BUMP! Bumpity-HUMP-bump-bump.
Any news on this build? I see it going further & further into the CROTCH-ROCKET direction, with all of these non-period-correct parts making absolutely zero attempt at looking remotely vintage, veering dangerously into STARBUCKS RACER territory with the USD forks & the mono-shock conversion, 17" mag wheels & fugly bedazzled SnowFlake/SpiderWeb rotors, etc. YA'LL know what type of build I'm talking about. We've sure as shit seen a TON of 'em around here these past five or ten years! What would you call it, in a word - the process whereby a bike BECOMES the proverbial STARBUCKS RACER? Yanno, when your favourite old cafe is replaced by a Starbucks, and then three more of 'em pop up on the same intersection - "GENTRIFICATION" comes to mind....
I keep hoping to tune back in and see it all RETRO-FRIED, with parts made to look older without sacrificing dimensions specs etc.
Would've been nice to see it done as though it really were an original Rickman Suzuki CR - "CR1000"? With the FIRST-GEN motor, of course.
Anything involving the GSX engines might as well be covered up with RICKMAN PREDATOR bodywork. Being that the chassis under the Predator look wasn't anything new....
Honestly though, there's a heck of a lot of potential in this build. It could really turn out BEAUTIFUL, if only we could abandon the tired old FISH-HEAD thing with the fugly six-pot Tokico calipers & even fuglier gold bespangled spider-flake carriers in those floating rotors. With some pretty standard fare Suzuki composite riveted discs in the same damn size, with some single-puck calipers of ANY marque, retro-fried with some surface treatment, slung off custom caliper-hangers if needs be - And the later-era forks spun down round, with just a stub of a lug for caliper hangers -
There was a new MV Agusta powered Magni-replica a few years ago, I suppose it worked so well 'cause it was done with a 4LS front brake so they could simply SPIN the fork legs down smooth - But they gave the classic CERIANI fork leg look to something like 45mm tubes & 25mm axle etc. Doing so with a CALIPER type fork well - The really FUGLY feature is the outstretched CLAW replacing the separate hanger piece - IF these could be somehow reversed so as to HIDE that flat claw "palm" if you will, perhaps there'd be no reason what-so-ever to carve 'em away, and you could still bolt the adapter to those identical hangers you just wouldn't have to LOOK AT the fuckers..... Meh - I'd also look at whether they could be used to place entirely new holes, facing to the inside again of course, 'cause you don't wanna look at that shit - but the new bolt holes could re-locate a period-correct Suzuki single-puck caliper, or similar, to space 'em out to some ridiculous new dimensions.
'Cause those old composite riveted rotor carriers can be rebuilt with new outer disc rings - Metalgear Au does 'em, there's another seller on eBay doing 'em in CAST IRON - for the Honda 296mm SOHC stuff, though they're open minded about doing other versions of riveted composite discs -
Picture something like the AMA Superbike discs, typically upwards of 310mm-330mm but still a solid center fixed riveted type. It'd be a heck of a better match to that lovely period piece on the rear hub!
Gotta wonder about those old Rickman PREDATOR bikes though, how many of 'em were even made - I've only seen a few picks of the DOHC-4 Honda version, with the Suzuki & Kawasaki stuff being easier to find on Google or Pinterest etc.
But yeah, they're probably the far more rare model, far more capable in their running-gear specifications etc, more powerful next-gen motors etc. And yet I'd bet $$$'s they're far cheaper on resale compared to the typical cookie-cutter Rickman CR750/CR900 you see in the magazines - over & over & over again!
Well if the frame is indeed nothing substantially different, could the PREDATOR be dressed up in retro-fried bodywork to LOOK just like the earlier model(s)???
Or do the frames simply sell for around the same money no matter their year of manufacture? Hmmmmm.....
Well either way, IMHO the Suzuki Rickman should be built as a hypothetical 3rd model - to match the release of the GS1000 which was what, 1978 or 1979? (I'm more of a Honda buff, and don't keep up with Suzy DOHC-4 dates & specs quite like I undoubtedly should. 'Cause the KICK-STARTER on the GS1000 is the missing element which I so so long for on my DOHC-4 Honda!
