Suzuki GSX-R Motorcycle Forums Gixxer.com banner

Limited Time (I'm finally getting some work done on this one.)

7K views 44 replies 12 participants last post by  awasson 
#1 ·
So... Like many members here in the Oil Cooled section, if I'm not careful, motorcycles tend to follow me home from time to time. You'd think that wouldn't be a problem but with work, home life, interests in electronics & music, plus family obligations, it's tough to line up time and funds to give my motorcycle projects the attention they need.

At the moment my 85 GSXR is almost perfect. I need to paint the tank, do some finessing to the upper, recover the seat (again) and she's golden. That leaves two projects left to complete. The 1989 GSXR750-RR and the 1986 GSXR750R Limited Edition. The 1989 RR came to me in a series of crates and I'm still piecing together the parts to get her together so that puts the spotlight Limited Edition.

I bought the 86 Limited as a project bike 5 or 6 years ago while we were doing a huge renovation to our house (a great deal of the work and project managing we did to save some costs) and at about the same time we took over the care of my inlaws failing health and welfare so it was a pretty busy time and the Limited has been patiently waiting to get some well deserved attention.

Here's some photos:
 

Attachments

See less See more
5
#2 ·
So, today I spent all day in the shop with the Limited. I pulled the front brakes entirely apart, rebuilt the master cylinder, yanked the lines and the equalizer out. Everything got flushed, taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. The bike looks so beautifully clean but because it was sitting for so long and probably went through various heat and cold spells, the fluid was goopy and crystallized and the callipers and master cylinders were full of varnish and corrosion.

It felt really good spending the better part of 8 hours and at the end knowing my front brakes are as good as new. They're back on the bike and ready for fluid and bleeding. I have a rebuild kit for the rear so I'll tackle that tomorrow after I charge and bleed the fronts.

After that, I have a new chain & sprocket kit, new tires, bearings etc...

I've replaced the dry clutch so I'll follow up with a short story about how that all came apart and went back together later. Right now, I'm exhausted so it's time for a well deserved beer.
 
#6 ·
Thanks Rog,

Yeah, life has kept me pretty busy but I've been following your restoration thread for inspiration. This year, for some reason although we didn't have a particularly cold winter, I couldn't get myself motivated to brave the cold and get things going on the project. Now it's pretty decent weather for getting things done. Not too hot but certainly comfortable enough to open the doors and spend all day tinkering. I should be posting regularly until I get her roadworthy. I'll be pretty quiet during the week but I plan to get lots done on the weekend.

Want. That. Bike.!! Love it :drool
Thanks. I always wanted one of these too. I know of just a couple of these still around in my area but I haven't seen another in the flesh in about 20 years. I'm hoping to get it done and plated to take out on the XMas toy run this year in early October. I've got all the mechanics sorted pretty much but I'll have to spend some time working on the cosmetics which might take some time.

Top man Andrew, good to see you showing your Ltd some love !
Have you still got your project 955cc RRK ? - looking forward to seeing that baby all done . . . .
Hi Nick, yup the 955 is still in the shop right beside the Limited but I figured to do it right, I'd get the Limited completed and on the road. Then I'll turn my attention to the 955 RR bike. The RK was a race bike back in the day so I'd like to see if I can get some photos and info about it. Either it will be a restoration of what it looked like when it came out or I'll put it back to OEM except for the bigger engine.
 
#4 ·
Want. That. Bike.!! Love it :drool
 
#7 ·
Ok, I'm off to the shop to charge and bleed the fronts. Then I'm going to tackle the rear brake rebuild. I expect they'll be as bad as the fronts. Here's a photo of the callipers when I pulled them off. They're just nasty, particularly in contrast to the near mint condition oil cooler in the background.
 

Attachments

#8 · (Edited)
I've always had a spot on my "must have's" for a LTD,ever since the local dealer had on3 on the floor as a leftover back in '87. It was $6499 and he was willing to take $500 off if I took it instead of the '87 750 I was looking at. I went with the '87 instead. Had I known.... :banghead

How does it carburate with the RS' hooked up to an airbox?? And what size are they? I had a rack of 36 RS's w pods and it was awesome.

