Topic: The Quest for Brakes and Suspension: GSX-R Treats

[Terry in Australia]

Hey Seth, is one of your tires on backwards? Or am I drunk?

[sethdhawkins]

Thanks for the compliments, folks. These photos will come down when my friend sends me the shots he took with his SLR. I just wanted to give you guys an idea of how mean this thing looks, and the shots from inside the shop weren't doing it! I love the new look, and especially like the way these things look sans bodywork.

On a side note. I'm battling that stupid Carpy exhaust again...I think it has a big ol' leak somewhere :-/ Everytime I've pulled the thing off, the crush gaskets have had areas on the inner two cylinders, where the header pipes haven't been touching. This causes an exhaust leak, whether large or small. I have tightened the exhaust collars as much as I feel comfortable. It would be a shame to ditch the exhaust. Could I double up the exhaust gaskets, or would that just make it leak worse? Maybe extend the mating surface of the header farther into the head, with either weld, or a machined spacer? Frustrating.

I really hope my damn tins come in before I have to go back to work. It would be a tease to have to sit three weeks on a tin can, and not be able to ride the re-creation!

[sethdhawkins]

Terry,

I'll check again, but I'm pretty sure they're correct. I had to check the rotation like 9 times. That front Avon has directional arrows for mounting on the front, or the rear, and if mounted fore or aft, changes the fitment of the tire. These directional tires always make me cross-eyed anyway

[Terry in Australia]

No worries Seth, and there's no reason why you can't use 2 crush washers on your exhaust, but also, look for some silicon exhaust sealant. I'd never seen it until I bought my Triumph Rocket III, and when I installed the Jardine pipe I realised that Triumph use a clear silicon exhaust sealant, as well as crush washers. Cheers, Terry.

[sethdhawkins]

Great idea, Terry! Thanks.

[sethdhawkins]

Like this?

http://www.permatex.com/products-2/product-categories/gasketing/gasket-makers/permatex-ultra-copper-maximum-temperature-rtv-silicone-gasket-maker-detail

I honestly never knew they made this.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Terry,

I'll check again, but I'm pretty sure they're correct. I had to check the rotation like 9 times. That front Avon has directional arrows for mounting on the front, or the rear, and if mounted fore or aft, changes the fitment of the tire. These directional tires always make me cross-eyed anyway

The Avons are weird like that. They reverse direction of the tread if you mount the same size on the front vs the rear.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I had a leak on my MotoGP exhaust initially. I took it back to Don at Power Pros and he fixed it by (as far as I can tell) putting it in a machine that expanded the diameter of the mating portion of the leaking pipe. Leak fixed. You may want to find a local exhaust shop to look at it.

[sethdhawkins]

I can't figure out why I can't get my carbs to run right, Dad?!?!
Dynoman gets more of my cash. I guess I should've supported those carbs for the 2,500 miles on 'em

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Seth,

I just noticed that you had a nearly identical BLACK oil tank at the beginning of this build string, and now what appears to be an aluminum one.  Any reason for the change, save for the fact that aluminum kicks ass??

Don

[sethdhawkins]

Seth,

I just noticed that you had a nearly identical BLACK oil tank at the beginning of this build string, and now what appears to be an aluminum one.  Any reason for the change, save for the fact that aluminum kicks ass??

Don

Black one was my own creation . The alloy-mini-um one was one a friend built for me (I suck at tig...looks like boogers). I love it, it's really cool. Just saying

[rickmoore24]

Your bike is the business! Nice work. Love that oil tank too. Rick.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Seth,

I just noticed that you had a nearly identical BLACK oil tank at the beginning of this build string, and now what appears to be an aluminum one.  Any reason for the change, save for the fact that aluminum kicks ass??

Don

Black one was my own creation . The alloy-mini-um one was one a friend built for me (I suck at tig...looks like boogers). I love it, it's really cool. Just saying

Those tig welds are way cool. 

[Syscrush]

This is my kind of build thread!

Very nice work.  That front hub is very interesting, for sure - but I'm worried about the amount of trail you're gonna end up with.

[bwaller]

Good looking motorcycle. Just an observation however about the taillight location. I know there are a lot of people placing the light in that spot and I'm not throwing stones but when you get it on the street have someone follow you to see if it's clearly visable. The size of the light is fine.

I was following a buddy on his GSXR1000 after he switched to an combination taillight/signal/under seat deal. Man I almost ran into him, and I'm a biker. The thing was confusing as hell and not visable at all in the daytime.

We all need to be in charge of our own safety. Being seen from the rear is a big deal.

Your bike has a good stance, looks good.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Good looking motorcycle. Just an observation however about the taillight location. I know there are a lot of people placing the light in that spot and I'm not throwing stones but when you get it on the street have someone follow you to see if it's clearly visable. The size of the light is fine.

I was following a buddy on his GSXR1000 after he switched to an combination taillight/signal/under seat deal. Man I almost ran into him, and I'm a biker. The thing was confusing as hell and not visable at all in the daytime.

We all need to be in charge of our own safety. Being seen from the rear is a big deal.

