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New GS Owner

  • Thread starter Thread starter rwinn
  • Start date Start date
R

rwinn

Guest
Hello from San Antonio, Texas! New to the forum but not motorcycles. I'm a frequent poster on KZ650.info. I'm am an old fogie that rode a lot when young but put aside when I got married and had kids. Fast forward to a new cable show about Cafe Racers and the fire is re-ignited! I found a basket case 79 Kawasaki KZ650 SR. Only 17k on the clock but clearly had been sitting out side for awhile. Ponied up $650 and brought it home. Took me a while to ge my feet wet again so I took my time. Pulled the plugs and looked at the piston tops. They were nice and clear. Pulled the pan and it was pristine so I knew it would run. Tore it down to the frame and built myself a very nice cafe racer!

A year and half build and approximately 3000 miles I got my riding wings back and needed more power. I reluctantly sold her and purchased a 95 Honda CB1000 (Big One). Still own that bike today and only did cosmetic changes. Great riding bike! But.....I missed my Cafe Racer! That bike drew a crowd! In the Texas Hill Country there's well, a sea of Harley's. So lucky me, I came across a 83 Suzuki GS1100ES! It's been stored in a shed for 20 years. Clock is broke and shows 2513 miles. PO said no more than 2k more. It's a little rough on the outside but original tires are holding are. Peg rubber looks good. Dent in top of tank where something dropped on it and scrape on right side of fairing and seat hump. Very solid bike and @ $300 how could I resist! I don't have a lot of knowledge about these bikes but a retired Colonel who sold me the Honda is a Suzuki guy. Told me it was the one to have! Plan is to Cafe this Rocket and have the best of both worlds! At 58 I probably should be riding a Harley but these are what I loved as a kid and young man. 1st bike was a Honda Trail 70, then CB350 Twin, and last was Z900. Never was a Cruiser guy. Although almost everyone I ride with is!new bike 1.jpg
 
For sure! 1st I need to make sure it runs. Then I'll start pulling things off to get a clean slate and start the build. I'll document everything but it seems I can only 1 pic at a time?
 
Tank, sidecovers, brakes and motor are the only things I recognise on there. How big is the back wheel ? Looks a bit more than 16"
 
rwinn said:
For sure! 1st I need to make sure it runs. Then I'll start pulling things off to get a clean slate and start the build. I'll document everything but it seems I can only 1 pic at a time?
Click to expand...

You got to go through photobucket to load more. There is some info about the procedure in the link I posted earlier.
 
The 79 KZ looks like it could go back to stock on a few hours with the right bits. Nice looking job btw.
 
Howdy and welcome. Lived in S.A. most of my life, but now live in Mission. My son and brother still live there.

I had an SR 650 as well. A little too small to ride to New Braunfels every day for work, so I sold it to a guy that worked in New Braunfels.

Here's mine:

 
Deuce said:
Howdy and welcome. Lived in S.A. most of my life, but now live in Mission. My son and brother still live there.

I had an SR 650 as well. A little too small to ride to New Braunfels every day for work, so I sold it to a guy that worked in New Braunfels.

Here's mine:

Click to expand...

Thank you! It was solid bike!
 
Brendan W said:
The 79 KZ looks like it could go back to stock on a few hours with the right bits. Nice looking job btw.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! It was a labor of love and my 1st attempt. I love creating almost as much as riding!
 
steve murdoch said:
Welcome to the site, rwinn.
Never seen a fairing on a Big One but i like the look of that.
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve. Simple EBAY Venom unit. Cheap! I've since trimmed it back a bit, added mini blinkers, and cut the the rear fender back. The picture doesn't show it but there's a racing stripe down the middle of the tank and tail piece that is vinyl wrap material and looks like brush stainless or aluminum. The KZ has the same stripe but in Red.20141209_153016.jpg
 
Last edited:
rwinn said:
So lucky me, I came across a 83 Suzuki GS1100ES! ... Plan is to Cafe this Rocket ...
Click to expand...
I'm waiting for the uproar to start. :-k

The 1100ES was a one-year-only bike that is highly sought after, quite a few here would likely be VERY willing to get that bike from you to save it from the saw. :oops:

.
 
Steve said:
I'm waiting for the uproar to start. :-k

The 1100ES was a one-year-only bike that is highly sought after, quite a few here would likely be VERY willing to get that bike from you to save it from the saw. :oops:

.
Click to expand...

Hate to say it Steve but us purists are losing the battle :(

I am on several other sites & forums and the stuff people are hacking up is enough to make you sick.
 
Yeah, I know, Jeff, I was just letting him know that someone MIGHT be interested in the bike BEFORE he cut it up.

And, some of us "purists" aren't all that "pure". I like my bikes mostly stock,
but not one of them is exactly like it left the factory. :-\\\

.
 
rwinn said:
.... is a Suzuki guy. Told me it was the one to have! ...........
Click to expand...

I believe what he meant was that a stock ES, that hasn't been crashed or otherwise lost its ES fairing and paint scheme is a rare find.

.
 
Just like on the KZ site, there were many purist as well as custom guys. My 79 KZ650 had everything stock with added bolt on items! Yes paint was different and I did cut back the fenders. A saw never touched that bike. I kept every decent part and had extra VM24 carbs. Stock exhaust was trashed as well as the seat. I could only salvage part of the foam which I did use for the seat. When I sold it the buyer got all those parts. That bike could very easily be brought back to stock for a purist. The same will go with this bike. I'll get rid of nothing! I'll even keep the dented tank, scuffed fairing (lower part missing), rear seat assembly (also scuffed and torn), and the exhaust! EBAY had a few tanks reasonably priced. I know CV carbs don't do well with pods so even be keeping stock air box! A saw will never touch this bike! The CB1000 is also stock except for paint and added 1/4 fairing.
 
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