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    1150 curses

    In 1993, I purchased a 83 Katana 1100 for $400 complete. When I got it running, I found out the crank was bent from a crash. 3 years later, I traded a snowboard for a 84 1150 motor with the carbs. It ended up having a bad main bearing, so I sent the crank to Falicon for Super Crank work. It came back all polished and balanced, nice!

    For the most part, I'm happy with the bike, I had few electrical corrosion issues, no biggie. In 2000 and 2001, I took it to 2 tracks schools for a total of 4 days at Seattle International Raceway. A total of 255 laps of thrashing. The bike actually handled the track quite well just a little flexy into the 130 mph plus turn 1. Much faster for the newer bikes, but not many people going much faster.

    The second school proved it was time to freshen the top end, as I was blowing blue smoke decelerating into corners. I burned a quart and half in 125 laps (2.25 miles)

    So I decided to send the head to Las Vegas for a freshening. The guy convinced me to buy a buddy of his 1230 block with MTC pistons. He said it would really wake the bike up along with the 90 36mm GSXR carbs I bought from him the year before.

    So I slap everything back together, run it thru 4-5 heat cycles before actually riding it. He wasn't joking about waking the thing up. It pulls hard from 2 G's up.

    I get about 600 miles on the bike and I start to hear this slurping scraping sound coming from the left side of the motor. I pull the cover off and discover that my rotor magnets have exploded. I dutifully clean every speck of magnet dust off the engine and remove the engine oil pan for good measure. A friend sells me a new rotor for $40 with a fresher looking starter clutch attached.

    I slap everything together and go for a ride to cabin about 40 miles away. A nice rural road with two rolling hills on this straight away. I accelerate hard in first, second, hit the first crest, carry the front wheel for aways, hit third it comes down briefly, hit the second crest in third on the cams and the front tire lofts again for aways and comes down gently at about 95-100mph. I'm thinking to myself, that was pretty neat! I roll up to a stop sign all giddy. Curses, I hear this strange rattling noise coming from the left side of the motor. I say whatever, and try to laugh about it and continue on. Vibration, but the motor is still pulling. I park it at the cabin. When I return home the next day, I hit the starter button, nothing, just free wheeling. I try to laugh again and bump start it. Its rattling pretty good. I nurse it home, however taking the windy way because free time is limited with a new baby boy in our home.

    I pull off the cover, and hey wadda ya know, I snapped 3 8mm 12-9 stregth factor screws off the starter clutch, great! I realize the starter clutch I bought from my friend did not have a dowel boss included in the copper plate. So I used my old copper plate with dowel hole, bore the recess a little because my dowel wasn't fitting his rotor.

    I slap everything together and go for ride around town to get some gas. I exit off the freeway decelerate and down shift on the brakes. As I slow to about 25 mph, I'm using only the rear, but the bike isn't slowing down. I had just put new brake pads in, and bedded them properly. Turns out my oil cooler I just bought from a guy, oil line came in contact with the exhaust header.

    This same thing happened to me 2 years ago when I was 250 miles from home. I passed this guy in a truck on a straightaway, I look in my rearview as I come back into the lane and big cloud of black smoke is engulfing the road. I pull over, the truck does too. Turns out he's a Harley guy, but stops for anyone in trouble on a bike. cool. He so happens to have 2 small hose clamps to fit over a rubber sleeve that was fitted over the hose to protect it from a bracket on the frame. We slide the sleeve over the leak hose clamp it and I nurse it to Ellensburg 15 miles away. It works!.

    Back to the present, I try this same trick, but I don't have the clamps. I'm only 2 miles from home so I try to ride it. Oil is pumping out all over the back tire. The bike is spinning and squirming the tire at 25 mph. This lady yells at me from a mini van "hey there's something coming out of your bike" I nod and slip it in to neutral, hit the kill switch and coast down hill to the nearest motorcycle shop at the bottom of the hill. He has no hose clamp. Ouch!

    I walk across the street to a marine surplus store. Tons of hose clamps all sizes. I buy 2 for a buck, 2 quarts of oil, as I chugged out a quart and half in 200 yards.