I absolutely love your bike :cheers
 
#10 ·
Thanks, yup she's a beauty! I really lucked out. I'll have to add everything up but I think I'm into the project for about $5000 including the purchase. Other than paint, it's just going to be a lot of elbow grease to get her back in mint condition now.

The carbs are the 29mm VM29 carbs that came with it. I've got the same ones on my 85 GSXR. They're not bad but I think a set of slingshot 36mm carbs would be a much better option.
 
#9 ·
Nice bike and looking good , bet you can't wait to take her for a ride , good on ya keep up the good work , know what you mean about other stuff slowing the projects down , Ive got a couple patiently waiting but I Will get to them eventually ,hopefully sooner than later :cheers
 
#12 ·
Yup, they look like mini RS's except they don't have the removable cap from the float bowl. I've got a set of 38mm RS's that I bought for my 85 GSXR before I decided to put it back to OEM. They may find themselves on the 89RR bike :biggrin
 
#14 ·
:cheers thanks for the info,now I know
 
#15 ·
Yes, it's funny that these bikes seem like magnets. You get one and the next thing you know you have to start delegating your time to manage all of the bikes that have somehow crept into your life.
 
#16 ·
Well, I'm struggling with bleeding the brakes on the beast now that I've rebuilt the master and callipers. I'll update on that front once I have some success. So far I've just managed to cover myself and everything around me with brake fluid so its' probably a good thing that I have all the bodywork about 15 feet from the bike.

While I was pulling the brakes apart I found that the throttle side anti-dive unit's harness was crimped between the lower triple and the brake splitter/equalizer. At some point someone must have been servicing the brakes and didn't see that they had caught it back there when they cranked it tight. It was to tightly crimped that it cut both wires. There was no way the anti-dive unit would have functioned. Below is a picture of the wires waiting for solder & heatshrink.

I sure wish I knew more about the history of this bike. I'll bet it has a story to tell.
 

Attachments

#17 ·
Ok... Time for an update.

I had to work over the weekend or at least most of it so not much done over the weekend but I did get a couple of things handled:

1) Brakes/master are rebuilt and bled. The cable from the anti-dive unit has been resoldered an heat shrunk. Everything is tight, clean and dry and I've pushed it up and down a close by hill to make sure everything is a-ok. The relief was being able to push it up the hill. Prior to the brake rebuild, they were dragging so badly, there was no way I would have been able to push it anywhere very far.

2) New chain and sprockets went on today during my lunch break (I had a longish lunch break today to make up for working on the weekend). No real surprises. I was happy to see the rubber cushions and stamped steel side plates were actually there for the front sprocket and so was the 10mm retaining bolt.

The rear sprocket actually looked perfect as if it had no wear and I was second guessing the need to replace them for a moment but the front was well worn and hooked.

The downside to the chain and sprockets task is that the chain seems about a link too short. I haven't counted the links but when I ordered it I specified a 1986 GSXR750R Limited Edition. The sprockets are the correct number of teeth but I had to move the chain adjusters right to the very front of the markers. Changing it over is pretty trivial and my 85 runs a super short chain like this so I could swap it out pretty quick. I'll have to sleep on it, I guess. It sure looks nice with a new rear sprocket and shiny gold chain.

3) I've got a fresh set of Pirelli Sport Demons mounted and balanced on the rims so that should provide some good grip and a whole better than the hardened, treadless, vintage Metzlers it came to me with.

Next on the agenda is rebuilding the rear brakes and then tackling the carbs.

Once that's done, I'm just left with cosmetics to deal with. I'll put the clutch apart one more time to make sure I have everything torqued to the factory specs and then I think it will be time to get her fired up and running right.

I'm planning to be back in the shop this weekend so I'll take some photos if I have anything nice to show.
 
#21 ·
Ok, it's been ages since I did anything on the Limited. I've gone in and pissed around with bits and pieces here and there but I got so busy with work and work got me going out of town that when I had any downtime, I was on my 85 GSXR for sanity breaks or just comatose recovering from working. That changed this weekend.

I've been meaning to tackle the battery box on the bike. I don't know much about the history of this bike but I do know that someone let the battery boil over and left it in the bike until I got it. The battery box isn't really that bad but it really looks bad. Lots of surface corrosion & rust.

