Hi all,  this is a great board.

I'm looking at getting a wrecked gs500 to be a ratbike on the track.  Unfortunately I don't have much time to do my diligence, I hope your advice will help!

- the right case cover & electronics behind it are smashed.   What are the electronic bits?   How much $ am i looking at for these?

- the handlebars are also gone...  is there a good race-replacement, or should I stick with standard?   (again, $?)

- is there any real option to relocate the pegs?    Or would I have to shorten them?

- what engine protection options are available... sliders, crash bars, thicker covers?   What are your favourite products?

- Are there decent race tires available for that wheel size?

- Is it possible to get decent suspension on the cheap?  I'm 200lbs + gear.

Any other gs500-specific race advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Welcome to the board.

More than a few GSs here have been turned into track bikes.  All of your questions can be answered through searching the archives.

Here is some info to get you started:

Suspension: - GSXR 750 rear shock, progressive or Race-tech front springs or better yet switch to Katana or GSXR front suspension.

Tires - Bridgestone BT-090, or maybe Pirelli Supercorsa, depends if you keep the stock rear wheel and where you're located.

Handlebars - Go with clip-ons, if you upgrade the forks its easy.  If you stick with stock forks and look around hard you can find some race clip-ons or Honda Hurricane bars to put on (37mm)

You can put case savers on, or engine guards.  If you look at the www.GStwin.com main page there is a race prep section which is still mostly current and helpful.  It will also answer your peg questions.

Hope this helps get you started.  As for your damaged ignition plate, look used.  


Adam

Thanks for the response Adam.  I read that racer page 6 months ago and forgot most of it.  It's full of great stuff!  I wish the SV site had one like it.

Most of my questions are answered except of course the $ ones  I guess I have to decide if it's worth it even after all the bits & pieces are added in.

Welcome, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  :kiss:...just kidding....

The right side of the engine is where the ignition rotor is located.  Hmmm...how bad is it?  Are the threads for the screws that hold on the little round plate in good shape?  Buying the ignition rotor and all of the junk around it might be a difficult task if you are on a budget and don't want to sell your soul to the dealer/stealer... Usually people sell engines complete...well, good news, an auction for a gs engine just started on ebay today, only 4k mi. ...otherwise someone here might have some parts...I don't know how much they cost... :dunno:

handlebars - srinath(one of the board gurus) has some great bars for sale that put your hands in relatively the same position as clip-ons.  Easier to find than used honda ones or the ones that came stock on some British gs' and way, way cheaper than Vortex's.

For pegs you can use GSXR pegs...pretty much any recent year will work ('00+).  A little grinding on the backside is all that's necessary to make 'em work.  The stealers wanted $30 a piece for 2002 pegs...I got both complete passenger sets on ebay for $5 not including shipping.  At a dealer I would pay at least $100.  Alo of racers here have fancy racing sets with rigid pegs so in the event of a lowside it will slide on the pegs more than everything else.

dgyver, a racer here makes some race fairings and rear cowls and can make them out of carbon fiber/glass/kevlar/paper mache or whatever you want...check out his thread in the For Sale section.

Tires- yes, you can find all kinds for the gs...some people use a Bandit 400 rear wheel so they can run a bigger rear.  Look at pantablo's website, he is a moderator here(scroll up on general page) look at his profile.  There is a link to his website that has tons of mods... some that can be used for racing.

You'll want to use a k&n filter #ru-2970,  get yourself an aftermarket pipe(talk to srinath) then rejet your carbs(check the FAQ.)

You might also need to put a smaller sprocket up front(15t I think...someone?:dunno:).

That's all I can think of right now...the Wild Turkey is kickin' in...

Oh well you dont want the bars Dom is talking about on a race bike ... its gonna be freaking heavy ... 4.5 lbs dry ... ofcourse if you crash in the race and you wanna beat the guy that made you crash ... its the ideal weapon ...
I make some clipon type things ... might work ... if you retain a GS front fork set ... I also have one that can fit under the triple ... if you got rid of the swivel ear things that lights and T/S'es bolt to ...
Cool.
Srinath.

thanks dom, it's still 4 hours out from new year's here so i'm thinking BIKESBIKESBIKES until it's time to party!

Are you saying you can put gixxer *passenger* pegs as the main pegs on a gs500?      

I don't care too much about weight, if that was an issue i wouldn't be considering a 37hp bike  Ditto with the race fairings... the uglier the better!  I want people to be in awe of my el-cheapo ride!

I haven't inspected the area where the case cover came off.  I figured with the electronics (ignition rotor only?) and the cover, i could at worst play with the JB weld.

