Working on the Suzuki GSX-R750 Project Bike
It's been a month of well-fettled highs on the Suzuki GSX-R750 along with frustrating lows, which means the Suzuki's more than earning its keep as any project bike should.Starting with the highs, this Suzuki GSX-R750 is not revealing its true sharp-handling colors once more thanks to some judicious, yet simple tweaks. This is nice because although all looked well when bought, the Suzuki GSX-R750 handled like a shopping trolley with a broken wheel.
First came a suspension tweak as the forks were set up hideously with loads of compression and naff all rebound meaning they barely used half their stroke on the brakes and then pagoed back as soon as you got back on the gas, leading to unpleasant running wide mid in a corner. Cost me 10 minutes in the garage to fix it.
I then removed the horrible stock steering damper tucked under the bottom yoke. Even when this bike was brand new this was an abomination, wrecking slow speed handling and only fitted by Suzuki as a sorry reaction to the slating they were taking at the time for its occasionally wayward TL1000S. Cost me 5 minutes in the garage to remove it.
Next came a set of new tyres as the half-shagged mismatched pair fitted to crash the handling party. The fine chaps at Michelin supplied me a set of new dual compound Pilot Power 2CTs whose nicely sharp profile had the Suzuki GSX-R flopping from side to side as eagerly as a Labrador in a hurry. Cost a few thousand Baht.
Now being an older bike, the Suzuki's once 'radical' geometry now feels anything but. The remedy? A bit of rear ride height I reckoned. Simple job this. All you need to do is loosen the top mounting nuts on the rear shock, lift them to the top of the thread, you have about 2cm unused thread, and bingo.
I said it was a simple job, and it is. Unless the nut strips the thread off the shock mounting bolt as it goes. Which is precisely what mine did. Bugger, when do motorcycle manufacturers start using quality nut and bolts....
Tag: Suzuki GSX-R750 Project-Bike Tuning Modifying Re-working Rebuild Paint Design
