Gettin doin on my gs1100 gsxr conversion

[ironsheik]

Got a pic of it? I have a street version that I bought off of another member (it's currently in transit) that I MIGHT be willing to trade.

I'll get pics of it soon. I need to get the bike running first and was thinking of doing a trade over the Winter. I'll send a PM when I do...

[ironsheik]

It runs! After a year off the road and some priming it fired right up. I still need to rejet the carbs but I'm happy nothing got too gooey in the fuel system.

I'm pretty sure the issue with the chain is more minimal than I initially thought. It's totally straight but it seems to rub and move a mm or two to the left around where the master link is so I'm a little worried about my riveting job. It's only rubbing a tiny bit on the bottom of the frame which I have no problem taking a grinder to if needed. Shaving a couple mm off will be a piece of cake...

Now that I have a wiring diagram I can hook up the turn signals correctly and then I just need to paint the fender black...

[posplayr]

It runs! After a year off the road and some priming it fired right up. I still need to rejet the carbs but I'm happy nothing got too gooey in the fuel system.

I'm pretty sure the issue with the chain is more minimal than I initially thought. It's totally straight but it seems to rub and move a mm or two to the left around where the master link is so I'm a little worried about my riveting job. It's only rubbing a tiny bit on the bottom of the frame which I have no problem taking a grinder to if needed. Shaving a couple mm off will be a piece of cake...

Now that I have a wiring diagram I can hook up the turn signals correctly and then I just need to paint the fender black...

Wow that was fast. Looks great . How does it ride? U just need the fended painted and a Corbin seat .
Did you lose the side covers?

[katman]

always loved the red and black. Looks great.

[katman]

Now that I have a wiring diagram I can hook up the turn signals correctly

Is the wiring diagram on my site diff than the one you have?

http://www.robwilton.com/katana_wiring.html

[ironsheik]

I didn't even think to look! I found a copy on bikecliff's site so I can finally get that headlight back on. Now I need to find different headlight ears since mine have these clips on the back that will hit the tank just a few mm before the steering stops.

The side covers are going on and the front fender will be black. The last thing I want to do is paint or powder coat the top triple and bar clamps black. Fork tubes would be nice too but I'll wait until the seals need replacing...

[80GS1000]

Nice looking bike, and done damn quick too.

[ironsheik]

Alright, took it out for about an hour today. In the city that means about 10 miles! Man it's annoying some times. Anyway, the bike brakes like a MOFO!!! It takes no effort at all to get both tires to lock up. I had one small problem with the rear caliper in that I forgot that there are 2 bleeders and never tightened the rear bleeder fully so after stepping on the rear brake a few times, the pedal just dropped. I pulled over, found brake fluid all over the rear, took off my dirty Tshirt to use as a rag (luckily I had a sweatshirt on too!), cleaned up and tightened the bleeder. Of course I had my tank bag filled with tools. So here's where I'm at now:

The rear tire was rubbing on the front edges on each side of the swingarm. After adjusting the chain which became quite slack after a couple of miles of hard throttling the tire is far back enough to clear. To me, I think the wheel can move to the right about 2mm. That matches up with what the wheel alignment told me and looks to be about how far the chain alignment is out. I'll deal with that later as it's so very close, hardly rubs the frame at all and rides beautifully. This is my first chain replacement but I assume it would need an immediate adjustment and then another around 500 miles or so?

I also need a speedo cable that fits the Bandit drive and is long enough to reach my guages. The GS is long enough but doesn't have the correct fitting...

I also still need to figure out how to torque down the steering bearings. The top race is sticking out of the top of the tube about 2mm. I know I drove it in as far as it would go so I assume this is normal. Anyway, how do I go about getting this nut to the correct torque? I could buy a 34mm socket and cut out grooves to fit the notches in the nut. Is there a better way? I'm chewing my nut up hitting it with a screwdriver to tighten it down.

So here's what I did that worked:
I bought all my parts (forks, triples, calipers/discs, axles, caliper hanger, fender, everything!) off a 94 gsxr1100 except the wheels which are from a 92 since the 94s I got were chromed. I hate chrome. I replaced the stock fork springs with 95kg Racetechs. I then got a 520 DID ERV3 chain and 5/8 offset front sprocket/new rear sprocket. For the rear, I used a Bandit 1200 caliper, the cleanest I could find on Ebay for $25, a Bandit 600 torque arm, GS sprocket carrier, Katman supplied the correct wheel spacers. Then I brought the swingarm to my welder man with the wheel/spacers, caliper installed to line the torque arm up. He then moved the arm bracket on the swingarm from top to bottom.

