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Author Topic: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me  (Read 26272 times)

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Offline Leino

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Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me
« on: December 10, 2015, 07:47:10 AM »
Even though my '73 CB 750 brought me in to this forum and got me connected with some great people I am proud to call friends, guys like Mike Rieck and Sam Green, back in 2005 I bought my first Suzuki GS 1100 and one thing lead to another -> Drag racing. Like George Clooney says on the Nespresso commercial: "What else."

Before the first race I had to change the worn out tires and replace the leaking fork seals...


Got it done and two weeks from the day that picture was taken it was time to race... I had only SEEN drag racing once before so I can't say I really knew what I was doing at the time  ::)
Tech inspection was not an issue to my surprise, I found out my bike used to belong to one of the race organizers, for fourteen years I was told. "We know this bike probably better than you, it's ok, just go on."
Got my racing numbers and we started waiting for the weather to clear.



I had more fun than I ever expected, a few low 12 second runs, one in the 11 second zone and I was sold. Had to get some more!
Some low quality footage of the best run, 11.501
http://vid840.photobucket.com/albums/zz330/D-Cu/toinen%20veto%20Kiikala%20Burnout%20Party%2013.8.%202005%2011.501%20sec._zpsfim9bxeb.mp4



« Last Edit: September 04, 2018, 09:38:22 PM by Leino »
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Offline madmtnmotors

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2015, 07:55:10 AM »
Rock on! I just started competitive drag racing in November. I knew it would be fun, and it's even more fun than I imagined!  8)
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TAMTF...


Wilbur



Projects:
"Evolution": http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=100352.0
"P.O. Debacle": http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,126692.msg1441661.html#msg1441661
F2/F3 O-rings: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=113672.msg1300721#msg1300721
Cam Tower Studs: https://www.mcmaster.com/#93210a017/=t19sgp
Clean up that nasty harness: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=137351.msg1549191#msg1549191
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,148188.msg1688494.html#msg1688494
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,139544.msg1579364.html#msg1579364
                                          
Charging system diagnosis: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=1012.msg8345#msg8345
Get the manuals: http://manuals.sohc4.net/cb750k/
The Dragon: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=45183.msg1571675#msg1571675
Headlight Switch: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=113986.msg1283236#msg1283236
Branden's leak free top end thread: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=107040.0
Engine Lifting Made Easy: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,58210.msg1684742.html#msg1684742
                                      http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,100352.msg1675840.html#msg1675840
Static and Dynamic Timing: http://www.hondachopper.com/garage/carb_info/timing/timing1.html
Airbox Gasket Replacement: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,114485.msg1290000.html#msg1290000
"Café" : http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,84697.msg953814.html#msg953814
PD Carb Choke Linkage: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,100352.msg1669248.html#msg1669248
                                    http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,110931.msg1248354.html#msg1248354
                                    http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,48858.msg515204.html#msg515204
Follow up on your damn posts: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,144305.msg1791605.html#msg1791605
Taiwanese Cam Chain Tensioners:  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,155043.msg1774841.html#msg1774841
Gumtwo Seat Cover: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,164440.msg1897366.html#msg1897366
Primary Drive: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,166063.msg1919278.html#msg1919278
Tank Latch: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,165975.msg1919495.html#msg1919495
Shorten your forks: http://vintage-and-classic-honda-s.456789.n3.nabble.com/How-to-shorten-forks-td4042465.html DO NOT CUT THE SPRINGS!
Clutch How To: http://vintage-and-classic-honda-s.456789.n3.nabble.com/How-to-change-and-adjust-a-clutch-SOHC-td4040391.html
Late model K7/K8/F2/F3 front sprocket cover removal: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,178428.msg2072279.html#msg2072279
630 to 530 conversion: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,180710.msg2094423.html#msg2094423

Sent from my Tandy TRS-80!

Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2015, 08:26:24 AM »
After a fun day in Kiikala Burnout Party, I went to a bar with my mate (who by the way is riding the 1200 Bandit in the video)and decided to go to a race next weekend in Pori Airfield. Money Bracket race, 50€ to get in, winner gets 500€, RU 350€, 3rd 250€, 4th 150€ and 5-8. 50€.
All the drunken decisions are great, right?



Somewhere along the way my 100 000+ miles ridden bike developed a nasty oil leak.
Here I am staring at it, like that would help...  :o



Had a good day, several 11.5's and a new speed record of 186km/h.
This was a two day race, can't remember how I qualified on Saturday but Sunday morning the rain fell in. We waited the best part of the day for it to stop and the track to dry out.
At this point many of my competitors had gone home and I was lucky a couple of times too... ended up in fifth place and got some of the spent money back.
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2015, 09:57:34 AM »
Two races in 2005, fun times and a decision. I wanted to compete for the title of Finnish Champion.

