Band/Gixer Conversion (week 2)

[Astroman]

Finally got the forks back after having new springs installed. managed to get the front end swapped out, the photo shows a mock up of how it will look...long way to go. At this point trying to get everything dry fitted and functioning on the front and rear suspension. Front fender is primed for paint, searching for headlamp clamps, working on getting the gauge bracket and rear sets completed.

Looks like the clearance between exhaust and ground is very small

[jwhelan65]

clearance

Yes, you lose a couple of inches, however the exhast is not mounted yet so it will snug up a bit tighter than it is in the picture. When the rear sets are installed there will be a hanger in the rear to attach to.

[80gs1000e]

Looks so nice

[jwhelan65]

520 conversion..

Got the front and rear sprockets lined up today. As you can see from the pic the 520 conversion solves a lot of issues. Clears the 180 Bridgestone tire, clears the shock and most importantly no gouging of the frame....many thanks to Katman for all his hardwork and late night mathematic skills!! BRAVO!!

[80GS1000]

Getting closer, looks great! That DID ERV3 520 chain is a good choice.

As a rule of thumb, you should have at least as much ground clearance under the header as you have travel in your front forks so you don't ground it out if you hit a big bump. So 5" of travel requires 5" of ground clearance. If you like hard cornering and ground clearance with that 4 into 1 becomes an issue, a oilcooled GSXR 1100/Bandit 1200 4-2-1 header can be an option. I have this setup on my 1000 - the flanges from my 1000 header were welded onto a GSXR 1100 4-2-1 header and have had 0 ground clearance issues since.

[jwhelan65]

Getting closer, looks great! That DID ERV3 520 chain is a good choice.

As a rule of thumb, you should have at least as much ground clearance under the header as you have travel in your front forks so you don't ground it out if you hit a big bump. So 5" of travel requires 5" of ground clearance. If you like hard cornering and ground clearance with that 4 into 1 becomes an issue, a oilcooled GSXR 1100/Bandit 1200 header can be an option. I have this setup on my 1000 - the flanges from my 1000 header were welded onto a GSXR 1100 4-2-1 header and have had 0 ground clearance issues since.

Yeah clearance is a bigger issue than I anticipated, I had as heavy of a Race Tech spring installed in the GSXR forks as was available 0.95kg. I would have liked to have had the 1.0kg but from what I have researched they are no longer available and Race Tech has no plans for a replacement. Do you have some pics of your header set up?

Your bike is truly awesome by the way...one of the nicer ones on here, love the new paint scheme

Joe

[80GS1000]

Yeah clearance is a bigger issue than I anticipated, I had as heavy of a Race Tech spring installed in the GSXR forks as was available 0.95kg. I would have liked to have had the 1.0kg but from what I have researched they are no longer available and Race Tech has no plans for a replacement. Do you have some pics of your header set up?

Your bike is truly awesome by the way...one of the nicer ones on here, love the new paint scheme

Joe

Here's a pic of the 4-2-1 header setup. It gained back probably 2" of ground clearance over my old V&H 4 into 1 which donated its flanges to the cause. If I were you I'd look into getting a 4-2-1 setup straight away to save yourself the heartache of denting that nice looking V&H you have right now. Even a Bandit 1200 4-1 which routes more directly under the engine will help with cornering ground clearance over the V&H which routes to the right side.

This is the header and midpipe. The header is from a '89 GSXR 1100 and luckily enough provides enough clearance that you don't have to remove it for oil changes.

[jwhelan65]

wiring and cable issues

Trying also to get all the wires converted, as you can see in the pic several of the GSXR cables are too short do to the risers being added. I pushed the triples as far up the forks as possible to gain much needed clearance. Also..Does anyone know how the GSXR 1100 brake lines attach behind the rear fender? It looks like I am missing something? .....(the blue painters tape is my fancy labeling system)

[jwhelan65]

Great idea

Here's a pic of the 4-2-1 header setup. It gained back probably 2" of ground clearance over my old V&H 4 into 1 which donated its flanges to the cause. If I were you I'd look into getting a 4-2-1 setup straight away to save yourself the heartache of denting that nice looking V&H you have right now. Even a Bandit 1200 4-1 which routes more directly under the engine will help with cornering ground clearance over the V&H which routes to the right side.

This is the header and midpipe. The header is from a '89 GSXR 1100 and luckily enough provides enough clearance that you don't have to remove it for oil changes.

Great information...the bandit 4 into 1..are you talking about the stock header on a Bandit? So you have a slip-on with this?

[80GS1000]

Great information...the bandit 4 into 1..are you talking about the stock header on a Bandit? So you have a slip-on with this?

Just to be clear, the oilcooled GSXR 1100 and Bandit 1200 exhausts are interchangeable. The stock 4-1 header for a Bandit 12 will have better cornering clearance since it goes right under the center of the motor. The GSXR 1100 pipe spacing was a direct match for the 2 valve 1000 exhaust ports. All I had to do was weld on the V&H flanges from my old 1000 header. On your 16 valve motor it may be a direct bolt-on. A 4-2-1 is even better, although a bit tough to locate. I'm using a slip-on with this header.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-Suzuki-Bandit-1200-S-GSF1200S-Exhaust-Headers_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem290275612085QQitemZ290275612085QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ebayphotohosting

[jwhelan65]

Just to be clear, the oilcooled GSXR 1100 and Bandit 1200 exhausts are interchangeable. The stock 4-1 header for a Bandit 12 will have better cornering clearance since it goes right under the center of the motor. The GSXR 1100 pipe spacing was a direct match for the 2 valve 1000 exhaust ports. All I had to do was weld on the V&H flanges from my old 1000 header. On your 16 valve motor it may be a direct bolt-on. A 4-2-1 is even better, although a bit tough to locate. I'm using a slip-on with this header.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-Suzuki-Bandit-1200-S-GSF1200S-Exhaust-Headers_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem290275612085QQitemZ290275612085QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ebayphotohosting

So this would bolt up to the 82 GS 1100E?

