Bike of the Month December 2019

Some bikes are built because you can, some because you want and sometimes because you need to. A sense of urgency before you miss that window of socially accepted ownership, so to speak. Such is the tale of Kraptanaman’s turbo GS1000.

Excuses at the ready to justify the actual turbo to the good lady, parts were gathered from inside OSS-land and the build commenced swiftly. This very bike will be the first awarded BOTM twice, because the frame is YoshiJohnny’s old GS1000 Yoshimura-rep, previously earning BOTM way back on the old page.

Playing around with the hacksaw to make the engine fit properly without having to re-do the headers, all fell into place after some persuasion and focus was shifted to the frame itself. Deciding on a slightly shorted seat, the backend was lopped off and the seat shortened to suit.

Making use of the talents and knowhow of several OldSkoolSuzuki heavy-hitters and also a few local tradesmen, the project neared the end of the journey and after the obligatory MOT, it was out on the road, all nice and legal.

However, as normal with pretty much any bike built in any shed, trouble rears its head when you think you’ve done everything properly. This was no different and work was needed to the tank because it sprung a leak under the new paintwork, which ended up needing a different tank and another complete paintjob again.

Over time a trip to Blair’s dyno to get the best out of the old oilboiler, Andrew ended up with a 200+ Bhp machine, having scratched his mid-life itch of building and owning a turbocharged motorcycle.

Long overdue since it has been finished for some time; congratulations Kraptanaman, your GS Turbo is this months Bike of the Month.

Buildthread here

Discuss here

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