GS1100S FUEL INJECTED SUZUKI KATANA

LAST BLOG, CONTINUED ELSEWHERE

2011-04-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

This is my last blog entry here. Please continue to enjoy the build on this page:

www.blog.suzuki-katana.com

PREP AND PAINT

2011-03-31T23:47:00.000-07:00

Today was spent preping and painting parts. Not much polish or bare alum on this project.

GLOSS BLACK: pegs, wheels, brake pedal, shifter, brake pivot, gsxr rear master, brake hanger, hub, Semi Gloss Black, under seat pan, bat box, surge tank, on and on. Took some pics tonight but they don't look 1/2 as good as the bike looks. Need some daylight. Also need some blacker black. NOt sure if I am happy with the T1 Plasticoat gloss black. Looks a little brown to me compared to the swingarm.

Cust some stainless steel spacers for the rear wheel and polished them for some contrast in the sea of black back there. I think I am going to change the color of the under seat pan as well. Pegs took some time to take apart clean, sand, paint, sand, paint, polish the pins, paint again.

I have to start the wheels shortly so I can get the tires mounted, as well as the forks. Painting them gloss black too. Basically everything south of the cosmetics will be a mixture of gloss, semi gloss black with touches of polish and alum.

POWDER COATING KATANA FRAME

2011-03-30T22:40:00.001-07:00

For those who have never powder coated a frame here is the run down.

It is always a good idea to protect all the threads in the frame with bolts. Bolts you won't want to be using later. That way when the frame is media blasted, the threads are not blasted too as well as, they don't fill up with media. If media gets into holes with threads in them it is a bit of a deal digging it out.

If you thread a bolt into said hole there is a good chance it will cease and brake off while you are trying to tighten it up. If some threads are blasted you can "chase" them with a tap. That will clean them up and they will be good to go.

Next, Powder is thick. Some things may not fit after powder. For a katana guy things like the rear brake pedal pivot bolt. IF powder gets into the boss, the shaft may not fit anymore. Same goes for the shifter pivot on the frame and the kick stand mount. Things like peg pins or bolts may no longer fit. Just ask the powder dude to tape off the shifter pivot and the inside of the brake pivot, or you may be doing a little sanding later.

leave the old steering stem races in place and replace them after the frame is done. If you do wheels, for goodness sake take out the bearings before. Sounds stupid but I know of guys who mounted wheels with media filled bearings because they were too lazy or too cheap to replace them. Bearings and grit do not play well together.

IF you are thinking of doubling down and doing some bolts with the frame, after all they are there anyway remember this. Allen head (socket head) bolts may be hard to get out with the allen key as the hole will be much smaller with powder in there. Hex bolts will not longer fit your wrench. Did I mention powder is thick?

I had all my stainless steel gound points taped off so they would be clean after powder. Powder dude saw fit to remove all the tape and powdered all of them but one for some reason so, I spent some time filing off the powder.

See you tomorrow.

FRAME AND SWINGARM ARE BACK

2011-03-30T00:00:00.001-07:00

Frame and swing arm are back.... Now it starts getting fun..

GS POP UP FUEL CAP

2011-03-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

I have never loved the gas cap on these bikes and I hate digging for keys at the pump. Especially when I don't have an ignition key. So, the only thing I have to do now is get rid of seat key....HHmmmmnnmmm??? next season maybe.

Looked at different options, the first one was the obvious one and go with a aircraft style, but, that's pretty boring, every bike has one. I also didn't want to ruin the look of the tank by moving the cap ot the center.

So I went with a pop up cap. Gloss black to match the black the tank will be on top. Nice and flush, low profile and sleek. It will be an excellent match for my paint scheme.

May not be everyones cup of tea, but I like it.

KATANA FRAME AND BANDIT SWING ARM

2011-03-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

Thought the frame was ready for powder but decided to weld in some new front coil mounts to better fit the dyna coils. Done now, all stripped and theads protected. Off to powder she goes in the next day or two.

On to other things.

Here is the swingarm. I buried my oil catch can in the shock hole. Welded a plate over the hole and sandwiched the plate with the upper and lower pieces of the catch can. Now, its out of the way and clears the fuel pump on susupension compression.

