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An Old Girl in a new Dress, '83 GS1100E

  • Thread starter Thread starter Battleship62
  • Start date Start date
isleoman said:
Just went through your build thread. Thanks for posting link.

You said in one post that the WP shocks are 15" long. The bike's stance doesn't really look that elevated in the rear which is a great thing. Do you think you gained any clearance under the pipe as a result?

I have a pair of new Ohlins for a CB1100F that are about 14.5" that I've been itching to try. Would like more clearance over speed bumps. Stock length I think is 13.5"

See the shop is near UCONN, I was down towards Union and Bigelow Hollow on the FZ1 a couple times this week.
Click to expand...

As I recall when ordered the shocks (the manager at MotoConsult--Ben) took a couple of measurements and needed my know my weight (real weight and not my ideal weight) so the shock height can compensate for it. Additionally, the additional height helps handle the extra torque that Rapidray squeeze inside the engine to give the rear end a little more compression loading to reduce the wheelie potential when my right wrist has that muscle memory to engage more throttle. I'm not a suspension expert so I maybe remembering and/or translating this all wrong. Ben at MotoConsult races bikes (Duc's and GSXR's) and is a crew chief of other racers so I relied on him on some bike enhancements and expert opinion.

To make sure credit is doled out correctly: I was the main scavenger of parts and tore the bike down to barebones (yeah, I took the easy part); MotoConsult (Mansfield, CT) did the mock up and put the bike together after which I drove and rung it out for a summer to make sure the geometry was where it needed to be, and then over the following winter (two winters ago) Ken's Cycle (Reading, PA), tore it down, had it painted-powder coated, did the fiberglass cowl, put all back together and gave it a lot of detail work. Of course, RapidRay did the engine rebuild. Additionally, Katman supplied the Bandit swingarm kit. http://www.parts.suzuki-katana.com/

Maybe on this post I will reflect where I sourced parts, what I paid for them, and notes of lessons learned. I'm actually a mechanic by training though my field expertise is with power plant equipment. When it came to motorcycles, I can take on a lot of work but I wanted to draw on the expertise of experienced shop mechanics who love and practice their trade with great pride. I'm not the richest guy and I know I paid a lot for this build but my budget (and what I told my wife) is that I could go out and buy a brand new GSXR for $10,000 bike; or, I could put that much into this build, spread out over 3-4 years and get something that looks way cooler than a modern bike but yet performs like one. I think once I hit $8,000 I stop counting (it helps with the math).

As an added note, I did a lot, and I mean a lot, of landscaping/stone work on my house myself and I told my wife the money I saved doing all the grunt labor myself went towards my bike fund. The yard is done and more importantly so is the bike....till next year...flatsides maybe...I have a Bassini exhaust that I think would look boss on this bike. Maybe I'm not done working in the yard after all.

Cheers.

 
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