Hello! (I purchased a NEW GS project)

[Road_Clam]

Hello folks,
I recently purchased a clean '82 GS1100E (red). 17K, seems to be mostly all original (except the seat). Looks like a quality job was done on the seat re-skin. I have so many quiestions! I actually work for a Suzuki/Kawasaki/Yamaha dealer, and seems many parts are still available for this bike. I have done much reading, and seems a lot of guys swap out Gixxer suspension components. I am definately going to get into this. My first upgread is fitting true sportbike 17" wheels. Is there a fairly easy way to achieve this? Thanks for any tips or opinions!
----Clam

[mark m]

I have done much reading, and seems a lot of guys swap out Gixxer suspension components. I am definately going to get into this. My first upgread is fitting true sportbike 17" wheels. Is there a fairly easy way to achieve this?

That depends on what you call "easy". No matter what you do, it will require tinkering and fabrication of some custom parts. It is not like buying aftermarket parts and bolting them on to a late model GSXR. None of this stuff was made to fit our vintage beasts and it all requires some massaging to work.

Do some searching here and you will find many threads on fitting wheels and suspension. You will need to put on an entire new front end to fit a 17" wheel up front. Out back, you can fit a 180-17 in the stock swingarm on your bike, but it's tight. A 160 fits much better and doesn't affect handling as much, either. Take a look at many of the posts from Katman, he did a huge amount of work on a Katana 7/11 project, with new suspension, 17" wheels, motor overhaul, etc. Check out "Building an I.C.B.M. Katana" in this forum for most of his work.

The early 90's GSXR front ends are a pretty straightforward swap and only require medium tinkering and fabrication of new stuff. The 1100 forks are longer than the 750 ones by a bit and are the best choice. The easiest way to do a swap is to buy a complete front end and swap it out. Buying parts here and there is time consuming and expensive compared to buying a complete assembly.


Mark

[Road_Clam]

Mark,
Hello, and thanks for the starting tips. I do CNC machining full time, and have acess to a full blown weld shop also. I would say I have advanced (but NOT expert) fab skills. Been involved with bikes and snowmobiles for over 22 years. Also dabbled in building race cars. BTW, what Kerker system do you have on your GS?? All the resources I have indicate no Kerker system available for any GS's, is yours an obsolete older system? The look I am going for is early 80's "superbike Wes Cooleyish" styling, with some more current touches, specifically a slightly lowered chassis, and 17" wheels (at least the rear). I don't want to go as far as a rear monoshock setup. I have a picture of a factory 1981 Kawasaki KZ1000R superbike, and man were those factory bikes highly modded. Kawasaki used a "dry" clutch setup, and a single rear Ohlins monoshock setup.
Rich

[mark m]

I do CNC machining full time, and have acess to a full blown weld shop also. I would say I have advanced (but NOT expert) fab skills. Been involved with bikes and snowmobiles for over 22 years.

Then you should have no issues with the work required to fit a new front end and 17" wheels.

, what Kerker system do you have on your GS?? All the resources I have indicate no Kerker system available for any GS's, is yours an obsolete older system?

It is a canister style system, not the megaphone. Yes, it is old and not available anymore. Not particularly well designed, either. I plan to replace it with a custom 4-1 megaphone system when I find the time.

The look I am going for is early 80's "superbike Wes Cooleyish" styling, with some more current touches, specifically a slightly lowered chassis, and 17" wheels (at least the rear). I don't want to go as far as a rear monoshock setup.

I would not put a 17" radial on the back unless you put a radial on the front as well. If you mean a 17" bias rear, then you are already there as you have a 17" rim, just too narrow to run radials. If you fit 17" radials, you don't need to lower it much as the new tires are significantly smaller rolling radius and drop the bike noticeably. Which leaves you with precious little ground clearance for speed bumps and corners. I prefer the dual shock setup myself, as well. You can get piggyback Ohlins shocks that replicate the look of the 80's superbikes, but they are pricey. Have a look here for a nice GS1000 superbike:

http://www.supershowevents.com/magazine/articles/fb2.html

And this one for a KZ1000:

http://www.supershowevents.com/magazine/articles/03hind.html

Mark

[outofcontrol]

me too

Rich,
I also bought a GS1100EZ, last summer, and I?ve just about got it running well enough to start on the suspension. Charging problems, burnt valves, broken carbs?it?s been a real bastard. I have the same ideas as you have about keeping the ?80s look with some modern amenities. Conventional forks (non-USD) and dual rear shocks with 17? wheels, 3.5 front and 5.5 rear. Mine was also red originally, but some tard painted it purple sometime in the past, so I?m going to paint it black. I just bought a 1990 GSXR rear wheel and swingarm, and a whole GS1150 front end. I?m also going to do a 530 conversion (thanks for the parts list on another thread) and add a V&H 4-1 pipe. I?m going to start a thread of my own once I start grafting and mating the newer parts onto the old beauty. I?m going to do the rear first, then attack the front. I still need a matching front wheel and rotors since the 1150 has a 16? front. I figure this project will take me most of the winter to complete. I have very amateur fabrication skills, but I?m pretty handy with a grinder, MIG, and a hammer! Anyway, if you get going on your conversion, make sure you post up some pictures and let us know of your trials and troubles, I will do the same. I?d love to compare notes with you.
-Kevin