Those aren't the fittings I will be using in final build. I am using one for crank case vent (valve cover) and the other for crank breather coming from clutch cover. Center top will hose into a filter. I will be safety wiring the can on for precausion.

Decided to weld on the extensions as well. Don't like the idea of my life depending on 4 screws.

FINISHING UP THE KATANA FRAME

2011-03-28T00:09:00.002-07:00

Well, the last of the frame work is done and ready for powder.
Since grounding is so important and I have lots of electrics on the beast I thought it might be prudent to make sure there were some sound ground points on the bike.

I used stainless steel that will not be getting powdered. I have them taped off so grounding will not be an issue with this bike. There is a tab in the tail, under the seat, by the tank (for the wiring harness ground point) and up front under the fairing. WHy? my clocks need a ground, EFI, and on and on.

Next I had to reposition the rear brake return spring location

Lastly, since there are no more katana headers to be had, I thought it may be a good idea to have a mounting point for the 1100e headers that are still available. I machined and tapped a rod and welded it into the peg stay. That way I can bolt up any kind of braket between it and the rear exhaust mounting hole for any number of configurations.

One more final check for frame true and rear wheel alignment while I am at it.

KATANA LOW FUEL WARNING / FUEL RETURN EFI

2011-03-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Today I worked on the mock up tank. Located the return line and low fuel warning.

I am using a thermistor unit out of an SV650. For those who don't know what they are since gs1100 and katana don't have them, they work on resistance. When submerged in fuel they are cold and have a high resistance. When they become exposed to the air as the fuel leve drops, they heat up and that decreases their resistance allowing current to flow. When this happens, the low fuel light comes on.

This unit has two, so I have low fuel and critically low fuel lights. My plan is to use on solid burning low light and for critical level, I will use a flashing light.

The conductivity is for the ground wire, not the hot so there is not chance of shorting in the fuel which would ruin your day.

I am fabbing the return out of a 3/8" npt 90 degree fitting with a 7" hollow tube.

The thermistor unit I chose because the first low fuel indicator is very close to where the stock katana level is when you need to turn to reserve. The second thermistor is the kick in the pants warning.

FUEL RAIL

2011-03-27T00:33:00.001-07:00

Drilled and tapped the fuel rail. By using end fittings I would have to carve up the side covers so I am using plugs there. Keeps things cleaner. Installed the vac lines, a vacuum block and the map sensor. Getting busy under there. Still have fuel feed line, return line and air bleed line from the fuel pump.

Also have to fab a fuel return to the tank along with a thermistor low fuel warning system.

NEW SUZUKI KATANA SIGNAL LIGHT LOCATIONS

2011-03-27T00:32:00.001-07:00

fabbed up a cooler mounting bracket out of 2" x 1" angle alum and mounted the front and rear signals. I removed the old rear signal mounts and moved the signals forward.

KATANA SURGE TANK

2011-03-27T00:31:00.001-07:00

I fabbed up a surge tank pre pump because my old school gas tank does not have any baffles in it to keep fuel from sloshing around when it gets low. This helps keep a steady supply of fuel to the pump in low fuel conditions under heavy braking, wheeling and excelerating. Not that any of that will be hapening, but just incase of emergency situations I want to be ready.

It was tricky figuring out plumbing with the pump. Looks pretty straight forward and simple now it is done and mounted but believe me, it was not. I am using the Mallory pump because of its low amp draw. These old katanas have very limited power output when it comes to amps.

Feeding the surge is a 5/16" fuel line from the Pingle fuel valve. I will be using Targon line as it has fantastic fuel line properties. It's the green stuff in the past picture between my front brake reservoir and master cylender. There are several types of Targon line each for specific purpose. The fuel line is not used for brake feed line.

IPHONE USB KATANA COMPLETE

2011-03-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

Mission accomplished!!!!

MORE IPHONE KATANA

2011-03-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

There is always a snag....

As you can see in the pics, I can charge my extra iphone battery and power an led light for seeing in the dark, but, what I can't do.... YET!!, is charge the 3GS. This phone has a different charging parameter that Apple changed with this phone. Needs more than power/ground wires. Needs low voltage to the data wires of the usb as well or it will not accept the charge.

I have it figured out, just have to work out how to put it together.

I AM BACK, IPHONE KATANA?

