I’m fortunate to have seen and ridden lots of insanely well prepared bikes built by some amazing people. Builders like Chris Geiter, Mike Worshum, Mike Belcher; creators like John Britten, Michael Czysz; tuners like Steve Biganski, Kent Stotz, Steve Johnson, Carry Andrew...all of these men assembled bikes that deeply affected me.
I have always wanted to try my hand at building my own project bike because of these men and the machines they make. And now, as I read these names, more flood into my memory—Al Ludington, Dr. John Wittner, Richard Simms, Billy Rohm, Rob Muzzy, Eraldo Ferracci, Brian Drebber, Rich Oliver, John Cordona. All these men built amazing bikes that I had the pleasure of riding and drooling on. Very motivating.
Kent Stotz builds, tunes, and wins on insane Honda-powered Pro Street drag bikes. A few years ago, he put me onboard for a few runs and gave me insight into “how a bike should be built.” Everything included on his bikes aims to reduce ET and build mph. I hope some of his genius rubs off on this GSX-R! Photo: Dragbike.com
The first real race bike I ever rode was Eddie Lawson’s Yamaha 500 during a Motorcyclist story at Riverside International Raceway. Kel Carruthers built and tuned it. That bike fried my brain for 10 laps. Kel laughed when he saw my eyes bugging out of my helmet. Life changer.
My garage helped this experiment. Or should I say that 30 years of pack-ratting helped? My dad and I started buying Suzukis back in 1975 and since then I’ve never been without at least one Suzuki. That’s a lot of parts and pieces I’ve stored up.
For parts I couldn’t save, make or find, I turned to Rocky Mountain Cycle Plaza in Pueblo, Colorado. Tim is the parts manager there and his knowledge guided me many times. “No, don’t get that. Yeah, the Emgo mirrors and ignition switch are good. Yeah, Suzuki still carries that. No, those break, get this. We’ll make you a clutch line.” Parts got ordered, parts got made, parts got saved, and the GSX-R could be reborn.
In the back of my mind I knew that if my DIY experiment failed, I could seek professional help. But I was learning a lot and having a blast because this time it was my own hands making a (hopefully) cool bike.
My personal history with the GSX-R line goes back to 1986 at the Suzuki press intro at Laguna Seca raceway. Kevin Schwantz was there. The Limited Edition was there. I was two years into my dream job at Motorcyclist and these bikes were a revelation. “The tach starts at 3,000!”
SOURCES
I turned to three sources for the things I didn’t know. First was to call Chris Geiter, a lot. Geiter is a DynoJet tech in Las Vegas but his previous life was spent building insanely trick street bikes including a full Yosh Big Papa GSX-R1100. Geiter knows things, and his knowledge helps me all the time. Thank you, my friend.
Here’s a Chris Geiter build: 1979 Yamaha TZ750 street bike complete with lights, horn, and turn signals. And an RC30 front end, Dymag wheels and PM brakes. Geiter sets the project-bike bar quite high.
Second was YouTube. I watched good and bad videos on how to paint your bike with spray cans. How to plastic weld. How to finish-sand and buff paint. If nothing else, the videos showed it was possible and that inspired me to try.
My third source of help: the wonderful minds at www.thegsresources.com and www.gixxer.com, especially the “Oil-Cooled” section of the latter site’s forums. I learned a lot and gained confidence that the help and parts were out there. Specifically, thegsresources taught me a lot about electrical issues, and that most electrical problems can be traced to bad connections. This advice helped me solve a starting problem when I discovered that the main connector to the starter solenoid was corroded so badly that power couldn’t get through. I previously thought these gang connectors were water-proof. They are not, and the internet saved me a lot of drama and parts swapping. I’ve worn out a few wire wheels and brushes cleaning corrosion.
I connected with “Chef” on the thegsresources and he was a terrific help with carburetion and even sent me parts for another project. Good peeps.
