'79 GS1000S project

[nvr2old]

I'm very much a newbie to this forum. I joined because I'm in the process of building a bike I've lusted after for 30 years. I see valuable info here, and a community of 1,000's so I hope I can fit in. To be honest, after building 4 custom Hondas in 6 years this is the first Suzuki that I've ever done. I hope that doesn't make me a pariah right off the bat . I've always wanted to do a tribute to the Wes Cooley race bikes...with a real '79 GS1000S to start with. I finally found one, and upon also finding an era-correct Yoshimura race pipe, I decided to take the bike in this direction. I created an album in my profile if anyone would like to take a look at the progress so far. I'm a little challenged as to how to actually post the pics in this thread, so I apologize for that.

 

[KiwiGS]

Welcome mate.
That is one sweet looking S you are building!
Looking forward to seeing more pics.
Cheers

 

[steve murdoch]

GREAT looking bike!
I like the look of a black engine.
Were you lucky enough to find one of the hand bent Yosh race pipes?
Honda shocks on a Cooley? That could mean some bad karma for that bike. Just kidding, of course. Lots of us cross model lines.
No thread hi-jack intended, maybe even start another thread. What Hondas did you customize?

 

[Nessism]

Nice looking project.

Bad karma on the shocks for sure. The stock shocks are actually pretty good, and fairly durable as far as OE shocks go.

Sounds like you received a nice stash of parts with the bike too. Exhaust systems in good condition are hard to come by. I'm restoring a 1000S right now myself and gave up on finding the proper stock pipes for my bike (if you want to sell for a reasonable price drop me a PM).

Regarding photos, if you upload to Photobucket or similar and imbed the code into your post here, the photo will show up.

Good luck.

 

[nvr2old]

Thanks for the help on posting pics. I'll give it a try. The stock shocks on my GS are pretty much toast. I always heard they were pretty good shocks, too. Maybe I shouldn't mention that the front fender off the same 1100F is going to make it's way onto the GS, too. It's got that really cool spoiler on top that directs air into the oil cooler. It looks totally right on the GS, and I'm sure weighs about a quarter as much as the steel one. I found a perfect late 70's Lockhart oil cooler, but finding the correct adapter was a real pain. I finally found one of those after an exhausting search. I'm trying to keep this bike as correct for the time period as possible. I did manage to score a real Yosh race pipe in unbelievable condition. It was the one piece that made the decision to go in the direction I am. I should say, that I do understand the rarity of this bike, and the last thing I want to do is anger purists. Every single stock original piece is being restored, and wrapped up for storage in plastic totes to return the bike to totally stock if ever I want to. The black-painted parts can easily be reversed, too. I should have this bike done in about a month or so. BTW, the Hondas I did are a '76 Honda 550F Super Sport cafe'. It was featured in Cycle World back in Aug. '04, and it took second in class at last year's Legend Of The Motorcycle concours event. Also a naked, all black '77 Goldwing "phantom" Super Sport, an '82 MB5 with a CR80 motor and six speed tranny, and a street fighter-themed '72 XL250 with a CB500 front end. I just dig Japanese bikes in general, and the late 70's-mid '80's bikes in particular.

 

[80GS1000]

Welcome! Looking to seeing pics of your bike as the project progresses.