1980 GS1100E w/ GSXR & Bandit Mods

[liloaty]

As winter hit hard in Cleveland this year I became bored and decided my bike needed some attention. After doing some browsing on here I decided to go for the GSXR1100 front end and Bandit 1200 rear end conversions running 120/180 Pilot Road 2s (Thanks PJ, even though they were on a 1 month nationwide backorder before i got them 8-[). I am about 2 days from wrapping it up at this point - just waiting on the headlight and a brake line and a little fine tuning on the carbs. I only have a few crappy cell pics right now but I will get some better ones once everything is done and cleaned up.

Here is a complete list of everything I ended up doing this winter:

1994 GSXR1100 front end
2001 Bandit 1200 rear end
1996 GSXR Rearsets
V&H 4-1 (no baffle)
1991 GSXR1100 carbs
8" headlight conversion
Superbike bars
New seat
520 chain/sprocket conversion
Probably some other stuff I'm forgetting


Before I go any further I have to thank the awesome guys on this board that helped me through all of this

Katman - hooked me up with bushing specs and Bandit 1200 rear end conversion details
Racing Jake - gave me jetting recommendations that were dead nuts on and even sent me 2 sets of mains for free
Nicholaschase29 - extremely helpful with fitting the GSXR carbs

And last, but certainly not least:
PJ (80GS1000) - came as close to doing this project with me as you possibly can without actually turning the wrenches for me. None of this would be even close to done without his help, great go-to-guy.

So here are a few pictures (Yes, that is a parking garage. ALL of this work sans the CNC machining I did was done in the basement of my school's parking garage)

http://filer.case.edu/jdj6/bike1.jpg

http://filer.case.edu/jdj6/bike2.jpg

http://filer.case.edu/jdj6/bike3.jpg

My apologies for the CB1100F in the background - not mine!

I came upon a few interesting things during this conversion. The first of which is the Bandit wheel is a great fit with the GS sprocket carrier and a 520 conversion and a 5/8 offset front sprocket. Vortex sells a 520 conversion for the Bandit and it shares the same bolt pattern as my GS, so anyone looking at doing a 630 to 530 conversion should seriously consider a 520 conversion as the chains are cheaper and the gixxer front sprockets slide right onto the splines.

Feel free to ask any questions you might have - I'm sure I missed something and I'd be happy to take pictures of anything you might wanna see or answers any questions you have. Hope you like it!

[posplayr]

Keep Us posted

That is so cool, REMINDS ME OF MAD MAX

And I had a freind ask me last weekend why I had bought an (2) old Suzuki(s); Why I did not just buy a new 550-650. Duh.....

Posplayr

[liloaty]

That is so cool, REMINDS ME OF MAD MAX

And I had a freind ask me last weekend why I had bought an (2) old Suzuki(s); Why I did not just buy a new 550-650. Duh.....

Posplayr

My riding buddies were hassling me about just buying a new bike too, but a wise man once said "Anyone can buy a bike, takes someone special to build one" haha. Plus, they will shut their mouths when they get a good look at my tail light flying past them.

[kichigai]

Your bike is coming along nicely! It nice seeing a fatty back tire dont you think! I can relate too! Keep it up! \\/

[seuadr]

nice looking bike! no need to appoligize for the honda, ugly chicks need love too

[mortation]

They look pretty cool. Kinda hard to see with the pics being so blurry, to much coffee that day?

[BSinCO13]

Awesome project. Makes me wish I didn't have a shaftie when I see these projects. The new rubber and suspension should help out tremendously. Wanna trade bikes? [-o<

[liloaty]

Thanks for all the positive comments. The pics are from an awful camera phone haha...once I get it cleaned up a bit I will snap some good ones with my friends digital camera. Check back in a day or two for new pictures.

[nitroguy]

Sweet! I'd love to do this to mine someday. Mind if I ask what it cost in the end?

[liloaty]

Well I haven't done a final cost tally for a few reason:

1. I don't really want to know
2. I bought so much random crap that it would almost be impossible to track it all down

If i had to guess its north of 1500 south of 2000. Worth every penny! \\/

[andrewclaycomb]

every time I see these conversions I want to immediately go to ebay and buy everything I need to do the swap myself on my '78 750.

What year of bandit swing arm is that?

[Junkie]

Nice bike! I need to find a reasonably priced front end...


as far as chain/sprockets go, be aware that the 520 will wear out considerably more quickly than a 530.

[liloaty]

every time I see these conversions I want to immediately go to ebay and buy everything I need to do the swap myself on my '78 750.

What year of bandit swing arm is that?

Its a 2001 swing arm but 96-05 are all the same

As far as the 520 goes - that's becoming less and less true and chains and sprockets get better and better, although its still true. I didn't have a choice though, the 530 wouldn't clear the frame.

I got pretty lucky with front and rear end prices and I'm fortunate enough to work in a CNC shop so all fab work and welding was done in house at no cost. Search craigslist for guys trying to sell parts bikes and convince them to part them out...that's how I got my ENTIRE rear end (including brakes, swing arm, shock that I sold on eBay, and the wheel)

[kichigai]

As far as the 520 goes - that's becoming less and less true and chains and sprockets get better and better, although its still true. I didn't have a choice though, the 530 wouldn't clear the frame.

Liloaty, did you ever see my thread on offset sprockets? I ran into frame clearance too when I did the GSXR wheel conversion but resolved it when I ditched the 5/8 offset for a 13mm which is about equivelent to a 1/2" offset. Maybe it will work for you too!
Check it out!

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=115688

[liloaty]

I solved my clearance and offset by using the GS sprocket carrier and the 520 conversion...worked out pretty well.

Here is a picture I took tonight with a little better lighting - still not great. All that is left is putting my new spacer on, getting the chain on and tightening the forward controls! I'm also making a laser alignment tool to double/triple check my chain.

http://filer.case.edu/jdj6/bike4.jpg