Tag Archives: Bike of the Month

Bike of the month November 2017

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If you want to shed a few pounds, some say the best way to do it is to cut down on your carbs. Apparently, if you’re really serious about getting all lean and mean you need to cut carbs out of the equation completely.

Now personally, I use whacking great RS36s on both of my big inline four Suzukis, which might explain my shrinking leathers- or not…

Anyway, here at oldskoolsuzuki we are purveyors of the philosophy that 80’s and 90’s Suzuki muscle bikes can be improved, while preserving their adorable  “fuck you” characteristics, by doing clever things with parts from the future. This months podium goes to a bike that ticks all of the above boxes.

At the heart of this braced ,steel framed Katana ensemble is the full fat, mighty air-cooled, 16 valve, GSX engine which has been tweaked up to 1170cc. It sports a complete EXUP front and back end too. Sounds tasty, I hear you say. “but what about my abs katanamangler?” “I’ve got a beach holiday coming up!” Well, worry not my middle aged,weight watching friends, this one is completely carb free! Yeah, that’s right, you heard me!

Using a a set of GPZ1100 throttle bodies and a set of GSX1400 injectors, our man Skelly has taken all of the guilt ( and a fair bit of hassle) out of 80’s muscle bike addiction through the wonders of EFI.

The bike was test ridden by Jon at our Donington Park track day gathering in August and it ran well.

Congratulations Skelly, your guilt free Katana is our bike of the month. Read more about Jon’s build here. Members discuss this article here.

 

Bike of the Month June 2017

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Build it, run it, break it, fix it then repeat. The life of a drag racer can easily be likened to that of a drug addict. They spend all of their available cash and time working towards their next fix, even if it means ignoring the trivial things like food, clothing and sleep. The principle difference is that while a drug addict wants the hit to last longer, the drag racer does all that they can to shorten the experience. I’m reliably informed that once you’ve tried it, you either love it or you’re wrong.

Our bike of the month for June goes to Gary Hester AKA et1170. Gary has been evolving and racing this bike since he bought it nearly 7 years ago. Starting life as an 1100ET the bike now sports Katana styled bodywork. Gary was one of our first Winged Hammers and I like to think Hanma-Shin has had a hand in his results this year.

What I love about this bike and Gary’s story is that he has clearly never had serious money to throw at it. His success is a steady one. Carefully building on the previous years results with the parts that he could get. There are no turbos, no nitrous, no mega bucks cylinder head work- just oldskool, DIY air-cooled engine tuning in a shed. That, said if you read Gary’s thread you get the sense that Gary’s addiction will inevitably lead to forced induction and more…

Congratulations Gary you are June’s Bike of the Month.

Members discuss this here

 

Bike of the Month April 2017

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Don’t pick it, it’ll never heal.

The wound is generally more impressive than the scar it could potentially leave, this trick framed oil boiler looks more than tough enough to take what would appear to be a backhanded ‘pimp slap’ compliment on it’s chin.

In this age of teenagers sporting ‘homeward bound’ neck art (they’ve probably never done a paper round let alone a stint on the ogin) this is a mighty blue illegible tattoo, it’s a miners hob nail to the (now) trendy white soled ‘brahhn’ red wing bootie…the battered original Simpson to the plastic predator. I got that beat-the bull shark to the appendix etc. etc.

Anything but evolution of necessity would (in my mind) ruin this bike, but I think this dude knows his onions (pardon, Monsieur) and wont succumb to such nonsense as to dress his Gaulian gash in fancy paint, polished alloy or a brahhhn seat.

Congratulations yann711r vous êtes vélo du mois!

Read about Yann’s build here

Discuss this article here.

Bike of the month January 2017

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botm-january-2017A stylish beast of burden.

Style, we all want it….don’t we? but at what cost?

The thing about developing your own style is it takes time and effort…and a total disregard for excuses. An idea that you feed with whatever it needs and 99% of the feedback is negative…or a positive negative. The time and effort spent on the various ways of how not to do it is far from wasted.

More failures than success, but once you hit that sweet spot you make it look so effortless and flowing….but then comes the crux as the audience offers praise and, undoubtedly critique, your mindset has changed….more, more, more.

I have no idea how many times Blower1 failed to succeed in his style, but style he has. Congratulations on bike of the month.

It’s not important what you think but how you think, the mind is a beast….feed it in anyway you can.

