Quick refresh of an old Magnum 1/2

[roadkillvespa]

Greetings,I have not been around here for a while but having enjoyed reading through all the Harris threads on here and gleaned a lot of useful info and ideas I thought I would post a few pictures of my Magnum which I am currently hoping to get road ready for next year.

I built this bike in 1984 when I was a fresh faceed 23 year oid with a small budget, I struggle to get my head around where the time has gone.

I started with a complete standard 1982 GSX1100ex with around 11000 miles on it.

[url=https://postimg.cc/0MXHB2qs][img]https://i.postimg.cc/6qBJTyjy/IMG-0175.jpg[/img][/url]

Built it in my parents house,thinking back they were quite understanding.

[url=https://postimg.cc/dh3B23QN][img]https://i.postimg.cc/7ZMWyJF4/101-2078.jpg[/img][/url]

First incarnation

[url=https://postimg.cc/sM185WFJ][img]https://i.postimg.cc/wjkp850n/101_2075.jpg[/img][/url]

Edited December 18, 2022 by roadkillvespa
Photo links not working

[roadkillvespa]

Well my Postimage photos don't seem to be working I will try and fix them.

[roadkillvespa]

[roadkillvespa]

South of France 1985,not the best 2 up tourer.

 

[roadkillvespa]

TT 1986 with GPZ900r running gear

 

[roadkillvespa]

Ultimate Streetbike 1988 I think maybe York or Long Marston

 

[DAZ]

Quality times,when dinosaurs ruled the streets 

[roadkillvespa]

1 minute ago, DAZ said:

Quality times,when dinosaurs ruled the streets 

They were indeed, the bikes maybe be better nowadays but the freedom we enjoyed then will never return.

[roadkillvespa]

Back to today

 

[TonyGee]

7 minutes ago, roadkillvespa said:

the bikes maybe be better nowadays

are they ????   give me an old bike any day   

[roadkillvespa]

The Harris has sat since 2014 and the head bearings are shot.

Fortunately the came out easily enough.

Wiring looks like a rats nest as it is the original 'modified' loom from the GSX but has not given me any problems over the years.

 

[TonyGee]

that wiring is crying out for some Bolognese sauce  

[DAZ]

11 minutes ago, TonyGee said:

are they ????   give me an old bike any day   

I prefer older stuff,maybe it's a sign of my age,but I like my bikes and music from the 80's. And 90's generally 

[clivegto]

Great looking bike, love riding my one 

[roadkillvespa]

27 minutes ago, TonyGee said:

that wiring is crying out for some Bolognese sauce  

It gives me the jitters every time I take the tank off 

[roadkillvespa]

This is how it looks currently

 

[clivegto]

Very nice indeed 

[roadkillvespa]

The old aircooled GSX motor is a thing of beauty,I spent many an hour polishing those casings back in the day, four channels of TV and no internet had its good points.

 

[DAZ]

Nice that you've still got the gpz900 running gear, maybe not state of the art now but in its day dominated production racing at the tt so it's capable of hoofing along, are you going to keep it or refresh it with something else 

Edited December 18, 2022 by DAZ
Spelling

[Dezza]

Four telly channels? Sheer luxury. When I first got my Magnum all we had was 2 empty bean cans and a bit of wet string

[DAZ]

Cue pythonesque yorkshireman, string,string,we never had string when I were a lad....

[clivegto]

37 minutes ago, DAZ said:

Cue pythonesque yorkshireman, string,string,we never had string when I were a lad....

We had bale band, we was lucky 

[TLRS]

The engine looks like it grew in the frame, poking out at the front.. lovely.

[roadkillvespa]

15 hours ago, DAZ said:

Nice that you've still got the gpz900 running gear, maybe not state of the art now but in its day dominated production racing at the tt so it's capable of hoofing along, are you going to keep it or refresh it with something else 

My original intention was just to re-build the GPZ forks with new bushes and seals as the stanchions are in great nick for their age,but unfortunately I started stripping them yesterday and the internal thread on one is in a bad way and the cap will no longer thread past halfway without  binding, bummer but these things happen. I have been offered a rough but complete 600 bandit cheap as a parts donor but I don't know that it would be any improvement other than 17 in wheels,and being Suzuki of course 

 

[DAZ]

My own opinion would be to avoid the bandit 600 forks as they are well let's just say budget,and the stock brakes are not very good and if I remember rightly they're a different bolt pattern to the 4 pots off 1200's and srads etc not looked at 16 tyres for a long time,since I had a 900r actually,remember Metzler comp k ... but maybe worth sourcing a replacement fork leg , specially if you've sorted the handling to you liking, as always your bike your coin your choice