At the end of year 2005 and after several thousand kilometers of streetriding, my bike was consuming oil quite a lot so engine rebuild was necessary.
I pulled the head and shipped it to Mike along with the transmission and clutch basket. Mike did his magic on the ports and changed the intake valves to oversize. Transmission was sent to Fast By Gast for undercutting, clutch basket was reinforced by Falicon.
I ordered Wiseco 1166cc kit from a local dealer and had the cylinders bored.
Mike also got me nice Cam Motion G4 cams and Falicon adjustable sprockets but I ended up using stock cams for the 2006 season.
Dynojet stage III kit, K&N pods and we were ready to go challenge the big boys... unfortunately one week too late for the opening race in Motopark.

A guy I knew only by name phoned me a week before the first race saying he had heard I was unable to finish my bike in time. He offered me a bike to ride.
That's me on the red Yamaha R1, not really my style but it was a good reliable bike to get the licence runs approved and in to the race.






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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2015, 10:09:11 AM »
Quote from: madmtnmotors on December 10, 2015, 07:55:10 AM
Rock on! I just started competitive drag racing in November. I knew it would be fun, and it's even more fun than I imagined!  8)
Thanks man. It sure is fun most of the time  ;)
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2015, 10:30:05 AM »
I thought we were ready to go and give'em he11 in the next race with my own bike but we missed the second race due to clutch center bearing failure and no spares available. No worries, 5/6 races counts to the final score. Third race of the season 2006, Nitro Nationals in Alastaro.
A few things went wrong but I raced. Valve cover gasket blew the oil out, #3 header cracked about 2" from the head, all sorts of fun.

Talking about racing glamour  :P


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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2015, 03:04:52 AM »
2006 season continued after borrowing a V&H exhaust and replacing the exhaust cam so I could get the tach working. It's hard to play by ear without one and stock GS ignition doesn't have a limiter  ::)
I found out I had been reving the poor old bike clearly over the redline and with the tach working my times improved to high 10's. Best of the season being 10.8 and 205km/h.



I finished 9th in the Finnish Championship and 10th in the Nordic Championship.
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2015, 03:14:58 AM »
This was the point I decided I need a bike that's built for racing use only, and I bought this treasure in January 2007. Later known as JMR-Suzuki.

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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #8 on: December 11, 2015, 04:19:06 AM »
2007 was a year of starter clutch problems and all sorts of trouble with the GS, so I raced the same Yamaha R1 I started with for the first half of the season.







Finished runner up in one of the races and got my first trophy  ::)



I raced the Yamaha in three events, a Suzuki GSX 1100 F (that I'm racing against in the 2006 wheelie picture) in one event, a ZX-9R in one event and finally got my own bike sorted for the finals... new Mikuni RS 40's, Cam Motion G4's and Yoshimura exhaust from the bike I bought in January. Finished 5th in the Finnish Championship and I think 6th in Nordic.

During the season I worked on both of the GS's. JMR-Suzuki's head was at Mike's and all sorts of parts were ordered from the US.
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2015, 04:22:57 AM »
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2015, 07:23:34 AM »
2007-2008 winter, working on the JMR-Suzuki, trying to get all the parts together and new forks, swingarm and wheels fitted. March 2008.



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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2015, 08:04:20 AM »
Took me two years to finish the first version of JMR-Suzuki.
So no racing during years 2008-2009.

First version of the engine, JE 80mm pistons.





Here she is ready to be started for the first time, April 2010.

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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2015, 08:27:33 AM »
A minor oil leak but other than that the engine worked fine. Sound was absolutely violent with the new head, 1327cc engine and V&H Pro Competition exhaust. Unfortunately the video of the first start got lost at some point.

Finished the build, took a spin around the building my shop was in, one burnout and we were off to the first championship race of 2010.







First race burnout.


