[Tinsnips]

FINALLY. I have been bikeless for three years. I have been looking for a 1989 GSXR 1100. When I say I have been looking, I mean my search area was North America. Had to be 1989, had to be an 1100, had to be blue & white, had to be all original, and had to be under $3000.00...so, yeah, a unicorn.

I was sitting on my front steps having a beer and an '89 rides by...red and black but still...I hear it turn the corner and shut off. A couple weeks later I am driving by and see the tail light in his garage. I go talk to him and it is a nice bike. I mention I was looking for a 1989 in Blue. He says "yeah, I got one"... Damn but doesn't he show me a partially assembled 1989...IN BLUE...but he didn't want to sell. Today I went back with a couple hundred more than he had mentioned and my son. Told him I wanted to do a full build with my son, he took one look at my son and dropped his head...OK, You can have it.

He lives so close I sat on it and my son pushed me home. This is what we rolled out into the sunlight after several years. Yes, it is dirty, that is barn find dirt, the rarest soil you can find.

 

[Tinsnips]

I couldn't resist putting the farings on just to see it before I strip it down.

 

[Winchester Boy]

Wonderful!
That doesn’t look bad at all.

 

[Tinsnips]

Not bad for a 30 year old bike WB. It has 35,000kms on the dash. I will delude myself that after 30 years it is still the dash that belongs to that frame and engine. I got a second frame and will swap everything over. It is all original as far as I can tell with the exception of the exhaust and headers. It also has the 40mm Mukuni carb kit in it. I am going to leave the farings on for a couple days just cause it is pretty and next weekend I will start the tear down.

 

[Todd_Sails]

Nice find! nice bike

Wasn't RacerX, or soundwave doing a build on one of these?

 

[DEATHWISHRIDERS]

score. I remember when I first saw that model. I was at Tybee Island beach and there was a blue and white slingshot 750 outside the bar.
classic

 

[koth442]

Congrats you finally talked it out of him! I like how you brought your son for emphasis

 

[Ozsyd600]

Nice one sir. I look forward to seeing the progress on the rebuild.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tinsnips]

OK. After spending some time going over the bike it is obvious someone has looped this thing. The tail hoop is torn off the frame and the throttle side of the bike has some rash on the muffler and front cowling. The mid and lower farings have freshish paint, missing throttle bar end, and the foot peg and rear brake are not original. The frame is straight and no cracks or kinks. I also dug into the spare frame. It looks good, just needs a cleaning. Only issues are A: it is a 1991 frame and the bike is an 89. B: It was sold frame only as a used part on a salvage title from California. It was properly imported into Canada and I do have all the original paperwork. The question now is do I move forward with the 91 frame and hope everything fits with out too much modification or do I have the hoop from the 91 tig welded on the 89 frame and deal with not having a VIN for the bike?

Also. Throttle cable question. The bike has the 40mm carbs. I attached the throttle cable and it seems short. It holds the throttle open and I only have 1/8 of a turn. I put the cable on the 36mm carbs and it works perfectly. Did the 40mm carbs require a longer cable? It looks like I need a cable about 7/8" longer. All adjustments are backed completely off to give me as much as possible.

 

[gixxer996]

Nice find Tin!! keep us posted on the progress.

 

[Spyder13]

I love'em old school. Nice find brother, get to work...

 

[koth442]

OK. After spending some time going over the bike it is obvious someone has looped this thing. The tail hoop is torn off the frame and the throttle side of the bike has some rash on the muffler and front cowling. The mid and lower farings have freshish paint, missing throttle bar end, and the foot peg and rear brake are not original. The frame is straight and no cracks or kinks. I also dug into the spare frame. It looks good, just needs a cleaning. Only issues are A: it is a 1991 frame and the bike is an 89. B: It was sold frame only as a used part on a salvage title from California. It was properly imported into Canada and I do have all the original paperwork. The question now is do I move forward with the 91 frame and hope everything fits with out too much modification or do I have the hoop from the 91 tig welded on the 89 frame and deal with not having a VIN for the bike?

