So, unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the bike from 2001 and 2002. But those were the years that I removed the gold anti-dive appendages from the front of the 1987 gsxr 1100 forks, added a second disc to the front, swapped to 4.5 wide rim, and braced the swingarm (which I originally painted red). Believe it or not, up until 4 years ago, that was really the best riding version. It handled great, stopped great and the suspension was really good. I took a solo trip from Southern Virginia up the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive to Front Royal, to New Jersey and back. That's a solo trip I want to do again on this 2021 version! The week after I got back, on the very next time I rode the bike, the stock cam chain tensioner spring broke and bent 3 out of 4 valves. I was just shifting into 2nd gear, in traffic, maybe 3500 rpm....it made a noise like shaking a can of nuts and bolts. I didn't try to restart it....
So next post I will cover the swingarm mod and 4.5 rear wheel.

Thanks for sharing. At what mileage did the tensioner give up?

Did you repaint the rear plastic?  If so, do you have a source for the nice "gs500" decals on yours. Mine are rather tatty.

I've also got a spare head waiting in my garage for "one day".

Cheers.

Hi herennow,
I'm going to guess the mileage as at least 30,000, probably more. I never ran a speedo, from 93 to 97. But those were very young and aggressive miles. Where I lived the backroads were unposted for speed limit and very, very lightly patrolled, including my 48 mile backroad round trip work commute. I raced it a season, and sometimes I would lead sportbike rides with it......they would make me lead! My buddies rode GSXR600, RC-51, CBR600, and an R1. They would blast by me on the highway and then wait (we were well matched in the twistiest). I think they just enjoyed watching me flog it! I maintained the bike well, and I didn't try to hurt it. But geared for Road Atlanta, I would just hit 12000 rpm downhill, at the bottom of Gravity Cavity. Every lap, all weekend. I haven't it ridden like that since around 2003. But I did put it on the dyno in 2017. I even have the chart, for a future post here!
My belief is that is was sustained high rpm use, over time, that eventually broke the wound spring inside the tensioner. Vibration.
So, I think the stock tensioner is fine for at least 20,000 of hard use, especially if you don't do track days and/or have your head milled for higher compression. Milling the head forces the tensioner to push in further.

Awesome work!  It's great to see what these bikes are truly capable of with the right mentality and a little engineering.

Oh, before I forget herennow,
Yes the tail has been repainted. The decals are OEM Suzuki, ordered from the local Suzuki dealer. I believe the tail decals are 2001 GS500E, and the tank decals are 1990 GS500E.
When ever I take the head off mine, I go ahead and replace all of the valve springs (stem seals too). Just the stock springs and seals. It always seams to run better!

I'm back,
I needed the weather to improve, get my bike out of winter hibernation, and out of my shed.
  So here is the swing arm. It's the stock steel arm with a brace I designed and had welded on by a buddy of mine with a fab shop. It's still all steel, and has been modified to accept a 1200 bandit rear axle and an under mount caliper and hanger. The wheel is 1st gen SV 650, disc and caliper hanger are bandit (or 1991 gsxr 750, I think) and the caliper is 2002 gsxr 1000. As you can see the paint on the arm needs to be redone. Also the rear shock is 2017 R6, thanks to this forum! And yes I had to grind a bit off the swingarm on the bottom opening to get clearance. But it's a great shock (I have run 1991 GSXR 750 and 1100, this is much better).

Okay, the pics need resizing.

Here we go.

And a couple more.

Brake side.

Passenger pegs are 1996 Kawasaki zx7r. I cut off the stock arrangement and fabricated and welded these mounts myself. I included the grommet holes for the side panels.
R6 shock reservoir does clear the upper swing arm brace. I removed the spring and made sure!
  When I raced this bike, I could feel the chassis flex when pushed really hard with sticky tires. I thought it might be the swing arm and small rear axle. The brace and bandit axle probably helped, but I think it's the frame, most likely the swing arm mounting area. It's basically a empty box with a tube welded in it, which has the hole in it for the pivot shaft. I did weld in a second layer of sheet metal where the rear sets mount, they were starting to bend inward and pull the threaded area out.