Suzuki 2 Strokes

this is an on-going project that I have been collecting parts for - this is the starting point..........





you may think its the wrong place to post pictures of a (horribly coloured) GSX750S Katana frame, but bear with me. I have decided to combine my love of the big Katanas and 2-strokes by fitting a tuned GT750 motor into a suitably modified Katana frame - no USD forks / monoshock - it will run on twin shocks and rwu forks, but with modern-ish suspension, brakes and wheels.

after much research of Suzuki parts, I bid on a set of RF900 yokes on t'bay and got them for £10 + postage. They fit the Kat with no modification required - bearings and all - and they accept 43mm fork legs.



Then I dropped lucky with a pair of 43mm Triumph Sprint ST forks - the lowers need coating but the stanchions are blemish-free - only £60 including delivery



with the RF yokes and Sprint ST fork legs in place...........





and with the Sprint ST front wheel I nabbed for £45 and a GSXR400 over-braced swingarm (that is now an under-braced arm) added........



need a look-alike rear wheel now (the Triumph runs a single-sided swingarm)..........

after much trawling of ebay I found this



a 2006 GSF650 Bandit (ABS) rear wheel, complete with disc and sprocket carrier, only £40 including postage
The spoke pattern is as near as dammit the same as the Triumph front wheel I'm using and it runs a 160/60 rear tyre, which just fits snugly within the GSXR swingarm and won't make the bike look "over-tyred".

here's some of the bits I have been hoarding for the Kat project, so I thought I would bolt them onto the bike so they are out of the way and I get to see what it might look like. First up, the front fairing bracket from Japan........



fitted........



the Triumph Sprint ST discs...........



and calipers, both courtesy of ebay.........



attached.............



the fuel tank.......



bit of damage to repair.........



sat in place...............



seat and tailpiece, both ex Yahoo Japan.........



and the component parts of the clock set that accompanied them.......



mounting bracket modified (still to finish shaping) and top yoke plate drilled and tapped to accept 6mm cap heads...........



some more...........

the LPM bodykit



great quality - easy fit - great service - looks good..........



GSX250S front mudguard..........



doesn't fit as-is because the tyre is too wide, but I have a cunning plan...........

From Australia, a pair of Gazi suspension units...............



adjustable compression & rebound damping, preload and ride height gives me ample opportunity to f**k-up the handling...........

Good old Yahoo .jp tempted me with this Paolo Tarozzi footrest kit.............





and the instrument pod, modified to take the Sprint ST electronic speedo - still work in progress - but it's mounted and just needs a new backplate making...........



TZR250 3MA under braced swingarm - £17 in Japan - £80 by the time it got to me. This is to replace the GSXR-400 arm which didn't work..........



not bad welding for a mass-produced item.............from Japan...........



and this arrived in the post - wonder what it could be...........?



after much deliberating, I opened it - voila..........



what a great invention...............wonder if it will catch on?

simple bit of engineering - I enlarged the upper rear engine mounting on the Katana frame.........



to take the (temporary) rear engine bolt......



which allowed me to try the GT750 engine cases for size.......



the cases just fit, lengthways, but there is plenty of room for the barrel and head.....



and clearance for the r/h.............



and l/h..............



header pipes

and, more importantly - the centre header (which doesn't hit the front wheel!)



also made some mounts for the (Katana scooter!) 2T oil tank....



which is (mostly) hidden by the Kat's electrics plate.....



the electrics are for show only - new electrics and battery will be housed under the seat when the aluminium undertrays arrive..........

AWESOME!!!! Keep it coming.



Lane

Cool .. another project to follow along with

collected the aluminium undertrays today, courtesy of Steve Adams / Lucky 7 Moto.

this one will house the bulk of the electrics and the battery.......



and this one will need a large hole driling in it for the 2-stroke oil tank filler neck.....



and fitted - no unsightly black plastic mudguard required now......



the parcel also contained a pair of bottom shock mounts..........



to be used to convert the mono-shocked TZR250 3MA swing arm to olde worlde twin shock spec.....

