GSX1150 Rebuild

[ensure]

I can see pictures even when i am not logged in so don't know what you mean.

Anyway I ran another Compression Test and and all 4 cyclinders are 115 - 120 PSI so thats a good improvement. Not ideal but should be enough to fire up.

And it goes. Pretty rough and smokey but considering how many years it has been i am very satisfied.
I have a video but cant upload to IMGBB website so you will have to believe me.
Everything is connected up temporarily

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While i had the engine apart i also discovered that it is now 1199cc so along with the RS36 carbs that would have been 1 exciting beach racer motorcross bike in its previous life.

Now to get it road worthy. First item to repair is the front fender which is held together with duct tape

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A bit of fibreglass on the underside

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And it is now in 1 piece

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[wyly]

I've never tried fibreglass for plastic repair, what prevents the cracks from opening on the surface?

I looked into purchasing a plastic welder but dismissed it as too much money spent on a tool I'd likely never use again.

[ensure]

I have used automotive body filler in the cracks on the top side. Works so far but who knows what a few thousand Kays on rough roads will loosen.

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So mostly back together. I have a signal cover in a box somewhere

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I have all the fairings but i am not going to install them at this stage so I have gone for a smaller round headlight.
I am not planning on making this bike pristine. so not much paintwork will get done. Hopefully just a few touch-ups.

There was no Stator installed as the PO had cut down cover on it for Racing and no wiring to Regulator so I have installed that. There is a bit of engine metalwork missing as well, but it helps with the weight loss. The cable just needs to be fixed to something.

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[ensure]

Heres a better shot of the missing engine metalware

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It doesn't seem to effect anything so i will leave it as is.

I have pulled apart the RS36 carbs to clean them and came across an issue. While dismantling No.3 I was trying to poke out the hinge that holds float and it broke off.
On closer inspection I could see that it had been repaired previously so I didn't feel so bad. I ground off excess gunk and applied a new layer of JBWeld and it is back together again.


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Should be OK as there isn't any pressure on it once it is reassembled.

Getting Carbs On & Off is a bit of a pain as the rubbers are not super supple. I have found this to be most convenient method for softening them up.

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[ensure]

I am not really a fan of the full fairing so was trying out the fairing from 750ESD model which I have lying around

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With a bit of computer paint I got this version

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I am also looking at replacing front end with 17" wheeland USD forks as I have a set lying around I bought a couple of years ago for another project which didnt progress.

While I have them off the bike I redid the seals in standard forks anyway

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[dorkburger]

Interesting. The profile of the 750 fairing looks pretty cool on the 1150, but IMO, losing the defining factor of the train light is a loss.

Take this with a grain or grains of salt. I?m an 1150 es super fan. I?ll fully admit that the 1150 es isn?t necessarily beautiful from all angles, but it?s unique and awesome.

[ensure]

The Red 1150 EFE will be staying standard and keeping its fairings and headlight but I am going to go a bit custom on this one. Not too much, it will still be instantly recognised as an 1150ES.

[ensure]

Can you fellow 1150 owners tell me what engine revs you do at 60mph/100kmph?
I am doing about 4500rpm on standard 15/42 gearing so i suspect primary gear ratios have been adjusted by PO for racing in its previous life.

[wyly]

Can you fellow 1150 owners tell me what engine revs you do at 60mph/100kmph?
I am doing about 4500rpm on standard 15/42 gearing so i suspect primary gear ratios have been adjusted by PO for racing in its previous life.

That might be challenge for old brains as many of us have done chain and sprocket conversions long ago.

If no one remembers you could figure it out by going to https://www.gearingcommander.com/ and entering the oem specs.

[ensure]

The Purists should probably look away now as the alterations begin in earnest.

I picked up a front end and wheel from a 98 GSXR1100 about 3 years ago and got discs and calipers about 2 years ago. It was going to go on an 1100E but I think will be more suited on this bike, changing a 16" to a 17" wheel wont affect geometry as much as changing a 19" to a 17". We shall see.

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The beauty of having the EFE and the ES is I can see exactly how the setup varies by lining them up side by side.

I could not source a front fender off the matching GSXR model so got one from a TL1000 instead. Fits perfectly.
I also got clip-ons from a TL1000 that have a 35mm uplift.

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I still have the instruments on standard bracket but that is going to have to change.

Here are a few comparison shots so you can see there is minimal difference in final stance and handlebar height

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Dont be fooled by tank colour, I have been swapping bits around

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Its a bit crowded in the garage/workshop at he moment

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[steve murdoch]

Good to know about the TL1000 fender.
I know the early GSXR1100 fenders can be very pricey IF you can find one. Got one in the rafters, now i need the forks.

[ensure]

As the eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted, I am trying to keep the Instrument cluster on the bike. This is a bit difficult with new forks as i dont want to keep the original bracket which mounts off steering stem.
My approach was to make a custom bracket which is going to be mounted off the top triple clamp. I started by cutting out a cardboard shape that can mount to bolts that will hold ignition in place and also mount onto instrument cluster fixing points while allowing sufficent access for wiring and clutch cable to pass through.
After cutting out the required shap and bending to correct angles I braced 1 side and the fibreglassed the other side.
Once this set I peeled off the remaining cardbord and added more layers of fibreglass with extra on the bends to get it sufficently rigid.

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My reasoning for keeping the original instrument cluster is partially to keep the look standard and also to minimise alterations to wiring.
One item that needs replacing is the speedo cable. The GSXR1100 one has a different shape on the wheel end so is an easy replacement.

Next step is to get the headlight installed. I am going for a dual headlight, somewhat similar to later gsxr's and the endurance racers. Thats my theory anyway. I bought it from the local wrecker and i think it is actually off a kawasaki. It had a small hole in it but that was easy enough to fix with a bit of filler.

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Came out allright

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This is how it looks (bike on RHS)

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This also required a special mount so it was out with the cardboard again to form the next bracket

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I had to fix some mounting bolts to the headlight which i did by fibreglassing them in. My first effort popper out after riding a few km so i added glass fibre in through holes i drilled in plastic surround. All good now.

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It then mounts to the underside of instrument cluster bracket like this

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There is a little too much jiggle at the moment so i have temporarily fixed it with some rubber bushes between instruments and bracket and a grommet around the clutch cable (note that is 116,785km not 16785)

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So this is how it looks currently

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[ensure]

I wasn't going to worry about smartening up the bike too much but as I have got a spare tank I thought I would give it a repaint anyway

Partially stripped down it looked like this.

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Not too bad condition but 1 of the tabs where you fix the tank rubber straps to has been repaired in the past and the fixing hole gone. This prompted me to fill all of them in to give a smoother finish. Here it is primed.

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After many rounds of sanding and re-priming

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I was ready for some colour

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Blue first

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And from the side

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Next job is the stripe. I must give credit here to Dave Kindig from his TV show as watching him layout pinstripes looked relatively easy as long as you are methodical and dont rush.
Lay down some markers at required distance

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Tape everything off thoroughly with paper. Allthough I do my prep work on the dining table I dont actually paint it there.

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On goes the Black stripe

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And here it is

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[steve murdoch]

I admire your Macguyver fabrication work on the front end cluster.
Tank looks great.

[KiwiAlfa156]

Most excellent work.