Viz

Follow the build here

Discuss here

Bike of the month December 2016

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bike-of-the-month-december-2016Less is more, more or less…

There can’t be too many occasions when its perfectly acceptable to replace the mighty heart of an EFE with something….erm…well, a bit less EFE-ish

The EFE is a legend in OSS  folklore and a brute in stature, from the humongously sized (and priced) headlamp, its no nonsense alpha bodywork  and its squared off arse. You don’t mistake an EFE for anything else or indeed anything less…

or do you?…say without its monstrous 16valve atlas stone?

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An idiom wriggling inside a can that’s rattling inside Pandora’s box, a Russian doll painted as a biker…. we could , or more accurately, those follically endowed, could split hairs and possibly a pint over such a premise… I guess it’d be prevalent to ask someone so old-kool and oldskool they probably had a highway hi-fi phonograph in their race van…

I guess one reason could be when N/A is not enough….I’d  be well happy to have such a beast of a conundrum.

Congratulations Clive AKA Duckndive, you’re bike of the month.

Read Clive’s build thread here

Bike of the month November 2016

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botm-november-2016

Ticking all the boxes…

BOTM first of all must fit within the rules, after that I haven’t picked bikes I’d like to own, just builds that have a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’..be that in the amount of info the member has shared on the site, through to ‘I can’t believe that’s the same pile o’ shyte from the first post’.

A bike that has evolved to Tom’s exacting standards (these can sometimes be winced at but never shunned, Tom has not got all his frequent flyer saddle miles on luck alone) and as I type this he is still awaiting a part to complete the next episode, which I’m sure is not the final chapter.

I’d ask any newcomers to the site wondering what OSS is all about to firstly RTFR, then read Havocs AnerchEZ RatRod thread. Pretty is as pretty does….. congratulations Havoc on BOTM, the evolution will not be televised.

Discuss this article here.

Bike of the month August 2016

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BOTMEvery month when bike of the month looms we normally always have a debate about which bike we are going to choose. Sometimes the discussion goes back and forth for days.

July and August have been no ordinary months for OSS with 3 events over the space of 4 weeks. Fortunately for us, this month required no debate and  bike of the month just chose itself.

In July we attended the Practical classic track day event at Cadwell Park. At the end of the Saturday track sessions Practical Sportsbike Magazine judged their favourite bikes of the weekend. While two OSS bikes won awards, there could be only one overall best of show winner  and that winner is this month’s bike of the month.

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We have seen many really fine examples of the Wes Cooley GS replicas and tributes in our time and Steve Fletcher’s bike is right up with the very best of them. It went very well on track too.

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Congratulations Steve your GS is bike of the month.

Discuss Steve’s bike here.

Bike of the month July 2016

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BOTM JULY 2016

Here at oldskoolsuzuki.info we are united by our love of these 80’s and 90’s bronto-bikes. The project section is our busiest forum section and it has supplied us with an amazing variety of very special BOTM builds. This month’s bike of the Month winner comes to us from the OSS trick frame department and it is fair to say that it is a truly exceptional example.

When you follow a build like this you are immediately struck, or more accurately you are immediately dumbstruck, by the level of thought and absolute dedication to quality that has gone into every component. Not content with fabricating beautifully simple components in billet aluminium our man decided to set up his own anodising bath to ensure he could get a contrast in finish between components.

Seeing this build come together, piece by piece, has been a joy and looking at the finished result is simply drool invoking.  Quality components, top to bottom, this bike can’t fail to deliver.

This month’s bike of the month winner is Garry Bond’s EFE powered Harris F1.

Gary, the OSS community collectively tip their oily caps in your specific direction sir. You have built something we can all only dream of taking home.

Gary’s build thread can be found here.

 

Bike of the Month June 2016

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meanbean

Most of us are happy enough with a stroll on the beach and a toe-dip in the sea but MeanBean Rob and his Spondon framed custom build have other salty pleasures in mind when they hit the sand.

In case you haven’t already heard this road legal, boosted monster has been officially clocked at an astonishing 178mph during the UK Speed Week held on the legendary Pendine Sands last month. Yes, you read that right. 178mph on sand.

To see the pair in action from the riders view, click right here. To congratulate Rob on his the Bike of the Month pace setting winner, click here. We highly recommend you watch the video.

 

Bike of the Month May 2016

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botm may16

When you’ve got bigger ideas than your budget allows then it’s time you dusted off the golden rules – Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. 

This month’s winning brute had already seen some upgrades in previous ownership however with careful attention to detail and some inspired thinking, we reckon Sheep has firmly made his mark and still retained a sense of humour.

Whether your build began with a standard machine or a ‘project bike’ or if you started from scratch, the tales are familiar to all so why not drop by here to congratulate Sheep on being a Bike of the Month Winner.

Click for more details about his EFE.