2011-03-27T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a long time but I am back at her. The turbo won't materialize this season due to budget contraints. Since I spent a fortune on normally asperated parts I decided not to risk them in a turbo engine this year. The Efi is a go though.

Today I mounted a waterproof USB port on the beast cuz I hate running out of power on a ride.

Behind the iphone is a rack of led's so I have some light under the seat if need be.

TURBO MOUNT

2010-09-29T00:18:00.000-07:00

Been thinking of the best way to support the turbo. Some say it does not need supporting but that cross member sitting right there is a good spot to do something.

BRAKE RESERVOIR

2010-09-26T23:42:00.001-07:00

Was a real nice day today so didn't get much done on the beast. Put on the levers and controls to check tangle with the stablizer and made up a new bracket for the mini reservoir.

Don't worry, that is not my brake hose just the mock up hose. I will be using clear "TYGON 2075". Best on the planet.

STABLIZER / BAT BOX

2010-09-26T23:41:00.000-07:00

A buddy stopped by today from Toronto (other side of the country) and brough me a present. A quick parts exchange later and I had a nice billet stablizer which gives me much more room behind my head light.

Of course I will have to grind off the old mount and weld on another one but it is worth it.

Here is where the rear res is going to live. I am making a tap off the batter box to affix it to.

I have a brembo off an r6 but my mounts are done and it would require more welding and changing my new stailess steel push rod so I am thinking that is out.

1st MOUNT TURBO

2010-09-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

Mounted "twister" today to see where I could weld a support bracket so all the weight wasn't hangin off the exhaust ports.

My best bet is the cross member right behind "twister". I may remove the round bar and replace with square stock. Or may decide not to do anything at all.

I think this would be my last frame mod before it would be ready for powder. I am not doing any "beauty" work though until the dryfit is done.

REAR BRAKE AND TRIPLE

2010-09-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

Got some more done today.

For the katana, the pivot shaft for the rear brake needs attention when installing a bandit 1200 swingarm. There are a few ways to deal with the tight fit.

1. spread the peg stays apart

2. man handle the pivot/actuator

3. cut some material off the sleeve it fits into and put a spacer on the other side (this is what I did) The brake return spring mount needs to be relocated or the mushroom top ground down to clear the swing arm. Plus, the return stop pad needs to be reduced as it is in contact with the swing arm. (remember it may fit as it sits but check to make sure there is clearance @ full compression)

With the mod I did with the GSXR rear master and moving the mount for it I was left with needing a longer plunger rod. Enter fresh new polished stainless steel custom rod.

Moving along there is a new dyna coil mounting bracket. The dyna coils can short to the frame because the stock mounting holes on the katana frame are too close together. That forces me to use the inner mount on the coils which brings the plug boots into very close if not contact with the mount itself. This will cause a very irritating intermittent miss that can take some time to track down. (ask me how I know)

Now back to the 954 triples. I decided to use the stock gs rubber seal for this bike. The gs seal has a .100" depth so I cut the lower stem nut on the lathe to fit. Turns out there isn't enough material there to do the whole job so I made a spacer to take up the rest of the slack.

By doing that I am left with a small space between the nut and triple as the triple has a smaller OD than that part of the stem. I will be cutting down the second jam nut to suit. In the pic you can't see the second set of threads it mates to. the front end is being held by my foot while my hands are full with posing and picture taking.

Then finally, the stops. I have welded new ones to the lower triple, welded new stop on the frame and I have even seen bolts throught the lower triple to be the stops. For this one I drilled and tapped out the existing stops. I had to turn down some #7 suzuki bolt heads and used a jam nut.

Very easy to adjust and no risk of warping the triple with an over zealous welder.

B12 SWING ARM

2010-09-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

Bandit 1200 swing arm, bandit 1200 rear wheel, '05 gsxr armless hanger and caliper. GS1100 sprocket carrier with inner spacer

I machined the usual stainless steel reducer bushings with collars to fit swing arm into the gs frame, custom stainless steel spacers to center the wheel. When mixing and matching parts it can get crazy. IF you buy a different year brack hanger/caliper than your wheel... start with the proper hanger spacer for the wheel to try and align the caliper. Calipers for the most part are made up of two sides bolted together. See if the center line in the caliper falls centered with the rotor. If it doesn't adust as needed.

