Bike of the Month.

I have been getting pm requests eager for history so I will start now.
Suzie was brought home from Intercontinental Kawasaki in the early Spring of 1978
Paid about $3,500.00 Dollars Cash.
I knew I was going to buy this model as soon as I sat on the seat and grabbed the handlebars as I felt She was a perfect fit.
With in 2 months I bought a set of 29 mm smoothbore carbs and pod filters. Jetting was done by my bud Ted and I with little difficulty.
Ted had purchased a new 78 Z1R a month before I bought my LTD. We were constant riding/ wrenching buds and fast friends.
So at first the Z1R could edge me out once we hit about 60 mph , but the 26 mm stock carbs worked better up until that point.
The 29 smoothies were my answer to being beat and they made us dead even and we verified that fact at about every stoplite.
Ted and I went on to help and crew for our friend Kevin Tooma who became our team owner with his dads help in funnybike and topfuel racing for the next 10 years.
So Ted put a Winning brand 4into 1 headr on his bike ( NAMED STANLEY ) and the battle was on again . He started beating me again so back to the bank and I put what I felt was a better pipe on Suzie. This was the Yoshimura Road racing pipe and
I now held the advantage again
Ted and I continued to up the ante every few months for the next year or so. Changes in gearing , 1075cc , 1200cc,
welding cranks, backcut transmissions , head work , dragslicks , struts and wheelie bars
BOY oh Boy did we have fun . We got good deals and free run of a number of machine shops, and discounts on parts
as we were a force to be reckoned with and we would put shop stickers on our swingarms and promote our sponsors.
Skipping ahead for a moment Ted and I went to a new bike dealer unveiling once at Andersons cycle in Bloomfield on Telegraph road to see the new bikes at Michigans largest dealer. Of course we rode our bikes. We were inside checking out the new bikes when the dealers general manager came up to us and asked us to leave the premises as the biggest crowd was outside checking out our two bikes instead of looking at the bikes he had for sale...LOL Proud moment LOL
Those were good times and great memories of times gone by..
Next chapter is real racing . I promise to scan some old photos and share them soon.
So Kevin , Ted and I became traveling team members running alot of sanctioned events east of the Mississippi in funny bike.
Our home track for testing and fun was Milan Dragway. Cliff the owner loved when we came out as he knew we were a draw for the local bike scene. Our first real race bike was a Kosman built frame , laydown chassis with a 8 inch slick. We called it the little digger. Another member here Ralph Pitlock from Paintworkz did Kevins paint on all his bikes including our honda pitbike.
Nice work Ralph. Best painter I know...
So anyway we had lots of fun and won a lot of races . WE were blessed with Kevins dad Doc Tooma who had deep pockets and spent a lot of money on making our team competitive.
We would show up to a race with our bike and spare motors and parts to build a couple more motors if needed. .

MORE LATER

Dave

Nice bike.!!! Well done!!!! All your modifications well thought out, and professionally done!!!!

No half-ass mickey mouse stuff on your bike.

Its nice to have full confidence in your build when you are pulling redline in 4th on full boost, and going for 5th!!!!

I remember the first time I rode a ATP turbo KZ back in the 70's. I remember the headlight shinning in the trees above me in 2nd or 3rd gear. That thing pulled as hard in 4th and 5th as it did in 2nd!!!!

Thanks Dr G
Suzie has truly been my Blue collar Ferrari .
Funny you talk about 4th and 5th gear pulling hard as lower gears
All True, But the reality has been most races at least on the street are over as I shifted
into 3rd gear . As my shift out of 2nd was at 110 MPH and climbing faster than warp drive.
Only serious races from serious racers needed to go above that point.
Standard rule when racing is to make sure the other driver knew not to cross into my lane as
no way could I stop from hitting them if they did. .
Usually made my passes of other racers who could out holeshot me down low by passing them hard on the brakes as I went by.
My only serious competition was my friend Ted who turned his Z1R into the ultimate drag bike .
To do that he stretched his bike way out with a 6 to 8 over arm and gave up all around street drivability as far as corner carving which has always been a goal to maintain on Suzie
Thanks for the comments
Dave

