1984 GS1150ef rebuild!!! renew!!

[dorkburger]

Following.....

Losing the passenger pegs / hangers also cleans up the overall look. But you’ll need to make a muffler hanger, which I’m assuming you already know.
There are loads of 1150s modified in many ways over at Old Skool Suzuki. You can find plenty of suspension / wheel swap info there as well.

[wyly]

Following.....

Losing the passenger pegs / hangers also cleans up the overall look. But you’ll need to make a muffler hanger, which I’m assuming you already know.
There are loads of 1150s modified in many ways over at Old Skool Suzuki. You can find plenty of suspension / wheel swap info there as well.

Passenger pegs are easy enough to remove the entire hangers is trickier, there is more than just a muffler attached to them; rear brakes, shift linkage and drivers pegs. I can chop them shorter and remove a couple lbs in weight but I'm not confident it'll be aesthetically pleasing when I'm done.

I'll check out Old Skool Suzuki and see what ideas I can borrow.

[wyly]

Honda 954rr upper triple allow the use of slightly shorter forks.
Don't know all the details, but ur fellow Canadian in BC (katman), may have some older posts on the subject from the archives.

I've been warned not to go with shorter forks a shorter fork with the 16' wheel I have could make for some very twitchy handling. I have a mechanic/technical advisor who is a suspension and tuner expert who works the WorldSBK circuit. He wants to measure the geometry of my GS if I intend to do any fork swaps and advises a larger front wheel 17" or 18".

I'd like to have inverted forks but he says the forks I have can be vastly improved by removing the anti dive, adding Race Tech Emulators and springs. None of those mods comes cheap, finding a complete front wheel/inverted fork/brake/triples/clip-ons assembly for a similar price would be my preferred option. Not many later model forks come close to the length I have now, if I recall correctly the 93-95 GSXR1100's ccme closest to recommended the fork length.

[dorkburger]

.... brain fart on my part. I forgot that those carriers hold all of that. I have seen them substantially cut down.

[wyly]

Looking good! I like the way it flows with the rest of the bodywork on the bike.

thanks' that important to know, I was concerned I had rounded the the corners too much, the goal was for it to look like it belonged on the bike like the mid 80's Slabbies. I'll have much better lower back support too.


Total cost to build it somewhere between $200-250, not inexpensive but there's no aftermarket cowl available for the 1150 that I could find.

[wyly]

.... brain fart on my part. I forgot that those carriers hold all of that. I have seen them substantially cut down.

The shift side I could shorten considerably as the new headers are on the brake side. Doing a tidy job of cutting and shaping the hangers so that they look good is my worry.

I don't know what material they're made of, will a Dremel handle the finer cutting and grinding? There's 3-4 lbs of weight savings to be had if I can do it.

[Buffalo Bill]

After all the unbolting is done, the creative work begins.
Look at replacing steel parts with alloy, cutting and shaping overbuilt parts so they look good.
Be sure you don't weaken stressed parts.
Start big and work down to smalls.
Be sure you have all the engineering correct for your final purpose.
Look up pics and info on period race bikes.

I kinda have the same direction for my 82 GS1100G, but feel bad about cutting some parts. Plus more power might strip the rear hub.

[dorkburger]

The shift side I could shorten considerably as the new headers are on the brake side. Doing a tidy job of cutting and shaping the hangers so that they look good is my worry.

I don't know what material they're made of, will a Dremel handle the finer cutting and grinding? There's 3-4 lbs of weight savings to be had if I can do it.

They are aluminum. Not sure if a Dremel would do it, and if it could it would probably be tough to get straight lines. Occasionally I’ve sat in the garage pondering cutting them down.
It would also be lovely to be able to find aluminum shift / brake levers from a newer machine that could bolt on, plus I thought that years ago I saw a later GSX with an aluminum sidestand.

[wyly]

After all the unbolting is done, the creative work begins.
Look at replacing steel parts with alloy, cutting and shaping overbuilt parts so they look good.
Be sure you don't weaken stressed parts.
Start big and work down to smalls.
Be sure you have all the engineering correct for your final purpose.
Look up pics and info on period race bikes.

I kinda have the same direction for my 82 GS1100G, but feel bad about cutting some parts. Plus more power might strip the rear hub.

that's the plan, I'm doing it slowly I expect it'll take a few winters. I stare at things for hours wondering what I can remove and what I can't. Where I can save weight and any costs involved.

This winter's goals-I've already lowered the dry weight to approximately 480lbs, (460-470lbs is easily attainable). Still need to add a HD clutch basket and new set of Mikuni RS36 to complement the Hindle 4-2-1 exhaust. So a significant amount of weight lost(improved power/weight ratio) and hopefully 15-20 hp gained. Better brakes and suspension are next winters goals.

[Buffalo Bill]

Something I noticed on my carb racks, the racks are made of steel, would be easy to make new racks from aluminum.
Tiny weight savings, but something.
Also, I found some black 6mm nylon bolts on ebay to replace most of the fairing bolts on my GSX750F track bike, another small weight savings.

[Carter Turk]

Wyly,

I was assuming a stock 16" wheel would "not" be used with the bother purchasing more modern USD forks.

[wyly]

Wyly,

I was assuming a stock 16" wheel would "not" be used with the bother purchasing more modern USD forks.

definitely not, not a lot of tire selection with 16's. My mechanic suggested 18's would be his choice but 17's will do and are easier to find. With shorter forks and even a 17" tire I may end up with a smaller rake where as I want the opposite. So as long a fork as possible, 93-95 GSXR1100w forks or stay with the oem forks I have, modify them and add a 17' wheel. My mechanic says an inverted fork system is superior but modified oems will perform well.

I did find the complete front end from a 2002 750 Gixxer, bars, triples, forks, brakes and tire for $500 but the forks were much too short. It's a waiting game acquiring the right parts at a reasonable price, do I wait or do I modify what I have?

I just know that if I modify my forks the week after I've completed it I'll walk into my favorite wrecker shop and they have exactly what I was looking for for $300.

[Buffalo Bill]

I think you should include the Bandit & SV families in your fork swap options.

[Carter Turk]

I've been warned not to go with shorter forks a shorter fork with the 16' wheel I have could make for some very twitchy handling. I have a mechanic/technical advisor who is a suspension and tuner expert who works the WorldSBK circuit.

My last post to the thread was based on your comment from this #19 post.
I'll stop making any suggestions, as I've never done the swap, but always wanted to, there's still time, have 2 specimens, just sharing other successful swap choices people have made over the last 20 years.
I can't stand the way my stock 1150ES handles, it's a boinger, even with a Works remote reservoir shock, Progressive springs up front w/spacer & anti-dive block off plates.

[wyly]

Something I noticed on my carb racks, the racks are made of steel, would be easy to make new racks from aluminum.
Tiny weight savings, but something.
Also, I found some black 6mm nylon bolts on ebay to replace most of the fairing bolts on my GSX750F track bike, another small weight savings.

Or eliminate the fairing altogether! I have spare headlight and bucket to go fully naked (another 8lb loss too)if I want but there is a certain comfort in having a fairing to tuck in behind.

I was reminded by a young millennial I could spend a lot of cash to lose a few ounces here and there or I could diet and shed 20lbs. There's a lot of truth in that but it's just not as much fun doing it that way.