The '05 hanger is for a 24mm diameter axle so I made a spacer/sleeve for that side. Also, a receiver was needed to weld to the inside of the arm for the tongue of the hanger. This works in place of the brake arm to immobilize the caliper.

I am using bolt on extensions although they have been modestly tacked on. They may be great for straight line but I am not comfortable with twisting it up with only 4 screws holding my whole back end on. The lateral loading makes me nervous. I may be machining some extension that will be welded to the arm where the original axle mounts. I may be cutting the ends off and welding in some extensions of my own.

In regard to the shocks. care must be taken to make sure they are perpendicular to the swing arm. If they are not they can bind, not work well and hasten ware. Attention must be paid to the spacing of the upper and lower shock mounts when using a custom swing arm. I always use the Suzuki inner rubber bushings in my shock mounts to offset any offset... ahahahah. I have seen mounts made with just holes in alum blocks which may be ok since the shocks themselves have bushings up top. The clevis ends should be bushed as well. That is a personal perspective and if its good enough for the Suzuki engineers, its good enough for me.

NOt a good pic I know. The wheel is centered though it looks way off in this pic.

ONe more tip. Before welding on any shock mounts you may want to install your chain to see where the clearance issues are. NOt all shocks have the same spring diameter and after your done in not the best time to find out the shock mount should have been a couple mm to the left.

MORE FRAME

2010-09-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

I got the wheels on today after misting the frame with some black.

Front end is 2002 honda 954 triples, '94 gsxr 750 forks, '95 gixxer front wheel and tokico 6 pot stoppers. I am using a spacer where the speedo drive should be that I got from a bandit 1200. Not sure of the year cuz I know many of them have the speedo which fits the gixxer wheels as well. I will be going digital with the clocks so don't need the cable. Fender is '05 gixxer that needs custom mounts. Clipons are '92 gsxr 750 (1100 clips don't work) If they are a little low for some you can use 954 clipons. They have a couple inch rise to them.

To mount the 954 triples you have to press out the lower race and press on a new tapered bearing Just look on ebay for 954 tapered bearings. They fit the '82/'83 katana neck. You have to fab some new steering stops and contour the stock kat ignition to fit the hole. It will fit with some carving.

Here is one I did a few years ago.

The 954 stem is the right length but the upper bearing sits a partially on the lock down threads which are the same OD. It has two lock nuts unlike our single so I only use the one lock down.

The 954 triple is the same spread as the gixxer 750 so no alignment problems for calipers or rotors. I use them to gain more fork length as the top triple has a step. You have to use both triples, the gixxer triples do not match up. I spent money and time trying to fit gixxer lowers to a 954 top.

Being my new trail numbers are similar to the gsxr I have added a stablizer to the front end. Very tricky business, not much room in there. I know there is another one that runs under the fairing side cover but they only work with stock forks. The gixxer forks are much wider. I couldn't find room.

All in all front end went smooth.

BUILD CONTINUES

2010-09-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

First order of business is the frame. Is it straight... YEs.

Next, clean all the tabs and bits off I don't like (center stand mounts, rear brake res mount, battery mounts ect...ect...

After its all cleaned up, start figuring out where new tabs and mounts need to go for all the new goodies. Since I was relocating the electrics, a new under pan was in order. Getting the tail light to the right position under the tail is a bit of work being the stock mount is on the inner fender and is off angle.

For bracing I did a couple things:

Pic below: A triangle piece was put in to hide some wires. Also, with the under pan I dropped it lower up front so the harness wires and others could run above and not be seen. I also used a piece of stainless steel pipe .060" wall for the subframe. I used stainless cuuuuz, I polished it and it won't be getting powder. When done the frame will be powder nd it will be an accent polished piece as well as being some structural support.

A new battery box was in order. I use a YTZ14S AGM battery. It has 230 CCA which is needed for these old 1100s. It is also small enough to turn sideways in the frame. (5.93” x 3.46” 4.37”) and weighs about a pound less. These can be used in any position other upside down. (so I am told)

I pondered over the quesion of keeping the stock pegs or moving to "rear sets"... well, after changing my mind 12 different times I decided that my main complaint with the stock set is the rear master being in the middle of my now nice clean empty space. So, I decided to relocate the master and use a GSXR master. I am going to have to make a custom brake rod being the distance to the rocker/actuator is longer now. I will turn one out of stainless steel and thread it so it covers all the threads on the GSXR push rod. It was a lot of work to move it 2"!!! the reservoir is now in behind the side cover. I will have a sight window for it as well (later pics) It only took two days to figure out a spot for it. These kats do not have much wiggle room under what little plastic is there.

