gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

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sportston
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by sportston »

That looks beautiful Geoff! I am considering modifying my road bike in the future so it will handle a bit better than standard. Not looking to go classic racing, nor do I need to race tune my engine, unless I get really bored and want to spend a fortune on fuel every week. I will be riding it to work daily. But i might like to put a fairing on it, perhaps a bikini fairing.
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by Zunspec4 »

Hi sportston,

You can certainly pep up your 380 suspension/brakes and café race style look. An engine that is near std. will certainly make for an easier life for the riding you have in mind.

Good luck :up:

Geoff
sportston
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by sportston »

Zunspec4 wrote:Hi sportston,

You can certainly pep up your 380 suspension/brakes and café race style look.
Ah. That I have already started doing. I have a GS750 caliper, billet racing master cylinder with adjustable lever, braided hose and drilled disc. I have also reduced the unsprung weight using alloy front mudguard and GS alloy wheels. Oh and fitted a fork brace to reduce flex on the front end. I kept the 33mm forks but put adjustable spring loaders with air valves on them. The bars are now ace bars. A new electronic ignition system from Accent is awaiting installation too.
The engine is fairly standard, but when i got it rebored, i got the pistons ceramic coated on the crowns and teflon coated on the skirts to aid longevity and reliability. The inlet ports I slightly smoothed off a little but didn't do major porting changes. Have resisted the temptation to alter port height despite a part of me yelling, " go on! you know you love a screamer".
The frame is currently standard, but i might eventually change that.
I am still undecided about what exhausts to use. I have a period set of old racing pipes in need of refurb, but i would rather get a new set made if i can afford. Perhaps a set of higgspeeds? Any advice on that front?
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Alan H
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by Alan H »

I got a set of Abbeyspeeds on my 550.
Mick Abbey Tuning.
Think of how stupid the average person is, then realise that half of them are more stupid than that.
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tz375
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by tz375 »

You still have time to pull those cylinders off and open up the ports a bit. :roll: :lol:

GT series Suzukis were really in a very mild state of tune even for the time. No need to turn it into a race bike or a fragile time bomb, but there is room to make a it a little more perky.

GT550 carbs are a good start and decent chambers make a difference and save a ton of weight. The weight difference alone is like night and day.

There's a 550 barrel on the workbench and I keep going back and taking more metal out of the ports and still have not broke through to fresh air but it must be getting close. It is amazing how far they can be stretched. On a six speed 380 I suspect that there's a similar scope of improvement that would not be hard to achieve - though the cylinders and ports are small and are more difficult to work in.

Probably as easy to raise the exhaust widen the exhaust and inlet and slip a spacer plate under the barrels to raise all the ports. Go on. You know you want to. :wink:
sportston
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by sportston »

tz375 wrote:You still have time to pull those cylinders off and open up the ports a bit. :roll: :lol:
Probably as easy to raise the exhaust widen the exhaust and inlet and slip a spacer plate under the barrels to raise all the ports. Go on. You know you want to. :wink:
Haha. Yes I want to, but I would like to leave that until I have had a chance to get used to the bike and see what the engine feels like in standard form. I've never ridden it yet.
The sporty pipes are essential. I threw away the OE pipes as they weigh about as much as a sherman tank!
The carbs...well, I've reconned the standard items, but I might fit a set of 28mm flatslides in the future. I am sure they weigh a lot less than the standard items too.
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by titan performance »

How radical do you plan to go? Do you need to change the frame, or have a new one built?....that's a lot of work/cash. It would be much easier to keep the 380 engine in it's frame, and change what you have. Cut stuff off, weld stuff on etc. My 750 is not the prettiest cafe, as, to be honest I kinda threw it together from a bitsa bike that we acquired....I cobbled a tank and seat on that I had, but it gets attention wherever it goes, and it looks different, while staying "in period".
[*]Image[*]
Keeping old 2 strokes alive !
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by sportston »

titan performance wrote:How radical do you plan to go? Do you need to change the frame, or have a new one built?
Wow your 750 looks great!
In answer to your question; I'm not looking for seriously radical looks, just one that works well and handles. I'm keeping a double seat for practicality but have had to fabricate my own to fit the altered rear end. I'd like a set of rearsets like you have, but where would I put the pillion pegs?
My design brief was originally to make the bike that Suzuki should have done to keep up with the likes of Kawasaki and Yamaha...but, I kinda got a little distracted by a nice set of billet levers and so on and so on.... Lol
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tz375
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by tz375 »

Too much Bling Bling and not enough Ring Ding..........

With a stock tank, you can mount the rider's pegs further forward than Titan's and leave enough of a gap for small passenger pinkies. On the Dunstall 750 I used Hyabusa pegs to mount the rider's feet roughly in line with the swingarm pivot and that leaves just enough room.
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by sportston »

Alan H wrote:I got a set of Abbeyspeeds on my 550.
Mick Abbey Tuning.
Are they any good?
What do they sound like?
Performance ok? still good top end?
I tried to look at Mick Abbey Tuning website but it comes up as a site selling shoes. Bizarre!!!
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by Zunspec4 »

Hi sportston,

If you use Facebook you could make contact with Mick Abbey that way. He is certainly still in business but has recently re-located back to the North West (Middlesbrough area I think) so maybe his web site is down. Having just tried the Google links I see what you mean about the Shoe site :lol:

Cheers Geoff
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Alan H
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by Alan H »

sportston wrote:
Alan H wrote:I got a set of Abbeyspeeds on my 550.
Mick Abbey Tuning.
Are they any good? Excellent.
What do they sound like? Brill!
Performance ok? still good top end? Yup, very good.
I tried to look at Mick Abbey Tuning website but it comes up as a site selling shoes. Bizarre!!!
https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylc ... s&ei=UTF-8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open

Image
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by sportston »

Alan H wrote: Image
Nice bikes. Is that your gt550? Same wheels as I have on my 380. Looks nice. So does the kettle. Green with envy!
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by sportston »

Zunspec4 wrote:Hi sportston,

If you use Facebook you could make contact with Mick Abbey that way. He is certainly still in business but has recently re-located back to the North West (Middlesbrough area I think) so maybe his web site is down. Having just tried the Google links I see what you mean about the Shoe site :lol:

Cheers Geoff
I found him facebook too. Will get in touch with him.
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Alan H
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Re: gt380 with a featherbed frame? Or a Seeley?

Post by Alan H »

[quote="sportston]
Is that your gt550? Same wheels as I have on my 380. Looks nice. So does the kettle. Green with envy![/quote]
My 550A with GS550 wheels and three discs - the GS550 swing arm is a direct fit. Then the fun starts making the rear brake work!
The Kettle's a L model and the pic was taken on the Isle of Man at the Classic TT last year.
Think of how stupid the average person is, then realise that half of them are more stupid than that.
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