Fortunately I picked up a completely stripped and ready for paint 86 GSXR 750 battery box a out of the classifieds a couple of years ago. Saturday it got paint and today I re-&-re'd the battery box. While I was in there I yanked the ignitor (ignition box) and replaced it with a brand new old stock one I picked up about 10 years ago. The old one looked ok but I figured I've been holding on to this brand new ignitor, it needs new bike to be attached to. While I was at it, every connector plug got a dose of contact cleaner and an inspection. Battery is back in and the electrical appears to be A-OK.

Added to my parts shopping list, I need to get:

1) New rear brake reservoir (battery acid cosmetic damage)
2) Rear brake switch (found it dangling from the harness)

This week I'm hoping to get it fired up and go for a maiden voyage down the end of the block and back. It's wearing a mismatched red/black set of plastics on the front with a primered upper at the moment but that'll soon be proper OEM colours.
 
#22 ·
OK, awesome day of progress.

I'd love to say I fired her up and went for a ride but I can't do that because it looks like I have a bad coil or a bad connection between the NOS ignition box and the coil for #2 & #3.

This is all good news though... It fired up pretty much immediately and although it was on choke running on the outside cylinders, it started right up and the ching, ching, ting, ting, ching sound of the dry clutch was music to my ears.

After it warmed up a bit it was backfiring in the muffler; I'm thinking that's fuel from 2 & 3 just passing right through the engine and igniting. I disconnected that coil to check and it didn't change a thing so it's either a bad coil or bad connection to the coil. That should be pretty simple to fix now that she's almost roadworthy.

So other than some repair work to the tank and paint I still need:
  • Fix the coil issue
  • Install the horn (oops, forgot)
  • Rear brake switch
  • New rear brake reservoir (not imperative but nice to have)
  • Check the torque on the clutch basket retainers, one more time (because I'm paranoid)

Photos of the refurbished battery box and a couple of photos of the bike wearing a mixture of plastics I've managed to collect over the past couple of years. They are damage free except for the upper which has a small crack on the left side where it joins the mid. I'll have to do some masterful work with Plastex before she see's the paint booth.

Sorry about the condition of the photos... It was raining.
 

Attachments

#25 ·
Yes, that's the next project and a little more ambitious. It's a 1989 GSX-R750RR ex-race bike from the east coast, I got via Oklahoma with a west coast RR engine that's got a 955 kit in it. Lots of work to get that one completed.


get some fresh paint on that uppper, mids, and lower and the thing will look amazing. A pretty complete bike by the looks of it . Congrats.
Yup, it's completely stock. I can't believe it's so complete. I definitely lucked out!


UPDATE
I've pretty much got the poor running issue licked. I went through the ignition system completely, new ignition pickups, checked all the wiring and replaced the coil. Pulled the plugs to check for spark (got spark). She's firing on all cylinders but carburetion isn't quite right.

Oh and while it was idling, I cycled it through 1st gear back to neutral and then into 2nd and back to neutral. It shifted like butter. Again, that's probably not happened with this bike in 10 years or more.

She's almost there now :burnout

Another part to add to the list. The cover that goes over the ignition pickup has a crack in it. You couldn't see it from the outside but it was pushed in and cracked on the inside. I've got another one but need a gasket for it. So the todo list is:

  • Yank carbs and give them a once over
  • Replace cover over ignition rotor and pickup
  • Install the horn
  • New rear brake switch
  • New rear brake reservoir
  • Check the torque on the clutch basket retainers, one more time
  • Paint and a little bodywork (tank , front left side)
 
#26 ·
Just a quick update... The carbs are getting an ultrasonic cleaning and should be back on the bike by the end of the weekend; maybe a little later because the weather is good and I may go for a ride on the red/black bike Sunday.
 
#27 ·
It is ALIVE!

That's right, you read that correctly, the bike is alive... I even rode it around to do a shakedown run and make sure everything is working right, no leaks, etc...

This bike is F%^$ing Awesome!

It's a little buzzy sounding on the exhaust because the heat shield is off and the exhaust escapes though the mounting holes on the muffler but holy crap, it runs smooth and just wants to go. Once you get up to about 4k - 5k, it just wants to pull and get up to redline. It only has 29,000 km's which is about 18,000 miles. It runs like a brand new bike. My 1985 GSXR wasn't as tight as this one when I got it and I bought that bike with 1,900 km's on the clock.