With the bandit arm, and stock peg stay, the brake pivot needs attention. I cut 1mm off the inside boss of the pivot allowing the pivot shaft to move out board to help clear the arm. Also, needed to redirect the lower foot with the brake stop and trim some too. In the pic the frame is on its nose for those trying to figure out the picture. The return spring tab has to be reduced and the return stop pad had to be reduced as well to clear the arm.

I didn't do any cross bracing in the airbox area this time however, I did beef it up some with a removable bolt in chunk of aluminum. It is a solid piece right now but there will be some design changes to come.

Most everything is tacked in so off to the tigmaster for completion in the next day or two. I am sure there will be further work to do but the major job is done and anything else I can do myself as the build goes on.

I will be completely building this beast before anything does to the beauty shop.

LOOKING AHEAD

2010-09-26T03:29:00.000-07:00

I think the frame is just about done for welding but looking ahead maybe a turbo mounting/support bracket may be in order. I will have to mount "twister" and see.

I am not sure I like the idea of the the turbo just hanging from the exhaust ports.

KATANA FRAME

2010-09-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

Got my frame back today from the welder

Here is my home made rig to check the frame for tweaks. Pretty self expanitory. Measure the triangles...

Here is the new coil bracket I made to clearence the plug wires. The Dyna coils have a tendancy to ground arc to the stock coil mount area from the plug wire boot. The stock mount is just too tight to the coil.

Time to mount the bandit 1200 swingarm. Katana pivot is 16mm, bandit pivot is about 20mm so a reducer bushing needs to be made. Also the bandit arm is narrower than the GS frame so they need collars as well.

When mounting the rear gsxr/bandit wheel (5.5 rim) I always use the GS sprocket carrier for this reason, sprocket sits closer to the midline of the bike so you have more chain clearance by the frame.

By doing this you also have to use the GS inner hub bushing. They are shorter than the gsxr. IF you use the wrong size bushing you will 1. not gain any chain clearance or 2. explode a wheel bearing from lateral loadiing.

I take the rubber cush out of the wheel when checking inner bushing fitment to eliminate the "squish factor". With the cush in the hub the carrier/bushing don't seat against the wheel bearing surface until the wheel is torqued down. You have to squish the cush to see if the bushing is the right size. That inner bushing has to mate against the wheel bearing or you may find yourself in a world of trouble on some lonely corner somewhere. The rubber cush is ONLY for rotational dampening.

TURBO KATANA PROJECT BEGINS

2010-09-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

I started thinking about EFI years ago when A buddy introduced me to MEga Squirt EFI Systems. Found it intriguing.

I however have ended up with a "SIMPLY DIGIGAL SYSTEMS" EFI controller. I also had the opportunity to get a turbo system built for a good price so when ahead and did that.

The following is the the installation of the above into my 1983 katana with '82 wheels. Ain't she a beaut!!

PROJECT

1983 GSX 750 KATANA WITH 1100 FUEL INJECTED TURBO ENGINE

Simply digital systems EFI control system (fuel only)

Hillborn throttle bodies

Hand built turbo

Dyna 2000/4000 ignition

Digital keyless ignition

Digital Tach/speedo

1994 GSXR frontend

Bandit rear end

Relocating electrics under seat

Some frame bracing

LED lighting

HID head light

I had originally started this build with an R1 swingarm. I have decided to stay with the bandit arm as it looks cleaner and leaner. The R1 arm is done except for shock mounts but with the stock pegs it just looked toooooo busy back there for my liking. I'll save that for some rear set bike build down the road.

Well, that is the general list. Time will tell how much of it actually gets done.

turbo has arrived

2009-12-19T00:15:00.000-08:00

Well it was a long time coming but I got turbo and fuel injection. There are some significant issues to over come but nothing catastrophic I don't think.

Fuel pump and lines are an issue along with AMPS. the kat has a very low output generator so power could be a problem to run all the electrics.