[80GS1000]

So this would bolt up to the 82 GS 1100E?

If it didn't bolt straight on it'd be awfully close and likely minimal work to get it to fit. The port spacing should be fine -GS1000 and GS1100 have the same port spacing. The flanges and collars may need some work.

[isleoman]

I've got 7000 miles now on my GSXR1100 front end with Bandit swing arm. I haven't touched down the headers yet however, I do pay attention to speed bumps and either go over them very slow or better yet go around the outside of them. I also haven't taken any passengers. Ground clearance was a big concern for me going into this build but the GSXR front end has much less travel. You could probably just increase the length of your fork spring spacers to get the same results as a heavier spring.

I don't think your header will be the issue in cornering. Unless you have size five girly feet the first thing to touch down is going to be your boots (even with the 1" higher ZX12R rear sets), The next thing is going to be your engine cases. The corner I would be worried about would be one with a decreasing radius and a crest or hump in the road, where the front and rear tire would be momentarily lower than the center of the bike while your leaned over.

80GS1000 has an elegant solution to the problem but you may want to run what you have for a while an see if it works. I suspect/recommend that if you really want to push the limits in Texas hill country you'll take the FZ1. To para-phrase Clint "A Bike has gotta know it's limits." We can vastly improve the handling of these old classics but they will really never equal the cornering of modern sport bikes. If you start chasing R1s or even SV650s it could be problematic

I think my Yosh now has 3.5" of clearance on flat ground. PS, I'm no feather weight.

[isleoman]

[QUOTE=jwhelan65;920266]Trying also to get all the wires converted, as you can see in the pic several of the GSXR cables are too short do to the risers being added. I pushed the triples as far up the forks as possible to gain much needed clearance. Also..Does anyone know how the GSXR 1100 brake lines attach behind the rear fender? It looks like I am missing something? .....(the blue painters tape is my fancy labeling system)

Just my opinion but the stock GS bars are going to look fugly on your conversion. FZ1 Gen 1 or Gen 2 bars or Superbike bars should look more appropriate and help to solve some of your distance problems. Would also be closer to the riding position your use too on the Gen 2. Even with the lower bars it looks like your going to need longer brake line(s). Bandit brake lines might be about right. I re-used my stainless brake lines from my original GS front end. They are a little too long but I tucked the excess up behind the bucket.

Where are you going to mount your gauges with that top triple? Are there any mounting points you can bolt to underneath it?

[80GS1000]

I've got 7000 miles now on my GSXR1100 front end with Bandit swing arm. I haven't touched down the headers yet however, I do pay attention to speed bumps and either go over them very slow or better yet go around the outside of them. I also haven't taken any passengers. Ground clearance was a big concern for me going into this build but the GSXR front end has much less travel. You could probably just increase the length of your fork spring spacers to get the same results as a heavier spring.

I don't think your header will be the issue in cornering. Unless you have size five girly feet the first thing to touch down is going to be your boots (even with the 1" higher ZX12R rear sets), The next thing is going to be your engine cases. The corner I would be worried about would be one with a decreasing radius and a crest or hump in the road, where the front and rear tire would be momentarily lower than the center of the bike while your leaned over.

80GS1000 has an elegant solution to the problem but you may want to run what you have for a while an see if it works. I suspect/recommend that if you really want to push the limits in Texas hill country you'll take the FZ1. To para-phrase Clint "A Bike has gotta know it's limits." We can vastly improve the handling of these old classics but they will really never equal the cornering of modern sport bikes. If you start chasing R1s or even SV650s it could be problematic

I think my Yosh now has 3.5" of clearance on flat ground. PS, I'm no feather weight.

Let me preface this by stating that the comments below are just in the interest of safety and not for the sake of argument. Any time you start doing modifications like the three of us have done you have to keep in mind that the whole bike and all its parts have to work well together and safely as a package.

jwhelan65- Are you planning on using rearsets? As Isleofman mentioned, you may find that you'll be dragging your pegs/feet more easily now that the bike's lower and much more stable at high lean angles. Wide radial tires make it very easy to hang out on the edge of the tire as they feel rock solid at these angles. If you're the type of rider that likes to go edge to edge on your tires, you might find that the stock rear brake pedal will drag and become somewhat dangerous and it can lever the rear tire off the ground. Properly placed rearsets will cure this.

Isleofman- I agree that we can dramatically improve the handling on these classics with new suspension components. However, dragging hard parts in corners IMO is costly and dangerous. Before I went with a 4-2-1 exhaust and resprung the front end, the first hard part to touch down in hard right corners was the #3 header pipe on the V&H 4-1. This wrecked a $300 pipe and could have levered the rear tire off the ground. The 4-2-1 solves this by snugging up the header more tightly under the motor. I can literally drag knee with this setup and have never touched down the header, the pegs, or an engine case. A 4-1 that routes more centrally under the motor should help as the pipe will be more on the high side of the bike in the bends.