Here's a video of the first real run this bike has had for maybe 10 years:


The lowdown
Ok, so on Monday, I yanked the carbs and dropped them off at a local shop, Moto Concepts to have them ultrasonically cleaned, then fitted carb kits from Carb Kit Capital (who appear to be out of business now). I also replaced the philips head mounting screws with stainless allen key heads. Those soft Phillips head screws always strip regardless of how careful you are and even quality screwdrivers will strip them.

Got the carbs back yesterday and spent this morning putting them back on. My technique for getting the intake boots on is to have a bowl or pan with boiling water which you can use to soften the boots with. I drop them in the bowl and to the outside boots first then the centre. I dry them off and hit them with a little WD40 to help then from getting stuck.

I also replaced that ignition cover that I discovered was dented and cracked. That was a simple 5 minute job.

So, what do I have left to do?
  • Speedo cable (forgot I had taken that off)
  • New rear brake switch
  • New rear brake reservoir
  • Check the torque on the clutch basket retainers, one more time
  • Paint and a little bodywork (tank , front left side)
 

Attachments

#28 ·
Well, another day and a little more progress. I took the Limited up to the gas station and got a fill up of the good stuff. Then I did a slightly longer shakedown... I took it for a spin up hill so if need be, I could coast back home. There were no concerns... The bike is tops!

Since I'm getting a new heat shield made up and I don't have it yet, I thought I'd do something about the buzzing from the holes where the rivets go. Fortunately they are nearly spot on the a M6 x 1 bolt. I tapped some threads in the offending holes, popped in some bolts and no more buzzing.

Here's a bit of a better youtube video of the bike running:



Attached is a photo of the girls. I took the 85 out for a good run today too.
 

Attachments

#29 ·
Ok, time for a quick update...

We had the Annual Christmas Toy Run last Sunday and I figured with about 50km on the clocks since I put it back on the road, it was as good a time as any to take the Limited out for the day. The Toy Run is about 10 or 15 kms from start to finish and there were about 1,500 - 2,000 bikes. Here's a video a buddy of mine took of us during the last leg of it. We were probably in the first 200 or so bikes:



After the toy run we did a run up the coast highway. The Limited is super light and nimble. The balance seems better than my 1985 GSXR in that it's super responsive to steering input but it feels really solid at the same time. My 85 GSXR in stock trim always felt a bit nervous at speed or when cornering at speed. It always felt like it could get bent out of shape without any warning (and sometimes it did). That's why I put the USD front end and 17" rims on the 85 GSXR. Now the 85 GSXR is rock solid but it's not as nimble and light as the Limited.

All in all I put about 310 kms on the bike for the day.

Here's a video of us on the coast highway. There were three of us out for the ride and I was leading (It looks like I'm way in front but I don't think I really was. I think the Go-Pro lens makes it look that way):

 
#31 ·
LOL... :lmao



Seriously though... I suppose you could make a limited if you wanted to but it would probably cost less to find one and restore it.

Here's a short list of the differences:

  • First things first, the serial number plate says GSX-R750R
  • The steering head has a cast eyelet for the OEM steering damper
  • It has an OEM steering damper
  • Wider bars with machined upper triple clamp
  • The swing-arm has threaded fittings for wheel stand bobbins
  • Aluminum chain guard
  • Bigger 310mm fully floating front brakes
  • Bigger 41mm forks forks with the electronic anti-dive
  • Fittings on the front fender for the anti-dive wiring
  • Rear shock with remote reservoir (like the 1100 shock but different mounting eyelets)
  • Stamped Aluminum heel guards
  • Tail section and mounting points (doesn't mount to a regular 750 mounting points)
  • Different heat shield on the exhaust
  • Magnesium chain cover
  • Dry-clutch which includes magnesium cover, magnesium inner, clutch, basket, pressure plate, springs, retainers, etc... and a different shaft output shaft. None of this stuff is interchangeable with the regular 750, or available from Suzuki, or particularly easy to find on EBay, etc... I've got $1,500 into the clutch alone and I was given/loaned the contershaft cover.

