xcaptainxbloodx
Been Around the Block
jeez, I cant remember the last time I posted on here. This new project I started has me really excited and I thought I would start a thread here to share the build.
backstory; months and months ago there was an article in a magazine about the 1986 GXSR setting the 24 hour speed record in 1985. That day happened to be the literal day I was born, and the track only a few hours from the hospital. Now I had always loved the boxy 80s lines and double headlight of the first gen GSXR but this cosmic coincidence was a little to much to bear. I told my friend Saxon about this and he told me "hell! now you gotta build one"! Bullshit. I dont have money, a garage, or the time I say. "screw that! ive got 2 of em! I picked up the second one just for the bodywork, pick it up and give me some cash when you have it."
crap. how does anyone refuse that? after 3 months of chewing on it I call him up and say im in. we start to make plans and then something terrible happened.
christmas eve, 2012. my buddy sax is cruising in SE portland and a 18 year old kid runs a stop sign in a part of town notorious for bizarre stop intervals and poor visibility. sax is wearing his 30 year old 3/4 glitter lid (the one that I ridiculed him for mercilessly) and is pronounced dead at the scene.
Im not a religious or spiritual person. I dont mourn through prayer or a belief in another life. Im a builder. So in tribute to my buddy who wouldnt take no for an answer I have started the bike he and I originally set out to do. an 86 gsxr built up like an endurance racer and ridden on the street.
here is the insipiration bike
The build;
a friend of mine spotted a running 91 gsxr, no bodywork and no lights on craigslist for 700$. 91 had the best motor and best suspension of the oil cooled bikes. all which bolts to an 86 with zero mods. careful haggling and i had a 600$ test mule/parts bike. Its a CA bike which means I got screwed with smaller carbs and emissions crap. I blocked off the emissions ports and started in on the carbs. total garbage. a few trips to a mutual friend of Sax and I (who happens to have the longest held Omrra race number of all time) and I have a set of mikuni flat slides from an 88 race bike. just for yucks he threw in the yoshimura heat shielf that it ran with.
the best part? they fit directly. Had I not gotten a CA model I would have needed to change my intake boots(50$ ea. on bikebandit) . I threw them on the bike, made some cables to adapt a Ducati 848 throttle I had laying around and fired it up. after sitting in a box for 9 years these damn carbs sat and idled with no air filter or velocity stacks. unbelievable. Now its time for some chassis prep.
last week I picked up the 2nd 86 from Saxs dad, a great guy that's siked to see his sons "junk" get put to use. blown motor, good frame/tank and all the nickel and dime stuff you forget about when doing a frame up project. I pull the old motor and parse the 27 year old wiring and get down to a roller with a tank. now its time for a seat. up pops my friend (another gsxr racer) and tags me in this picture on facebook;
we get to talking about how cool it is and he says "ya know, I have that tail section if you want it"
I call him and ask what he wants for it and he says I can just have it! he bought it for a race bike and never got around to using it and by the way, what else do I need? so he drops off a care package with some odds and ends including a spare swingarm so I can have it braced without having a bike on jackstands. Rad!
As of right now I have a rolling 91 with no motor, and an 86 roller ready for a motor to drop in. it looks a bit like this;
the motor is on a lift ready for a valve check before getting thrown in. with a bit of luck ill have a ridable bike next week ready for more fab work!
oh yeah, remember when I said I didnt have a garage? well Joe Pethoud of http://viciouscycle.com/ has sort of taken me under his wing and let me do the build in his shop while its still between seasons! His knoweldge, parts, and tools have been a tremendous aid in the build and it definetly wouldnt be anywhere near as fluid with out he and Tucker (one of his mechanics) to push me along the way.
backstory; months and months ago there was an article in a magazine about the 1986 GXSR setting the 24 hour speed record in 1985. That day happened to be the literal day I was born, and the track only a few hours from the hospital. Now I had always loved the boxy 80s lines and double headlight of the first gen GSXR but this cosmic coincidence was a little to much to bear. I told my friend Saxon about this and he told me "hell! now you gotta build one"! Bullshit. I dont have money, a garage, or the time I say. "screw that! ive got 2 of em! I picked up the second one just for the bodywork, pick it up and give me some cash when you have it."
crap. how does anyone refuse that? after 3 months of chewing on it I call him up and say im in. we start to make plans and then something terrible happened.
christmas eve, 2012. my buddy sax is cruising in SE portland and a 18 year old kid runs a stop sign in a part of town notorious for bizarre stop intervals and poor visibility. sax is wearing his 30 year old 3/4 glitter lid (the one that I ridiculed him for mercilessly) and is pronounced dead at the scene.
Im not a religious or spiritual person. I dont mourn through prayer or a belief in another life. Im a builder. So in tribute to my buddy who wouldnt take no for an answer I have started the bike he and I originally set out to do. an 86 gsxr built up like an endurance racer and ridden on the street.
here is the insipiration bike
The build;
a friend of mine spotted a running 91 gsxr, no bodywork and no lights on craigslist for 700$. 91 had the best motor and best suspension of the oil cooled bikes. all which bolts to an 86 with zero mods. careful haggling and i had a 600$ test mule/parts bike. Its a CA bike which means I got screwed with smaller carbs and emissions crap. I blocked off the emissions ports and started in on the carbs. total garbage. a few trips to a mutual friend of Sax and I (who happens to have the longest held Omrra race number of all time) and I have a set of mikuni flat slides from an 88 race bike. just for yucks he threw in the yoshimura heat shielf that it ran with.
the best part? they fit directly. Had I not gotten a CA model I would have needed to change my intake boots(50$ ea. on bikebandit) . I threw them on the bike, made some cables to adapt a Ducati 848 throttle I had laying around and fired it up. after sitting in a box for 9 years these damn carbs sat and idled with no air filter or velocity stacks. unbelievable. Now its time for some chassis prep.
last week I picked up the 2nd 86 from Saxs dad, a great guy that's siked to see his sons "junk" get put to use. blown motor, good frame/tank and all the nickel and dime stuff you forget about when doing a frame up project. I pull the old motor and parse the 27 year old wiring and get down to a roller with a tank. now its time for a seat. up pops my friend (another gsxr racer) and tags me in this picture on facebook;
we get to talking about how cool it is and he says "ya know, I have that tail section if you want it"
I call him and ask what he wants for it and he says I can just have it! he bought it for a race bike and never got around to using it and by the way, what else do I need? so he drops off a care package with some odds and ends including a spare swingarm so I can have it braced without having a bike on jackstands. Rad!As of right now I have a rolling 91 with no motor, and an 86 roller ready for a motor to drop in. it looks a bit like this;
the motor is on a lift ready for a valve check before getting thrown in. with a bit of luck ill have a ridable bike next week ready for more fab work!
oh yeah, remember when I said I didnt have a garage? well Joe Pethoud of http://viciouscycle.com/ has sort of taken me under his wing and let me do the build in his shop while its still between seasons! His knoweldge, parts, and tools have been a tremendous aid in the build and it definetly wouldnt be anywhere near as fluid with out he and Tucker (one of his mechanics) to push me along the way.
