johnr

also worth remembering that not all gs650's are shaft driven. some imports are chain drive, as is the xn85 turbo which is effectively a gs650 with a beefed up bottom end and lower compression.

http://www.katanaownersuk.club/forum/index.php?sid=9a3023fad47137c21c5b918b72271173

theyre still available new if you get lucky and dont mind what colour they come in! i know a couple of folk in the club have gone through the suzuki classic spares route and got brand new tanks for sub 300 quid, which is pretty good whn you see folks paying 250 quid plus for used tanks that neeed paint etc.

400 tank has an aircraft type filler cap. 650 looks similar but has central filler cap and doesnt have the sidepanel mounting lugs on the tank. thats a 750/1000/1100 katana tank. quick, put it on your house insurance and lock it in a vault.....

you will get bored of making them before you run out of takers i reccon.

yep, thats ok. you should make a handful and sell them on here to recoup your costs, that way yours costs you nowt!

my g had leading axle forks on it. quite handy as it was used to pull a sidecar and thy made it a bit more tolerable.

that pipe is pure porn! lovely piece of tubework!

steve adams, aka lucky7

nick c is birkenhead. i will be seeing him this week, have some stuff for him that has been couriered up from southampton, so i will ask.

fortunately for you, suzuki front ends from the era are pretty generic. but not completely. the shafty gs models 850 and 1000 have leading axle forks, so if you want a new front end you need to take this into account. whilst gs chain drive and gsx1100 forks will fit in the yokes, theyre central axle forks so the trail will be affected. if you plan to buy forks and yokes and wheel, theen any gs1000 chain drive from any year, gsx1100et, gsx1100ez, as well as 750 will fit and theey arent expensive cos there aree thousands of theem propping up doors in sheds afteer owners have swapped them for modern stuff.

not ash? hes a kat guy from the isle of man.

so good you said it twice........

years ago i fitted a dynojet kit to the cv carbs on a gs1000g shafty, the kit made a huge difference to the way the bike rode. i never had it on the dyno so ive no figures to back it up, and theres a huge BUT involved. at the time i was using the gs as our family car with a huge old coachbuilt sidecar attached. so, i never really pasted it at the top end, as we were usually 4 up, me and the mrs on the bike and the kids in the chair. but the hesitancy and lumpyness that the bike had before were now gone completely and it was super smooth and tractable, but i cant really comment for the top quarter of the rev range cos i never went there. sorry i cant help more than that. the bike was stock with an alfa 4 into 1 and a stock airbox with no top in it. it ran ok when i got it, and the lumpiness wasnt really a problem as a solo cos it wasnt often running that slow as a solo. having said that, im not sure you can still get th dynojet kits now. the one i had included a drill bit for opening the holes in the carb slide as well as pilot jets, needles and a selection of various mains and air screws.

aye, my mate never left his parked on the sidestand again after his experience. in spite of the name of thee manufacturer, theyre a stunning piece of engineering tchnology from the age of oldskool, but fuck me theyre dear to fix when something goes wrong.

suzuki had this bright idea that when an engine was running and the lights were off, the 3 phases of the genny wouldnt be needed, so they used 2 to charge the battery and the third phase went through the switch in order to boost charging when the lights were on. it was all bollocks btw, and reg recs were always a weak spot in the uk, not as much of an issue suffered by bikes used in nations where daytime lights were compulsory, cos all 3 phases were always in use. it was dafe, but not a massive issue when you compare it to hondas comedy camchains from the same era.

i rather like the little van van, they look like a funky little town bike.

crooks suzuki in barrow.

the fact that it hadnt yet fired will have worked in your favour as the crank was only spinning at the speed dictated by the starter and not running much faster following ignition.

tbh if your crank was twisted by this hydraulic lock, then it would vibrate like buggery because it will put the timing out on one or more pots. if you can get hold of a degree wheel and a dti you can accurately check the tdc position of each cylinder just to set your mind at rest. but you could have been lucky.

very common cbx problem that. i know of two people its happened to. turns into a very very expensive rebuild!

lucky7 sell catch tanks that fit where the sprocket cover goes on a gsx motor.

did you check your valve clearances before stripping it? if the clearances were too tight then when it got warm your valves may have been partly open. seems an odd coincidence that they both had the same pressure. had you checked the valve timing was correct?

this is hung up in my shed still waiting me getting my finger out. its the sister frame to the one built by lucky7 for one of th bike mags to go racing with a year or two back, bracing is lovely, im particularly imprssed with the headstock bracing and relocated rear shock mounts

is it leaking from the camchain tensioner and just dripping down onto the casing near the bolts? i cant see how the casing bolts can transfer oil out of the engine, they clamp the cases together and so arent exposed to oil, let alone oil under enough pressure to leak out in any volume. however, its not unknown for oil to drip from the camchain tensioner onto the top of the crankcase. this might be your problem, in that you see the oil near the bolts, but dont look above it!