bluezbike wrote: I don't know if you are going to keep the fairing and bags but they add a lot of weight and the suspension may not have been upgraded to deal with that.

I got around to changing my fork oil last night. Unless my book is wrong my front forks have longer springs. The book says they should be 7.6" and 14.4" the springs measure 8 1/8th" and 15 1/4". I highly doubt that would have became longer over time. Either they have been upgraded or the book is wrong.

I also pulled the swing arm out and greased the prop shaft and swingarm bearings and changed the oil in the rear drive.

I've changed the brake fluid and flushed them through. Changed the oil and filter and changed the air filter.

I've lubbed all the cables, the speedo unit on the wheel, and the mechanical timing advancer.

Is there anything else maintence wise that I should attend to?

hawkman wrote: The engine does a bit of torque production. I bought a new chain for the bike and was stunned to see the size difference. I had heard more than a few stories about the 750 snapping chains... And I'm leaning towards keeping the swing arm, as I don't have all the jigs and stuff to hold the bike straight. I got the bike loaded in my truck now I'm waiting for the weather to co-op so I can get me some fabbing done. Since I moved out the house and lost my garage space, I have had to work off my trailer in storage... no fun !

37 ft lbs @ 8k rpm is not that much considering we are talking about the same bike.

The engine does a bit of torque production. I bought a new chain for the bike and was stunned to see the size difference. I had heard more than a few stories about the 750 snapping chains... And I'm leaning towards keeping the swing arm, as I don't have all the jigs and stuff to hold the bike straight. I got the bike loaded in my truck now I'm waiting for the weather to co-op so I can get me some fabbing done. Since I moved out the house and lost my garage space, I have had to work off my trailer in storage... no fun !

Some useful information about your 1981 GPz 1100 B1:

1981 GPz 1100 Info

Does it look like a real good example. Cost is irrelevant. If you can stand looking at it that's good enough . Experience ? Sorry to laugh but with just 5 members here I could easily document 200 years total experience . I probably won't have to introduce you the post and the pic will draw them in .

The stock coils come in two flavors , crap and soon to be crap .

Now on to the real info :

1) adjust the valves unless you are confident that the PO has recently adjusted the valves . then do it anyway

2) never run or ride on anything but a fully charged healthy battery . the stator on these bikes has always been a wee bit suspect but the rest of the charging system is more or less bullet proof . Custom Rewind -- High Quality Remanufactured Motorsports Electronics, Rotors, Stators, Ignition Systems just in case . Gary just gets it right .

3) the front forks are ok for the era but marginal if they go without service for a long period of time . they respond very well to just a complete disassembly and reload of oil . if you're going to ride it consider progressive springs . this is one front end where I don't like the cartridge emulators . A good word for the emulators I tried would be spooky and disconnected from the road . up to you ...

4) if in need of a chain and sprockets you may want to consider a 530 conversion . the stock 630 chain is incredibly heavy and has a habit of transmitting it's inertia to the rear suspension . although the sprocket sets can be had cheaply on e-bay pass on the included chain . modern 530 O ring chains are every bit as tough as the original 630 and will with care last every bit as long .

5) The front brakes need constant attention . mainly just disassembly and cleaning . in the odd case a tiny bit of grease on the back side of the pad and scuffing the pad and rotor with some 80 grit will cure most ills . if the pads are still metallic (bronze sintered) get rid of them and use a quality semi metallic . full metallic will just trash your rotors in short order and unless you are racing the slight decrease in braking performance won't be missed or even noticed . replace the brake lines w/ braided steel covered tfe . replace the brake lines w/ braided steel covered tfe . did I repeat myself ? must have been a reason.

Optional :
these bikes are torque pits . near bottomless buckets full of low end torque. with a little bit of minor engineering an extra friction plate can be fitted . this is a better option than aftermarket clutch material in the long run . you need to acquire the kz400/440 clutch steel plates they are just enough thinner that an extra friction plate can be fitted with just a little modification to the release mechanism.

you should take a look at the swing arm pivot as most I've seen are corroded and just plain shot . a disassembly , cleaning and re-lube may be all it takes .

tapered needle bearings in the steering head . if it doesn't have them already it's just the thing to do .

that should be enough to wrap your mind around for now.
Kopcicle

To tell you the truth, I think it would be much easier (and possibly safer) to lop off the current brackets on the swinger and find a good aluminum welder in your area to set you up for an eye mount.
I would look much cleaner and OEM to boot.

Im currently staring at my GS1100 swinger in the garage wondering if I should do that before mounting it up, it would give a whole lot more options for suspension.

I've been stumped on how to run piggyback shocks on my Z1 with a GS1100 swingarm without spending a ton of $$$$$$$.

I want to do something like this bike.

I have a idea of a set of machined shackles that would fix this problem. I made a simple drawing of my idea as it came to me.
(The "orange" part in the drawing is thicker and contoured to the eye on the swingarm).
The two pieces come together and sandwich the factory GS1100 swingarm eye.

This is with the back piece of the shackle in place.

Can anyone here make these?

Got a ??? curious, i just recently bought my first bike.. 77 KZ650. Great bike, but i wanna swap out the swingarm.. to add a lil length & wider tire in the rear... a friend of mine gave me a swingarm off a 01' or newer gsxr 1000.. i know the older gsxr swingarm will fit wit a lil modifaction. but was wondering if anyone had some info??? I would greatly apperciate the help....

otakar wrote: Here is one on my bike.

What shocks are those and does anyone know of a gas charged shocks that won't break the bank?
I have gs1100 shocks on my mockup but they are too short. Eye to clevis is 13.5

It's just going to be too low. I want to install, maybe a set of 70's LTD wheels and front forks.
Trying to make a low budget version of this bike.
www.ac-sanctuary.co.jp/rcm-list/gallery/z1_z2/rcm121/index.html

I think I might use Les's rearsets, but can't find eye to clevis shocks like I want longer than 13.5??? Anyone have ideas????
compare.ebay.com/like/400385277818?var=l...ceItemTypes&var=sbar

What is the eye to clevis measurement on goldwings?

Thanks

I cannot post pics, don't know how to but here is the ebay number if you want to look at it. GSX1100F Swingarm. 310527861225 Also one of the guys on here said that kawasaki zx6 are pretty close and are about 3 inches over the Z so that is what I would be looking for preferably. $tevie.

I'm finding a lot of GSX1100 F swingarms on the UK ebay site and they are 230mm at the pivot and 650mm overall length. Would that be the same as a GS1100 ?? I'm not sure if the UK models are called different to the USA models, same as we have Z over here, you have KZ