1981 gs750 (gs750e) Retro Racer project

[LarsKroghStea]

Did some research on the swingarm. The 750 pivot bolt is thinner than the 1100. This means that either the frame will be drilled to accept a thicker bolt, or the old bolt is used with fabricated "top hat" spacers. Because of strict Norwegian regulations regulating modifications to the frame, I don't want to drill the holes bigger. I can probably make some top hats myself, and the swing arm seems like a good upgrade. There's only one of them on ebay, and 13 people has it in their watchlist. Maybe it's stupid to let that one go?

[LarsKroghStea]

I found an image online of a GS with similar exhaust as I have, box swing arm and the same YSS shocks. I'm leaning towards this being a worthwile upgrade, some time in the future.

[LarsKroghStea]

I weighed my bike on bathroom scales today in case I decide to order new springs for the fork. It weighs 101kg on the front wheel, and 98kg on the rear. That's without any gas in the tank, and with 10 liters of fuel it will have about the same front rear weight bias as a mid 2000 GSXR. I was aiming for a weight below 200kg, so I'm pretty happy with the result. This will also make the fork handle as intended, wich will contribute to a safe ride
Trail is 114mm and I believe stock is 107mm. I guess that is close enough?

[slayer61]

I found an image online of a GS with similar exhaust as I have, box swing arm and the same YSS shocks. I'm leaning towards this being a worthwile upgrade, some time in the future.

The swingarm is a common and popular conversion, so much so, I did it on my wife's Kawasaki GPz!

[LarsKroghStea]

The swingarm is a common and popular conversion, so much so, I did it on my wife's Kawasaki GPz!

Nice to know I've now bought it, and will try to do the conversion this winter.

[LarsKroghStea]

Ok guys, I've ridden the bike for the first time with the Gixxer fork. So far, it is everything I hoped for It was only 1st and 2nd gear at a large parking lot right by my house, but the brakes and low speed handling and turning couldn't be better.

[Rob S.]

Is this a seven/eleven conversion? Side cover says 1100.

[LarsKroghStea]

Is this a seven/eleven conversion? Side cover says 1100.

Hi!
If you mean the black/orange bike on the picture, that's not mine. Just a random picture showing the 1100 box-section swing arm.

My bike looks like this (older photo, bike is more complete now)


It has a 16v 750 engine, but with BS34 carburetors from a GS1000 and a Kerker 4-1 exhaust.

[LarsKroghStea]

I need a front fender to secure the brake line going from right to left caliper, but I'm not getting things right with the parts I was using. I've decided to go with the full Ducati Monster-setup until I can find something that fits better. On the Monster it looks like this (I don't have a Ducati.. only the fender):



I think the silver brackets make the design a bit noisy, so I did a quick sprayover with black braces and a darker gray on the fender. I think that looks much better.





The the bottom part of the braces are too short to fit over a 19" inch weel, and the holes are also wrong. I will get a piece of straight bar and make two new mounts.

[LarsKroghStea]

During the test run I found it hard to change gears, and when I got home I saw something has happened to the left rear set:





When mounting the rearset, I believed I had bent the tab in to position, but I probably just bent the bolt. When I rode the bike, the bolt turned a quarter turn from the weight of my foot and got totally misaligned.

On the other side I modified the aluminum brackets, and that turned out well:



On that side there are two extra bolts, so I just grinded off the tab on the frame.





On the left side, I can not grind off the tab, as I need it to secure the aluminum bracket.



I'll need to split the top of the tab (on the frame) with an angle grinder, and bend it inwards until it's parallell with the riding direction.



Then I'll grind off metal from the back of the bracket until that also sits parallell to the frame. I'll also shorten it. Then the gear-side footpegs will also sit perpendicular to the frame, just like it does on the brake side. At least, that is the plan

[LarsKroghStea]

I've changed some of the bolts already, and today the bolts for the lower triple arrived:

From this:



To this:

[LarsKroghStea]

The front fender is a more modern look than I wanted, but will have to do for now.



I've bought som flat aluminum rods, and will cut them a little longer than the originals.

[slayer61]

I love the attention paid to wiring pinch bolts