GSXR750F: Getting Dressed

Well things are nearly there with the GSXR now.

I recently had the wheels, disc centres, fairing bracket, and battery box powder coated. I fitted the wheels last night and it was the first time I was able to offer the new calipers to the modified forks. I had the forks serviced recently so I had new seals, progressive fork springs, and a new stanchion fitted. I opted for 20W oil as well as based on comments from other Slabide owners I was told that the Nissin calipers will bottom the forks if they are too soft. I hope that the reworked front forks and brand new rear shock should vastly improve how the bike handles.

I also bought a 44 tooth rear sprocket as I'm more interested in out right acceleration compared to having a high top speed.

In order to get the new calipers to fit I had a bracket made and then my old man helped me with a little bit of filing to get the bracket and caliper to fit together nicely. 

Earlier on today I offered a couple of body panels up to the bike to get a feel of what it'll look like when finished.

I also had the battery box powder coated recently as well so when the bike goes to the shop to have the carbs ultrasonically cleaned and balanced I'll ask them to fit this as well.

I have another couple of bits and pieces being powder coated so these should be back by the weekend.

The jobs left to do before I can start hooning around again are:

Bleed the braking system

Bleed the clutch

Have the carbs sorted

Change the clutch plates and springs

Change the oil and filter

Replace the swing arm bushes and/ or rear cushion lever bushes.

Have the downpipes bead blasted and paint the entire exhaust in BBQ black paint

All in I reckon this will take me about another 4 weeks, after that I can put the fairing on and go thrashing about!

Project GSXR750F: Updates

It's been a while since I posted about the GSXR so I thought it would be a good time to now update what's been happening.

This month was always going to be the expensive month when it came to this restoration. Since September I've been buying bits and pieces as and when they came up on Ebay, this included items such as good condition side panels, calipers, so on.

I bought a new shock for the bike as the original is now 28 years and and I wanted to freshen up the back end. After looking into Hagon/ Nitron shocks I discovered The Shock Factory after reading an issue of Practical Sportsbikes. The shock is fully rebuildable and they come with a two year warranty, best of all is that the spring is matched to your weight and riding style and it has a 48 way adjuster for bump and rebound.

I finished rebuilding the rear caliper recently and once the snow and rain had stopped I was able to paint it. I had the paint colour matched by the bodyshop I'm having all the panels repainted too. The photo below shows how it looked after I had taken it off the bike, 28 years of grime and crap had taken its toll.

Rebuilt with new internals and a fresh coat of paint, much better.

The anti dive units have been painted in the same colour too, the other one was drying when the photo was taken.

Instead of going down the route of rebuilding the Deca Piston calipers I have decided to upgrade the front brakes for later model Nissin calipers. The reasons behind this are down to the original brakes not being great even after a rebuild but more importantly I want calipers that will actually stop me. This is a popular upgrade among Slabside owners so I'll need to modify the forks and have a bracket made. I still have an original set of forks so if I ever sell the bike I'll put everything back to standard.

Maybe at some point I'll have these painted gold so they blend in more.

I bought a GSXR Slingshot front brake master cylinder to go with the Nissin calipers as these two go hand in hand with each other on the bikes from 1988 onwards. I also painted the clutch master cylinder housing and bought a new rubber boot from Robinsons Foundry as the original had perished.

I'll need to make a small bracket for the brake fluid reservoir.

I got the paintwork back from Hinckley BodyWRX this week as the graphics are being done by Image Works over near Derby. I wanted to keep the original import colour scheme as it is in keeping with the bike and I prefer the paint job over the UK bikes.

Once the side panels have had the decals applied they will be lacquered along with the top fairing that covers the headlights. The exhaust has been taken off as the down pipes need blasting and the whole system needs painting. The Halfords exhaust paint I used was very brittle so this time I plan to use BBQ black paint as it seems more durable.

The fuel tank is currently with Faircharm Restorations and that should be finished in a week or so, once it's back all the paint work will be complete for the body panels. The next jobs include having the replacement set of wheels powder coated, new tyres being fitted, new shock to be fitted, carbs to be ultrasonically cleaned and set up, and a few other pieces. I recently bought a new fork stanchion and a set of Hagon progressive forks springs as I was never really happy with the front end. I'll use thicker fork oil too as I've been told the Nissin calipers are so powerful I'll bottom the shocks out under braking.

I'm hoping to have the bike ready to roll for the end of March/ beginning of April as I can't see the weather improving until then.

Project R1 - To Good to Pass Up

If I ever find myself with a spare bit of cash, or room for that matter, I can't help but look for yet another bike. This one came about whilst sitting down in Easenhall on the VMCC Coventry Parade lunch stop whilst eating some tasty chilli in the sunshine. My Dad had been watching a 1999 R1 4XV in blue on ebay and the bike didn't have any bids. Before he set off in the morning he forgot to put a bid on it so at lunch he mentioned this to me. I got my phone out, went onto ebay and put a bid in for him. 15 minutes later he was the owner of this R1. After a couple of weeks of ownership it became quite clear that it wasn't his cup of tea. Tall rear end, weight on your wrist, an aching back, and more power then you'll possibly be able to use on the road (unless you are David Jefferies on the mountain mile at the TT). My Dad said that I could have a test ride on it before he sold it so one Saturday afternoon I had a quick blast around the A5 and Fosse Way. Afterwards I was amazed at what 150bhp feels like on a bike, my old 1.8 MX5 only had about 140bhp.

After experiencing what 880bhp per tonne feels like I pestered my Dad to sell it to me and eventually it was tucked up in my garage.

Since having the bike I removed the after market tail tidy as it looked crap and didn't fit properly. On removing it I discovered that someone had botched the indicator wiring so I'll crimp some connectors onto the wiring in the new year when I buy some standard indicators. The rear mud guard was also cut down for the tail tidy but after a phone call to Yamaha you can buy these new for £60.

Rear mudguard that has been cut down.

The bolts still have the original factory finish which makes me think this bike has only been used in good weather.

This side of the bike has a couple of marks on the belly pan and the fairing panel. The previous owner said that he accidentally marked these panels when getting the bike out of the garage. Luckily I have found some brand new old stock 4XV panels on ebay for the 1999 colour scheme so next year I'll fit these.

I wouldn't really call this bike a project as it rides like a brand new bike and the only bits needed are on a couple of cosmetic areas. Because the bike is so clean once I have changed a few panels and polished a few bits and pieces this will be used only on sunny days as well as for shows and events.

Time After Time