GS12OOSS Clone

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I noticed you are using Works Performance shocks on your bike.
What's the exact model you are using?
I'm also interested in the eye to eye length and the ouside diameter of the spring as I'm concerned about clearance to the chain on my bike.
Great bike you have

I only have one answer of the three questions. From eye-to-eye it is 15".

As for the model, I'm tracking that down (I live in CT but working in NJ so the receipt is not at my finger tips).

The diameter I'll get also the next time I'm in the shop. I was concern about the clearance also but it was about 3/4" between it and the chain. I will say that I put 3,500 miles on the bike last summer and fall after it was mocked up and running and they never made contact.

[John Kat]

I noticed you are using Works Performance shocks on your bike.
What's the exact model you are using?
I'm also interested in the eye to eye length and the ouside diameter of the spring as I'm concerned about clearance to the chain on my bike.
Great bike you have

Rounding third & heading for home.

This pretty much shows the status of my project as of a month of ago. I had the extra tabs cut off and I had a grab bar added on the left side to help pull the bike back when putting it on the center stand.

The frame is now back from powder coating and the tank, plastic pieces, and rims are supposed to be back in the shop by the end of this week. My guy is shooting to have it all put together by the end of April.

Starting 4 years ago when I bought the bike for $900 and collecting parts and pieces that came from three countries and I think six US states its all winding down to final push.

FYI: For those who live south of the Mason-Dixon line, that orange machine in the background is what we call a snow blower.

[rapidray]

Thank you Gordon! It makes it all worth it to me hearing the satisfaction someone gets from one of my engines. That part is actually even better than the money because I can just picture you grinning when you are on it hard & the motor is doing what it is supposed to do! There are a few idiots on this site(& off it!) that talk crap about me but have never even met me or ridden something I have built & I hope they see this because you have made me smile. Thanks again for trusting me to build you something fun! Ray.

RapidRay: The next drink is on me.

Since I got the bike put together and back from the shop, I have put on over 1,400 miles on it and so far so good. In fact, I can express my satisfaction enough.

I babied it for the first couple of hundred of miles not so much because of the rebuilt engine but I had a new wiring harness put on, upgraded the ignition system, and because it had a whole new supension added (GSXR in front, Bandit in back) and I wasn't sure how it was going to handle.

In the Connecticut River Valley where I live, there are plenty of pot-hole-less long straight aways, sweepers, twisties, and up-and-down roads and so far the bike has handled everything with ease. Twice, with my chin resting on the tank, I ran the bike up to about 120-125MPH with no wobbles, groans, or rattles. The mid range power band is pretty awesome and scary when I really let the horses run. Also, no oil leaks to mock me in the morning.

I changed the oil three times and I think I will go to synthetic oil the next go around. I scored an 82/83 GS1100e adapter/oil cover and Lockhart oil cooler at the local motorcycle swap meet (Rice-o-Rama) and I plan to put this on over the winter when I tear the bike back down for powder coating and paint.

As for the engine, like I said, it runs and sounds great, and all the credit goes to Ray. Thanks man. If if I ever find my way back to California I will deliver a bottle of your favorite adult beverage as gift of my appreciation of your expert work.

-Gordon

[posplayr]

Thanks for the feedback. I consider yours and JWhelan's bikes as best in breed for 82-83 vintage of GS1100E (no offense to all you other GS1100E owners) so comments from you are appreciated.

Like any project, once you get into it, it takes a life of its own. Especially when the bike is being fondled by others in its creation. The GS1200SS was my muse and I used it as inspiration to my end game which is what you see so far. With that said, and trying something new like what I am doing with the cowl reminds me that saying "the first one over the wall always gets bloodied."

So my thoughts relative to your comments are as follows.

Cowl: I agree with you that the cowl is not quite right but I'm not sure if I will take it down as far as you shown. Seeing it now I would like to cover the support brackets and still expose (side view) as much of the engine as I can.

Mirrors: I thought about this before going with the bar ends. I am not trying to make it sound like I have have big broad shoulders but I always have an issue with mirrows that I always have to rotate or pull them forward just so I can see the mirrors. This is the first time I used bar mirrors and my short ride yesterday I was surprised how nice they were to see behind me, especially with clip-ons where your whole body position is different compared with drag type bars. I don't disagree with you, but for me, its more-or-less a form vs. function thing.

Binkers: I basically agree with you. Once I figure out the cowl extension I will re-address these.

Seat: I am still thinking about this.

Again, thanks for your feedback and keep them coming.

