Upside Down Winter Project

[aviationfred]

Everything is together. A custom length Spiegler brake line is coming from RPM and hopefully will arrive tomorrow. The brake lines that are installed are borrowed from my Vmax. They work, but are a bit long. I will be taking a test ride later this afternoon.


Fred

[jscgdunn]

Looks really good Fred!

[Pat Conlon]

Outstanding Fred!   Where's the snow?

Looking at the picture of your Tarrozzi clip on's confirms my suspicions that (for installation below the top triple) no way in hell will those fit in the space between between the 50mm USD fork tubes and the fairing's side panels.
Just like Frank said....The FZ-1 bar is what I will have to do.....

Please report back your riding impressions...

Your bike is totally bitchen!  I know who I'm voting for at the WCR....Ain't it fun?

[giantkiller]

Lookin good Fred. Can't wait to hear what you think about the bar location.

[aviationfred]

I took a very short 4 mile ride this evening. My first impression is.....It all works well. I have not made any adjustments to the forks and they ride pretty much the same as the OEM, RPM fork valve equipped forks. This ride was only on 40 MPH posted city streets. I will get to some bumpy, cracked roads and freeway riding in the next few days. The brakes worked ok...I will wait for the new brake line before I comment on the brakes. The bar reach is about the same as stock. The 2 inch wider bar is noticeable. Not a bad thing, just different. I didn't think about it until after I got back home. Vibrations....On a good note, no vibrations caught my attention. I plan on riding the bike to work in the morning. I will specifically pay attention to what vibrations get transmitted into the handle bars.


Looking at the picture of your Tarrozzi clip on's confirms my suspicions that (for installation below the top triple) no way in hell will those fit in the space between between the 50mm USD fork tubes and the fairing's side panels.
Just like Frank said....The FZ-1 bar is what I will have to do.....

Pat, You may consider contacting Dan McCoy (giantkiller) to see if he can get a set of extensions made for you.

The one thing I was really concerned about was the height of the front end. Before I removed the OEM forks and with the bike on the center stand. I took a measurement from the forward sub-frame cross bar underneath the headlight to the floor. There was no problem getting that height set with the new forks.


Fred

[Pat Conlon]

No need for tube extensions on the YZF forks.

Keep us informed on your riding impressions.

[aviationfred]

Here is the itemized list of the parts required for this mod. I have done my best to identify all models and years that the parts can be sourced from. If the parts states only 2007/2008 GSX-R1000, than I highly recommend only using the part from that model and years.


Front wheel          2005-2008 GSX-R1000, 2006/2007 GSX-R750, 2006/2007 GSX-R600

Forks                   2007/2008 GSX-R1000

Rotors                  2007/2008 GSX-R1000

Calipers                2005-2008 GSX-R1000, 2006/2007 GSX-R750, 2006/2007 GSX-R600

Fender                  2007/2008 GSX-R1000, 2008/2009 GSX-R750, 2008/2009 GSX-R600

Top Yoke               2007/2008 GSX-R1000
upper triple clamp

Steering stem        2007/2008 GSX-R1000
lower triple clamp

FJ Steering Stem    1984-1990 interchange, 1991-1993 interchange only with said years.

FJ Steering Stem    all years, Items 3-7 in the parts breakdown diagram
Hardware

Handle Bars           Tarozzi clip ons, 50mm diameter, 70mm rise

Brake line              Spiegler Stainless steel braided, Single line 880mm length with 20 degree banjo fittings. The length and fittings may vary due to the type of master cylinder used.

Suzuki crossover    2005-2008 GSX-R1000, 2006/2007 GSX-R750, 2006/2007 GSX-R600
brake line

Bar ends                HVMP heavy weight (14oz.) each. pressure lock style

Fender bolts           6 total, the 4 forward bolts are one part number and the aft 2 bolts are a another part number. The parts diagram only says 2 required for the forward mount. Order 4. These can be found
                            in titanium

Caliper bolts           4 total, these can be found in titanium

Rotor bolts             10 total, I used titanium, slightly less weight, reducing rotating mass

Fork Extensions      Custom fabricated to Dan McCoy's (giantkiller) specs. Purchased as finished items from Dan.

Top Yoke Bushing    Locally fabricated.

I left out hand grips, brake pads as the type and brand used is a personal choice.

Over all this mod is fairly straight forward. For skills required, If you can change your own fork seals, than this mod is in reach of your skills. Very minor machine work is required. I don't have the equipment to do this and I outsourced the work. The steering stems are pressed out of the lower triples. The FJ stem requires the lower end to be very slightly enlarged by adding some weld. Then turned down and press fit into the Suzuki lower. The top yoke bushing is simply to take up space between the two upper threaded areas and the hole in the Suzuki yoke.

I hope this helps anyone else that is interested in doing this.


Fred

[Alf]

Good work Fred! And thanks for the do-it-yourself guide.

I understand the proud of being the owner of a unique bike, but apart of this, how is the handling?, is it better than, i.e., the FJ specific Randy valves & springs?, because the GSXr 1000 is a completely different beast with different requeriments for its suspension not only for weight, but in rigidity too, and this is the opposite way to a comfortable road bike

Keep us informed about of your next fast riding impressions, please

[aviationfred]

Something else that needs to be mentioned. It was noted early in this thread about the speedometer. With this mod, you loose the wheel driven speedo drive. Two alternatives are readily available. There are magnetic pick up style speedos and GPS speedos. I have been using a GPS speedo for a few years now so there was no modification required. There is a great mod thread for the Speed Hut GPS speedo.

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=12192.0


Fred

[aviationfred]

Took the bike out this afternoon for some riding. Covered a good variety of roads. Smooth streets, some bumpy sections, crossed a few train tracks, some freeway riding with varied smoothness and overpass's with expansion joints, even hit a cloverleaf with heavy cracked and patched concrete. The front end soaks it all up like a dream.



Fred

[axiom-r]

Congrats Fred!   The bike looks stunning.....   You did a great job on the write up too.  Those brakes should be an obvious and huge improvement - if they are feeling wooden the pads might not be seated yet?  Keep after it - When I did mine the quality of the braking was one of the biggest differences and it blew me away...


Cheers!


tim

[jscgdunn]

No need for tube extensions on the YZF forks.

Keep us informed on your riding impressions.

Pat...what year YZF?

thx,

Jeff

[Flynt]

Pat...what year YZF?

Not Pat, but I have the same front forks...  any year YZF750R ('93-'98 production) will do.  They are nice compression and rebound adjustable forks, but you'll need to rework the internals.  Mine went to GP Suspension for spring and stack tuning to match an FJ's more portly character.

Frank

[Pat Conlon]

Yep, just as Frank said....also sent mine to GP suspension..

Jeff..Here's a write up: http://www.fjmods.co.uk/MarcRittner2.htm

Still waiting for the YZF750 top triple from Germany (ordered thru Spiegler)

[aviationfred]

At the moment... The bumps part of the equation is handled and I am very pleased. Next is the handling department. The Tarozzi clips are very adjustable. I initially set them with a very slight pull back. The handling was very neutral, with a flat tracker feel in the bars. The wider bar area and a bit more straight than stock put my hands very far apart. For me and my riding style, even with the neutral handling, I didn't like it. I have since begun to incrementally rotate the bars towards me.


Fred