A few more facts
Motor is bored to 1075cc with MTC blower / turbo pistons . Purchased , honed and rings fitted by Joe Hooper at Pitstop. Grreat prices and service . Crankshaft is reworked by Falicon to Ultralite Supercrank status. APE studs on head and crank with crank plate on mains with camchain anti skip insert inside cap. Blue printed oil pump with deep pickup in 5 quart deep sump oil
pan with oil swing gate.
Transmission is back cut in both directions with APE shift bushing and flat pusher bearing at clutch.
Clutch is Action 4 ( A Bill Hahn Company ) with extra plates and heavy springs. Clutch also has Karata glide centrifugal lock up with double nuts for weights.
APE manual cam chain adjuster holds the HD camchain in position . Currently running stock cams which is all it needs since motor is boosted, Cylinder head is ported and valves done by Tim Connely from Chrysler air flow research and development . Along with being a KZ master Timmy is the hands on guy who made the Viper motors flow and run right are among his accomplishments .
Valves are over size Stainless steel ( Manleys ) with APE springs and APE titanium retainers, viton seals.
Motor has Cometic and OEM gaskets and I am running a one piece copper head gasket with wire o rings around each cylinder.
Crankcase venting is out the top of the cam cover and the original vent is blocked off. I run a one inch vent hose from the
cam cover to the drive chain inside the chain guard so any oil mist safely lubes the chain .
The heart of the beast is the MR TURBO Race Kit installed in the early 80s. I switched to the Mikuni 42 flat slide carb some time ago and it is very easy to tune . Turbo is a Rajay 40 unit with single stage waste gate.
Boost is where its at if you want to fly. I have the rare straight back exhaust pipe which was marketed for bikes meant to carry a passenger and I dont like the looks of the usual pipe that goes down low then kicks up in a megaphone shape
Spark is from a Dyna ignition and coils with B9ES plugs.
This motor sings a very nice tune from idle thru high boost. Sounds like a Indy car..
Took the Nitrous off years ago as it was just not needed since this is not a drag only machine . Suzie gets the job done just fine with boost only and has good street manners.
More to follow Thanks
Dave

Pics really don't do suzy justice. She's much better looking in person. About time you brought her here.


Les

les holt wrote: Pics really don't do suzy justice. She's much better looking in person. About time you brought her here.


Les

Thanks Les ,
I was very hesitant to feature my own bike , But Im glad you all talked me into it
Ron Finch and me

More background info on my bike .
Motor has been sprayed in Gloss black and Les reminded me to clean off the head cooling fins which I did with a flat file and a hard sanding block to make them pop.
Using brushed aluminum cam end plugs with a a little dab of yamabond to help seal them. These are needed as the positive crankcase pressures while under boost conditions tend to force oil out of any weak spots.
I drilled out and tapped the head oil galleries to be able to clean them out during rebuilds and after cleaning and then installed brass plugs with teflon tape to seal them back up , And they look cool too.
I run a pingle brass high flow petcock to help maintain good fuel flow to the Mr Turbo prepped 42 Mikuni carb, Jetting is easy with this setup , I have the accelerator pump set up to come on early and fat to stave off a lean condition. One day I plan on converting to a hydraulic clutch system , but not yet. ]
From Airtech fairings I got a nice extra long belly pan and painted it black to match the bike . Paint is rattle can for now until I see how it stands up to the road. Eventually I will do it right and add some matching pinstriping .
Also from Airtech I picked up the Clubman handlebars. They are installed up side down to put them at a height I can feel comfortable with as Im no little guy .. Factory LTD gauges have chrome upper covers and boost gauge is is a new one from Mr Turbo since the original was leaking glycerin .
Front brakes have stainless steel lines from Z1 Ent. and the neatest piece on the front end are the custom fabricated Triple trees with the built in dual brake splitter made for me by Les Holt at PDM . They are very well done and strong as hell . Really stiffens up the front end along with the fork brace.
Next are the dual steering dampners which mount from the trees to the frame . I braced the frame tabs for the reflectors with metal gussets and this worked out great.
Also from PDM along with the triple trees are Les Holts aluminum engine mounts and a set of his
rears set foot controls. All as we have learned to expect from PDM are awesome pieces and the fit is perfect.
More later. The list goes on and on LOL
Dave

More bike info
Handlebars and grips are from Airtech. They are Clubmans installed up side down to raise them up just enough.
Frame is braced by Chuck from Logghe Chassis. Chuck built many Kaws and raced them . He was very well known and respected for building race car chassis for big names . Google Chuck and see. The frame has a few braces you wont see any where else due to his direct feedback race experience. Steering neck has tapered roller bearings from All Balls and I run twin steering dampeners from Kawasaki. Rear fender is moved back 2 inches with a hand made aluminum bracket in preparation for a new swingarm which is planned
All body work is original
Dave

Great write up Dave and beautiful bike . Thanks for posting it

You have an amazing bike Dave. Thanks for posting all the details. A great bike of the month and a well deserved winner of many prizes.

JR wrote: You have an amazing bike Dave. Thanks for posting all the details. A great bike of the month and a well deserved winner of many prizes.

Thanks Guys
Getting toward the end of build info.
Seat is a Corbin Gunfighter / and Lady.
It was a real pain to deal with Corbin as to schedule . Took about 4 months or longer.
They dont offer this exact seat any longer as far as I can tell.
Options were gel pads, stitching, Flame pattern on seat top, and prep for their backrest.
It does work great and does keep me from flying off the back LOL.
Chrome rear brake arm is a part I kept on the bike from the rear shock lowering kit I once had on the bike.
Looks and works good. I have new Avon tires of which I have installed the back one already with the front to follow as soon as I decide to pull it off and go to the shop.
Rear tail lite retains the stock location but is mounted to a handmade aluminum bracket which
saves weight and allows the light to fit snug to the back fender.
Chrome and polishing done at Browns in Kentucky.
Frame was painted in black imron over epoxy chromate primer after bracing was added
Hope you all like Suzie
Dave

I noticed you took the front signals off, don't you need them where you ride?