Bike is coming together

[DClark]

Tank was dipped and coated at radiator shop, then repainted. Carbs were rebuilt too. [/IMG]

[img=http://s6.postimg.org/g0xs9rb6l/image.jpg]

[loneraider]

Looks Good !!!!

[shpielers]

Doesn't look 25 years old

[DClark]

Thanks!
Actually , this '91 was made in 90 so you might be able to say it's
26 years old!
I have Corbin seat also, stock seat looks better. That's Honda Milano
Red, a very red looking red. Decals from tape works. I wanted a
Suzuki power shield decal like the euro ones but couldn't find one.
That's a Sacs decal on the front
All decals are under clear.
This bike has been rotting away since I got my kawa c14, but I miss it
love seating position!

[tic]

Looks really good, how's it run?

[arsenic]

Very nice, beautiful bike.

[RobertTravis]

Nice!

Do you plan on adding the large 'Katana' script to the side fairings?

Did you happen to get these? If so, how do they look compared to originals?

Thanks for the TapeWorks reference. I want to get a set for my '89 1100.

[zuma]

One of the finest looking vehicles I have ever seen. You must be proud.

[DClark]

How's it run? Ok, need to zero in idle mixture. Thought it was lean, but after giving them extra 1/4 (3.5 turns), it runs worse when warmed up than before. I'll take them down half turn and hope its the magic spot (3 turns out). This is a factory kit, I have kerker 4-1, use mid jets not the biggest jets as I live at 4700' altitude and on a good day, might see 9000'.
I had this bike repainted this scheme back in 2000. The first comment I got was from some rednecks in truck at a light that said "You'd look better on a Harley "
As for that Katana script, if you are talking about the sword thingie, I didn't want it. I always thought that the Kat 1100 was beautiful and didn't want too many decals to interfere with the beautiful curves and lines on the bike.
I bought in with 4100 miles back in '98, still had original Metzlers on it .
Was red but the decals were slightly damaged in some areas and frankly, this was the age of motorcycles coming out with way too many decals and crap.
I have some ancient (five year old?) Rotella 5-40 that will be replaced with some Lubrimoly 10-50w full synthetic bike oil after I add two small fuel pumps to it.
I am torn about tires- it has a six year old set of Avon radials with little mileage. Yeah, I know the tires are old, but they are low mileage and there are no (to my knowledge) new 16" radial tires out there.
One mod I'm thinking of is to have a relay run off the kickstand to the headlight. That way, if it is a real cold morning, I can start the bike up without the headlight sapping power away from the starter motor and ignition (better starting!)
Other mods- headlight relays, 80/100w bulb, Dyna coils with relay mod.

[RobertTravis]

As for that Katana script, if you are talking about the sword thingie, I didn't want it. I always thought that the Kat 1100 was beautiful and didn't want too many decals to interfere with the beautiful curves and lines on the bike.

No...I wasn't talking about the GSX1100S decals (samurai on bike in my avatar is a GSX1100S) and I agree about the lines.

The 'sword thingie' is a katana and was never part of the 88+ GSX1100F decals.

This is exactly what my bike looks like (not my specific bike):



I am talking about the large Katana script with the 1100 under it. This is how my bike came new in '89. It is black with blue pearl in the clear - stock.

My panels are probably about 85% with some minor cracks and rash here and there. I want to repair these portions, reshoot them and apply fresh decals as long as they are close enough to what the stock ones look like. I just don't know (why I ask) if the large Katana script looks good or like an amateur did it...

[loneraider]

When I first got this bike It had no lower fairings & the ones I found were trashed with holes so large you could almost put your hand threw LOL
I bought katana stickers on ebay ( white ) but I just never used them as I went with a different paint scheme. The stickers are 100 percent the correct size just not the colors.I could not find factory colors anywhere.
my Suzuki power shield sticker is white but the S P S is in black and is hard to see from a distance. Maybe i'll try something different next time.

[DClark]

I tried to go with a scheme that looked modern, that people will say "wow, that is a sharp bike, is it really 25 years old?"


I don't think taperworks has the katana 1100 decal, but perhaps you could combine a katana decal with a 1100 decal? I suppose I could have done that with my bike, but I went with 1100 toward the back.
I visited there site awhile back and it looks they have really racked up their prices (maybe for copyright fees?).
I wonder if you can simply take a pic of your decals and go to a shop that does signs and such, have them reproduce it.
Back when I was an insurance adjuster back in the late '80's, all the decals for a bike like the Kat were over $700, that was 10% of the bikes cost new!

[loneraider]

Ya I just bought mine off ebay & I ended up with like 2 different sets that
I used together to finish the bike. I used the white Suzuki labels on the tank. As the story goes once I had it ready for paint I was not a good enough painter to match the factory colors so I just googled pictures of 1100's and picked one that was easy to paint and the
pinstripe just hides my color overlap.

[RobertTravis]

DClark - thanks. Looks like TW does have some that will work. I will have to verify scale. Style 3695 appears to be correct (colors wrong obviously...but that isn't a problem) - because it has the drop/shadowed letters on the Katana script and 1100, but not the SUZUKI lettering that goes below the windscreen and side panels (above tail light too...)

I looked at my fairings today and the factory setup has both the Katana script and 1100 together on the same decal.

It's not a huge deal to have them separate, but one piece like the original would be nice. Yeah, I did think about having a set printed up and weeded out the same shape as the original. The problem is finding a shop competent enough - with the right equipment (a vinyl color printer worthy of the task is $40k and up...)

I have the logos digitized from photo somewhere...I haven't checked the scale on them yet, but I have them in case I have to take matters into my own hands