GS1100G Cafe Racer

[oohsam]

Hello my good friends.
I have been missing a while....Not becuase I do not want to work on Romesy, more that it was the Holy month of Ramadan, for the past month, which has no just ended. It's hard to allocate any time to work on the bike, as I'm fasting all day. I break my fast at sunset and then head off to the mosque to spend about 2 hours praying. By the time I come home, its pretty late and I just want to sleep.

I did however manage to get quite a bit of work done in the past week (since ramadan was finished a week ago!).

Fitted rear swingarm, assembled shaft, assemblred new shaft spleen to wheel, installed new bearings etc. The PO was missing some spacers from the rear axle, so I'm waiting on some I bought from Canada (Ebay) to arrive. Should be here today or tomorrow...



Painted Forks matte black (and triple tee)...nice.



Fitted front forks...nice




The front end of this bike is getting a brake upgrade. The original brakes are terrible, so its getting the kawasaki ZG1000 twinpot brake upgrade. Drilled out CBR disc mounting holes to 8mm (pattern is the same) Fitted front wheel bearings, fitted front wheel. Scratched the forks a little, so I had to touch that up...fitted the side stand. I'm not fitting the centre stand. Although its useful, i think it looks worse than its practacillity....



Also installed the handlebars but didn't take a pic of that yet. Its starting to look like a bike now.
I started overhauling the ZG1000 calipers. I'm missing a little spring clip so I had to order that, but in the meantime they are getting a good clean. Got some new pads to put on it then they get fitted and for the first time since I had the bike, I should have some brakes! yay!

Also waiting on the entire bolt set to fit the rear shocks. again, the PO didnt have the bolts/spacers/washers etc required. So they are coming from the U.S....hence why the rear end is resting on the rear tyre....which I might add are new Pirelli's Got them cheap from ebay in Sydney. Only paid 20bux shipping to Melbourne.! Oh yeah.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Its starting to look like a bike now

Amen Brother!.... and a nice one at that! My first build was a 69 BSA that I paintend the frame red back in '82. Still love how they look and yours is looking REEEAAALLLLY good!

[pete]

Amen Brother!.... and a nice one at that! My first build was a 69 BSA that I paintend the frame red back in '82. Still love how they look and yours is looking REEEAAALLLLY good!

+1 on that! She's really taking shape now and looking real nice indeed!

[oohsam]

Front brake fitted.......Kawasaki ZG1000 calipers...Honda CBR900RR rotors...oh yeah.
Cant wait to give these things a go

[Charlie G]

Front brake fitted.......Kawasaki ZG1000 calipers...Honda CBR900RR rotors...oh yeah.
Cant wait to give these things a go

Now that is some Bling! Those discs look good.

cg

[oohsam]

Thanks, I think so too!
I think the black powdercoated rim and black shocks really set it off...

[Hoosier Daddy]

[Buffalo Bill]

Gorgous street bike!

Really nice Oosam!
Your project fascinates me because I own a 1100G, and I just took it out for a track day.
It's all stock and performed well, however it's way inferior to the modern sport bikes I was riding with, by about 30 years.

Of course when I got home I thought about what I could do to improve my bike.

My own evaluation of things I could do to improve the G's track performance would be too:
Raise the foot pegs 1 in. and cut them shorter by 2 in., and redo the foot brake and gear levers to match.
Clip-on handlebars.
Gas tank: hammer in or cut away knee reliefs and reliefs for clip on handle bars.
1 person seat that will be lower and forward.
Remove everything behind the seat.
The engine needs at least 25 more horsepower. (how?)
4>1 exhaust, take off the airbox sides and rejet the carbs to match.
The front forks, brakes and wheel should be replaced, with same from a sport bike like a GSXR.
Rear wheel we're stuck with, so that means we have to stay with bias ply tires to match front and rear.

After all that it would:
brake much later and harder
turn much faster
position the rider much lower and able to lean out farther
greater lean angle, (but that 130/90 tire in the back would be a worry)
have more power after the curves.

But that's just my own expressed values, not yours so have fun with your project!

Bill

[oohsam]

Thanks Bill.
I think I've done all in your list, other than new forks and and the horsepower! haha.
You didn't list brake upgrade! haha..

Im actually quite excited to test out the brakes...

[pete]

Those brakes are awesome! Is that the Salty Monk upgrade on the calipers or one you did yourself? I can't remember now and too lazy to search...

[oohsam]

Why thank ya!
No no I cant take credit. its salty Monks.
I did opt for aftermarket CBR rotors though. These are a little blinged..but same diamater...
Salty monk is a champion of a guy. Hooked me up good.

[pete]

Cool, good stuff! Definitely looks like they'll do a great job!

He's currently measuring up to see if the upgrade will work on the 450's also, not sure if I'll go down that path or not but it will definitely be good to know...

[oohsam]

Hey guys,
Need a bit of help. I installed my new braided lines today to the front brakes. I bled the system and had no bubbles.
The brakes work really well, but there is no tension in my brake lever. its very very light, and when i roll the bike forward, i need to pump the lever twice to get the pads to grip. I'm using a GSXR master cylinder. One line comes out of the master cylinder, and goes to a T junction where it splits into 2 lines, one for each brake.

I double checked the bleeding and there are air bubbles in the system...
On my R6, I pull the lever in about 5mm and it grips hard...

There is no bleeder on the master cylinder so I can only bleed from the brakes. Any help is appreciated.

[pete]

I believe the best and most reliable way to get it done is to get a vacuum bleeder, that way you effectively suck fluid from the master cylinder right through the system, getting rid of those air bubbles as you go.

Mityvac is the name brand but I'm sure there are others as well.

The good thing is they're reversible so you can use them as a hand pump as well.

I have yet to acquire one myself...

[oohsam]

Yes I've seen this mighty vac. But I cant justify 100 dollars for it! hehe