The saving of an orphan 1986 GSXR750 (What the hell have I gotten myself into?) |
** 9/21/02 ** Yesterday, I happened to be walking through a local junk yard, looking for something for my truck. This is a very well organized junkyard and, as I headed over to the GM section, somthing caught my eye. There along the fence were 3 motorcycles that appeared to be right where they belonged, in a junkyard. Hmmm. You never know, maybe there's something interesting over there that I might be able to use, so I checked them out. Among them was a very ugly and very tired 1986 GSXR750. It had a 1994 inspection sticker on it and looked like it had been outside since then, at least, but it was just about all there. I peered and poked, then moved on to my original mission. As I was leaving, I figured I'd ask, just for the hell of it. I walked up to the counter and the conversation pretty much went like this... Me - "How much are you looking to get for that Suzuki out there" First J.Y. counter guy (with puzzled look on his face) - "Uh, I don't think we have the title. It's only for parts." Me - "Okay, just suppose I wanted to buy all the parts." J.Y. counter guy - "Uh, I don't know. Let me ask the boss." The boss and I wander outside to the "bike". Boss - "I don't really know. We just got it the other day. What would think it's worth?" Me - "If you said $500, I probably wouldn't be all that interested. I might want a couple of parts off it, though." Boss - "Well, it was a donation to xxxxxxx Society (some charitable organization). I have to get at least $500 for those." Me - "I'll think about it." If he had said $400, I probably would have taken it on the spot, but think about it I did and I decided that evening that I would go back and get the bike. They did have a title (excellent), but didn't have any keys (bogus). We wrapped up the deal and I started to wheel it out of the yard. Let me tell ya', a 400 pound bike would usually be very easy to push, but with rusted up rotors and a chain that had not seen any lube in a "dog year" or two, this thing was like pushing a bus. Naturally, the thought never crossed my mind to bring a chain breaker. One of the yard employees helped push and we still had to stop for a break before taking a shot at the ramp! Here are a couple of pictures of the so-called "bike"... |
Believe me when I say that these pics do not do this bike justice. It is much
uglier than mere photos can show! I'm going to put it in the garage (which
is starting to get crowded) and give it a few days to get used to it's new home
before I start taking a serious inventory. Man, I don't even know where to begin. Stay tuned... |
The official beer of 771Doug |
Maybe this thing will look better after a few... |
Maybe something like this? That sure does seem far away, at this point. |
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** 09/23/02 ** I located a 1052cc motor, today and I'll pick it up on Friday. It's complete and the guy is including the igniter box. Now I have to check with the builder and see how his work load looks. I also had the good fortune, today, to find a very informative web site that extensively covers this sort of project (commonly known as a "7/11") - 7/11 Boulevard . Let the hemorrhaging of cash begin! |
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** 9/27/02** I've got the 1052 motor in the garage and it's waiting patiently for it's new home. Today, I started unbolting some stuff. The amusing part was draining the oil in preparation for pulling the motor. There must have been about 2 gallons of water in there! Oh well, I was just going to rob a few parts and toss that motor in the dumpster, anyway. Somewhere along the way, a previous owner went crazy with the safety wire. Even the exhaust bolts were wired, but not the oil drain plug. What a moron! It was a pain in the ass, cutting that wire off of everything. |
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**9/29/02** The 750 motor came out of the frame, today. What a pain in the ass! It's tight coming out of the left side. At first, I tried laying the bike down and lifting the frame off of the motor, but that experiment was a failure. It looks like the big motor is roughly an inch taller, so getting that one in is going to cause a couple of headaches. Amazingly enough, all of the bolts I've tackled so far have been pretty easy to remove. I had expected to snap several. |
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**9/30/02** As you can see, the motor is out. Today, I pulled the wiring harness and the front end. I hope to get the swingarm out, tomorrow, then I can start on the polishing. Polishing the frame should be much easier than doing wheels. |
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**10/1/02** Well, I pulled the swingarm after work. See the peg mount in that picture above? As I was cracking the top bolt loose, the mount at the frame broke. Grrrrrr! It had likely been cracked and putting some torque on it was too much. I'll be looking into getting that welded, tomorrow. If you happen to be reading this and know anything about welding aluminum (I know absolutely NOTHING about welding), please drop me a line and tell me if this is even repairable. Grrrrrr. On a positive note, I scored on a couple of ebay auctions, today. Even more positive, I was at 7-11 Boulevard and saw a link to this project. Man, that just made my day! I'll try to live up to those standards, but it won't be easy! You should see what these guys are doing with early GSXR's! Oh wait, just click on the damn link and you will. |
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Here's the broken tab on the frame. The frame got dropped off at the welding shop,
today. Hopefully, they're not butchers. Oh yeah, I scored a couple more parts on Ebay today, too. |
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**10/5/02** Okay, some things are moving along, now. I got the frame back and it looks good. $35 to weld the broken peg mount. I started the polishing of the frame by doing a small test area. It's going to look good when it's done. Also, I stumbled onto a pretty good deal for a complete front end and set of wheels ('90). Just hours before I got into that deal, I was saying that I've spent enough and I have to take a break and regroup to get the money lined up for the next round of parts gathering. Oh well. The whole household is going to have to tighten their belts, now. It looks like I'll have to quit smoking and The Wonder Dog (What? I've never told you about Bailey, The Wonder Dog? I bet you didn't know that I have my own Air Force, too. Here's the leader.) will have to cut back on her Puppy Chow consumption for a while. I may be hungry, but the bike will be done right. Like I said, I was going to hold off on that stuff, but the opportunity presented itself and I had to take it. At least I'm getting everything in one shot, so I won't have to hunt around for the small stuff, like spacers, etc. Hopefully, this thing will be a "roller" in a couple of weeks. |
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**10/13/02** I was out of town for a few days, but now I'm back. I got started on polishing the frame. I've got 8 hours into it and I'm probably about half way done (stay tuned for pics). Some parts have shown up and the '90 front end and wheels should be on their way in a few days (it's coming from Alaska, though - no kidding). Also, I just ordered a set of rearsets from Q-Racing Systems. After searching all over the place, I can tell you that rearsets for First Generation GSXR's are very hard to come by and very expensive. I'm glad that I found these and the price is very reasonable (actually less than what is shown at that link - check the Q-Systems homepage for their discount). |
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**10/19/02** The rearsets showed up the other day and they are VERY nice. They look like top notch parts and the service I got from Rob was excellent. I highly recommend Q-Racing Systems. I hope to finish polishing the frame, tomorrow, so I will put up a pic or two. If the front end shows up next week, this thing will be a roller (as soon as I get my hands on a shock, that is. Well, OK, I guess some tires would come in handy for that, too) |
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**10/20/02** The frame is almost done. I guess I've got about 15 hours into it. Now, I've just got a few small spots to clean up. Next is the swingarm. |
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**10/27/02** Well, the swingarm is done and I scored a tank on, you guessed it, Ebay. |
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**10/28/02** Well, here is were I am, so far. I'll pick this up when some other parts arrive and I've started to bolt everything back together. |
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