View attachment 585859
View attachment 585861
1. Here she is when I first got her. 2. The Tank Was driving me nuts. After I bought her, I decided I was going to try to restore her myself. Not realizing that I had no clue what I was doing, and Live in an apartment in downtown Chicago, where it was parked in my parking garage, being my car, so aside from new tires,farrings "That I am still waiting for I took the tank off and did this on my balcony. This is the tank now. After learning how to weld "A little Bit, Use Bondo, and sand it, I realized that Spray paint wasn't going to work, So I took it to a guy I know and he did the two tone for basically a hundred bucks. The only issue was there was no way to find out the detentions on where the Red ended and the black started. Plus, when I gave him the picture he also painted the silver on the tank and that is supposed to be a decal and he rid it for me for no charge, but I know dam well its not going to be the correct spacing.
3. View attachment 585862
4. Below is the Farring kit I ordered for her. Everything comes with the decals but since I did the tank myself I have no clue where I can just find Tank decals. I am hoping by May this is what she will look like.
View attachment 585863
5. I was lucky enough to find a guy in Chicago who got out of the military and had worked for Harley Davidson for about 5 years. He finally got enough money together to open his own shop here in Chicago and I was lucky enough to find him before he had to many customers. I was also lucky enough because he didn't really have any experience working on crotch rockets or in-line 4's and wanted to use my bike to learn and take photos so he could advertise he could work on both kind of bikes. This guy has put his own money into this bike just to learn how to fix Japanese bikes. He has charged me no labor cost's, and invested about 500 bucks in parts." On His Own" I discussed with him "Please do not put more money in this bike until you call because I can't afford too much... and his simple reply way: Ken,Learning how to do this and make a success out of it is going to earn me more business then you can imagine. I live in Down town Chicago. There is not any dealership down here besides a BMW dealership that will not touch it, A few guys who work out of a garage, and I was lucky enough to find this guy. The only deal was... If he needed any parts that were too expensive he would ask me to get the parts. He also, wanted to use this project as a great way to promote what he can do.
the above picture is what I was going for. It was a track bike beat to shit, but aside from tires, the tank, some parts I wanted to replace, it hasn't cost me much. The bike was in a barn for about 15 years and the guys son had long forgot about it. I bought the thing for 1500 bucks, put 600 bucks worth of tires on it and it was a blast for the summer. I grew up racing professional Motocross until I broke my back and that was the end of Motocross. About a year later I bought my first street bike a 1988 FZ 600 ---- No it was used ... I am not that old ! However, I was living on the east coast and it was so much fun to ride out there. My first job out of college had given me a little money to move to Tucson AZ, and after selling the FZ, Saving some money, I bought a used GSXR 750.... Bumble Bee Yellow, with about 2k miles on it. It was a 96...... Anyway, a few motorcycles later and the "On -Off Again" Having one, Plus living now in Chicago,I wasn't extremely interested into getting back into this. However, at first when I found this 97.... I figured I would screw around on it for the summer and sell it for probably what I paid for it. Then I discovered a movie from 1983 called "Christine" and that was all it took to go down the rabbit hole of restoring a 97 gsxr 750 from a track bike to its original glory.
This guy is doing an amazing job, he has the bike for the winter, I keep checking on it and every time I stop by there is more and more progress. I bring him a case of beer, and a pizza just to continue to say thank you, and he is nice enough to let me hang out when he works on it so I can learn something new at my age 45. I can take apart a 2 stroke blindfolded of fix a VW bug but when you do not have the space....."The Parking Garage" and a lot of the knowledge, it's fun to learn.
Sorry Guys, didn't mean to bother you with my long ass story !
However, could use some advice about a few things.
The Head Light Looks like crap - Just because it's old. It works perfectly but the plastic is scratched up. Does anyone know if you can just get the replacement plastic cover that covers the lights?
-Chain and Sprocket - I do remember my 96 GSXR was a bad ass except "Midrange Power" I am buying a new sprocket front and rear and a chain.... Do I just go with the OEM Standard with the sprockets ?
I know I will get a better chain. I am sure there is a kit out there.
All of the motor gaskets have been changed, all the hoses, and carbs have been rebuilt "Thanks to this guy"
It has new tires on it, he has told me that the calipers and disc breaks are completely fine, and probably could go another season without pads. The thing is .... Since this guy is doing this labor for pretty much no cost, I am asking do I do those now, Do I have him figure out the suspension ? Do I have him change the fork seals ...Even though I have found out it doesn't need it currently ? I am trying to get as much as I can before the season hits, and I know he will always give me a break on labor, etc but since this is a "Learning Experience for this guy" He is very capable and willing as it is still winter here to work on her for free for the time being.
The last and final thing I have to ask is ....Well 2 things --- Since it use to be a track bike there is a steering damper on it, I would think I would of hated that..However, riding it especially when you have to go through a city like Chicago just to enjoy the ride ...It seems to be amazing. City riding sucks.
Lastly, This bike has Frame Sliders on it. Don't ask me why but I always thought "Frame Sliders" on a bike look very weird and have never been a big fan. "I say that now until I drop it with my new farings on it"
They look like there bolted into the frame., If I take those off, Do I just fill in the holes on the frame or am I being dumb?
Thank you all and I am sorry I have been late to the table on this stuff, but it's been a crapy year so far and starting to turn around. Any reply would be very much appreciated, Ride Safe, Ride Smart, And Ride Fast !