    I get home put shorter hoses on, clamp everything together and go for 600 mile ride over North Cascades Highway. No problems, the bike runs like a champ.

    I ride it daily after that, then one day I pull up to a stop sign, let the clutch out and I hear this ringing noise, great what now!

    I decide it's coming from the clutch, so I pull my clutch out, put my wifes clutch out of her 1150ES and slap it in. Really pretty easy. I fire it up the clutch engages smoother , but the ringing is still there. Curses!

    Could it be the starter clutch again? I pull off the cover, sure enough all three screws broken again. I try to laugh about it again, pull the rotor off, take the starter clutch and gears off slap everything back together again and go on another ride over North Cascades with a buddy on 85 900 Ninja. It runs great the only hassle being bump starting on flat ground. Thanks for reading if you got this far.

    Carter Turk
    GS\'s since 1982: 55OMZ, 550ES, 750ET, (2) 1100ET\'s, 1100S, 1150ES. Current ride is an 83 Katana. Wifes bike is an 84 GS 1150ES

    #2
    you are a bit rough on you motorcycle

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by SLOWPOKE
      you are a bit rough on you motorcycle
      I'll say you are 8O

      Comment


        #4
        Now that`s riding it like you stole it LOL man good thing you like the bike hate to see what would happen if you didn`t!!!

        Comment


          #5
          I don't see any problem with his riding style.

          Any other 1150 owners see a problem?

          Hey Carter I would sure love to see a picture of that beast.

          Comment


            #6
            Riding style...

            I personally wouldn't ride mine like that...but to each their own. At least he fixes what he breaks and doesn't complain about it!



            Josh

            Comment


              #7
              Bikes on a........budget?

              Wow.........
              Lotta bike for little bucks....can't say you've had much luck with your creation.
              My first bike was a 76 Suzuki GT-500 two stroke twin. I swapped a marantz stereo for it. It was clean straight, no rust or corrosion, and fully complete. Only thing was it had no spark. I was in a technical school at the time and I wound up fabricating an ignition module with just a schematic but no values for the components. So I guessed and found out the spark timing was determined by a capacitor value.
              My present ride is a 84 1150ES, a project two years worth, a dragstrip refugee relegated to the outdoors waiting for me to rescue it!


              any 1150 ....stories.....people?

              Comment


                #8
                Another 1150 story

                I bought an '84 1150 when I lived in SoCal. The 1st sign that I shouldn't have bought it, in spite of how original it looked, was the drag car in the seller's garage. I bought it anyway and the "fun" began.
                After taking the bike with me when I relocated to NC, I was cruising back from Deals Gap when a noise developed that sounded like marbles in a can. I called my buddy at Suz HQ in CA and asked him to ask the tech guys if they had any ideas as to the source. They did and told me it was a specific crank bearing.
                I tore the engine down and found they were right. I sent the crank to Falicon and the head to Star. While those parts were gone I inspected the suspension. All the bearings in the rear were rusted. I replaced those, rebuilt the engine and put it back in the frame. I spotted what appeared to be a little "string" of chainlube on the frame just above the sidestand bracket weld. Unfortunately it didn't wipe off. It was a hairline crack. I got it welded over the Xmas holiday and finished bolting everything else back on.
                The bike was a real screamer when I finally got it back on the road. I got used to the tach needle bouncing all over the place when accelerating. Another quirk. I also got used to the starter solenoid not wanting to click from time to time.
                My biggest mistake was not replacing the clutch basket. Stupid stupid stupid!!! What *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$es me off the most though is that I've had several GS' over the yrs and know its the weak link. The clutch basket let go when I let a friend take the bike out and flog it.
                When I pulled the side cover off I developed one of those feelings you get in the pit of your stomach when you don't know whether to throw up or cry. The biggest piece was one of the little metal buttons in the clutch assembly. I pulled the exhaust and oil pan to see what I could from underneath. After seeing marks on the crank, I decided to pull the engine out and apart again. I found the basket had taken out a piston skirt and a piece of the cylinder sleeve.
                I rebuilt it all again, with a new V&H basket and got it back on the road. As much as I had in it and as beautiful as it looked, I decided to sell it and buy a new 1200 Bandit. I regretted having done so while driving the 1200 home from the dealer. The 1150 had alot more power and style.
                That's MY story and I'm sticking to it!

