Re: Suspension upgrades for 1978 GS1000
jskellington said:
First I'd like to say thanks for all the helpful advice I got from so many at this site (and in particular, Terry) with regard to the installation of new coils and electronic ignition on my 1000. The bike's running great but I'm not done yet.
As to the front end, anyone have any comments about the quality and effectiveness of the Tarozzi fork brace? And at the rear, who makes the best quality shocks for old Japanese bikes?
Jack
Thanks for those kind words Jack, I'd agree with all the above posts re: Koni/Ikon shocks, I've had them on pretty much all my bikes over the last 34 years. They're very good, rebuildable, quite reasonably priced and the 7610 series have adjustable dampening as well as spring preload, which a lot of after market shocks still don't have. Also the Ikon factory is not far from where I live, so if I need parts I won't have to wait for them to come all the way from Holland, where Koni's factory is.
The later GS1000's actually had a very good shock as standard with the adjustable dampening as well, I fitted Koni's to my 1981 GS1000ST as a matter of course when I first bought it, but I doubt that they are much better than the stockers, as the suzy ones are so close to the Koni design I suspect that suzuki might have copied them. As you know I've got two of these bikes, one with the Koni's and one with the stockers, and I really can't tell the difference between the two.
The stock forks are actually pretty good too, I rebuilt mine with new oil and seals when I first bought it as it had been sitting for a long time, because they are "air forks" there isn't as much pressure on the standard springs as non-air forks, so they don't suffer as much as some older bikes providing they've been maintained and the air is holding. Some people don't like air forks so they use a thicker oil and heavier springs, but I'm happy with mine.
The only thing I don't like about the forks is that the air caps aren't linked, so it's hard to put the same air pressure in both legs, but I've found a NOS S&W air kit on ebay which is linked, plus it has a trick air guage that fits onto the handlebars, and a little syringe type pump for inflating too. I had the same set up on my old Kawa 900 many years ago and it was certainly an improvement over stock, but without bracing the frame, nothing would make one of those evil beasts handle, ha ha!
I fitted a NOS "Daytona" fork brace to my ST, and to be honest again, I haven't noticed much difference. It does look very trick however, but unless you're going to race your bike, you probably won't notice much difference either. I guess the problem is that Suzuki really got this bike right out of the factory, certainly they looked long and hard at what the opposition was doing at the time, and didn't make the same mistakes as Kawasaki.
The GS1000 was recognised as the best handling Japanese bike of the '70's, and took the european manufacturers by surprise. Not only was the GS1000 capable of 130+ mph, it was reliable, didn't leak oil AND it handled very well indeed. The famous Yoshimura bike that Wes Cooley became legend on only had minimal bracing, compared to Kawasaki who had to virtually brace every section of frame rail to get their bikes to handle only half as well.
After 25 years your swing-arm and steering head bearings are probably a little bit tired, so it might be an idea to replace these. I'm not impressed with needle roller swing arm bearings, so I'm going to replace mine with nickel-bronze bushes which are cheaper (I make them myself) and stronger than the needles, and have better lubricating properties. If you can find a set (once again, ebay is a good place to look) try them. I've been looking at some earlier posts and it appears that the steering head bearings are a standard size, so don't get ripped off by your suzy dealer, take your old ones to a bearing shop and spend the difference on good bourbon to celebrate! :twisted:
