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Newbie looking for specific Yosh 1100 photos / article

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johnmh

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hi, I am a newbie here who has picked up an 87 GSXR1100 for restoration (first GSXR). I have a particular project bike in ming which I would like to recreate.

In the late 80s I recall reading a magazine article (Motorcyclist?) which had a street legal version of a Yoshimura "big papa" type bike. There have been a number of such project bikes but this one is unique.

The thing I recall most from the article is that the bike was white and blue and had a single offset headlight from Japanese endurance racing, the headlight surround was bright red.

This bike represents the epitome of what I think a GSXR 1100 ought to look like.


Does anyone have a scan of the article or a picture of the bike? I looked through the magazine article archive on the forum and could not find the article there.

Greetings to all.
 
#2 · (Edited)
There are probably several of us that have copies of all of the magazines from that era. Mine are stored at a warehouse and I don't have a scanner, so I may not be much help. I will point out one thing, which is the fact that the bike you bought is completely different from the 1991 GSX-R1100 that Yoshimura used for the Big Papa, so I'm not sure how exactly you intend to build one. One of the moderators here, Ragnar, knows a lot about that bike.

Welcome to the site,
JR
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
You may be right, the bike may be a 2nd generation oil cooled 1100. No idea til I see the article (last time I read it may have been 20 years ago).

I will post some pics this weekend when i take delivery. The plan may also be to take it back to 100% stock, if I can find the parts. Kinda wish it was white and blue (it is a black and red 87 model). Are OEM fairing parts still available from Suzuki? I doubt it. Maybe if I had the paint codes and a set of OEM decals I could replicate it, I know a fantastic paint shop.

I have restored a few Ducatis and a BMW, even a few cars, will be neat to try a GSXR.
 
#5 · (Edited)
There's no question that the Big Papa bikes were second generation. Still, a restored first generation bike is nice to ride. Most of the factory plastic is NLA. There are people that make reproduction decals, so it's not that hard to replaint a set. I may have some 'decent 87 red/black plastic in my stash, as I'm sure other people do. If you upgrade your membership by buying a "red R" you can post ads in the classified forums looking for parts, once you figure out exactly what you need. You might also find complete sets of plastic, with tanks. These come up for sale from time to time. The '86 blue/white is a classic. I know it's not the correct color for an '87 but most of us like that color scheme better. My first 1100 was a blue/white '86.

JR
 
#8 ·
johnmh said:
You may be right, the bike may be a 2nd generation oil cooled 1100. No idea til I see the article (last time I read it may have been 20 years ago).

I will post some pics this weekend when i take delivery. The plan may also be to take it back to 100% stock, if I can find the parts. Kinda wish it was white and blue (it is a black and red 87 model). Are OEM fairing parts still available from Suzuki? I doubt it. Maybe if I had the paint codes and a set of OEM decals I could replicate it, I know a fantastic paint shop.

I have restored a few Ducatis and a BMW, even a few cars, will be neat to try a GSXR.
Click to expand...

Fun...:twitch Depends how far you go into the "restoration". It will consume your life be careful!!!!
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
The bike is actually pretty complete, all the plastic is intact, except for the upper left side fairing which is missing a small chunk. The red is faded, the winscreen yellow, some of the stripes, which appear to be decals, are bubbling off. The carbs need to be completely rebuilt, along with brakes, fork seals, chain & sprockets, etc. Typical 24 year old bike, but it has never been crashed (and only has 15,000 km on it).

My last bike restoration was a badly crashed WSB Ducati 999RS (good luck finding parts), so in comparison this may not be that bad.

Thanks for the tip, I will upgrade my membership.

I cannot decide whether I want to make it into a racebike replica or just get it back to original. First, I need to collect it on the weekend, dig into it and see what is there (and what is not).

That picture is not the bike I am thinking of. Close, but no cigar. Will look online (the actual magazine is in my parents basement, but they live pretty far away).
 
#12 ·
put up scans please john ,Big Papa sounds like a all out bike -1st gen 86-88 -1100 had a
weaker by 30% frame than the 2nd gen frame , the 1st gen frame is known to break
 
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