Nice progress

wasting some garage time.................

when I was looking for a Sprint ST speedo, it turned out cheaper to buy a whole instrument console - only $60 plus postage off everyone's favourite auction site..........




included in the comprehensive display of instrumentation is this dinky electronic time piece.....



which I wanted to incorporate into the project - but where could I fit it without it looking like a cheap add-on..............?

here of course - into one of the accessory ports thoughtfully provided by Suzuki.......



a bit of measuring and drilling of 2 holes to accomodate the hour and minute adjustment buttons and......



it's in the r/h panel so at least I will be able to see it when the bike is at rest on it's sidestand

today was frame bending day..........

checking the headstock for accuracy (triangulation of readings taken around swingarm pivot point, upper headstock and lower headstock) using this trick robotic arm thingy, being held by a non-robotic arm........



and comparing the results with the factory data for a GSX1100S frame (same frame as 750)........



that looks close enough - so time to bolt it into the jig and centralise it.........



and take some measurements of the rear subframe (which I knew was twisted)........



which gave us this set of readings........



time to get tough - installing the bracing pieces and the hydraulic jack......



ooh - the tension - the pressure.......



another bout of measuring, some final tweaking and the frame was pronounced straight. Now I can get on with taking the measurements for the rear shock mounts

so - knowing that the frame is now straight, today I set about locating the lower shock mounts onto the 3MA swingarm. The Gazi shocks that I purchased are 300mm between eye centres, adjustable to 310mm max. My ideal measurement is 330mm + adjustment, so the lower shock mounts would have to be moved nearer to the swingarm spindle.

First, I drilled a piece of flat bar with a 10mm hole (lower shock mounting bolt size) and a 12mm hole (top mounting stud size) at 330mm centres, then attached it to the top mounting and jacked-up the swingarm until the lower bracket sat flush on the arm, like so..........



I then sized and fitted the correct bushes for the shock mountings - Gazi shock sets include 4 of each of 3 different-sized bushings - 10mm, 12mm and 13mm. Neat.........



with the swingarm still positioned at the 330mm height, I fitted the lower mountings to the shocks and attached them to the frame, thus.............



ensuring both lower mountings were sat flush on the swingarm, I took the measurement, both sides, from the trailing adge of the mounting to the end of the swingarm box section - exactly 141mm both sides - result

The swingarm can now go and have the lower mountings welded on, and I'll set about making a new inner bushing for the pivot end to take the smaller diameter Katana spindle.

they're on...............

I wish my garage was warm and had some room to work in it.

more treasure from Japan

full lockset - 1 key fits all - spare key included............



sidestand, spring and bolt...........



screen mounting brackets, complete with screws and rubber bushings and a silver screen......



reg / rec unit (for show only)............



complete GSX750S1 airbox unit............

the rear, air filter section of the airbox after being attacked by a rampant hacksaw.......



and the bit I need, fitted in place, but yet to be cleaned-up - this will disguise the 2T oil tank on the r/h side of the bike.......

look away if you are squeamish, or Steve Lucky 7.....................



its not that Steve's quality parts don't fit, just that they don't fit in my case as I want to retain the air filter box. So I have to fit Steve's tray upside-down, like so.....



the holes in the rear of the tray allow access to the bolts that secure the airbox to the frame. As the tray is being fitted upside-down. I also had to drill a hole in each side of the tray to enable it to be secured to the frame with tie-wraps.......



and with the air filter box in place.......



next - I have to cut a hole for the 2T oil filler neck to peek out of...........

back to the clocks - how to make a simple facia for this........



you need Blue Tac.........



a suitable material for the facia (I used some Plasticard)......



a pen............



and a bandsaw helps too........





re-attach template...........



to facilitate final shaping........



out with the compass cutter.........



just needs spraying and a couple of Katana / Kettle decals and its done........