air from the engine.

For effective cooling using a heat sink constant airflow is essential to ensure proper heat dissipation. Passive cooling using heat sinks is an efficient process that uses conduction to dissipate thermal energy however, they cannot cool below ambient temperature.

It is important to ensure that the hot-side heat sink does not saturate, which would allow heat to flow back into the igniter. Therefore placing two heat sink base plates together may very well cause the igniter to retain heat as two plates may create excess heat due to the increased mass of two base plates and minimal airflow to dissipate heat.

If it works it works and if it doesn't it was worth a shot.