Tag Archives: EFE

Bike of the Month August 2020

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I regularly bore you with how OSS is something of a community and how we help each other out. I tell tales of how parts are sent across the globe just to get someone’s bike on the road, more often that not an exchange between people who never even met. It makes for a good story, but wouldn’t it be even better if I just show you what OSS can do?

Kev and I met in a field in Burton, 2014. A longterm member was having her birthdayparty and a whole bunch of OSS-ers were attending. I just got my 100€ 1100-G going and thought it be a laugh to just randomly turn up without telling anyone I was coming. Totally worth it..

I went to a party knowing full well what to expect and having met just about all the people there before, so it’s not really diving into the unknown; hardly an adventure. How different would it be if you choose to go to a random party you saw posted on FB, knowing near-0 people there, going to an OSS-do as a through-and-though Kawasaki fan but owning the most colourful B12 on the planet? Cue Kev.

He fitted right into our merry crowd of Suzuki-fanatics and it didn’t really take that long for us to make him see Suzukis really are better. He’s still building his Zed, but more on that some other time.

Me and Kev personally really hit it off. So much so that I attended his wedding not a few years later, along with a fair few people that were also present in Burton that weekend in 2014.

Over the years Kev had been playing with the thought of building a bike for his better half Jess and she suggested/asked for an EFE, because after he sold the B12-powered one he had (and crashed) a while earlier, the EFE shaped hole in their life was too much to bear. Mistakenly selling it, the deal was regretted for long and with parts few and far between, and prices for those parts on the up, the idea of building one stayed that; just an idea.

But, when you have OSS at your disposal, sailing the unforgiving seas of OldSkoolSuzuki-unobtanium becomes a ferryride across the Mersey river, a frame was acquired from PaulM to kickstart the build and it didn’t take long before other integral parts for the build were starting to turn up.

Me being me; I didn’t know what to get the couple for the wedding, so I took EFE-bits, happily received and put to good use a few months later when we chose to build a “bike” in a day over newyears. This is still start of 2019.

DaveCara supplied the enginemounting kit which was welded in place, we flung some engine in from a distance, bolted Kev’s old turboheaders on it for good measure and there was something there resembling the endgoal. I went home, 2019 got underway and Kev and Jess went on to do the project as anyone tackles a project, while keeping a normal life, entertaining a child and keeping everyone fed; slow and steady.

Taking no shortcuts, all was done properly; powdercoating, some pro modifications to the JMC swingarm borrowed of Dad Kearsley, some things even got 3D-printed (posh) and  wiring was done in the kitchen, as you do.

All pretty normal, and then Covid came. The whole world grinded to a abrupt halt, leaving many of us wondering what to do. No need to go to work and no option to go anywhere fun, Kev got the project on the rails properly and steaming to the finishline. Making good use of daytime tinkering, the bike went from “It’ll be done in a few months, honest” to, “It’ll be done in a few weeks, really”.

The world is still a bit strange with not being able to move around as we were used to, but if this whole historic episode brought one thing positive, it’s having yet another EFE back on the road. Time that was usually wasted on working for the man, was put to good use in the shed. With bits sent from all across the UK and beyond, this bike is a good show of force of what I mentioned all those times before and I’m proud to have played a small part in it.

Now, if all goes back to normal, I could actually go see it but until then, this will have to do.

Congratulations @Kid Kearsley and @MrsKid, you EFE is this month’s Bike of the Month

Buildthread here

Discuss here

Bike of the Month June 2019

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Having rules is nice and all, and for the forum, this is really good. However, in other instances, it can make your (or; mine) life a bit hard. One of the rules we set for ourselves, is that a BOTM has to be built on the website and have a topic showing the ups-and-downs of the project.

Here we have a BOTM with NO buildtopic, for the simple reason that this bike is pretty much as it left the factory in Japan all those years ago. Just that makes it damn-near unique in our little OSS-world. Rivetcounters really have no place here, just don’t think we don’t like a properly preserved bike.

Our friend Dorkburger should get an award only for the fact that he has been a staple of originality, in a sea of bikes modified to within an inch of their life. Also; he takes a mean picture.

Thank you for keeping your EFE as how our friends in Hamamatsu meant it, so we can all recognise where we came from.

Congratulations Dorkburger, your bike is this months Bike of the Month.

Read (some) more here and here

Discuss here  

Bike of the Month December 2018

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I try to stay as far away from politics as I can; tax is inevitable, and they’ll never do what we want anyway, so why bother? I’m happy to say that OSS is the same; no Brexit discussions here, and that’s how it should be.


