GSX1150 Rebuild

[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.

 

[slayer61]

Most excellent work.

Indeed. Most excellent!

 

[dorkburger]

Im digging it. The dual headlights look cool.

 

[ensure]

So here is the original tank, complete with small dent, paint missing and a bit of rust

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And the new Tank

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Does it need a Logo?

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The eagle eyed will have noticed I also painted the front fender. Its OK from the side but front on it is a bit off centre.

The Exhaust is next item to address.

 

[ensure]

In the previous photos you will have noticed a chrome header, black exhaust and a temporary fibreglass pipe to join the 2 ends (for alignment purposes only)
I had the rear half of the V&H Exhaust on the bike but I lost it. I had drilled a hole in underside of RH rear footpeg bracket and riveted in a bracket to fix the muffler to but as you know the V&H exhaust is a 2 piece unit. While out for a test ride at rush hour on the motorway the rivet broke loose and the muffler got jettisoned. The bike got very loud but i thought something had just got loose. I pulled over when i could and eventually noticed the whole muffler was gone. Thankfully i had been in the slow lane so I presume it bounced off the side of the road. I went back a few hours later once traffic had quietened down but could not find it anywhere. Hence the need for a replacement.

Option 1 - old round one that came with my GSX1100 ET

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Option 2 - LHS muffler off my old K8 GSXR1000

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Option 3 - Fix up old 1 piece unit from another old bike

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And the winner is Option 3

I had a friend weld on new 4" pipe to house the muffler as it was pitted with holes

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And it can be securely mounted to footpeg bracket so i shouldn't lose it.

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[ensure]

And onto the rear wheel replacement. Even though its been done a thousand times before it is hard to find all the information you want in 1 location.
I have a 5.5" rear wheel which I bought a couple of years ago but after reading online the required alterations I found a better option which is to install a 4.5" rear wheel. This means I can stick with the existing swingarm which is a big bonus. I don't really want a big fat rear tyre on the bike anyway.
First step was to establish exactly what the existing installation comprised of and draw it up. (I have access to Autocad through my work so that made it easier)

This is what i established as the existing rear wheel setup all drawn up to the nearest mm.

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I have bought a 4.5" rear wheel (from a GSXR750K) complete with cush drive

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Cush Drive is too wide so I am chasing up Bike Wreckers for a narrower option.
It appears the best option is off a 2004 GS500 and I am also after brake caliper and mounting bracket from a GSX650F katana.
Hopefully I will get those this week

In the meantime I am drawing up what the new setup will look like and what i will require in the way off offsets, spacers and grinding off

 

[Guest]

rush hour on the motorway the rivet broke loose and the muffler got jettisoned

Years ago, out on a poker run across Washington State, the muffler on my GS1100E decided to divorce itself from my bike at close to 100mph. As it came off, it took a big chunk out of my rear wheel. A buddy was following me and very confused by what was ahead of him. Neither of us could initially figure out what had happened when we pulled off the road a ways ahead (I was kneeling down on the left side of the bike and looking at the motor and the headers as he pulled up with look like his brain was trying to make sense of what he had seen). As I walked around to the right side, things became more obvious to both of us. He ran back up the road to pick it up and I was able to temporarily "secure" it with zip ties and some wire until we could make it to an auto parts store and I was able to jerry rig a slightly more secure attachment with some hose clamps. Was still running the bike with that tire when I parked it. I'll try to take a pic of the bite next time I'm in the garage.

 

[ensure]

And this is what the new rear wheel arrangement will hopefully look like

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GS500 Cush Drive has arrived and I have the GSX650 Katana Rear Caliper and Bracket on the way. The Bracket will require a bit of cutting/grinding.

I have started by lining up centre of wheel with existing one and then working outwards to determine thickness of spacers required.

 

[ensure]

I have a spare swingarm that I am going to transplant onto the bike as the current one has a tiny crack. This has made it easier in setting it up as I can do it on the bench. Well mostly easier but step 1 was very hard. Get the swingarm off the spare frame. I had beem oiling and spraying the swingarm bolt for weeks in preparation. It rotated freely in the frame but I could not force it out. I presumed that the axle had seized onto 1 of the spacers in the pivot bearing.
I tried hitting it very hard many times but to no avail so out with the hacksaw to cut the axle. (not once but twice) After the first cut I still couldnt pivot the central piece out so had to make a second cut. A slow painful process as due to a lack of space I had to use a hacksaw blade wrapped in tape for a handle to get in there.
Success eventually.

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I have mocked up how everything will go back together

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If you look closely you can see where I have cut down the bracket on the outer edge

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And the other side.

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Next issue is to check out chain alignment.

The only issues so far with this setup is that the GSX650 rear caliper bracket and GS500 Cush drive both come off a 17mm dia axle and I am sticking with the 20mm axle. I was able to drill out the caliper bracket hole easy enough but the Cush Drive spacer is much tougher. I got a friend with a lathe to drill that one out and now it is all pieced together.

 

[ensure]

Here is a shot of the old swingarm that is a bit twisted. There is a crack about 25mm long on the top face.

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And here is the Cush Drive space I had to get drilled out to fit on 20mm axle

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Prior to swapping the rear wheel over I thought i would check the difference in ground clearance. This is what I have now. (107mm)
Used my best ruler for this one.

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A coat of Black (actually its a very dark metallic grey) I had on the shelf has transformed the wheel. Starting to look pretty good now

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and the other side

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[dorkburger]

Nice. Someday when the stars align and I have the time and money to give my 1150 a proper treatment, I?d love to fit mid 90s Triumph Trident wheels. Very similar visually to the Suzuki ones, but in a bit more modern sizes and a 17" front. Maybe a tad lighter, but probably not nearly as much as newer wheels.

 

[ensure]

So out with the old and in with the new

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The existing shaft has this spacer fixed on it

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I am changing sprockets from 15/42 to 17/47 to maintain same ratio for now.

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I am changing to 530 chain and have installed 6mm spacer (JTS-JTF518B) in there behind sprocket (JTS-JTF51317)

On the rear wheel I have a JTS-JTR82947 sprocket

Not enough clearance here to the tyre (160/60/17)

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So I have added some washers in between sprocket and cush hub (5mm) to give me 2-3mm clearance from chain to tyre.
I had to use longer bolts off the GSX650 Cush drive

 

[wyly]

I had issues fitting my chain conversion and I have oem wheels. Changing to the 530 17/45 sprockets moved the chain height to where it would contact the peg hanger bolts. I found reversing the rear sprocket which was dished provided the extra couple of mm's I needed for clearance.

 

[wyly]

Have you done a weight comparison for the new wheels vs the oem wheels?

 

[ensure]

I had issues fitting my chain conversion and I have oem wheels. Changing to the 530 17/45 sprockets moved the chain height to where it would contact the peg hanger bolts. I found reversing the rear sprocket which was dished provided the extra couple of mm's I needed for clearance.

This is exactly what happened with my bike as well.

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What I did was file down the end of bolt until I got bored. Then I inserted a washer between the hanger and the frame. This gave me 2mm or so and cleared the footrest bolt.

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I havent done a weight comparison yet but i have checked ground clearance
I have lost 13mm or so under the exhaust

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[wyly]

Filing down the bolts ha that never occurred to me, I'll file that tip away in my brain for future reference. That demonstrates what's great about forums the accumulated experience and knowledge to solve problems, I've book marked this page you've added some very valuable info for future conversions.