GSX1100 ET-EX wheel upgrade

[wrx03ppp]

Went to Northern Ireland and back with zero problems, love the   torque of that motor!

 

[Bazeque]

Love the harris pipe. Where'd you get it from? Or original one on it?

Just had a custom stainless made in a similar shape to the harris as couldn't find an original, and mine was a bit mullered.

[wrx03ppp]

Thanks for all the help so far. I’ll be looking at the wheels and a brake upgrade over the winter as I want to enjoy the bike during the summer.

I’m very pleased with the Maxton suspension which does a good job of controlling the mass of the thing. It has compression damping only adjustment on the rear shocks with compression adjustment on one fork leg and rebound adjustment on the other.  On the settings ‘as supplied’ the bike is much improved on good roads when pushing-on a bit but the ride can feel a little choppy on some motorway surfaces. I’m sure that could be dialled out but likely at the expense of some other area. I’ll experiment a little on next week’s trip to Belgium.

The bike does still get a bit wobbly at higher speeds despite the geometry changes so a steering damper is on the shopping list. Any ideas or pics of tidy mounting arrangements would be appreciated.

I just love riding it. The engine is wonderful, the power and the sound - not too loud around town or on the motorway  yet  becomes a spine-tingling howl as the revs climb higher. Feels faster than it actually is which is good for me considering today’s speed camera obsessed roads. It picks up the front wheel easily in first and the girlfriend likes it a lot more than the Fireblade.

What’s not to like?

 

 

 

 

 

[wrx03ppp]

The Harris pipe was on it when I bought it, obstructs the oil drain so maybe not quite the correct model. Regardless it’s in decent nick, like the rest of the bike,  tidy, presentable and usable but not mint. 

[inazumarob]

Company called Motoarbo do a stainless steel replica of the original Harris end can.

 

[jb]

On 7/10/2019 at 8:40 AM, wrx03ppp said:

It could have been Davida of helmet fame? They are in Birkenhead and used to produce things other than helmets but I didn't know that the made fork braces. I just bought a Tarozzi for me ET-EX.

Regarding the arse up - head down position, Maxton measured up the bike and determined that the steering head angle is so lazy on the standard bike that ideally they would raise the rear by 75mm to get it even close to what is used on more modern bikes without cutting and welding. I forget the figure they work to. Obviously that's not going to work, so we agreed a compromise to steepen it as much as practical without losing too much ground clearance. The objective being to improve the turn-in and also minimise the high speed instability which may be related to lack of weight on the raked-out front end.  With their suspension set-up it won't be difficult to drop the rear or raise the front should it proves desirable.

The only problem is that the rear shock mounts to suit the Metmachex swing arm aren't back from the anodisers so it will be another week before I get the bike back.

On the "plus-side" the Eblag 18" wheels arrived yesterday and look great but I think that will be a job for the winter.

@wrx03ppp

what was the free length of the rear shocks that you finished with please?

Edited September 25, 2019 by jb

[wrx03ppp]

Sorry ... just saw this. Not sure of the final length off hand. I’ll try and measure them on the bike for you.

[gs7_11]

A steering damper won't help. It may well make things worse, just making the oscillation lower frequency.

Edited October 17, 2019 by gs7_11

[wrx03ppp]

Finally measured the shocks...

355mm free length 

335mm with 12.5 stone rider

Measured between centres of mounting points 

[jb]

22 hours ago, wrx03ppp said:

Finally measured the shocks...

355mm free length 

335mm with 12.5 stone rider

Measured between centres of mounting points 

cool, thanks for that +20mm over standard free length   

[johnr]

if you like the look of the standard wheels, then look for a set of katana 400 wheels, theyre 17 inch rear and 18 inch front and the exact same spoke pattern as the old gs/gsx wheels but lighter and much wider than the stock 1100 wheels, the front brakes are also bigger and better than the stockers meaning that you can improve the brakes and handling, put more rubber on the road but retain the standard look of the bike.