Now, “politics” in itself goes further than just the governing body of your country. One could argue that us admins practice politics in our own way, but we honestly try not to; everyone here is the same, and we all follow the same basic rules. We just have the means to push some buttons when someone’s out of step, so we can safely guide our little Ark of OSS through the turbulent waters that is the current Internet.


One thing that I’m very wairy of, is nepotism. Under no circumstances must anyone one this page feel he or she is drawing the shorter straw, just because they’re not part of the IC. Yes, I have many true and some very close friends here, but I’ll take the piss out of them just as much as everybody else; we’re all the same.


Now, the other side of this is actually glancing over that what your friends have achieved in their sheds and when I was thinking about my next choice for BOTM, it was only right to give Dave his spot in the limelight. His EFE has been a regular since the first incarnation of this website, and Dave has done us all proud in rebuilding it to a standard we can only approve of.


Built to use 2-up TT2018, he started May’17 (a year before TT) and in absolute true OSS-fasion, it was in bits hours before rocking up at the ferry to get over to the Island. I was witness to it all and it would’ve felt wrong if it hadn’t been the case.


The bike made it to, over and back from the Isle of Man without any terminal damage. Going to the TT on a bike you built in your own shed or garage is brave in itself. If said bike then actually holds its own there, you know it will do anywhere; the place it utter mechanical torture, but in a good way.

We’re now almost a year on and this bike hadn’t yet made it to be chosen as BOTM. That is by no means because it wasn’t up to par before but here, we just really are spoilt for choice and it’s just one of those things..  Not taking away from the quality of any of the bikes chosen as BOTM up to now, or the ones after, but this bike was long overdue its recognition.


Dave, congratulations, your EFE is this month Bike of the Month.

Read more here

Discuss here

Bike of the Month – May 2018

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This month’s bike of the month is a tale of both resurrection and evolution.  Plucked from an insurance sale, this slightly fire damaged, pretty standard machine was rescued by nightrider. It was quite a rare find – especially the other side of the Atlantic. The decision is what we at OSS would call ‘a no brainer’.

We’ve been watching the story of this machine since the oldskoolsuzuki.info site itself was resurrected and as is often the case with projects progress sometimes stalls. Over the last 3 years we’ve seen a pragmatic mix of make do (when the OEM spares are hard to get) and mend.

With some advice and moral support from folk who have done the same thing as you and the balls to give it a go (or know when to sub it out) most obstacles can be over come. The proof is in the riding but this ES is easy on the eye in that striking blue squareness it wears so well.

So the GS 1100 ES has now returned to it’s rightful duty as a smile inducing muncher of miles. And I have no doubt the story and evolution will continue.

 

It’s a great bike. Who wouldn’t want it in their fleet?

Read all about the build  project here

Or throw your green eyed congratulations in nightrider’s direction over here

Congratulations to our Winner!

 

 

How To – Plastic Welding

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Long term member from across the water, nightrider had a touch at a salvage auction with a Suzuki GS1100ES  bearing some cosmetic damage. Nothing that can’t be fixed, right? Right!

Here, he takes us through his tried and tested approach to plastic repairs.

I have been plastic welding for almost three decades now. I started in an old skool moto shop back in the 90’s. The old timers back then hated sportbikes so it was up to the young buck (me) to figure out how to fix those annoying fairings with that smelly Mac tools Plasti-welder. Through trial and error I weeded out what worked best for thin motorcycle plastics. Later I went on to repair Kayaks where the repairs were a bit more critical.

That being said, plastic welding is a fairly easy process.

Most mistakes I see is from people just smearing the filler rod material on the crack like glue. It’s best to think of it as welding. You have to get the filler material to penetrate and mix with the plastic being repaired. If you think of it more like really slow oxy acetylene welding you will have more luck.

First off, you are going to have to spend some money.

Yes, you could modify a soldering iron. Perhaps braze a foot on it?  But if you purchase a Plasti-welder you will find it handy for fixing all sorts of things (like any other welder). I’ve had the same Polyvance Mini-Weld Model 6 for over 10 years. There is a Model 7 now. They can be found on Fleabay or Amazon.

Don’t bother with the flat welding material. You will need the ABS R3 filler rod.

Once you have your Mini-Welder and R3 rods you’re ready to go.  Generally speaking you will only need to weld on one side. If your bodywork still has good paint you will want to weld on the inside (I typically always weld on the hidden side of the bodywork).

First off I place a piece of foil tape on the outside as a heat sink (this helps to keep the crack from puckering with the heat).

Next you will want to crank up the heat on your welder.

With ABS material I tend to just crank it all the way up to 11 but you might want to stick to the R3 setting if you’re dealing with y2000+ bike fairings as modern fairings tend to be pretty thin.

Once it’s heated up you will want to “stitch” the crack. This both tacks your weld and makes it easier to mix the filler rod with the fairing plastic in the next step.