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Offline Retro Rocket

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2015, 03:22:16 PM »
Very much enjoying this thread. I see you are using the GSXR1100K forks, I have 2 sets of them, lots of tunability in those forks, a great upgrade... ;)  This thread belongs in the HIPO section... ;)
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #14 on: December 11, 2015, 03:47:57 PM »
Quote from: Retro Rocket on December 11, 2015, 03:22:16 PM
Very much enjoying this thread. I see you are using the GSXR1100K forks, I have 2 sets of them, lots of tunability in those forks, a great upgrade... ;)  This thread belongs in the HIPO section... ;)
Thanks Mick. I use those forks cause they were cheap at the time and easy to modify  ;D
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #15 on: December 11, 2015, 04:23:12 PM »
Ok, so there I was after the very first burnout on a bike I had never ridden faster than 40km/h, staging and thinking to myself "Just a slow shakedown run, take it easy..."
I did take it easy, started at idle, rolled along the track, opened the throttle wide open for maybe a second and a half in third gear. Everything felt good and the whole bike worked pretty much the way I planned it.

Time was 10.4 and I wasn't even pushing it yet  ::)
Felt good to be back in the ring and on a bike that was purpose built.
I struggled the bikes habit of full 1/4 mile wheelies and had to adjust my riding style to suit the new engine, times were low 10's for the first half of the season and then I must have figured out something cause on a good run we were in the 9's, only Streetbike-category bike in Finland to do that in 2010. New PB 9.932 / 233km/h

RU in one of the six races, finished fifth again, just a few points away from the third spot. A good season with some minor issues but I was happy and ready for 2011.





Headgasket leak in Kalajoki.



Chasing down a ZX-6R in Alastaro.



Shifting to fourth gear in Alastaro.







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Offline Retro Rocket

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #16 on: December 11, 2015, 05:00:16 PM »
Great pics... ;)
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #17 on: December 11, 2015, 05:01:27 PM »
2010-11 winter, not much to do but basic service. Didn't even pull the engine.
Lost my job in the spring so I had a lot of time to concentrate on racing  :P

First race in Motopark, RU. Not a bad start for the season. 9's were pretty much standard issue already.
In all the other races I finished in top 5 and Sam Green was planning to visit us for the Finals. Sam flew to Helsinki airport and I picked him up on my beat up Volkswagen Transporter.

Before the finals I borrowed a GSX-R sidewinder header from my friend, we fitted it to my bike so I could lower the front end more without the issue of the front tyre hitting the #3 pipe.
Easy to spot the ride height difference when comparing to older pictures.

Finals were a success in many ways, lower front end really helped the bikes handling and lowered my ET's, Sam brought me some good English luck and I won the race. First one ever for me.  That put me up in third place in the championship and a new PB of 9.735








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Offline Stev-o

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #18 on: December 11, 2015, 05:39:48 PM »
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #19 on: December 12, 2015, 12:51:54 AM »
Quote from: Stev-o on December 11, 2015, 05:39:48 PM
Quote from: Retro Rocket on December 11, 2015, 05:00:16 PM
Great pics... ;)


No doubt.  Subscribed.
Thank you. Racing pictures are from two professionals in Finland. Mika "Mopoilija" Frilander and Timo Muilu @ Urheilukuvat.net
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #20 on: December 12, 2015, 01:22:26 AM »
2011-2012 was a winter with long list of upgrades. I was still out of work but since I had been working for the same company continuously for eleven years, my benefits were decent.

-front forks shortened to get rid of the straps
-turn the forks backwards
-1991 GSX-R swingarm, slightly longer compared to the '89 arm I used before
-new YSS rear shocks, made to specs I gave them
-higher compression pistons
-new intake cam (Mike made the choice and a good choice it was)
-Murray sidewinder (Mike again, I just love this man  8) )

Before anyone askes me why I didn't use the longer swingarm in the first place... Streetbike-class wheelbase limit is 1500mm or bikes stock wheelbase if it's longer.
'82 GS's wheelbase is 1510mm and as the forks were shortened, front wheel moved backwards just enough to use the longer arm and stay under the limit.
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #21 on: December 12, 2015, 01:40:59 AM »
Forks shortened and turned around, new swingarm fitted. Must be early 2012.

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Offline Retro Rocket

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #22 on: December 12, 2015, 01:44:30 AM »
What was the reason for turning the forks around Juha..?
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If You can't fix it with a hammer, You've got an electrical problem.

Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #23 on: December 12, 2015, 01:50:08 AM »
Quote from: Retro Rocket on December 12, 2015, 01:44:30 AM
What was the reason for turning the forks around Juha..?
Two reasons: Because it could be done easily and weight distribution  ;D
With the limited wheelbase any weight moved forward is good.
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Offline Leino

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Re: Story of the JMR-Suzuki and me.
« Reply #24 on: December 12, 2015, 02:06:54 AM »
One not so obvious reason was the so called WTF?!?-factor when a few other racers saw the bike with the forks backwards  ;D
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