The ol' ladies gsxr 400 build

[320icar]

finally got a chance to bring the ball n' chains 1987 GSXR 400 home. after waiting for one of her friends with a trailer for like two months who would never get back to her, i decided to act. picked up a pair of folding ramps (for loading powersport things into trucks and vans) at canadian tire since they were on sale for $99.99 for the pair. went to uhaul, got one of their vans for less than it would have costed for a tow and did it myself today.

its a neat little bike strattling it is nice, seems to fit well. and definitely smaller then the average new R1 or something. i think i much prefer the smaller/older bikes. that being said, LOTS OF WORK needs to be done on it.


DSC_0505 by 320iCar, on Flickr

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she has 22,500 km on it roughly. grey import from japan. definitely has some road rash on both sides of the bike. whoever the previous owner[s] were, they have definitely laid it down at least once on each side. i can spy new rear signals and flush mount front turn signals. as well as a yoshi pipe which doesn't have the scratches on it. and the worst part is a family friend of Sarah's was checking it out in the garage a few years ago and knocked it over. the clutch lever is bent and clearly does not line up.


DSC_0509 by 320iCar, on Flickr


now here is the best part of the day. she had a little pocket bike right next to her big bike in the garage! its also been laid down in the past but i dont mind since its just a toy. gonna fix that bitch up too and have a little fun toy. now our future children can ride a mini moto just like mom and pop LOL.


DSC_0512 by 320iCar, on Flickr

DSC_0514 by 320iCar, on Flickr

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[bananana]

Oh man those dual headlights are awesome! Keep pimpin'

[hopalong]

Looks like a fun project! Keep us posted.

[320icar]

sitrep: its all gone horribly wrong!

Spoiler!

so there is A LOT to get done in the coming weeks. it hasn't been ridden in 7 years, and has been in sort of dry storage? a bunch of little repairs need to be done as well. lets see the not-so-short-list...

- tires!!! desperately
- battery
- drain and clean gas tank
- clean (or remove) carbs
- spark plugs
- fuel filters (and possibly fuel lines)
- flush brake fluid (and possibly new lines)
- replace broken side view mirrors
- fix or replace levers (clutch is bent)
- lube chain and check tension
- replace engine oil
- replace gearbox oil
- fix rear turn signal
- inspect calipers and rotors/pads
- check why the throttle is not smooth/slow to return
- get out the rags, toothbrushes and simple green for detail cleaning


the bike was stored, and not stored well. that being said, whoever rode it last and garaged it did something well. when doing a quick visual inspection i saw the reserve tank line was open, so i popped open the gas tank and saw it bone dry. i can only suspect they drained the tank, opened the reserve and ran it try. that would make me soooo happy if they did that. would hopefully have saved the carbs from being too fubar.


DSC_0510 by 320iCar, on Flickr


thoughts? what else am i missing off of that short list of regular maintinance

[Puck Luck]

Even if the carbs were drained, if was sitting for 7 years, it would be a good idea to remove the carbs and clean them out. Pull the float bowls off and blow the jettings and passages clean. Don't touch any of the adjustment screws unless you have the mercury sticks tool to syn the carbs. Cleaning them out really isn't a big deal. I did it on my 93 gisxer just before i sold it last week. Running excellent. Wouldn't really want to fiddle with the adjustments though, unless there was someone experienced with that sort of thing helping me.
Now people are probably wondering if i didnt check the syncing on the carbs, how do i know if its tuned? Use a infrared temperature sensor checking the exhuast and see if all 4 pipes are roughly the same temp. Doubt its as accurate as the mercury sticks but still a pretty good indicator.

As for the rust in the tank. Can be treated and lined. I used POR-15. Got it form lordco.
Everything else looks like basic simple maintence. But finding parts for and import might be a challenge.

Nice lookin bike. Should be fun to tinker around on. And riding of course...

[320icar]

thanks puck! i actually do have access to a throttle body vacuum sync tool (from old bmw s38 motors) and also have access to the temp guns. ive pulled carbs before so im not too worried. sarah said the "bike ran a little rough at idle before it was parked" but i will take that with a grain of salt since its been so long. i figure i'd need to do a full tune on it. its been a long while since ive done any real carb work other than just cleaning and adjusting idle. so i'm definitely thankful i have a pdf of the factory manual.

i love por15, and plan to do a couple exposed parts on the bike anyways like lower fairing parts etc.

[320icar]

so today i got up early with dylan and went out to the all british field meet. once that was over i decided i'd head home and do some cleaning and work on the bike. finding the time has definitely been difficult. got most of the fairings off, and realized that whoever the owner was in japan who laid it down definitely fixed it in his garage. random screws and washers instead of allen head bolts etc etc. so i'll have to really double check things to make sure nothing is fubar.

first thing i did was try and clean up a bit, and get my bicycles out of the way.

\Untitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

Untitled by 320iCar, on Flickr


once that was for the most part figured out, i just started taking stuff off. most of it doesn't need explaining. note the shoe string battery tie down.


DSC_0516 by 320iCar, on Flickr

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DSC_0520 by 320iCar, on Flickr


once i removed the fuel tank, i noticed this bare nipple on the bottom of the tank. it not connected to the spout (on/res/off) and was not connected to anything beforehand that i noticed. from the carbs there are only two "blank" hoses. one is the fuel line that runs from the pipette, and the other hangs down to the bottom of the bike as a breather. i couldn't find anything about this nipple in the shop manual. suggestions?

DSC_0522 by 320iCar, on Flickr


anyways. seems like her friend who rode it many years ago put it away in storage semi-correctly. tank was drained as well as reserve, and carbs seem to be quite clean. although oil and coolant definitely need to be changed. i tried to inspect the front brake fluid resovoir as it doesn't look right, but one of the philips screws is about to strip. so i dunno about that one. the clutch lever is bent and has lots of slack on it, so im definitely going to have to adjust and reset the lever to the standard 4mm slack

oh and am in the middle of cleaning the storage/tool room and am about to start tinkering on my other rebuild project too.


by 320iCar, on Flickr

[Raid3n]

could be a drain for around the fuel door.

put some clean hose on it and blow on it. see where the air comes out.

[Sunfighter]

Great thread and a great read!

[320icar]

not much new news to report. progress is very slow as life is quite busy. after cleaning the tank and adding an inline fuel filter, decided to put some fuel in the tank and see what happens.

well the carb overflow puked most of it up but tapping it with a wrench fixed it good enough id say lol. after a while of turning over cleanly it fired up, but rough.

in other news, i need new mirrors and new levers for the bike. suggestions on a cheap place to pick these items up?

[Raid3n]

for a gk gixxer? you're gonna have a hard time. universal mirrors will work, but levers will be a chore.

ebay or wemoto. or yahoo auctions japan if you've got contacts in japan that can pick up for you and ship