82 GS1100E Mr Turbo Rebuild

[oldGSfan]

OK by popular demand (well, one guy asked for it) I'm gonna post my build thread on the bike I got on Saturday. Intro is here but to be short it is a Mr. Turbo 82 GS1100E with Bonneville history - 184MPH in 1985 per an unoffical speed STCA BNI Speed week record I have, FWIW. I hope this is the right area, some forums have a special area but I don't see one. Bummer about the one pic per post restriction but this site rocks so I can't complain too much.

I restored an '82 Katana in 2007 and regretfully sold it, this actually is a better starting point. Pics of the Katana in above link. I have restored a '66 Triumph Bonneville, '51 BMW R51/2 with sidecar, 75 Honda CB750 and '82 Kawi GPz (also in the pic in above link), among others, so I'm pretty good with cosmetics and mechanical stuff. But this is my first Turbo.

I'm lucky because I have a friend with a sandblast cabinet and another who runs a powder coating shop. All I've done so far is take off the front end, drain the oil, and start looking at the wiring. The previous owner mounted a Mr. Turbo boost gauge in the speedometer housing to keep in easy view, so I will put the nice original back in (2K miles showing) and think about creating another mount location

The two bulbs were missing in the cluster so I started searching for them online and was surprised at the scarcity and price. So I looked in my stash and found 8 of them, all working, from some old project. Cool. The square wiring plugs are brittle and I need to take care, they may disintegrate, but will reside inside the headlamp so if I bust them I'll replace with another connector.

 

[steve murdoch]

Having friends with a blast cabinet and powder-coating skills tells me i need to upgrade my friends.

I use flickr.com for a photo hosting site. While i have to retrieve them one pic at a time, multiple pics can be posted with an entry.

 

[Spyder]

You can use a photo hosting website such as Flicker, or Imgur. I use Imgur my self. You can post multiple photo's that way, and they are full size instead of thumbnails. Really looking forward to this build thread. Should make a VERY interesting street runner.

 

[oldGSfan]

Thanks very much to you guys, I have created an Imgur account and album, and added images. When I put them in the post and publish, all I see is the URL. I work in computer tech, how embarrassing that I'm flubbing this.

 

[steve murdoch]

Even a compute numbskull like me eventually got it sorted.
Have a read through this thread for some more info on photo posting.
https://www.thegsresources.com/_for...d-to-post-more-than-one-pic-or-am-I-just-lame

 

[oldGSfan]

OK RTFM - BB code in Imgur, D'oh!



Downloaded the Imgur app and it was immediately obvious that my album was hidden, more so than the site (and before coffee). So I think I'm off to the races, will try later. It's always the loose nut behind the wheel that's the problem...

 

[Big T]

Looking forward to many more pictures and wondering where your front brake disc went

 

[Rob S.]

Brake discs, plural. I'm dying to hear what it sounds like!

 

[oldGSfan]

Looking forward to many more pictures and wondering where your front brake disc went

When I went to pick it up it had the EPM magnesium wheel on it, with the discs. It had a flat sided slick from parking all those years, and it wouldn't roll. I had to think fast and since he had an original wheel I jacked up from the clutch side with a screw jack from one of his cars, using the side stand so it balanced on the rear tire and stand. I removed one caliper and swapped it. It still had enough air in it to roll onto my trailer nice and easy like. The EPM with discs is over on the right side in the photo, on top of the original unused rear.

It will be extremely loud.

 

[oldGSfan]

Here's an '82 Katana I restored back in 2007, wish I still had it and its partner, an '82 GPz 1100. It was ratty but sound, and I stripped it to nuts and bolts and got it looking good. I got the Kat for $1500 and the GPz for $500. I sold them to a Japanese guy who shipped them back to Japan. He was extremely happy to get the pair for $6500. I had to sell fast as I was moving to Australia, I thought permanently at the time. I thought those bargain days were gone until a couple of days ago...

 

[steve murdoch]

I see in the parts stash you also have the other heat shields for the tail portion of the muffler.
All of those shields are VERY hard to find.

 

[oldGSfan]

The only thing missing is the center stand. He didn't chuck much away, it's awesome - nuts, bolts, brackets all there, and usually attached to each other which took me years to figure out when disassembling. I always had leftovers. I found a small paper with a prayer on it inside the headlight but it disintegrated. I guess it worked!

Not too exciting but I got about half the bike torn down. . I have to trim back the welded on extended steering lock tabs he put on the frame to limit the steering so the clip ons didn't dent the tank. I may need a pic of how much they protrude from the frame on an original.

 

[Guest]

I'm definitely tuning into this! Beautiful job on the Katana, I'm a fan obviously

I had to check your location when you mentioned moving to Australia, I see you're back in the US now though.

I've ridden with a guy who had a turbo on his Katana which was located in front of the motor and his exhaust was very short with no muffler at all. I was surprised at how quiet it was! Others in the group with more "rorty" exhausts were most definitely much louder and are all naturally aspirated.

 

[Rob S.]

Do you have the original exhaust for the 11EZ? It looks so chromey.

And I love that pic of the GPz. It takes me back to '82 and shouts, "Kawasaki is King again!"

 

[oldGSfan]

Do you have the original exhaust for the 11EZ? It looks so chromey.

And I love that pic of the GPz. It takes me back to '82 and shouts, "Kawasaki is King again!"

Yeah that's the original taken off in '82. It is in extremely good condition with all connectors/shields. A little light pitting is all. Chrome is as good as I've seen. I also have a never-used carb set for an '82 and a used black set for an '83. I'm assessing what I want to sell.

 

[oldGSfan]

My wife is from Melbourne. I lived there from 94>96 and then in Sydney in 05>08 designing Qantas InFlight Entertainment system.

I'm definitely tuning into this! Beautiful job on the Katana, I'm a fan obviously

I had to check your location when you mentioned moving to Australia, I see you're back in the US now though.

I've ridden with a guy who had a turbo on his Katana which was located in front of the motor and his exhaust was very short with no muffler at all. I was surprised at how quiet it was! Others in the group with more "rorty" exhausts were most definitely much louder and are all naturally aspirated.

 

[Guest]

Ah cool, my wife is from Melbourne also actually!

 

[oldGSfan]

I have stripped the bike down and I found no surprises. It is a better starting point than my old Katana or GPz. There is nothing missing, not a single bolt or screw, and only a couple things to fix. I'll need to fabricate a bracket for one side cover, it was cut off for some reason. Ideally find a donor from someone's 'extra' frame (hint hint). Plus I broke the bolt holding the rear brake lever on, it'll have to be drilled out, which won't be fun. You know that feeling when a bolt gets really loose really fast, but it's not a good thing? The only mods are Accel coils and a steering damper which seems in fine condition, and a lengthened left side footrest which is due to the exhaust location. I am not sure why the exhaust is at scrambler level not down-swept like the old Z1R-TC. I like the looks, so it's fine.

I am stoked at this project, it will be a knockout. I would yank the engine now but have to take it to get a title re-issued. I have the original pink slip but the AAA guy said that it's not in the system. Probably a good thing because the non-op status lapsed years ago. Life's good and if I'm quarantined soon I may just work on the bike a bit...

 

[dorkburger]

Nice... it looks so.... plain with all of the go fast(er) parts removed.

 

[Grimly]

Lovely looking bits of machinery.
I look forward to seeing and hearing it moving.