Thanks for the kudo's on the ED. As I have posted in the past, I was really glad the way it turned out. As I look back at it there are not really that many choices and certainly it is not as unique as what you are undertaking, but my bike still has a certain uniqueness. I think that it is really the result of thinking through the different elements and what I really wanted to achieve.

In the case of my ED, I was initially split between the look of the red on blacked-out look of the 83 ED and the red on silver and chrome 82 EZ. Truth be told while I was planning the suspension upgrade, my favorite here on the GSR was a red 82 EZ with polished silver 17" wheels. So having a blacked out bike and wanting the silver, I looked for ways to breakup the total blackout so that the silver spoke wheels would not look like add ons. I did a combination of things like painting the frame silver to break up the black but also take something from the next generation 1150's. While perhaps a little unusually for the ED, it was still very much a GS thing albeit 1150. The other major factor was the 17" v,s, 18" wheel decision. For several reasons I went for the 18" 88 GSXR 1100 wheels. And in the end I think it ended up making the ED something better than it was when it came out but not not so far as to try and be something that it was not. In effect it was a late 80's performance upgrade v.s. a early to mid 90's performance upgrade. I think that is a big part of the look and appeal . I'm sure the 17" wheels and USD forks perform better, but this is mostly for a period look and mild performance and so I'm happy with those choices.

On the Cowl, I would suggest looking at the GS1200SS and the ESD and see what it is that you like and how to blend the looks to suit your taste. It is easy to use PC Paint or Powerpoint which is what I sued. Photoshop if you have it but it is not necessary to get the idea of what looks good to the eye.

On the bar end mirrors, while they may provide an unobstructed view they require much to large of a deviation of your line of site to the mirror as compared to the FOV in front of you that they are too tiring and distracting for me personally. If the bar end mirror is not convex then it really restricts your rearward FOV on top of the effort it takes to look into them.

I have some Napoleon convex mirrors on extenders that keep the mirrors high and wide. If you ever have the chance try it and see how much less effort there is to scan your lateral FOV (with your eyes) while moving between left and right mirror. I feel like I can do a constant left to right scan (back and forth) behind while not loosing my forward vision except for a second while I focus on the mirror. In reality the forward FOV is still always in my peripheral vision even if I'm focused on a distant object to the rear (it is within 10-20 degrees of my immediate LOS when focusing into the mirror).
For me the bar end mirrors just require too much of a move of the head and probably worse looking down (e.g. looking down on the right side making the extreme left hand side totally blind ). This has more to do with my own preferences on ergonomics and rider awareness of the road than anything else. For the case where you have a faring like this, it is a perfect opportunity to avoid the shoulder block problem by a wide mount selection of mirrors.

While I''m mentioning bar end mirros, I think the oil gauge at the side of the motor although looking cool, is more a safety risk than anything. Keeping tabs on the engine oil pressure requires looking way down between your legs and at night forget it. The bar end mirrors are certainly not as bad, but you get the point. You don't want to take your view away from what is out in front. You can get away from it for a while, but at some point there will be some unfortunate timing where you just look away just when something is evolving and those couple of second spent focusing on a oil pressure gauge/bar end mirror could have saved you from an accident if you attention was on the road in front.

Blinkers: If you are going to follow the GS1200SS then the mirrors and blinkers should all be fairing mounted.

Seat: again personal preference. I love the Corbins shape on the EZ/ED more than any other seat I have seen

OK I had my reservations of about this build but I bit my lip, after I saw the nice componenets you are using, I looked closer and like the bike but still did not get the fairing

OK so I looked at the ESD and I looked at the GS 1200SS because that is kind of what this is a cross between and after drawing in a lower it just makes visual sense.







So I would

• fabricate some lowers (see attached)
• get rid of the bar end mirrors and get some modern faring mounts
• Fairing mount blinkers
• get a corbin seat.

Thanks for the feedback. I consider yours and JWhelan's bikes as best in breed for 82-83 vintage of GS1100E (no offense to all you other GS1100E owners) so comments from you are appreciated.

Like any project, once you get into it, it takes a life of its own. Especially when the bike is being fondled by others in its creation. The GS1200SS was my muse and I used it as inspiration to my end game which is what you see so far. With that said, and trying something new like what I am doing with the cowl reminds me that saying "the first one over the wall always gets bloodied."

So my thoughts relative to your comments are as follows.

Cowl: I agree with you that the cowl is not quite right but I'm not sure if I will take it down as far as you shown. Seeing it now I would like to cover the support brackets and still expose (side view) as much of the engine as I can.