Also. Throttle cable question. The bike has the 40mm carbs. I attached the throttle cable and it seems short. It holds the throttle open and I only have 1/8 of a turn. I put the cable on the 36mm carbs and it works perfectly. Did the 40mm carbs require a longer cable? It looks like I need a cable about 7/8" longer. All adjustments are backed completely off to give me as much as possible.

I don't really know the difference between '89 and '91, but you've wanted an 89 I think you should have the hoop tig-welded on. Or improvise another solution using bolts and creativity.

 

[Winchester Boy]

OK. the hoop from the 91 tig welded on the 89 frame and deal with not having a VIN for the bike?

You should keep the original frame if at all possible.
You should talk to whatever maple syrup drinking moose humping socialist authority you frozen people use to license a bike about this.

 

[Tinsnips]

You should keep the original frame if at all possible.
You should talk to whatever maple syrup drinking moose humping socialist authority you frozen people use to license a bike about this.

I know there is a way to register a fabricated vehicle which doesn't have a VIN. The maple syrup drinking moose humping socialists require you to pay $50.00 to swear out an affidavit and a butt ton of paper work but it is possible. Given the age of the vehicle it may be easier.

 

[Tinsnips]

OK, put the tank on and sorted out the fuel and vacuum lines. Fired it up for the first time just to make sure she runs. It is very obvious from the fuel pouring out of carb 3 that they need a re-build. The inside of the carbs looked pretty clean though. It did fire up quickly, much quicker than I expected. Began the tear down immediately after that. Pulled the carbs and airbox. Removed 3/4 of the harness, took tons of pictures, labelled, packaged, etc.

I will pick away at that but it is obvious I need to build a better work bench. Next weekend I will tackle that and organize some parts storage. I am thinking I will keep the 89 frame and weld the other hoop on it. For now I am just going to strip it down and check for hidden cracks or damage.

 

[Tinsnips]

Switched over and started working on the new frame. I decided to use the other frame, this one took a big enough hit to tear the hoop off so I am skeptical of the integrity of other parts.

I degreased a bit around the welds and seams and all looks good at the moment. No damage or scrapes. The forks are off and the head stock bearing races have some slight galling but not excessive. There didn't seem to be any damage that would suggest a lot of wheelies or a front end collision. There was some rust on the races themselves indicating the upper seal may have been leaking over time. I will replace the bearings and seal later when I swap the forks over.

 

[Tinsnips]

OK. New frame is clean. Not having done this before I will throw this out there. The plan is to swap everything over from the other frame after inspection and/or replacement as neccessary. This will give me a chance to clean/paint/set-up every part and bolt to spec. All torqued as God intended it to be. I am not aiming for a perfect museum quality restoration, just a really clean and mostly correct example of an old bike. New parts as necessary should give me some reliability and piece of mind to do wbat ever I want with it.

That being said, what is the most logical first step? I am debating between swapping the forks over and swapping the engine over. My foirst inclination is Engine first. What is the general consensus of the forum? This particular frame splits and the engine is bolted into the small part then the frame is installed on the engine. Probably WAY easier with out forks on. Just for reference, my garage doesn't have a strong point to hang the frame from so I will be blocking it up from the bottom for both jobs. fortunately this fram also has stout lower tubes.

I promise there will be more pics...honestly the only reason anyone subs these threads is for the porn. I hope to do a short video, way more entertaining and I hate to type...stay tuned.

 

[Winchester Boy]

I’ve never done this Tin but one thing I would do is take lots of pictures as you take the bike apart.

 

[Tinsnips]

Oh yeah. That is my biggest fear right now, not having enough pictures. Fortunately, the previous owner is right around the corner and has a red one all put together He told me to give him a call and we will use his bike as an example of where everything runs and is routed. I am photographing everything.

 

[DEATHWISHRIDERS]

I would get a solid rolling chassis first then load the engine in.:nerd