GS1000 streetfighter idea w/ picture

[Ironriot]

Just a thought on frame bracing i want to share with you all :-D

When bracing one of these old gs frames its very easy to get it all bent out of shape due to the frame being slightly "sprung" & the heat of welding causing distortion theres a few ways to minimise this including bolting spare crankcases in to retain stiffness, using a jig & using heat sinks (but not so close to the weld as to cool it too quickly) Another helpfull tip is to only part weld the tube on say the left side of the frame then part weld corresponding tube on the right side of the frame & keep swaping between the two until fully welded

in case you are wondering where this info comes from i started my welding carreer bracing these frames for racing in the early 80's with a well known frame maker & still do a few for forgotton era racers today :-D

Well you're the leading expert in frame bracing as it seems. Where are the problem areas for these old bikes? Where would you normally put the bracing in?

[tone]

Heres a pic of the sort of bracing i do (its nicked from another site ) the guys there spent ages sorting out what was what & still came up with exactly what we'd been doing for 20+ years :-D

F is not really needed & can cause more hassle than it worth, care i needed when fitting A & C cos they can foul the tank (tack & check before fully welding)

the area around C is the weakest area of a gs or gsx frame, E & D stiffen the swingarm area considerably Although i use a much smaller lighter tube for E

the green D is for a mono conversion but i do mine differently to that

Hope it helps

[salty_monk]

I can weld ok... no welding gear here though, mine's all back in the UK.

[Zooks]

Looks very similar to the gussets that are welded into rollcages in racecars. I'm originally a metal fabricator too and have done a lot of racecar work. Many 'types' of car racing require that a triangular shaped gusset be inserted into every corner on the cars rollcage. That's a lot of extra welding. Precision is not quite so important in that circumstance though.

I find this sort of stuff very interesting.

[80GS1000]

Heres a pic of the sort of bracing i do (its nicked from another site ) the guys there spent ages sorting out what was what & still came up with exactly what we'd been doing for 20+ years :-D

F is not really needed & can cause more hassle than it worth, care i needed when fitting A & C cos they can foul the tank (tack & check before fully welding)

the area around C is the weakest area of a gs or gsx frame, E & D stiffen the swingarm area considerably Although i use a much smaller lighter tube for E

the green D is for a mono conversion but i do mine differently to that

Hope it helps

Thanks for the info. So provided that the bracing shown is done, how stiff and stable does the frame become under hard cornering and braking compared to, say, a modern sportbike?

The subframe bracing plus the new swingarm worked a treat for eliminating flex on the back of the bike. Used to wallow and weave under heavy cornering as the rear of the frame and swingarm would load and unload their flex. Not anymore. \\/

Taken right before it was painted:

[renobruce]

Have you noticed much flex in your frame while riding?

Once you have the design of the frame bracing all set, anyone who's experienced with MIG/TIG welding and simple fabrication should be able to do it. The guy I used for the monoshock mounts and first round of bracing has been doing frame repairs and bodywork on cars for 20+ years. The subframe is rock solid now from the bracing there.

I haven't noticed much flex on my Skunk, but I haven't ridden it that hard either. Maybe a bit on some high speed sweepers. But the Beast will be modified, and since it's being stripped down to bare frame, I thought I might as well stiffen it up a bit. It probably wouldn't cost that much. I know a million frame and body guys....I'll ask around to see if any have done this kind of work before.

[Ironriot]

Heres a pic of the sort of bracing i do (its nicked from another site ) the guys there spent ages sorting out what was what & still came up with exactly what we'd been doing for 20+ years :-D

F is not really needed & can cause more hassle than it worth, care i needed when fitting A & C cos they can foul the tank (tack & check before fully welding)

the area around C is the weakest area of a gs or gsx frame, E & D stiffen the swingarm area considerably Although i use a much smaller lighter tube for E

the green D is for a mono conversion but i do mine differently to that

Hope it helps

Saving it lol. So are B, C, and E just metal plate or are they fully boxed in like the area where the upper rear shock mounts are?

[80GS1000]

Some more pics here of what Tone's talking about, for whatever reason you can't link straight to it: www.oldskoolsuzuki.info > GSX/EFE/Katana section > Making the GSX frame stiffer

[Mark M]

Never mind...

Mark

[tone]

hi guys
B & C are boxed in as ironriot says but i tend to use either tube as 80gs1000 has done for E or a bit of oval section purely cos i prefer the look

to answer 80gs1000 ive used this bracing on an otherwise stock gs & you can certainly feel the improvement the bike tracks better & wollows less when flicking from side to side, its not such a dramatic improvement as fitting modern running gear but if you are doing that as well it will help you get the most out of your new suspension & brakes

obviously its not going to be up to gsxr1000 standards in the handling stakes but anyone doing this will find a great improvement over stock

there is a weight penalty to doing it obviously but a lot of that can be made back by a mild engine tune & the use of lighter parts elsewhere

[80GS1000]

Here's a great thread on bracing the GS1000 frame for this Yoshi GS1000 replica. Great story behind this bike. http://forum.oldskoolsuzuki.info/cgi...num=1159728921

[tone]

Yep great story & great thread the bike looks good but if you go down this route please dont make the same glaring errors that they did on the grinding & welding its counterproductive

i pointed it out at the time & was completely ignored, no surprise there

[Ironriot]

Yep great story & great thread the bike looks good but if you go down this route please dont make the same glaring errors that they did on the grinding & welding its counterproductive

i pointed it out at the time & was completely ignored, no surprise there

Well i know which posts were yours, now. Lol. Even though I have little to no experience with welding, I atleast know that you can't put the steel through that many heat cycles. I was reading through the thread and was saying to myself, 'hmm why they welding one area up so many times? That can't be good for the steel.' I'd think that later when the frame becomes fatigued those welds on welds are going to start cracking

[80GS1000]

Well i know which posts were yours, now. Lol. Even though I have little to no experience with welding, I atleast know that you can't put the steel through that many heat cycles. I was reading through the thread and was saying to myself, 'hmm why they welding one area up so many times? That can't be good for the steel.' I'd think that later when the frame becomes fatigued those welds on welds are going to start cracking

Heh, yeah you kinda have to cringe a bit when you see pics like this. Hope this wasn't in a structural area. Nice job on the rest of it though.

[n1elkyfan]

It look like that is the bottom of the frame. Seeing something like that would make me question any work done on the rest of the bike.