Was wondering if any of you have ever tried to cut/remove/drill/replace away weight from the GS.   I was into Cafe Racers for a while (although never had one) and it was always a big deal to get the bike down to it's bare minimum and have no extra frills and such (very lightweight and minimalistic racers).  Was just wanting to know if anyone has done this, and what they removed/or cut away.   Or if no one has, what types of things could be removed/cut/drilled to reduce weight.  Especially easier things that could be done, before getting into lighter wheels since that's an obvious one.

remove all tail plastic and install one of them CF solo tails should save about...10-15#
same as on all bikes remove all  useless crap..

drill the rear brake rotor
AL rerarsets

wheels will be the most difficult to find that fit and are lighter

cheeze grate anything/everything that is not load bearing

Cool question...

I am not sure what common weight loss plans are for the GS  I would guess you could start w/


The rear fender
Airbox
Center stand
Exhaust center stand stopper
Bar ends

Chain guard?
Maybe a smaller headlight and signals?

Most of the seat and rear sub frame could go too  if you really want to make it 3 lbs. lighter

go on a personal diet

I'm into drag racing pretty much everything i own.  As far as cars go, for every 100lbs you shed you will shed approx. 1/10th of a sec. in the 1/4 mile

But for bikes it is approx. every 10 lbs you shed you will shed a 1/10 in the quarter.

I'm already 145lbs @ 5'10", so I'm going to pass on that personal diet, that is the best thing for anyone who's got a couple extra pounds on them though.   Anyways, those are some great suggestions.  I've already ditched the CA Carb crap, and have a lunchbox filter.  That alone simplified things a ton, and lightened up probably about 2-3 pounds worth of useless junk.  Rear fender is gone as well.

I hadn't though of drilling the rear brake.  Think this would be best done with a drill press, and some very fine measurements to stay balanced.  Is there a replacement brake for the rear that's already drilled/lighter?

What areas could be cheese grated.  Seems like there's not too much unnecessary metal.  Guess I haven't looked deep enough.  Hey, maybe cutting up the battery box, just a thought.

Is there a lighter battery that anyone has used?  Stock's around 10 pounds or so, I bet there's a good one that's a few pounds lighter...maybe smaller as well.

Get rid of the stock exhaust can, that thing weighs a ton. Probably shave 5 or 10lbs by switching to a ti or carbon fiber one.

87-89 GSXR 750 aluminum swing arm.It's not much but every gram helps.Right?

I have hacked a lot off of different GS's for track bikes. Keeping it street legal makes it less fun.

The heaviest single part is the motor, weighing in at 140#. Not a lot that can be done, but what can be removed is not cheap like boring for larger pistons and removing the counter balance shaft where the crank would need to be rebalanced.

You will need a carbide drill or milling bit to drill the hard rotor. There is someone on www.wera.com that will modify your rotors, similar to Wave rotors.

I have fitted a smaller battery for the track but it is not large enough to run on the street. There are some other type of batteries that could be used but not cheap.

The sprocket cover has a bunch of material to remove. One area Ken was referring to cheese grate. I cut a large section out of it, primarily allowing access to the sprocket without removing the cover.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/dgyver/GS500/91GS500sprocketcover01.jpg

Besides what has already be mentioned...

Remove passenger pegs and mounts.
Aluminum exhaust hanger.
Shorten subframe.
Replace handlebars with aluminum clip-ons.
Aluminum rear sprocket.
Replace gages with an electronic gage, like Veypor.
Replace rear brake torque bar with aluminum.

Awesome ideas Dgyver.  These types of things are what I was looking for.  Maybe not getting inside the engine, as that would probably end up getting really expensive, but everything else is good old sawsall and dremel fun.  Any other ideas?  I'll soon be tearing into my bike, and I'll add to this list if I come across some good stuff.

Quote from: quiktaco on January 15, 2008, 02:25:11 PM
Awesome ideas Dgyver.  These types of things are what I was looking for.  Maybe not getting inside the engine, as that would probably end up getting really expensive, but everything else is good old sawsall and dremel fun.  Any other ideas?  I'll soon be tearing into my bike, and I'll add to this list if I come across some good stuff.

A lighter gs... Hmm... Money is no object, directly after the sawzall...

You could pull a mold from your gas tank, make the new one half the capacity, and out of carbon fiber, yourself and save prolly 20 pounds right there. Being liquid is generally 6 pounds per gallon (US).

or just buy an old cracked one from a racer and half-fill the tank...

^ that's the biggest weight savings I can think of...

Here are some more, practical or not:

Carbon Fiber Wheels for $3200 shipped:


Titanium bolts, nuts, washers, axels, = 10 Lbs or so.
Carbon Fiber clutch cable = a few ounces.
Get a lighter helmet, it will make your ride more fun too.
Carbon fiber soled boots = couple pounds saved
Remove the glass and bucket from the headlight assembly, go with LED assemblies = pound or two
Starter = a few pounds, you don't need that anyway, it's just for shits and giggles
Mirrors = you're going to be so fast everything will be behind you, farrrr behind you (couple pounds)

there, even without the super secksay wheels I saved you (best guestimate) 35 lbs. No diet, no 'light' beer involved.

Great ideas!  Not for the thinned wallet, but all of those together would get the bike pretty light.  I'm wondering how light this bike could actually get if most of these suggestions were applied...another thing i thought of is a battery eliminator.   Usually used on kickstarted bikes, but if you don't mind bumpstarting your bike everywhere, then it's possible...very illegal though since lights don't work without the motor running.

If you run lighter weight oil it will help.  30w is almost half the weight of a 50w oil so that would be almost a 50% savings in weight there.

Regards
Graham

Quote from: gmingst on January 15, 2008, 06:42:54 PM
If you run lighter weight oil it will help.  30w is almost half the weight of a 50w oil so that would be almost a 50% savings in weight there.

Regards
Graham

You new here ? You know any time you mention oil it turns into a flamewar, right  ?

OK, just pulling your leg, in return for the pull you just gave

OK, last one, you could fill 1/2 the tank with triple expanding foam, and consider it a huge weight savings... and get this, it's only..................

$1750 shipped !

how about... tie like 500 Heluim Balllons to the bike ,savings ... about 190 ibs!!

I can't believe I hadn't thought of that...let's see, about 200lbs less of about 400 plus my 150ish...that's only 350lbs total!  I could drag race the bike, and the drag from the balloons would act like a parachute, which I'll definitely need cause I'll be going so fast.

If anyone has ever bought that CF tank, them they are in dire need of some friends, cause they are trying way too hard.

I modded a sprocket cover the other day and weighed what I cut off. It weight a little over 1/2 pound. Not a lot by itself but do that a dozen more times and will add up.

get Aerodynamic ballons.. u no , Shaped Like Razor Blades, and use them all on the front , so u dont need a Front end , and Another saving!!!! , hmm , How much do fingers weigh? ud need like 1 or 2 on each hand .

hair. ears... Nose... Lips. alot of Skin ,and if ur feeling brave , maybe a Leg? , u for sure dont need any toes !!!

Cool Jay. You could slightly angle them downward for some killer downforce too. Stick the turns.

But seriously. I realize this would add weight, but just stick a second motor in there. Who cares about weight then. You could have the fastest GS ever. Think about it. 80 or so horsepower at your fingertips. RAW POWER! 




What?.... There are bikes with only one engine that have that much?



Aww shaZam!.
Nevermind.

  -Anti