Your bike has a good stance, looks good.

I had a LED combo light on my GSXR and it was difficult to discern in full sunlight, too.

[sethdhawkins]

Good looking motorcycle. Just an observation however about the taillight location. I know there are a lot of people placing the light in that spot and I'm not throwing stones but when you get it on the street have someone follow you to see if it's clearly visable. The size of the light is fine.

I was following a buddy on his GSXR1000 after he switched to an combination taillight/signal/under seat deal. Man I almost ran into him, and I'm a biker. The thing was confusing as hell and not visable at all in the daytime.

We all need to be in charge of our own safety. Being seen from the rear is a big deal.

Your bike has a good stance, looks good.

As long as the led's are positioned at different angles, they seem to work out all right. This joker light is the brightest thing I've seen on the road. As for directionals, I don't need no stinking directionals There shouldn't be much confusion, unless I have a lack of hand signals. I think we're all kidding ourselves if we think the average cage driver sees the nuances of our directionals...they rarely see the rider or the bike as a whole, IMHO. I try and protect myself as much as possible, but there's only so much you can do, if there's a space cadet behind the wheel.

[Tews19]

Great build.  How did I miss this! I will go through your thread but I am curious about the front wheel mount. What was the process?

[Syscrush]

Great build.  How did I miss this! I will go through your thread but I am curious about the front wheel mount. What was the process?

1. Buy hub that's designed for GSX-R front end.
2. Lace it to the old rear rim.
3. Bolt on the GSX-R rotors.
4. Put it in the forks like it was made to go there.  Because it was.

[sethdhawkins]

Great build.  How did I miss this! I will go through your thread but I am curious about the front wheel mount. What was the process?

1. Buy hub that's designed for GSX-R front end.
2. Lace it to the old rear rim.
3. Bolt on the GSX-R rotors.
4. Put it in the forks like it was made to go there.  Because it was.

What he said. Some guys are running 17" front wheels... I'm not sure my stator cover would survive.

[Tews19]

Syc- I thought gsxr wheels are not spoked.... I am sure I could buy cognito's hub but the price is to much. I will follow Socomoto path for adapting the gsxr axle to a harley hub.

[Terry in Australia]

Like this?

http://www.permatex.com/products-2/product-categories/gasketing/gasket-makers/permatex-ultra-copper-maximum-temperature-rtv-silicone-gasket-maker-detail

I honestly never knew they made this.

No, the stuff on my Triumph is clear Seth, but if you can't find it I suppose the Ultra-Copper would be OK, I used some blue RTV silicon sealant when I installed the "Luftmeister" pipe on my BMW K100RS, and it stunk for the first couple of rides, but now the stench has gone, it's still sealing well. Cheers, Terry.

[Terry in Australia]

Syc- I thought gsxr wheels are not spoked.... I am sure I could buy cognito's hub but the price is to much. I will follow Socomoto path for adapting the gsxr axle to a harley hub.

You don't need to buy the special hub mate, but to make a CB750 hub work with a later model front end, you'll need to get some adapter plates made to match the hub to the new brake discs, modify the speedo drive (if you're going to run the OEM speedo) and either change the wheel bearings or modify the new axle to make it fit the CB750 hub.

Here's a pic of "Goldie" with the Yamaha FZR1000 41mm forks, brake rotors and calipers mated to my K2 frame and front hub, laced into a wider 18" alloy rim. It all worked very well, but there was a fair bit of machining involved to make it work. Cheers, Terry.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Syc- I thought gsxr wheels are not spoked.... I am sure I could buy cognito's hub but the price is to much. I will follow Socomoto path for adapting the gsxr axle to a harley hub.

You don't need to buy the special hub mate, but to make a CB750 hub work with a later model front end, you'll need to get some adapter plates made to match the hub to the new brake discs, modify the speedo drive (if you're going to run the OEM speedo) and either change the wheel bearings or modify the new axle to make it fit the CB750 hub.

Here's a pic of "Goldie" with the Yamaha FZR1000 41mm forks, brake rotors and calipers mated to my K2 frame and front hub, laced into a wider 18" alloy rim. It all worked very well, but there was a fair bit of machining involved to make it work. Cheers, Terry.

Outstanding!

[timbo750]

Syc- I thought gsxr wheels are not spoked.... I am sure I could buy cognito's hub but the price is to much. I will follow Socomoto path for adapting the gsxr axle to a harley hub.

You don't need to buy the special hub mate, but to make a CB750 hub work with a later model front end, you'll need to get some adapter plates made to match the hub to the new brake discs, modify the speedo drive (if you're going to run the OEM speedo) and either change the wheel bearings or modify the new axle to make it fit the CB750 hub.

Here's a pic of "Goldie" with the Yamaha FZR1000 41mm forks, brake rotors and calipers mated to my K2 frame and front hub, laced into a wider 18" alloy rim. It all worked very well, but there was a fair bit of machining involved to make it work. Cheers, Terry.

Terry, that looks awesome. It looks like a factory fit, what was the reason for FZR front end, did it fit well or was it just handy at the time?