I then bought a gsxr1000 front master cylinder with remote reservoir ($40! everyone should do this at least.) I had to drill out the reservoir bracket so I could mount it through the GS mirror post which fits the gsxr master although it's a bit wider. I found bar risers on Ebay and drilled the top triple for them. I'm going to grab a 750 top triple since it doesn't have the clip-on holes and coat it and the risers black so it looks like one piece. Phew! I think that's most of it. Feel free to ask if you are doing something similar and have questions...

[jwhelan65]

Dang, I feel like a poke-a-long on my conversion...

Great job Mr Shiek.

[Addy Leung]

sorry for I did not catch up all the psot before here.
I would like to ask how many links of chain I should order for a 520 chain with 17T&48T sprocekt and bandit 1200 arm. My current setting is 15/42 630-98links on a bandit arm.
Hope someone give me some indication.

[80GS1000]

I also still need to figure out how to torque down the steering bearings. The top race is sticking out of the top of the tube about 2mm. I know I drove it in as far as it would go so I assume this is normal. Anyway, how do I go about getting this nut to the correct torque? I could buy a 34mm socket and cut out grooves to fit the notches in the nut. Is there a better way? I'm chewing my nut up hitting it with a screwdriver to tighten it down.

Your steering stem nuts look like this right?



If so, I've got the proper tool for correctly torquing down the steering nuts. PM me if you want to borrow it. Just pay for shipping both ways.

[katman]

sorry for I did not catch up all the psot before here.
I would like to ask how many links of chain I should order for a 520 chain with 17T&48T sprocekt and bandit 1200 arm. My current setting is 15/42 630-98links on a bandit arm.
Hope someone give me some indication.

Addy,

I believe you will need 114 link chain. Get a 120 linker and adjust accordingly.

[ironsheik]

Your steering stem nuts look like this right?



If so, I've got the proper tool for correctly torquing down the steering nuts. PM me if you want to borrow it. Just pay for shipping both ways.

Thanks a heap but I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and buy the Suzuki Tool. The 90's GSXRs have stem nuts with only 4 notches so your socket won't fit. I've realized that the special tools while expensive all save you time and money after all is said and done. I can sit here for two hours adjusting and banging and breaking other tools or I can spend a little bit more dough and do the job in 5 minutes.

Andy, Katman's right. Get a 120 link chain. I'm pretty sure I ended up with 114 too...

[posplayr]

Thanks a heap but I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and buy the Suzuki Tool. The 90's GSXRs have stem nuts with only 4 notches so your socket won't fit. I've realized that the special tools while expensive all save you time and money after all is said and done. I can sit here for two hours adjusting and banging and breaking other tools or I can spend a little bit more dough and do the job in 5 minutes.

Andy, Katman's right. Get a 120 link chain. I'm pretty sure I ended up with 114 too...

I think most of the torque specs for the steering tube (GSXR) are for about 1 lb of spring tension from a fish scale off the handle bar. You don't really need a torque wrench. Of course that Suzuki socket will protect the tightener nut.

These cheapy punches from HF do a pretty good job not damaging the nut. They are long enough to virtually put the flat face of the punch into the notch. I just use a small hammer and give it small taps till the forks have some drag. It is the resistance of the headset that matters, not so much the preload torque.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93111

Congrats getting that bad boy on the road. Maybe you could report on some of the following either your measurement or what you think you tried to achieve.

How close is the rear wheel from centerline?
How close are you alighted at the rear to front wheel?
How close are you alighted at the chain?
What off set counter sprocket did use.

Chain clearance:

• chain to tire
• chain to upper frame
• chain to lower frame

What are your left and right rear axle wheel spacer sizes?

Thanks that summary should help others.

TIA
Jim

[ironsheik]

You've got an analytical mind mr. pos! I like that. That's the way I think although I believe you're a little better at the numbers than me Anyway, I'm going for a bit more of a ride today and I've got a spring scale for calibrating the tape machines at my recording studio so I'll check the steering with that. I think I might also turn the rear sprocket around for another 1-2mm clearance at the rear shock. That should also put the chain perfectly in alignment. I know the wheels still need one more go at a proper alignment but I have them really close if not spot on. I think that's the last bit of tweaking I'll need to do. Pics from the sunny beach will be up this afternoon!

Thanks to everyone for your help. I'll be glad to answer any questions on this process. For someone who is still new to bikes and has never touched a welder, has no proper work bench and lives in the city I think I did a pretty good job!

Josh