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Hi all. I have been a great admirer of a lot of your bikes and projects and I going to attempt to contribute with a project(s) of mine. I had owned a couple of GS’s in my younger days and now a few have ended up in my garage over the past couple of years and I am now putting in the effort to get back them onto the road.
A month back I purchased a "tomato" red 1982 Katana in PA. Some of you may have seen it since it was posted on the “Bikes for Sale” forum. I am now trying to give it the love it deserves. It has been sitting for 5-6 years and the previous owner painted it red and the frame black. I plan to restore it in two phases. Phase 1: Get it all pieced together, get it fully functional, reintroduce silver paint to the body and plastic parts, and focus on getting the engine back to where it needs to be. Overall this is pretty complete bike other than some missing bits from its travels during the past 30 years.
Phase 2 (next summer): I will focus on the suspension, rims, tires, and strip it naked and get the frame repainted silver and put it all back together as original as I can.
I like to think as myself as a decent mechanic but all my experience is working on big stuff like combustion and steam turbines. After many years in the world of power generation, I now travel a lot watching and managing the building of power plants (I'm a Senior Project Manager) so my work demands doesn’t allow me to spend a lot of time restoring these bikes anymore. So I am letting someone else do the heavy lifting when it comes to restoring my two wheel mistresses. I know, I know.
Ken's Cycle in Reading (PA) is doing the work and they are a quality shop with expert knowledge of most, if not all, UJM bikes and I highly recommend them. Those looking for some parts; Ken has a lot, and I mean a lot that are neatly sorted and stored in his warehouse. If there was version of "American Pickers" for motorcycles, a walk through his warehouse would be like finding Captain Kidd’s treasure for 70’s and 80’s four and two stroke bikes.
I have lots of pictures of this build and will be posting them.
Additionally, I have ’83 GS1100E that is really getting an overhaul. This one will be resto-mod with a Bandit swingarm, GSXR forks, and a completely rebuilt engine by Rapid Ray. I am also going to attempt to add a ’90 GSXR upper fairing to it. I'm trying for a GS1200SS vibe. That will be another thread with pictures.
Thanks.
A month back I purchased a "tomato" red 1982 Katana in PA. Some of you may have seen it since it was posted on the “Bikes for Sale” forum. I am now trying to give it the love it deserves. It has been sitting for 5-6 years and the previous owner painted it red and the frame black. I plan to restore it in two phases. Phase 1: Get it all pieced together, get it fully functional, reintroduce silver paint to the body and plastic parts, and focus on getting the engine back to where it needs to be. Overall this is pretty complete bike other than some missing bits from its travels during the past 30 years.
Phase 2 (next summer): I will focus on the suspension, rims, tires, and strip it naked and get the frame repainted silver and put it all back together as original as I can.
I like to think as myself as a decent mechanic but all my experience is working on big stuff like combustion and steam turbines. After many years in the world of power generation, I now travel a lot watching and managing the building of power plants (I'm a Senior Project Manager) so my work demands doesn’t allow me to spend a lot of time restoring these bikes anymore. So I am letting someone else do the heavy lifting when it comes to restoring my two wheel mistresses. I know, I know.
Ken's Cycle in Reading (PA) is doing the work and they are a quality shop with expert knowledge of most, if not all, UJM bikes and I highly recommend them. Those looking for some parts; Ken has a lot, and I mean a lot that are neatly sorted and stored in his warehouse. If there was version of "American Pickers" for motorcycles, a walk through his warehouse would be like finding Captain Kidd’s treasure for 70’s and 80’s four and two stroke bikes.
I have lots of pictures of this build and will be posting them.
Additionally, I have ’83 GS1100E that is really getting an overhaul. This one will be resto-mod with a Bandit swingarm, GSXR forks, and a completely rebuilt engine by Rapid Ray. I am also going to attempt to add a ’90 GSXR upper fairing to it. I'm trying for a GS1200SS vibe. That will be another thread with pictures.
Thanks.
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