Any Words or Wisdom, Things to Look For : 1100 or 1000

[johnr]

the problem is that the more they go up in value (value being the market term for it, not what i personally think) then the more that the unscrupulous will seek to jump on the bandwagon to make a few bob. so prices in dealers are largely speculative and as the economy stagnates and people look elsewhere for investment opportunities, classic and vintage vehicles are seen as a better bet than cash in the bank. strange but true! and we've seen this before but they havent learned from the last time, and there are plenty of kats out there at 10k+ that are resolutely glued to the showroom floor. this isnt too bad for them, they know that prices will eventually rise, and they can convince their accountants and the taxman that all their money is tied up in stock. its a mad world we live in!

[PaulD]

The bike outside York the top end of the speedo was in think 240kph so I figure would be able to be replace the face with a UK face the same as yours (unless it is not linear), though the odometer would still indicate in km?

If you look closely at my speedo 55mph is picked out in yellow which points to it being a US mph overlay
I think my bike was an Italian import so I’m assuming that if I remove the overlay there will be a kph face. And yes the odometer does read in Km

[Uncle Bob]

at an indicated 100mph I’m actually only doing 60.

Paul - your speedo must be one of those American 85mph ones with an overlay. See Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-GSX-1 ... Sw-sZa805R and you'll see one of the images shows the 85mph clock with 60mph / 100kph more a less at the same point as the 100mph (but doing 60mph) point on your speedo.

For the money, like Fossie said, that German SD looks nice (and the delivery is cheap to the UK and easy before 29th March!). I had an SD originally sold it then thought like the OP and wanted a silver 1100 which I got and then decided their are so many silver ones (including SDs) I actually liked the rarer! maroon SD scheme better, so got one of those (imported myself from Switzerland (but it was Italian originally)!

If you are looking at 10k bikes then that 1000 in Edenbridge is probably better as they do command higher prices ( I think the last private one on Ebay was a year or 2 back and went for about 6.5k, so 10k at dealer, haggle down a tad maybe not so bad (if you have 9-10k that is!).

I don't think the overlays work on kph to mph, as if you look at the clocks the 240kph is at different angles (it's just after 12 on a kph one and nearer 1 o'clock on the mph ones). Both my 1100's (the the 400!) are kph and really it isn't difficult to convert in your head once you know the various limits.

[jeznewsome]

It is the Edenbridge one that I have been looking at and talking to the dealer. The problem is that it is a long way away from Lancashire! I was looking at the York ones to get some knowledge and a bit of a datum (along with those in Stoke and Edinburgh that I have already looked at).

It's just such a long way away but at least I think that the advertised price is up for negotiation as the dealer offered more that I would have expected for one of my Buells as a trade in......so I guess if I were able to sell that separately and deal with cash it would be a better price.

[jeznewsome]

OK guys some more questions, if I may, as I have found an 'import' bike nearer to me at what appears to be a reasonable price. The bike is a GSX1100S Katana registered in Germany 1985:

- There appears to be a space for an oil cooler but none is fitted (bolts fitted with a bunch of washers to mounting points).....should there be something fitted? The sump appears to have blanking bolts to the left and right of oil filter position? If there should be an oil cooler are there any other GSX engined bikes with the an oil cooler that fit the katana frame?
- The is an oil leak adjacent to the cam chain tunnel at the cylinder head. Am I right in that I have seen later bikes have a couple more bolts in the region to reduce the chance of leaking?
- the clutch clatters a bit at idle from cold but I guess that this may be a combination of weak basket springs and possibly a need for a carb balance? It appears to be a common GSX1100 problem?

Is there a internet resource for Original Suzuki part nos for the bike and a recommended source of common spares - gaskets, filters, fork seals, etc.

Thanks again Jez

[stockcar]

No oil cooler as std albeit they are easily fitted and sounds like this one may have had something in the past

[Uncle Bob]

Oil cooler answered - but where an oil cooler would be if you fitted one is a black plastic grill thingy. THe part number is "94445-49300" so Google that and you'll see what it looks like.

Sound like you are looking at a SZ (with the star pattern wheels), so the cam cover gasket does have less holes than the later SD which did have the extra bolts around the cam tunnel. There's a recent forum post about this by Blix at viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7838 which will help. They are commonly referred to as 20 hole and 24 hole. You can get OEM but I always thought Vesrah ones were good Japanese quality but hard to get hold of in this country. I got 2 (of the later SD ones) from a bike in Poland and they were very good prices. I did buy more stuff from them to make postage worth while but it wasn't that much. I had to email them the part numbers from there webiste then they requested the money via Paypal. It was all fairly easy. The Vesrah code for the gasket is VV-3006 but here it is on their website and it works out at just over £10! https://www.italyracing.pl/pl/produkt,8 ... rowej.html If you change the language to English (unless you are Polish of course ) you can select the GSX1100S Katana and see what else they have. If the bike you are looking at has original pipes then they do the link pipe gaskets and also a Petrol tap repair kit. All prices seemed very good.

Clutch noise is normal. I believe some people add heavier clutch springs to help that. I think my Swiss Katana (I importe dit from there last year) has the heavier springs as the clutch is bloody heavy compared to the other 1100 I have. I might change those back and have the rattly clutch!

I find Robinsons or Fowlers the easiest sites to use for parts as they have the parts diagrams for you to use to make it easy. If you have your own parts list (this will be on the site soon in the members area) then Robinsons have a quick pad to enter them in. Fowlers do free delivery on web orders over £100 (easy to do!). I am just taking over some of the admin stuff and I believe Robinsons give KoC members a discount, but am still waiting for that info to come back. Watch this space (or at least a space somewhere on here).

I would probably change the petrol tap O rings etc. from bad experience of overflow on my 1100 and 400! It's cheap enough and gives a little piece of mind. If you don't want to use the Polish place NRP does them for about £16. Lastly there is a carb repair kit with Viton O rings that is worth while for not much money posted at https://litetek.co/ReplacementPartsSuzuki.html. He has taken the 1100 off at the moment as the float bowl gasket had one hole a little in the wrong place - I just punched a new one in mine and used but (Blair) took the kit off until he could investigate. If you ask I'm sure he'll send a kit.

Hope that helps, and hopefully you'll be a Katana owner soon.

Thanks

Rob (Uncle Bob!)

[jeznewsome]

Thanks guys.

The bike has the 'plastic grill' fitted but I guess that there was something fitted on the oil cooler mount. Something potentially for the future

Looking at the photo I took of the oil weep at the cam chain tunnel, it unfortunately looks like it is coming from the cylinder head gasket not the cam cover.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3V9SfAiXhfqAoCVD9

Looks like a full gasket set can be had for a little under £100, so looks like I might need to remember how to take the head off an engine again. I guess it would be worth changing the cam chain (possibly the guides) and also the valve stem seals whilst I am in there? Anything else to look at?

I'll probably worry about the clutch basket once the the oil leak has been sorted out and after I have balanced the carbs to see if that reduces the noise.

And thanks for the tip about the petrol tap.

Any advice on the best method for cleaning the seat, which though a bit grubby looks in pretty decent condition.

Going for a 'second look' at the bike tomorrow an hopefully to have a brief ride to check I fit and there's nothing else obviously wrong with it.

[jeznewsome]

Member section and joining? .....I have found a number of posts, but whats the current method of joining? PM Uncle Bob?

p.s. £100 was for a full gasket set

[fossie]

Good call we will need to make the process more accessible , but for Now send Fossie a PM. , your enquiries are most welcome.