Mirrors: I thought about this before going with the bar ends. I am not trying to make it sound like I have have big broad shoulders but I always have an issue with mirrows that I always have to rotate or pull them forward just so I can see the mirrors. This is the first time I used bar mirrors and my short ride yesterday I was surprised how nice they were to see behind me, especially with clip-ons where your whole body position is different compared with drag type bars. I don't disagree with you, but for me, its more-or-less a form vs. function thing.

Binkers: I basically agree with you. Once I figure out the cowl extension I will re-address these.

Seat: I am still thinking about this.

Again, thanks for your feedback and keep them coming.

No thick skin required. It looks great.
"Gentleman's Express"
Have you got another pic from the side, either on the side stand or you sitting on the bike.
Just to check out the stance from another angle.
Amen, Brother!

I will post more pictures later. When I took these pictures it started to downpour so inside it went.

Yesterday, I tried to drive it home and take more pictures but when I tried to stretch its legs and open it up, as soon as I got near 60MPH it started to bog down and was acted like it was either couldn't get enough or too much fuel. I drove it back to the shop and they are sorting it out. Hopefully, I'll have it back before Memorial Day weekend.

Here is an another angle; however, this picture reveals an ugly wart on the gas tank. My bad. When I brought this bike home (three years ago) after I bought it I had it strapped in the back of my truck and when I loosen one of straps the bike tipped over and hit the edge of my truck bed. I tried my best to hold it up but my super strength couldn't overcome a 500 lb bike. I took me an few hours and a couple of beers to get over that dent. It will be made right when it gets painted.

[posplayr]

OK I had my reservations of about this build but I bit my lip, after I saw the nice componenets you are using, I looked closer and like the bike but still did not get the fairing

OK so I looked at the ESD and I looked at the GS 1200SS because that is kind of what this is a cross between and after drawing in a lower it just makes visual sense.

So I would

• fabricate some lowers (see attached)
• get rid of the bar end mirrors and get some modern faring mounts
• Fairing mount blinkers
• get a corbin seat.

[Fjbj40]

Looks fantastic!

Personally I would have made the lower part of the fairing line-up with the bottom of the fuel tank.

That is the only thing I see. That fairing and twin light looks great, makes me want to do it to the 1000....

Regards,
Daryl

[steve murdoch]

No thick skin required. It looks great.
"Gentleman's Express"
Have you got another pic from the side, either on the side stand or you sitting on the bike.
Just to check out the stance from another angle.
Amen, Brother!

Looks good, I want to see it painted.

GS1200SS Clone

The mock up is basically done. Can a brother get an amen?

It still needs paint, powdercoating, and/or chrome work to be done. Therefore, I respectfully submit my project to the GSR Court of Public Opinion for your review, ridicule, and comments.

I have thick skin so let it rip.

Update: Frankenstein/Mock-Up Phase

It is finally all coming together. So far, on this '83 GS1100E, I have grafted a '93 GSXR1100 front suspension wrapped in a '90 GSXR cowl with '93 GSXR gauge cluster, the rear is a Bandit 1200 that is mated with Supersprox sproket, DID chain, and a pair of Works Performance shocks that are slightly longer than the original to handle my 215 lb weight. A new MotoGP Werks exhaust fitted nicely to the bike. I also bought off of ebay the gray '82 GS1100E back plastic piece because it had all the mounting tabs still in tack and the black side panels are also new because the old ones were attached to the frame with small tie wraps.

The only items left is to trim the lower front cowl, fab a brace to hold it in place on the bottom side of it, attach the new/smaller turn signals, and sort out the tach. I plan to ride it for a month or so, to make sure it feels right, stops, turns, and sort out any issues that may pop up.

Then its going to be stripped down and I'll start the powder coat, paint, and final detailing phase.

It has been fired it up and it sounded great. Thanks RapidRay for his efforts.

I forgot my camera so I took these with my cell phone so the quality is not that great.


A horse of many colors



Supersprox to the rescue.


I know, I am copy cat'd from JWhelan's build.


My son holding one of new WP shocks.

'93 GSXR gauges

Here is a picture of a '93 GSXR gauge cluster that I am adding to bike in place of the original. Will take a bit of time to get the electrical sorted but making good progress so far.

Also, in celebration of the first day of spring this week we are planning to fire the motor up for the first time since RapidRay stuck his finger in all of its orifices and rub his magic horsepower lube in it.