[Road_Clam]

Re: me too

Rich,
I also bought a GS1100EZ, last summer, and I’ve just about got it running well enough to start on the suspension. Charging problems, burnt valves, broken carbs…it’s been a real bastard. I have the same ideas as you have about keeping the ‘80s look with some modern amenities. Conventional forks (non-USD) and dual rear shocks with 17” wheels, 3.5 front and 5.5 rear. Mine was also red originally, but some tard painted it purple sometime in the past, so I’m going to paint it black. I just bought a 1990 GSXR rear wheel and swingarm, and a whole GS1150 front end. I’m also going to do a 530 conversion (thanks for the parts list on another thread) and add a V&H 4-1 pipe. I’m going to start a thread of my own once I start grafting and mating the newer parts onto the old beauty. I’m going to do the rear first, then attack the front. I still need a matching front wheel and rotors since the 1150 has a 16” front. I figure this project will take me most of the winter to complete. I have very amateur fabrication skills, but I’m pretty handy with a grinder, MIG, and a hammer! Anyway, if you get going on your conversion, make sure you post up some pictures and let us know of your trials and troubles, I will do the same. I’d love to compare notes with you.
-Kevin

Kevin,
For now I am trying to compile the parts. I have a complete Kawasaki ZX6 E model rear wheel (which is 160/60-17), perfect for what I am looking for for fit. It will need some mods the bearings are slightly larger in bore. I don't know if I can pull this off, but I am in the "head scratching, chin rubbing phase" to analyze if it's worth it or not.
Rich

[pano]

Outofcontrol,

ihanscom is parting out his 1150 after a major engine failure. He may have the front end parts your looking for. Check the parts for sale and shoot him a PM if your interested

[outofcontrol]

Thanks pano, but I already have the front end sitting on a shelf in the garage. I just put in new fork seals, rebuilt the brakes, and I'm looking at the bearings right now. my primary focus right now is getting the bike up to par first, then the goodies go on. what I really need is a 1990 gsxr 1100 front wheel to match the rear I have. then I'll need rotors, but I'm not sure if the 1150 ones will work. I'm not even there yet.-KM

[mark m]

what I really need is a 1990 gsxr 1100 front wheel to match the rear I have. then I'll need rotors, but I'm not sure if the 1150 ones will work. I'm not even there yet.-KM

I would check carefully if you can fit a 3.5"x17" front wheel into the 1150 forks. Generally, the old bikes don't have enough room between the tubes to fit a wide wheel in there. I have a 99 GSXR600 front end in my basement and the fork tubes are 214mm apart, center to center. I bet your 1150 front end is nowhere near that dimension. My 1100 has about 185mm for that same measurement and there is simply no way a 3.5" wheel would work in there.

Mark

[outofcontrol]

[
I would check carefully if you can fit a 3.5"x17" front wheel into the 1150 forks.

Mark

Yes, I will check carefully. I will be pretty bummed if this doesn't work, because I already have the whole front end. the pirellis I have as race take offs are 122mm at the widest spot, now I'm going to have to go home and measure the clearance. "Solo" has the same set-up, I hope he has a 3.5 and not a 3.0 in his forks. I have a set of bent TL wheels that I am going to use as testers, to see if it works.
-K

[outofcontrol]

I took some measurements:
(all of these are eyeballed with a ruler, but it's pretty close)
GS 1150 forks
Center of tube to center of tube 206mm
Distance between fork tubes 167mm
Dist. between lower fork tubes in tire area 160mm
Stock 1150 front tire 120/80-16 (about 118mm at the widest spot)

Pirelli 120/70-17 on a 3.5 wide wheel is about 121mm. I'm going to mount the DOT version of this slick, but they are the same dimensions.

So, the wheel I intend on using is about 3-4mm wider, and about the same height. I should still have 18-20mm between the tire and the forks.

Interestingly, I also measured from the axle to the edge of the tire on both wheels and the pirelli on a 17" wheel has such a smaller sidewall that the edge of the tire is actually 5mm closer to the hub than the stock tire. Also, the height of the tires is almost identical. I'd have to do some better measurements with new tires, check the pressure, etc., but I'd bet they're within 5mm of each other.
I should have taken a better picture, but this one shows the difference in the sidewalls.

-Kevin

[outofcontrol]

clam,
Sorry about hijacking your thread, I just got all excited.

Have you decided on what kind of doner bike you are going to use?

-Kevin

[Richie]

hey man i got a 1990 17" gsxr wheel in my 1100 forks, i needed to make new spacers, and im using 1 rotor, not 2 and i had to use a gremica front caliper and make my own hanger, it took a while to think about how i was gonna make it work , but it worked good, richie

[Richie]

oh and a busa rotor, i had to do some machining to the bolt holes because they were slightly differant, then i made spacers to shim the rotor out just enough so the caliper did not hit the inner part of the wheel, richie

[Redeyes815]

I used a 3.5in frout wheel in my efe with 4mm shim for the rotors and 4 pot nissin.