                Comment


                  #9
                  You know Hank it sounded fine to me that is how mine gets riden too.
                  The thing people who dont or haven't owned an 1150 dont know is that they bring out the HOON in just about anyone.
                  Dink
                  p.s. nice to see Josh Long back at last, now if only Doze would answer my emails.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Dink
                    You know Hank it sounded fine to me that is how mine gets riden too.
                    The thing people who dont or haven't owned an 1150 dont know is that they bring out the HOON in just about anyone.
                    Dink
                    p.s. nice to see Josh Long back at last, now if only Doze would answer my emails.
                    I must agree with you Duncan after all look what an 1150 did to a slow talking polite mild mannered Alabama country boy

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Just wanted to tell you about my Suzi, 1984 GS 1150 EFE.
                      It was love at first sight, I was looking for a cheep bike to insure and was told this is the one because it was fast and for some reason they didn't know it.
                      A buddy and myself loaded her up in my truick and headed for home. This was July 96 and the smile on my face has just gotten bigger ever since.
                      The winter of 96/97 (Ontario, Canada) I gave her a new chain and sprocket and some SS brake lines. She ran great for me. The old smile is still on my face.
                      The winter of 97/98 renewed all the bearings on the frame to keep her rolling and me with more of a smile than ever.
                      The winter of 98/99 found Suzi with a bad head gasket. What to do?
                      I met this guy in town that did some work on a buddys V Max and he just loves the big old Suzi's. He talkes me into a 1199 kit, bigger carbs (38mm flat slides) and I had a Fox shock to install. Spring time he had me smile'in.
                      The winter of 99/00 this guy talked me into a dyna ignition and coils and I put in progresive springs in the front end. When he said your bike is ready but I have to put a different sprocket on it to keep the front wheel on the ground. I said I'll be right over . I took this thing for a ride and what a bucking bronco my Suzi was. Ya he put the sprocket on He said he wanted to see me again and not in a casket.
                      This brings me to the greatest smile I hav ever had. A buddy and myself were up at the sport bike rally in Parry Sound. He was leading (TL1000R) and we came up on this R1 and a smaller bike. I don't remember what it was but she was just learning to ride. We finally get around them on this snake of a road and start to open it up. I guess the boyfriend wanted to let loose a bit and got in the lead. There we were 200 KLM an Hour and that was when they pulled away from me. I was proud of old Suzi. She ran with the big boy's.And she still runs strong.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        1150 happiness

                        Hey Gerry,

                        I was curious what Fox shock you found for your 1150EFE. Was it off a GSXR? My wife's 1150ES is a boinger, so I rarely ride it . It drags pegs horribly easy because the shock is worked over.

                        It needs more ride height and a stiffer spring with better compression and rebound dampening. Any tips would be appreciated.

                        How are those flatslides at 1/8 throttle openings and revs below 3500 rpms? (In the city) Does it surge or buck?

                        I'm interested in your views on the ride quality of flatslides for street use.

                        Thanks, Carter
                        GS\'s since 1982: 55OMZ, 550ES, 750ET, (2) 1100ET\'s, 1100S, 1150ES. Current ride is an 83 Katana. Wifes bike is an 84 GS 1150ES

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Hey Carter,

                          The shock that I put in was from a GSXR 750 94? (Canadian race bike)It had two springs, I put in the bigger spring with heaver weight oil. It fit in with very little mod. I think I had a spacer welded in at the bottom of the linkage on the swingarm. It became a whole different bike. If you do this mod I think you will ride her bike a little more. Hey while your at it why not replace those tired front springs.

                          As far as the carbs go, I didn't set them up. At low revs(1500-2000) she jumps a little but very controlable. The bike is very user frendly. Had to put a push pull on because it would hold the revs a bit when you would back off.

                          I think they work great on the street (having someone else set it up). If I had to do it myself I don't know if I would have had as much luck with it.

                          The bike has 70 LBS of torque @ 3500 RPM so every thing seems to work great. That's my opinion but it's kind of one sided.

                          Hope this helps you out.

                          Gerry

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