Oz GS1000 resto and GSX1100 cafe builds

[steve murdoch]

Love the look of the wheels, Nate.
What brand tires did you go with?

[Chuck78]

I know everyone likes pics, here's what's made me merry.



150 is a comfortable fit in the swinger and chain clears by a mile.

Nate,......WOW!!!!! Your bike is looking magnificent!!! What an awesome build! The tank, the YSS shocks on the GS1100E swingarm, the forks... All superb, very tastefully selected, and very serious on drastically improved functionality!

Love the look of the wheels, Nate.
What brand tires did you go with?

Looks like only the grippiest available, Pirelli Sport Demons! GS hubs and I'm going to guess Excel Takasago rims?

I did not have any luck here stateside finding a 150/70-18 Pirelli Sport Demon, must only be available in a 17" rim, bummer. Only Avon AM26 RoadRiders come in a 150/70/18 for the rears of our bikes, which I am running with very little clearance to the chain with standard spaced sprockets (Avon tires typically run wider than other brands). I can see where the chain has slapped the edge of the tread&sidewall many times on mine during times when the chain sways side to side on the slack side of it. 140/70 is a great choice technically speaking but the 150 looks the most appropriate and fitting on a vintage bike, the 140/70 is not quite as tall of a profile, looks quite thin, a bit on the modern side. Less weight & less sidewall flex, however.

EDIT: the GS1150 came with a very sought after GS double 3 spoke mag wheel in a 3.50x17 (& 3.00x17???), which many members have swapped onto other GS's. They always run into extra work trying to properly re-space the rear wheel for centering and chain alignment, so perhaps the 1150 output countershaft sprocket is moved outboard slightly to utilize this later/wider GS rear wheel and a 130 rear tire??? Better check your chain alignment with a string of ProfiCAT laser beam chain alignment tool. just to be certain.

Great work!

[Chuck78]

Now, to search function my way to a rear disc/caliper upgrade!

http://metalgear.com.au/mgear-brake-disc-front-gold-centre-p-11052.html

Run these 275mm 22mm offset Katana front rotors in place of the heavy GS 23mm offset 275mm rears. Only difference is these run 10mm bolts. Maybe you can drill&tap your rear hubs larger, but I just used a steel snowflake pattern GS rotor as a template and drill pressed the 8mm hole pattern in between the 10mm hole pattern. Same bolt pattern 78mm 6 bolt, same 56mm inner hub bore diameter.

The rear caliper run on the GS650G and others is slightly lighter than a 750/1100 77-81+ caliper& a direct bolt on.

A new AP Racing or old AP Lockheed rear caliper would be lightest of this style and very trick looking but may require a custom hanger bracket. Look at my Rickman thread on dotheton.com or caferacers.net for a link to their product page EDIT: Here is the hard to find page with the most info on the calipers and rebuild parts for the new& old classic calipers: http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...Motorcycle.pdf


Their modern Billet rear caliper is just amazing, but underslung configuration that would require relocation of the brake stay mount currently welded to the top of your swingarm, & it's $$$.


The rotor I linked is the only "bolt-on" good easy solution for an upgrade, & the gs650 caliper is the cheapest caliper option. I went with a GS1150E caliper but it required much fab work for a custom brake stay arm.

[John Kat]

Looks fantastic!
Keep up the good work.
FYI another good set of tires in the size you need are the Conti Classic Road Attack 2 CR.
These are fully modern radial tires developped specifically for the period racers that are limited to a 150 width on the rear here in France.
I don't race them but the grip is very good.
A local racer has both the Pirelli's you have and the Conti's.
No preference eitheir way from what he told me.

[Chuck78]

Great to know John, thanks for the tip!

[steve murdoch]

I am very happy with the 150/70-18 Bridgestone BT45 i have on my spoked wheel Honda.
Great grip, decent wear.

[John Kat]

Nate,......WOW!!!!! Your bike is looking magnificent!!! What an awesome build! The tank, the YSS shocks on the GS1100E swingarm, the forks... All superb, very tastefully selected, and very serious on drastically improved functionality!



Looks like only the grippiest available, Pirelli Sport Demons! GS hubs and I'm going to guess Excel Takasago rims?

I did not have any luck here stateside finding a 150/70-18 Pirelli Sport Demon, must only be available in a 17" rim, bummer. Only Avon AM26 RoadRiders come in a 150/70/18 for the rears of our bikes, which I am running with very little clearance to the chain with standard spaced sprockets (Avon tires typically run wider than other brands). I can see where the chain has slapped the edge of the tread&sidewall many times on mine during times when the chain sways side to side on the slack side of it. 140/70 is a great choice technically speaking but the 150 looks the most appropriate and fitting on a vintage bike, the 140/70 is not quite as tall of a profile, looks quite thin, a bit on the modern side. Less weight & less sidewall flex, however.

EDIT: the GS1150 came with a very sought after GS double 3 spoke mag wheel in a 3.50x17 (& 3.00x17???), which many members have swapped onto other GS's. They always run into extra work trying to properly re-space the rear wheel for centering and chain alignment, so perhaps the 1150 output countershaft sprocket is moved outboard slightly to utilize this later/wider GS rear wheel and a 130 rear tire??? Better check your chain alignment with a string of ProfiCAT laser beam chain alignment tool. just to be certain.

Great work!

Chuck,

I have mounted the 3.5 wheel on my 1100 Kat and you are right the engine sprocket has to be moved out a little.
In fact the OEM spacer behind the sprocket on the 1150 is slightly longer than on the other GS's.
Here's a picture or two.
The tire is a 130/80 that goes to 150 due to the larger rim.
The brake stay is slightly modified to take that into account.