Put your finger under the area you are welding and drive the toe of the welding iron into the plastic. You’re going to want to drive about 3/4 the way through the material you are welding at a fairly steep angle.

With your finger on the other side you can feel how hot the plastic is getting. Too hot for you, too hot for the plastic.

After you have done that you are ready to start filling.

Stick the rod through the cylinder on the welder.

With a wiggling motion, draw the welder across the stitch line while pushing the melting rod material into the little pockets in your stitches. Try to blend the two materials together (wiggling motion).

After that go back over your weld using the foot of the welder and melt down the excess and blend it into the surface. (This ensures that the outer edges of the weld are bonded and it makes it look a lot better). Take care to not get it too hot or you will ruin the paint job on the other side.

Peel off tape and Bobs your uncle.

With any luck you will barely even see the crack!

… and your shed will reek and Missus will be fuming and the neighbors will bitch and…

 

Huge thanks to nightrider! It’s all about the .info 

Read nightrider’s build thread on the forum here

Have you got any tried and tested techniques you can share? (Keep it clean, please!) >>>> here

New OSS Trader – MK-Components

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We are pleased to welcome MK-Components as an OSS Trader, with a discount available for OSS as well as some very nice Yoshimura goodies to give away too!

Some of you may know our friend Mar71n and his rather nice engine covers. Well, good news as he’s started producing the R engine covers again! They fit the 1127cc oil cooled motor & its later versions.

He’s also looking at producing covers for some other motors too.

(Thanks to Duckndive for the loan of the EFE engine cases.)

The R covers are now for sale on a certain well known auction site.  However, if you buy through OSS, you get 10% off! To qualify, you need to contact Mar71n via OSS for that discount.

With the next batch of R covers he’ll be machining some for the 750/1052cc motor as well. So that should get most of you oil cooled boys and girls covered… terrible pun intentional!

To celebrate his launch, MK-Components are kindly offering the following goodies up for grabs in an easy to enter competition…

1st prize: A Yoshimura garage sign 24” X 17” ( 609.6 X 431.8 to be precise!)
2nd prize: A Yoshimura T shirt, it has an image of Pops himself on
3rd prize: A Yoshimura sticker set, it has approx 24 Yoshi stickers on the sheet

For details of how get your OSS discount and to enter the competition, see the article in our Traders section here. Please note that you need a 50+ post count on the OSS forum to take part.

 

You can find MK-Components on the interwebs here:

http://www.mk-components.co.uk

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/mk-components/m.html

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?

5840abb7906fb_duckmotor-jpg-fcc6d722602ed8fcdc929e9237444e67

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

Intake & Exhaust Port Surface Finish

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As long as the intake port surface finish is fine enough so that the highest protrusions are not above the air /fuel mixture boundary layer thickness, then improvements on the finish will have little effect on air / fuel mixture flow . A rougher finish is actually an advantage. Do not over polish an intake port because of its wet fuel flow capability.

A polished exhaust port will increase the exhaust gas flow and will reduce the potential for carbon to build up on the exhaust port surface.

In conclusion 97% of a performance gain from porting a cylinder head is from the shape of the ports and only 3% is from a polished finish.

How-to fitting 3.5 GSXR front wheel into EF front end

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Capitan Chaos site moderator, motorcycle mechanic and EFE addict shares some useful info on upgrading the front wheel on your EFE.

Here’s how:

– remove the bearings from the EFE front wheel, and take the tube which is in between them. Do the same with the GSX-R one.
– you will find out the EFE one is 16mm longer than the GSX-R one. It needs shortening 16mm.
– buy some bearings which fit in the GSX-R wheel and on the EFE spindle. I don’t remember exactly the sizes, but you need bearings with the ID of the EFE ones, and the OD and width of the GSX-R ones. They were off the shelf in the local bearings shop.
– the tubes in the bottoms of the EFE forks are now too short. Make some new ones which are 8mm (each) longer.
– the EFE speedo drive will fit after a little bit of material has been removed. Offer it up on the GSX-R wheel and you’ll see exactly where.

And now, with that nice 3-spoke wheel, it would be a shame not to upgrade the brakes as well.
The Slingshot Nissin 4-pots, and the later GSX-R models’ Tokico 4- and 6-pots all fit on the EFE forks, 90mm spacing between the bolts. But the Slingshot discs are too large.
Now Suzuki had thought about this and launched the GSX600F in the late eighties, this bike has brake discs that fit perfectly on the GSX-R wheel and are small enough to accept the more modern calipers when mounted in the EFE forks. All it needs is some small rings to space out the calipers a bit towards eachother.
Use the EFE caliper mounting bolts, they are longer than the GSX-R ones.

Captain Chaos

Discuss here