Gsx600f 88, Engine improvements? (mods)?

[rarva]

Hi all, I started this thread after reading a lot others... thing is, when it comes to pre's... the 88 is always a special case and most of the cases "neglected" since there are less owners... and the information becomes gray'ish and doubtful to me. The objective in this thread is to gather information regarding the 88 model in one place to other owners of the 88 model in one place.
So, humble opinions required!
Valves adjustements, is there a specific table? Do I use the 90 model table?
Gsxr camshaft, is worth it?
Manual chain tensioner is a plus?
etc... inputs are welcome!

[92xjunker]

Engine requirement do follow the normal Kat procedures. The differences between the 88-89 Kats and the rest of the pre bikes are minimal. Carbs are junk, use the 90-97 carbs. The swing arms are different. The forks are different. Wheels are different. The 96-97 is also a freak in the Kat world. Post electrics....almost, crossover thing going on there. But generally the same engine, the same bike.

[rarva]

Generally it is... the part that is not general is what I was aiming do discuss here.
I'm doing some changes now... thanks to various information here.
Installing BST33 Carbs,
750 pre swingarm 10cm longer, has more room to accomodate the post rim
R1 competition (can remember the brand now) shock absorver... (Leave the kat 1cm higher instead of the regular R1 shock leaving the rear 2cm? lower)
Post wheels to fit 160 rear tire and 120 front tire

On the to do list front
front suspension with race tech stuff
and the coil mod

Studying now, improvements to the engine, since next on the to to list is also a valve job .
What is your opinion on changing to a gsxr750 camshafts?
Manual tensioner?
Advance timing?

or suggest something else owners of 88'89 could do to improve the bike!

Edit: by the way, before this bike I never messed with a vehicle before, but by now I know a lot... at least about pre kats, but still I feel there is much more to learn yet

Carbs are junk, use the 90-97 carbs.

I kinda liked the carbs, used them with ramair foam filters... adjusted the air/fuel settings on the carb to the best of my abilities... it's not easy... but it was riding ok I guess. The general expert consensus is that with pod filters an alike, the kat runs like shit... but it wasn't so bad in my case I guess, I thought the carbs being diferent could be the explanation.

One drawback was the fuel consumption... high, and the bike suffered from fuel starvation above 180km/h.

Going back now to stock airfilter and settings with the 90-97 carb... check on the diferences!!! One thing for sure... I loved the sound of the air rushing in the carbs at wot with those air filters!!!

[92xjunker]

You miss, my point....
The 88-89 Kat isn't as odd as you think. If it were, you would see a whole section for it like the 1100's
You can use any pre part on it.
I did this build with all years worth of parts. http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=134329
GIXXER cams are good if you want more top end boost with little low end loss.
I'm not a fan of manual cam chain adjusters but, others swear by them.
Upgrade the tail to R1 integrated taillight
Ignition advancers are good mid power improvements. Euro models need 3*, North American need 5*
08 R6 shock is an awesome upgrade as is the Race tech fork upgrade with emulator.
***** as a side note, for some reason, European models seem to run on pod filters, North American models have some issues with them.

[rarva]

08 R6 shock is an awesome upgrade as is the Race tech fork upgrade with emulator.

hahaha... yes I mean the R6 08 shock!
I can't remember the name of the brand, I know thats italian... bought it for a bargain, as new... what the best part is... it's just a tad bigger than stock fully adjustable even in height.
I got it... the brand is extremetech. look like the previous version of this one on this pic:


The front fork... it's expensive... will save it for later

[92xjunker]

Nice find..make sure the spring is rated for your weight+ the bike

[rarva]

Nice find..make sure the spring is rated for your weight+ the bike

Same ratings as the one used on the R6... and the spring rate its adjustable don't remeber between what values, but double checked at the time to see if it had the right specs. Will set it between my weight and the weight of me and my girlfriend... she rides a lot with me.

and... great work on that 88 purple kat!!

[92xjunker]

Thanks but, I hate purple on anything but, flowers....

[Black_peter]

I loved the sound of the air rushing in the carbs at wot with those air filters!!!

Right??
Did you try the baby socks?

Here's something I found digging around for old photos..
It's a degree wheel for timing advance. You can print this out and lay it over the timing plate. So no guessing.

The front fork... it's expensive... will save it for later

I've looked into a lot of cheap fixes for forks, my favorites:
1. Dropping the forks in the trees a bit. Tricks the bike to having less rake.
2. The $1 preload. Add about an 1 inch spacer to the spring (or remake the existing spacer 1 inch longer)
3. Better fork oil. Fork oil can be all over the place in "stated" weight vs actual weight. I think I have a post in suspension that shows some dyno testing of various oils. You can mix oils and I have found a higher weight than stock works better (I think 5 points higher).

[rarva]

Well... baby socks, can't say that I did!
Ramair filter are very expensive, perhaps next time baby socks then!

The timming wheel is good to know, fork suspension I'm gonna stick to the tech race! With the new rear shock I'll have a little less rake. but will look into the fork oil matter!
Since you ar educated in suspension matters... racetech springs with emulators: worthy in your opinion?
Does the 1$ mod performs the "same" as new springs?
the emulators, I read somewhere, don't require knob ajusters... my 88 kat don't have any, so I though it was a win win situation.

Thanks for your input!

[Black_peter]

The "knob" will actually do something with thicker/correct oil.
But since you don't have them yeah, go with race tech..
It's worth the money based on the feed back I have heard.

The $1 mod only adds much needed preload to the springs.
Race techs are rising rate I believe.

[rarva]

Regarding the gsxr camshaft
I was reading arsenic post

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=75466

It's a noticeable change for the 88 model?
and what is the recomended gsxr year 88-89? or 90?
(hard to find on ebay... at least in europe!)

[arsenic]

For the GSXR 750 cams, the 88-89 IN cam is the same. The 89 EX cam is the best, but 88 will be good as well. As long as the GSXR cams are in the year range that works, they'll all be better than the stock cams.

[rarva]

nice! '89 cams shall be!
And good news for me! Just found out that the 88 doesn't use shims, just a bolt to set the clearance! So relieved... those shims where expensive... the tappet tool was just 4$

Anything worth mentioning regarding adjusting valves clearance for a 88? Or is all the same for every year?

[Black_peter]

nice! '89 cams shall be!
And good news for me! Just found out that the 88 doesn't use shims, just a bolt to set the clearance! So relieved... those shims where expensive... the tappet tool was just 4$

Threaded adjustment was actually one of the reasons I went for the Kat...