i started by striping it down and sand blasting the frame. and then started working up from there. and this is where i am now three weeks into it. i have a k&n air filter and im going to rejet the carbs of coarse. im going to start with a 40 pilot and 142.5 main with one washer under the needle and see where that gets me. i also swaped out the rear shock with a 07 r600 shock. its a direct bolt on and is the exact same length and much better then the katana shock and other suzuki shock swap outs.    i also wanted to upgrade the tires. so after a lot of searching i desided on the shinko apex. i changed to a 120/60 on the front and a 150/60 on the rear. i went with these tires because the width matches the skinny rims without changing the shape because of pinching. and they do fit perfectly. iv also done a lot more and will post them pics later when the bike is done. but late me know what you thank so far and any tips and more upgrades if you know any.

I'm extremely interested with how you end up liking that shock...

Coming from Mountain bikes, at a rather extreme level, I know that being able to tune your shock even just half as well as the top of the line stuff is a fantastic ability. Therefore I can only assume being able to utilize the adjustments this shock has such as preload, high-speed compression, low-speed compression and rebound damping would allow me to perfect the GS's suspension for different situations. Win. 

Quote from: MB2 on February 25, 2011, 12:02:12 AM
I'm extremely interested with how you end up liking that shock...

Coming from Mountain bikes, at a rather extreme level, I know that being able to tune your shock even just half as well as the top of the line stuff is a fantastic ability. Therefore I can only assume being able to utilize the adjustments this shock has such as preload, high-speed compression, low-speed compression and rebound damping would allow me to perfect the GS's suspension for different situations. Win. 

The R6 shock is a common mod now for all GS'ers. Nice look and great adjustments!

Good progress on the build! Are you going to paint the swingarm to match?

no i painted it black to make it stand out. but my rims are the same color as the frame. which is hugger orange. and the tank and tail section, front fender will be jet black.   i did take it for a few minute ride with the yfz r600 shock on it before i stripped it down and it was already much better than the stock shock. so i cant wait to get it all done and tuned in. i should be finished with the bike in about a week and i will post some more pics.

Quote from: crisco on February 24, 2011, 10:00:05 PM
i started by striping it down and sand blasting the frame. and then started working up from there. and this is where i am now three weeks into it. i have a k&n air filter and im going to rejet the carbs of coarse. im going to start with a 40 pilot and 142.5 main with one washer under the needle and see where that gets me. i also swaped out the rear shock with a 07 r600 shock. its a direct bolt on and is the exact same length and much better then the katana shock and other suzuki shock swap outs.    i also wanted to upgrade the tires. so after a lot of searching i desided on the shinko apex. i changed to a 120/60 on the front and a 150/60 on the rear. i went with these tires because the width matches the skinny rims without changing the shape because of pinching. and they do fit perfectly. iv also done a lot more and will post them pics later when the bike is done. but late me know what you thank so far and any tips and more upgrades if you know any.

Is there functional purpose to put the bigger rear tire on or is it just for looks?  How is the ride and handling?

i went to a wider tire set up because you cant really find a good sticky track and street tires in the stock size. but if done right you can also change the handling. like more stable, better lean angles, fast turn in, and other things. i went with the shinkos because the beed width was perfect for the stock rims and they are really sticky but wont last as long. but a lot of the other brands that make a 150 tire have a wider beed with and when mounted they will pinch and change the apex of the tire making it rounder. some tires less then others so it might work fine but a lot get pinched to much and will make the bike less stable and fall into a turn way to fast. but if done with the right tire it can help your handling like a 140 0r 150 but i wouldnt go bigger than a 150 on a gs. i will be out riding this weekend and will putt the shinkos to the test

im getting close. i have a few more things to do but should be able to have it ready to test this week end.

It's looking pretty cool.  Are you going to keep all the paint matte?  Also are you going to paint the fork tubes?

What bars do you have?  I want to replace mine and those look the business.

thanks.  no its actually a medium gloss but it looks that way because of my cheap camera. i have not made up my mind yet about the fork tubs. they are twin wall dirt bike bars. that i flipped up side down. im going to lean them forward a little more and cut out the section between the bar mounts. it should give it a cool look  i will post a pic tomorrow after i do that.

did some custom bars today. they turned out pretty good i think.

you are not seriously going to use them bars ....that way.....

lol ya i know its really scetchy mounting them like that. but iv seen it done with no problems so i thought i would give it a try. i did change the top of the clamps and using stronger bolts to get more clamp pressure but i will see how they hold up lol. in a good tuck my helmet would always hit the middle of the bars and it drove me crazy and now with it gone it dont lol. but im going to be very careful with the bars for awhile

Yea, those bars will pivot and spin ...
Cool.
Buddha.

Actually... if the portion of the bars under the clamps are knurled and the clamps are not worn out and are torqued down properly, you will probably be ok.. unless you plan on doing combined hand stands and stoppies. I've rode around pretty actively on an old bike with the same handle bar chop-mod... it felt same as a full bar. 

I guess if you were really worried you could weld them to the clamps and just make them into one piece once you get the angle just right.

i broke one of the old clamps in half from to much pressure but the old ones are not made that strong any way with having a counter sink for the screws cut out. you can see in the pics the ones im using now. they are from a suzuki rm250 i used the top clamps and the bolts and they are holding the bars really good. but i thought of a way to make sure they dont spin or pull out if they started coming lose.  i will do it in the morning and then put up some pics to show what i did.

getting you chin down that last inch is so worth the effort to you... go for it

ok so here is what i did with the bars. i started with a bolt that i rounded out the end.   to fit in the hole under the bars that the bolts go to the triple clamp. i left them a little tight so i would have to tap them in.   then i drilled a hole in the bottom of the bar to putt the bolt through and shaped a nut to fit inside the bar. and tighten it down   then just had to putt the bar in place and tap it down then putt on the top clamps and lock it all down tight.  i just had to make sure the bars where set where i wanted them before i marked everything but it worked great. even with the bolts just finger tight the bars dont move.

Wow - those bars are scary

What you are doing now is putting a whole lot of lateral pressure on the individual bar clamps - which where never engineered to cater for it.

Get some clip-ons if you really need the chin space.

How is it any different as far as lateral loading considering the clamping points are still the same? I can't imagine the forces on the individual bars being any different or higher than those acting on a single bar since all the same mounting points and methods used. If anything, the new setup is less prone to rotation inside the clamps with his custom bolt mod.