1981 GSX1100 Katana Based Project

[Shin-Ken 1074]

To shave some weight off the oil cooler I am going to delete the lower cooler mounting brackets and make the upper brackets from flat aluminium shaped to make them as light as possible. The cooler is held in place with the upper brackets and the hoses with their metal manifolds are stiff enough to support the cooler so there is no need to use a lower cooler mount. After a test ride minus the lower cooler brackets all is well with no movement of the cooler or hoses. After cleaning the cooler and straightening the core fins to make them a bit more presentable and functional it has now been painted along with the upper brackets and lower deflector.

Oil cooler 70 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil cooler 72 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil cooler 73 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Rob S.]

Larry nvr2old used that on his S, imho looks super.

Larry should try inverting his cooler, and running the lines over the engine in the tank tunnel.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Cooler and brackets are finished and tomorrow they will be installed and a test ride Tuesday with some mates. It will be interesting to see if the lower deflector helps to reduce oil temp, being the first design it can be changed or modified as needed. If this design works and there is no need to modify the cooler system the steel allen bolts will be swapped for titanium bolts, another few grams lighter.

Oil cooler 74 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil cooler 77 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Running tally = 183,214 grams.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

The modified oil cooler is now in place and waiting for it's test ride tomorrow to check what the temp gauge has to show with the two deflectors fitted.

Oil cooler 76 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Bummer, the bad weather has rolled in today, rain and wind so no test ride.

[Rob S.]

I was just thinking of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 that set the records for altitude and time to altitude. IIRC, it was called the "Streak Eagle," and to save weight it was not painted. Just a thought.
As far as I know, those records still stand.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

I was just thinking of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 that set the records for altitude and time to altitude. IIRC, it was called the "Streak Eagle," and to save weight it was not painted. Just a thought.
As far as I know, those records still stand.

Yeah, the Streak Eagle was a Hot Rod! It was stripped down to the basics with a lot of systems removed to get the weight down:

no gun pack
no radar
no tail hook
some actuators were removed
some electronics were removed
some hydraulic systems were removed
minimum fuel load
and of course no paint.

F-15-Streak-Eagle-aircrews by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Rob S.]

An F-15 with a tail hook?!?

[Shin-Ken 1074]

An F-15 with a tail hook?!?

Yep, except for the Streak Eagle, all variants of the F15 have a tail hook for land based cable recovery when needed or in training.

[Rob S.]

Yep, except for the Streak Eagle, all variants of the F15 have a tail hook for land based cable recovery when needed or in training.

That is news to me. As long as you don't try and tell me about any carrier-based F-15s. Although, theoretically, it should be possible. Call the Air Force!

You got any? If we can let Saudi Arabia have them, I know Australia qualifies. Now if only we could situate you in between Taiwan and mainland China. Call the...?

[Shin-Ken 1074]

That is news to me. As long as you don't try and tell me about any carrier-based F-15s. Although, theoretically, it should be possible. Call the Air Force!

You got any? If we can let Saudi Arabia have them, I know Australia qualifies. Now if only we could situate you in between Taiwan and mainland China. Call the...?

Yeah nar, Australia went with the F18 instead of the F15.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Since fitting the GSX 1135 EF OEM oil cooler I have been monitoring the oil temp using a digital gauge and so far so good. The 1135 EF OEM front guard has a deflector fitted as stock however, the 1981 SZ Katana 1100 front guard does not have a deflector so I have been curious to know about the air flowing around the Kat guard to the oil cooler as the oil cooler is behind the guard and not positioned higher up in the air stream. Using a fan and thin paper strips for streamers I have cobbled together a very, very basic air flow rig to see what is happening.

Interesting result with the streamers, the boundary layer on the guard has the air hugging the guard and almost no air flow leaving the guard surface and going to the cooler as the flat streamers show.

The DIY deflector in the cowl is working well to direct air to the cooler and the Daytona fork brace which has a two deflectors in its design, is also working well to direct air into the cooler as the streamers show in this very crude test.

Oil cooler 81 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Oil cooler 82 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Shin-Ken 1074]

One of the jobs I'd like to start this weekend is swapping the OEM Nissin front brake res for a lighter Brembo res. The Brembo res is not supplied with a bracket but that isn't an issue as it allows me to make a bracket and I have a cunning plan for the bracket.


Nissin Res by Max Mutarn, on Flickr

[Shin-Ken 1074]

The res swap is done and dusted. The Brembo res including the DIY bracket, hose, clips, bolts, washers and brake fluid came in at 77% lighter than the Nissin res assembly, 152 g is a pretty good weight saving for a small part like the front res.

The Nissin res = 198 g.

Brembo res = 46 g.

Front res 1 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Front res 2 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr




Running tally = 183,062 grams.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

I wasn't happy with the 6mm allen bolt holding the new front brake res, it just didn't look right, and if it doesn't look right it isn't right. Swapped it for a 5mm allen bolt, much better and as a bonus it is almost half the weight of the 6mm.

Front res M6 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Front res M5 by Max Mutarn, on Flickr


Running tally = 183,059 grams.