Aside from that, I think the Limited has a closer ratio gear box than the regular GSXR 750's. This one definitely has a closer ratio in the first three gears than my 1985 GSXR has. It makes my 1985 GSXR feel like a touring bike.

Note: You could go through that list and make a copy of a GSX-R750R Limited Edition but it would be very costly to do so; you would probably have to buy a complete engine because aside from getting the dry clutch assembly, the output shaft is probably impossible to find as is the magnesium chain cover. The mounting for the steering damper is cast and would probably be impossible to weld on without being a noticeable add-on and building a set of anti-dive forks at the correct length would be a bit of a task too. Then, once you're done, it doesn't say GSX-R750R on the serial number plate. It would probably be more cost effective to find a real one that needs work and restoring it.

EDIT: I just read here (http://www.gixxer.com/forums/15-oil...986-limited-edition-question.html#post4750245) that the Limited has a magnesium cylinder head cover. I did not know that.
 
#35 ·
No worries Robert,
At a distance they do look pretty much the same as the regular 750 except for the bodywork and paint but there are a lot of little differences. Of course the indisputable differences are the serial number plate on the frame and the shock mounting on the steering head. Those would be difficult to fake. Aside from that, the engines with the dry clutch are hard to come by. The reason I was even able to acquire this one was because the previous owner couldn't find the clutch parts.



Hey Andrew,

The standard '85 to '87 GSXR750's have 41mm forks and magnesium cylinder head covers aswell.

Cheers
Is that so... I've got a few valve covers and and they all look exactly the same so I'm not surprised. I thought they were just aluminum.

I'll have to run a caliper on my forks to see if they're the same dimensions as my 1985 bike. They look pretty much identical to the 1100 forks but they're shorter. I've seen a few Japanese domestic 750's with the NEAS forks and maybe they came standard on the 1987 GSXR front end; I'm not sure. I've seen photos of the 1987 GSX-R750 with both the PDF and the NEAS front end.

A key difference I find with it compared to my 1985 GSXR is that it seems to be a lot taller in the saddle. I'm 6' - 1" and sit very low on my 1985 bike, even when I had the 18" rims. I sit much higher on the Limited.


Great work Andrew!!!

I love that bike!:cheers
Thanks, it's taken me a while to get it road worthy. Now I have to take care of a little bodywork and then I'll have to get the paint done. It's a lot of fun to ride. It feels like it's on a rail in the corners and just wants to go faster :chucks
 
#36 ·
Andrew, good work as usual and thanks for sharing. I've only got 3 months left in China then I can finish my limited. After final assembly I realized the only part I had forgotten was the front mid lower that joins the bottom two. Rodriquez set me up with one and it is painted and ready to go on. After that I will mount the Canadian Flat slides you sold me along with the new cables I had made. My biggest mistake was that I had purchased a limited mid cover and made the assumption it hadn't been painted. I later bought and old original tail section from a member and realized my mistake. Oh well it's only paint and when I get it finished will eventually have it painted to match OEM. If you look at the picture my AHRMA race bike matches original color.
 
#39 ·
Hey Eric,

Thanks for the praise. It's taken me ages to get my act together to put this one on the road. I've seen a few photos of your bikes and they look pretty fantastic. Paint and bodywork are next on the agenda for mine. I'll be borrowing heavily from your photos to get it right. Fortunately my OEM tail is in pretty good shape so I'll scan it to match the colours for the rest of the bike.

Regarding the Canadian slide-carbs, you must have purchased those from another member. I'm pretty sure you didn't get them from me, although if I had a spare set, I'd have been happy to send them your way.


As far as riding this bike goes, it's just a blast. Initially I thought I would keep it as my "only take it out on great sunny days" bike but it's so much fun to ride I haven't ridden the red/black bike since I got the Limited road worthy. I'll have to make a point of taking the red/black bike out next time I go for a ride. I was out yesterday and had to detour through town at rush hour due to an accident on the highway. That's the first time I've taken it through congested traffic and that gets tired pretty fast. The clutch is a whole lot heavier than the hydraulic unit on my red/black bike and it's a lot grabbier too. Still a blast to ride though :biggrin
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top