[Chuck78]

Chuck,

I have mounted the 3.5 wheel on my 1100 Kat and you are right the engine sprocket has to be moved out a little.
In fact the OEM spacer behind the sprocket on the 1150 is slightly longer than on the other GS's.
Here's a picture or two.
The tire is a 130/80 that goes to 150 due to the larger rim.
The brake stay is slightly modified to take that into account.

So for Nate with the 1150 engine and heating that he has more than adequate chain clearance on a 150 tire, I'd venture to say that he needs to use stock wheel spacers for a GS750/1000 rear wire spoke hub, but he will likely need to add some flat aluminum sheet spacer material behind his rear sprocket between it and the cush drive carrier hub, since he needs that tire clearance that the 1150 engine's further outboard spaced countershaft sprocket is giving him...

Thanks for the confirmation, John!

[blackhammer]

Thanks for the kind words Chuck, John, Steve..

Honestly Chuck, the research you have done and the info you have posted has helped me alot, im not sure i can say i wouldve gone with the VTR forks if i hadnt read your posts. As for the rims, unsure what they are, will ask the wheel builder what brand he used, they weren't very cheap tho! $$$ Im very happy with how the wheels came out though.

Thanks for the info on the rear caliper upgrade, not sure what i will do with that yet, none of the GSX1100 alloy wheel spacers seem correct, everything was out on my trial fit, i think i may shift the caliper down and break stay to under the swing arm and get all new custom spacers.. Just looking at a few options now and will let you know how i go...
I'll grab a photo with the chain on shortly showing the chain clearance.

[Weasel]

Build is coming along beautifully. Very nice work and attention to detail.

[Chuck78]

Well unfortunately (or fortunately? ) the VTR1000F Superhawk forks are no longer going to work on the Rickman CR900-GS750/894cc project, I got hard #'s from a Rickman owner that the OEM 38mm dual disc Rickman forks were 715mm length!

This means the 43mm RF900R (ext rebound&preload adjustable cartridge fork 310mm brakes) slated for the GS425-475cc racer build are going to be great on the Rickman unless I can find some good 296mm rotor Honda RSU forks in around a 700-715mm length (going to drop front a lot to steepen the lazy 28°Rickman rake & run triples up top, VTR forks would be protruding 1.5" above the clips even with 1° offset steering head bearings to reduce rake).
Looks like I may be giving the Rickman a more aggressive stance than planned to get very quick racer steering...

[Chuck78]

Thanks for the info on the rear caliper upgrade, not sure what i will do with that yet, none of the GSX1100 alloy wheel spacers seem correct, everything was out on my trial fit, i think i may shift the caliper down and break stay to under the swing arm and get all new custom spacers.. Just looking at a few options now and will let you know how i go...
I'll grab a photo with the chain on shortly showing the chain clearance.

That's because the GS1150 engine has the countershaft output sprocket spaced out further than on 750/1000/1150 engines, so the 1150's wheels were spaced differently than the others.you need to center the wheel, then cut a rear sprocket spacer out of some 7000 series aluminum plate in the thickness you need to get chain alignment.

First things first, you need to just center the rear wheel in the swing arm, the brake position doesn't matter much but more outboard will give you better clearance on the brake stay arm to a 150 tire. Stock spacing will work just fine, but an OEM tubular brake stay arm will need heated up and clearanced. After that, THEN worry about chain alignment.

Also, look for an RF900R rear axle. They are same size as a GS, but hollow to save weight!

[blackhammer]

[QUOTE=Chuck78;2255813] Nate, I'm going to move most of this info into a new thread when I get a minute


All good Chuck, as i was reading it i thought you should perhaps start your own thread in wheels-suspension, it should probably be a sticky as i'm sure a lot of guys read your posts when looking at upgrade options. You and John are great contributors when it comes to potential upgrade options.

[blackhammer]

That's because the GS1150 engine has the countershaft output sprocket spaced out further than on 750/1000/1150 engines, so the 1150's wheels were spaced differently than the others.you need to center the wheel, then cut a rear sprocket spacer out of some 7000 series aluminum plate in the thickness you need to get chain alignment.

First things first, you need to just center the rear wheel in the swing arm, the brake position doesn't matter much but more outboard will give you better clearance on the brake stay arm to a 150 tire. Stock spacing will work just fine, but an OEM tubular brake stay arm will need heated up and clearanced. After that, THEN worry about chain alignment.

Also, look for an RF900R rear axle. They are same size as a GS, but hollow to save weight!

I actually think i will end up spacing both the disc and the sprocket, and move and shorten the brake stay to an underslung type. probably will use the new katana disc you suggested with a standard caliper, more modern options are looking like too much work at this point and im really keen to finish the bike and have a ride before the end of this summer.

[Chuck78]

Nate, I am stripping a few parts off an early 90's Katana very soon, and I realized that it looked like the rotor bolts are in fact the same 8mm diameter, but the bolts off those bikes have a 10mm shoulder on them. I will confirm this soon, but ordering a half a dozen from Suzuki or cross referencing them on Partzilla to see what other models you might find the same bolts on in the salvage yards will be a good choice.



http://www.partzilla.com/parts/searc...EEL/parts.html
EDIT: the cross reference list at the bottom of that partzilla link makes me think that this bolt must be used on practically every Suzuki sport bike since the mid 1980's! see link above.

• BOLT, DISC (8X33) | MODEL P
  09106-08148
  $3.25
  qty. 12