Speaking of which? A kick-ONLY build would be the preferred style, wouldn't it? With the capacitor type "battery eliminator" ignition, etc? Sure, you could ditch the generator & keep the starter, run a total-loss ignition. But I'd hazard a guess the starter-clutch would remove close to the same amount of weight from the crank. Well it would on the HONDA anyhow. See - this is my whole DOHC HONDA LOGIC creeping into my discussion here - With the kicker you can remove BOTH, is the point! Surely without the generator OR starter-clutch on the crank-shaft, the kicker lever won't be TOO MUCH extra weight & clutter on the bike? Just sayin' - with the generator & starter-clutch taken off the crank, with some type of modern optical pick-up ignition system slid uner a low-profile cover, you could substantially narrow down the first-gen motor's crank - at which point the later GSX and Bandit motors lose that argument about cornering clearance.
But you know, there IS a way the later motors and fugly crotch-rocket nonsense could find their way onto a classic style of bike: Just "whip up" a new FRAME for that shit - An EGLI style backbone/spine-tube frame, really heavy-duty of course, would surely be stiff enough & light enough as to compare with whatever fugly Deltabox bullshit the engines came from - No, the Bandit 1200 frame itself doesn't count! ... You'd wanna pick out some random aftermarket or retro replica "Cafe Racer" Brit-bike alloy tank, and/or something like a GS1100E tank I suppose - Maybe a replica of some random '80s Suzuki Endurance-Racer tank, could work with just a random assortment of Suzuki "standard" bike parts, side-covers from here, tail from over there, fenders from blah-blah-blah - But the engine the suspension the running-gear, it could ALL be from the Y2K+ type of shit and it would MATCH - Yanno? Maybe you'd take your wire-spoke hubs from the modern DIRT-BIKE scene or the latter-day-CRUISER shite, all of it from the Suzuki box-a-tricks. A bike like that could be FANTASTIC - Especially if you did it with one of the really new LIQUID-COOLED motors, just dress it all up with a bunch of fake fins if you can't deal with it. If the later-era motor's to be rebuilt, then just take the jugs & carve some shallow grooves into the outer walls of the water-jacket. Do the same with the covers & part of the head - or ADD material if it suits you - On the one hand it's for aesthetic reasons, yes - But on the other hand you'd be adding intrinsic surface-area to the motor, something which could help you to shrink down the radiator, to around the size of the Bandit's over-size oil-cooler. Then you could tuck it up underneath a little bubble fairing etc. It could work out!
I've always been curious, well ever since I've first HEARD of the things, I didn't invent it as an infant in 1973 - But those newfangled SOLID STATE THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS would be an interesting way to either stick some fins onto a liquid-cooled motor, or build an external oil-cooler and/or radiator - though supposedly the exhaust gases represent the greatest heat differential - WHILE generating electricity in ways which are normally wasted as heat!
Reading up on the subject, it would seem that replacing mechanical electrical generation (ie, on the end of the crank) with one of these doohickeys, can potentially increase fuel economy by 4% -
And I would take THAT to mean that the mechanical generator is placing so much drag on the crank that getting RID of the thing, could give you up to a 4% boost in horsepower!
Jeebuz - at that rate, IMHO even if you've got to carry two or three batteries on-board, (Talking about lightweight GEL batteries mind you!) it would be well= worth running the total-loss ignition plus total-loss EVERYTHING. So long as it'll run your lights & ignition over a full 24hr IRON-BUTT rally and/or spontaneous 24hr Endurance-Race, coast-to-coast "Cannonball-Run" etc, and you can trickle it back full again in one night's sleep? Heck, if it gets drained you might want your electrics to step down sequentially, losing auxiliaries, then indicators, then headlight WITH a warning - and only THEN lose the ignition. But otherwise, I'm really diggin' the idea of a doubled-up GEL battery ... "pile" with a total-loss system. Maybe stick some kinda SOLAR charger rolled up under the seat? Whatever the hell it takes - there's GOTTA be a way to ditch the generator on a long-distance TOURING rig....
I figure it's relevant 'cause YOUR bike this RICKMAN build, seems to have a similar purpose as my own. Ripping around through the mountain foothills etc. Plus, parking it in a livingroom and just fondling it all over with a soft cloth & some polish!
Well WHATEVER - Here's hoping to see MORE of this build-thread. Some very interesting stuff right here. Potential for some period-correct GORGEOUSITY - or some cheezy STARBUCKS RACER type of shit. I suppose either way it's gonna be interesting. But only the former will be going into my BIKE-PORN feed!
-Sigh.