Part of this experiment was to keep my project simple and “inside my garage.” Rather than write a check to a powder-coater, I would prep and paint the wheels myself. Instead of new bodywork. I would plastic-weld and refurbish the old stuff. Paint the cases rather than order new. Learn to rebuild calipers and master-cylinders. Learn to paint. Winter therapy? Yes.
OPTIONS
As of today, there is no “finished look” planned. The stock bodywork was a conglomeration of blue and red panels with black primer sprayed everywhere. Right now that bodywork has been plastic-welded, trimmed, sanded, filled, primered and is getting ready for paint, but I might go the Limited way.
Three boxes on a dusty garage shelf hold a complete set of 1986 GSX-R750 Limited Edition bodywork, some of it quite rough, some of it brand new, but no LTD seat. Should I steal the LTD seat off my wife’s ’87 750 (in photo) that Mike Worshum built (and Jim Tatone painted)? Could I find an LTD seat? Could Judy maybe just ride on a towel or pillow? What is love?
A good friend of mine, Ray McPeek, showed up one day and rolled a battered 1989 GSX-R750, replete with a 1993 inverted-fork front end, out of his trailer. “Hey, I’m done racing this thing. Here’s the title. It’s yours.” I plan to refurbish and paint the stock ’86 fork but Ray’s ’93 front end may someday get installed.
EXPERIENCE AND OPINION
But one more thing was helping me: experience. All the years of examining magazine project bikes, pouring over show bikes, drooling on world-class racers, all that experience came together to help me with this 29-year-old Suzuki.
And I had strong opinions on what was “right” and “wrong” for my personal build. I’ve owned enough “prima-donna” bikes that were too precious or fragile to actually ride anywhere in the real world. I was determined to keep this GSX-R as a usable piece of transportation.
For instance, style took a backseat to my desire for big bright turn signals and big usable mirrors. This 1100 has to function in changing Colorado weather and on the dirt roads I frequent, so all inner fenders are getting installed and the sawn-off front fender is being added-to.
A previous “fabricator” hacked the back of the front fender off. Some quick work with the top of a cat-litter container made an extension in almost-Suzuki blue. Paint the bike to match the cat-litter box? Hmmm...
Chain-guard making: You gotta start somewhere, so how about with some angle-aluminum from Lowe’s? It’s weird how a part we all take for granted gets pretty tricky when you have the fabricating skills of a 7-year-old.
The chain-guard is missing, even though it was promised by the previous owner. That means I’ll try my hand at chain-guard fabrication. Installing these pieces will help keep dirt off the rear shock, mud off my back, rocks out of the header pipes, chain lube off my leg...and make my Suzuki a usable hot rod.
The pipe was tired and rusty, but at least it was dented and scratched. I have a few mufflers lurking on a shelf and the cleanest one is a Kerker that Steve Johnson gave me for my Honda Hawk. Gonna try to do something with the mid-pipe, too.
Opinions on paint, graphics, and style are widely varied but I believe two colors should be separated by a black or contrasting-color pinstripe. Stickers should be clear-coated if possible. A bike should look like it’s going downhill. White wheels are a pain. Fasteners are important for function and looks. Certain things like grips, windscreens, seats, and mirrors shouldn’t attract attention with crazy contrasting colors. The old-school muffler sitting out by the rear axle isn’t attractive. Chrome? Not for me. Polished aluminum? Only a little. Carbon-fiber graphics or wrap? Never.
My final arbiter of style will always be MotoGP or SBK contenders. If they start to chrome their wheels I’ll consider it! All that said: Build the bike you want and let’s get them out on the highway.
COTA Clinics! The Yamaha Champions Riding School will be conducting “must-see” riding clinics near the Yamaha display in the vendor area at Circuit of The Americas. Join Kyle Wyman and I this weekend as we talk about "Why great riders are great, and how you can be awesome, too." See you there!
More Next Tuesday!