The suspension is what is worrying me the most, it looks like a few hundred bucks for either a drop in front end, or springs & emulators.

if you are going to pay for the emulators.....get a different front end....
katana is easiest and cheapest
next is the 90-95 GSXR750 USD

if you stick with the GS F/E.... buy an extra rotor or two

Yeah, the gsxr front and rear pegs are the same I think....I used gsxr rear pegs on my fronts.  A couple of minutes of grinding with the belt sander and I was good 2 go.

ok well read the faq, there is a mod on putting spacers in the front forks made of pvc pipe.  That will help the front a bit.  The problem is that your front brake stands a chance of overheating and warping because of all the braking you'll be doing.  That's one of the benefits of using the katana or gsxr forks....dual discs...

in addition to the ignition rotor you will need the other electrical junk in there, that's the hardest thing on the list to find at a good price without buying a whole used engine.  

As for weight, just fast a few days before your track day and you won't even feel the difference in handlebar weight...seriously, some of the skinniest guys I have ever seen race bikes...cheaters!  :lol:

As for the katana or gsxr front ends being "drop in", the I think that I have heard that the katana is easier than the gixxer.

I too have a salvage GS that I have been running in the MRA in Colorado, Unfortunately we don't have a Ultralight class so I have to race against bikes with significantly more ponies.  But here's what I have done:

Front end:
I started with the stock forks but put progressive fork springs, heavier weight oil, longer preload spacers (made from 3/4" PVC Pipe), stainless steel brake line and galfer pads, and woodcraft Clip-ons.  (clip-ons are a must)

Then I sprung for a GSXR-750 front end, the whole thing (wheel, Brakes, Forks, Triples, Steering Stem, Clip-ons, etc...) I bought it from a racer who was parting out his bike so they had upgraded internals ie Gold Valves.  I took them to a Machinist friend of mine who worked his magic with a lathe and made the modifications to fit my GS.

Rear Shock:
Again I stole from a GSXR.  The early to mid 90's 750's with the remote resovoir.  You might have to do a little grinding to make it fit but hey it's a racebike.

Motor:
I started with a Yoshimura full exhaust and a K&N Pod filter, and a Dynojet Kit (make sure you keep all the jet sizes because they get a little finike when you uncork them like that)

Then, after the motor started making some pretty bad noises I overhauled it and did it the right way!!  I had the Crank balanced and got  rid of the counterbalancer, got new con-rods from Falicon along with new Wiseco Pistons, I did not overbore it though.  I also had the head completely redone, new valves, springs, and Cam and I had the intake and exhaust ports bead blasted to smooth them out.  I also did a modification to the Ignition so that I could adjust the timing advance.  Oh, yeah and I put Barnett Clutch parts in.

Ergo's:
You can buy rearsets from Woodcraft or what I did was adapt a stock set off a honda 900RR, but I would suggest the woodcraft ones if you can afford it.

Tires:
You can, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, put a 150/60R17 on the back.  You are squeezing it on there a little bit which essentially reduces your contact patch but I usually make up for that by running slightly lower tire pressure.  And man does it flop into corners.  The Micheline Pilot Race work best for me but the Pirelli/Metzlers are pretty good too.

Misc:
Strip everything that is unusable off the Bike and make it as light as possible.  I use a electronic Tach from Daytona and a Fuel mixture sensor from K&N and those are the only guages I have.  I also cut a fiberglass lower from my friends Ducati and wired it on as a belly pan.

Final note:  
Unless you have a dying urge to flog an underpowered air-cooled twin or have a specific class that it will be competitive, Go buy a Honda 600F3 or a Kawi 600RR that's already been race prepped and run in the novice middleweight class.  You might save yourself a lot of headaches.  But then again, I can't think of a better bike to learn on.

QuoteI had the Crank balanced and got rid of the counterbalancer

how streetable is the engine since you ditched the CB shaft, Ive heard that its alittle buzzy, but this was from 2 guys that told me to run without a CB shaft anyway,  im thinking of doing just this but ballencing would be a must, just wondering if its worth the 210$ to do it for a street motor.

speedysmurf, thanks for the input.  That's a lot of work you've put into it!!   If i was willing to put that much work into a bike, i'd start off with a modern 600 for sure.

The reason I am interested in the gs500 is because it will qualify for our slowest class (we have f1, f2, and f3).   I already have an SV which I will run in the twin-cylinder class.  (the gs500 would qualify for that too).

Where are you located and what organization would you run through?

I'm in Vancouver, BC, Canada.   Our local club is WMRC - Westwood Motorcycle Racing Club.   Right now no one in the club has a gs500.

Planning on using Meighan's bike?

what happened to all the women that were on this board..... :dunno:  :dunno:  :dunno:  :dunno:

here!  haha jk

Uh, wtf, Grant did you buy my motorbike back from ICBC?