Roadracing 1100E's??

[Mark M]

Does anybody have any details/pics/sites about 1100E models (preferably 82-83) used in roadracing? There is a fair amount of stuff out there on the Yosh 8 valve GS models, but nothing I have found on the 16 valvers. I believe that the AMA superbike rules went to a 750cc limit around then and that is why the big machines never really got raced. Even info on the 750cc 16 valve machines would help.

I am looking for info on building my 1100E up into a period superbike and am stuck at the moment.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[TurboChris]

Good question....I as well would LOVE to see any info on this.....

 

[madjack57754]

Team Hammer Suzuki raced and won with 1100and 1150 E's in WERA endurance racing in the early 1980's. I'll try to dig up pictures and info as best I can

 

[RJz1100E]

Here ya go.

http://www.teamhammer.com/team/accomplishments/

Could'nt find any pics of the GS's here.

 

[madjack57754]

here is one

 

[madjack57754]

the same minus the fairing

 

[Mark M]

the same minus the fairing

Many thanks, that is a wicked looking 1100. Doesn't look much like the stock frame, though. Any idea if it was simply the stocker modified or a complete new piece?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[TheCafeKid]

Yah not stock looking at all. Tank is obviously some custom jobbie too.

 

[GER144]

Wes Cooley roadraced GS's for Yosh-Suzuki. Yes, the 8-valve GS1000 stuff, but he also ran a 4-valve Katana too;

 

[GER144]

I can't find any pics/info on the '82-'83 1100's road-racing, but I am sure they did. The 750cc rule came in 1983 I believe, so unlikely they were raced in the U.S. in '83.
If I remember correctly, Canadian roadracing champ Michel Mercier ran a GS1150 back in '84. I did see a pic in an old Cycle Canada mag once years ago. If I can find it, I'll post a pic.

 

[HiSPL]

That is a stock frame with a ton of bracing and a tank (probably fiberglass) that is molded in and around the frame members. It sits much lower in the frame than stock.

Also note the bracket that is attached where the cam end cover goes. It looks like an attachment point for the fairing. Very clever!


Other things of note, are the flat stator cover. This is a constant loss ignition, so they ditched the stator and rotor and made a flat cover with what looks like a bearing support for the crankshaft.

The countershaft cover is replaced with a small, holey cover.

I wonder what they did for the ignition cover. It sticks out alot on the right side so they probably trimmed it down too.

The hardest thing to do with these big bikes is make the engine stop touching the ground in the corners....

 

[Mark M]

That is a stock frame with a ton of bracing and a tank (probably fiberglass) that is molded in and around the frame members. It sits much lower in the frame than stock.

Are you sure of that? I went and looked at my 1100E and it looks nothing like any of the tubes on the frame where the tank is off.

Also note that those two pics are not of the same bike. The frame is very different between the two. They also have different swingarms, both different than stock.

Both look to be an improvement over the OEM frame, though... Not that that is a major accomplishment.:-D

Mark

 

[HiSPL]

I could be wrong but isn't this the original frame? All other tubes would be bracing.

 

[TheCafeKid]

Actually, from a totally uninformed onlooker (ME) it looks as if the lower basket tubes are gone and the motor is actually hanging in the new frame, making it a stressed member?

 

[madjack57754]

Bruce Hammer built it using a Fritz Elgi kit modifying A stock frame that shows in the second picture. That was in "83 at a 6 hour race, I believe in Texas. Then the first picture was the same bike but a year later at a sprint race in Elkhart Lake. (2 hours). The bike would run total loss ignition for about 2 and a half hours. More than that and it needed to change batteries or run a charging system. The Ignition side cover was beveled to get a bit more lean angle before scrapping. Bruce crashed this bike hard, and to this day he is still in a wheelchair. His partner was John Ulrich, a former editor of Cycle World and Motorcyclist.

 

[madjack57754]

Note the different swingarms and the carbs The first picture has 33 CR 's and the second has 37.5 CR's. There were 2 of these team bikes,and they ran for about 6 years with various motor combinations. Pops Yoshimura and later Carry Andrews built motors for them. The team ran under Derale, Chevron, Suzuki, and Emgo sponsorships

 

[Guest]

Yup, the Kat has appeared at the Ontario show.

Wes Cooley roadraced GS's for Yosh-Suzuki. Yes, the 8-valve GS1000 stuff, but he also ran a 4-valve Katana too;

Tony.

 

[Mark M]

I could be wrong but isn't this the original frame? All other tubes would be bracing.

I would have to pull my tank off, but I don't believe the two tubes shown go into the top of the steering head on the stock frame. I think they go to the bottom of the steering head and a third tube runs from the top of the steering head down into the middle of the two above and meets at a cross brace piece. This tube is the one that the tank straddles when it is mounted.

The tubes in that pic also seem to be spaced fairly widely apart all the way over the valve cover and I am sure mine don't do that, either. If they did, the tank wouldn't fit.

Mark

 

[HiSPL]

Now that you say that, I think you're right. This may be a handbuilt frame. It is a work of art if somebody built that from the ground up!

 

[8trackmind]

Yup, the Kat has appeared at the Ontario show.
Tony.

Here it is on the track.