Thank you,
Ken
1. Here she is when I first got her. 2. The Tank Was driving me nuts. After I bought her, I decided I was going to try to restore her myself. Not realizing that I had no clue what I was doing, and Live in an apartment in downtown Chicago, where it was parked in my parking garage, being my car, so aside from new tires,farrings "That I am still waiting for I took the tank off and did this on my balcony. This is the tank now. After learning how to weld "A little Bit, Use Bondo, and sand it, I realized that Spray paint wasn't going to work, So I took it to a guy I know and he did the two tone for basically a hundred bucks. The only issue was there was no way to find out the detentions on where the Red ended and the black started. Plus, when I gave him the picture he also painted the silver on the tank and that is supposed to be a decal and he rid it for me for no charge, but I know dam well its not going to be the correct spacing.
3. View attachment 585862
4. Below is the Farring kit I ordered for her. Everything comes with the decals but since I did the tank myself I have no clue where I can just find Tank decals. I am hoping by May this is what she will look like.
View attachment 585863
5. I was lucky enough to find a guy in Chicago who got out of the military and had worked for Harley Davidson for about 5 years. He finally got enough money together to open his own shop here in Chicago and I was lucky enough to find him before he had to many customers. I was also lucky enough because he didn't really have any experience working on crotch rockets or in-line 4's and wanted to use my bike to learn and take photos so he could advertise he could work on both kind of bikes. This guy has put his own money into this bike just to learn how to fix Japanese bikes. He has charged me no labor cost's, and invested about 500 bucks in parts." On His Own" I discussed with him "Please do not put more money in this bike until you call because I can't afford too much... and his simple reply way: Ken,Learning how to do this and make a success out of it is going to earn me more business then you can imagine. I live in Down town Chicago. There is not any dealership down here besides a BMW dealership that will not touch it, A few guys who work out of a garage, and I was lucky enough to find this guy. The only deal was... If he needed any parts that were too expensive he would ask me to get the parts. He also, wanted to use this project as a great way to promote what he can do.
the above picture is what I was going for. It was a track bike beat to shit, but aside from tires, the tank, some parts I wanted to replace, it hasn't cost me much. The bike was in a barn for about 15 years and the guys son had long forgot about it. I bought the thing for 1500 bucks, put 600 bucks worth of tires on it and it was a blast for the summer. I grew up racing professional Motocross until I broke my back and that was the end of Motocross. About a year later I bought my first street bike a 1988 FZ 600 ---- No it was used ... I am not that old ! However, I was living on the east coast and it was so much fun to ride out there. My first job out of college had given me a little money to move to Tucson AZ, and after selling the FZ, Saving some money, I bought a used GSXR 750.... Bumble Bee Yellow, with about 2k miles on it. It was a 96...... Anyway, a few motorcycles later and the "On -Off Again" Having one, Plus living now in Chicago,I wasn't extremely interested into getting back into this. However, at first when I found this 97.... I figured I would screw around on it for the summer and sell it for probably what I paid for it. Then I discovered a movie from 1983 called "Christine" and that was all it took to go down the rabbit hole of restoring a 97 gsxr 750 from a track bike to its original glory.
This guy is doing an amazing job, he has the bike for the winter, I keep checking on it and every time I stop by there is more and more progress. I bring him a case of beer, and a pizza just to continue to say thank you, and he is nice enough to let me hang out when he works on it so I can learn something new at my age 45. I can take apart a 2 stroke blindfolded of fix a VW bug but when you do not have the space....."The Parking Garage" and a lot of the knowledge, it's fun to learn.
Sorry Guys, didn't mean to bother you with my long ass story !
However, could use some advice about a few things.
The Head Light Looks like crap - Just because it's old. It works perfectly but the plastic is scratched up. Does anyone know if you can just get the replacement plastic cover that covers the lights?
-Chain and Sprocket - I do remember my 96 GSXR was a bad ass except "Midrange Power" I am buying a new sprocket front and rear and a chain.... Do I just go with the OEM Standard with the sprockets ?
I know I will get a better chain. I am sure there is a kit out there.
All of the motor gaskets have been changed, all the hoses, and carbs have been rebuilt "Thanks to this guy"
It has new tires on it, he has told me that the calipers and disc breaks are completely fine, and probably could go another season without pads. The thing is .... Since this guy is doing this labor for pretty much no cost, I am asking do I do those now, Do I have him figure out the suspension ? Do I have him change the fork seals ...Even though I have found out it doesn't need it currently ? I am trying to get as much as I can before the season hits, and I know he will always give me a break on labor, etc but since this is a "Learning Experience for this guy" He is very capable and willing as it is still winter here to work on her for free for the time being.
The last and final thing I have to ask is ....Well 2 things --- Since it use to be a track bike there is a steering damper on it, I would think I would of hated that..However, riding it especially when you have to go through a city like Chicago just to enjoy the ride ...It seems to be amazing. City riding sucks.
Lastly, This bike has Frame Sliders on it. Don't ask me why but I always thought "Frame Sliders" on a bike look very weird and have never been a big fan. "I say that now until I drop it with my new farings on it"
They look like there bolted into the frame., If I take those off, Do I just fill in the holes on the frame or am I being dumb?
Thank you all and I am sorry I have been late to the table on this stuff, but it's been a crapy year so far and starting to turn around. Any reply would be very much appreciated, Ride Safe, Ride Smart, And Ride Fast !
Thank you,
Ken
