1982 GSX 1100 Katana in race trim 1/12 scale Tamiya

[Guest]

Heres my entry

I'm going to kit bash it into a replica of my friends actual race bike. This will include a modified swing arm and frame,marvic rims and a total loss(no alternator)system with a plugged off side case just to name a few. The finished bike will be real close to looking like these

[Ian M]

Nice!

Look forward to seeing what you get out of that.

Ian M

If my Ex had not burned all my photos, you could have had all the photos you want of that bike. I had one the same. It just had numberplates, lights, indicators and a horn.....Still had the Yoshi 1275 in it though ;-)

[Guest]

Ian what a sad loss ! I would've loved to have seen those photos!

I got started with the starter removal(pretty cheesy bad pun)

then filled in the area with some tape and epoxy

then some cut strips of tape to outline the block off plate. I know its not exactly correct ,just did'nt want to do a complex build of the recess area under the starter

then a shot of primer and some pe bolt heads

thats it for now. I'll tackle the oil lines and other engine details next.

[Dave W]

Looking good.A friend of mine raced the 1000cc version back in the 80's

[Guest]

Thanks Dave,what series did your friend race in do you recall?

Stator removal

The end of the crank was never machined off so a welded tube just covered the exposed end.Crude but effective lol

also removed the chrome with a soak in bleach

[Dave W]

He only raced at club level.We were both in the RAF at the time.I had a Laverda Jota at the time,but wasnt good/Crazy enough to race it!.

[Guest]

I was in the RAF too then :beer:

I loved the Katana from the first time I saw it in the flesh, so radical from all my KH's, GS's etc. I've wanted one ever since.... one day

:abouttime:

[Ian M]

Looking good Trey. Nice work on the engine chop.

Ian M

[Guest]

Great to see a bit of kit bashing, particulaly on a bike. Many years ago I hacked around a YZR and made it into a "Proddy Racer" and stuck it on a base with a suitably modified racing figure. The paint is now cracking and I can see all the bits that make me cringe but it is what it is and I enjoyed building it at the time.

This is going to be a cracker and the modifications you have done so far look spot on.

[Guest]

Dave you'de have to be crazy to race a Laverda lol.

Andy its always been a head turner

Ian thanks more chopping to come!

Richard thanks,wish I still had some of my old builds like that YZR of yours any pics in your gallery?Sorry ,rather lazy of me not to go and just look

I did get a little done, been working lots of overtime so the builds slowed a bit.Enough excuses heres the progress

[Dave W]

Trey.The Laverda was the best production racer in its day, untill Honda built the CB1100R and stuck One of Britains best on it (Ron Haslam).Ruined the series

[Guest]

Trey, here's the old FZR model seriously showing it's age and my inexperience. Still we all started somewhere!

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[Guest]

Dave ,I hear ya did'nt mean any offense to Laverda . I meant any machine(beast) back then required a level of craziness to ride. Sad that the other manufactures let the big four from Asia set the bar and did little to change their designs to keep pace.

Richard thanks for posting up the pics,I think it was a worthy effort for your ability at the time!

I tackled the dreaded carbs. The CV (constant velocity) ones supplied just were'nt going to do . I did my best to replicate the flat slide Mikinu's we used. I remember them being 38 or 40 mm and were a big improvement over the factory supplied carbs.

The kit one on the left versus the ones from the FZR donor kit

after removing the cv tops and intakes I added some scratch built replacements

added some mounting pins and painted with model master metalizer followed by a black wash

mounted up

[Dave W]

Trey.No offence taken.Im not that sensitive!.Actually i got that wrong.The GS1000 (which i bought after the Laverda) and the CB900 arrived on the scene before the CB1100R and beat the Jota on a regular basis.

[Guest]

Dave glad to hear you were'nt offended ,I know how deep brand loyalty can run (myself included) .

I got the mill mounted in the frame and started scratching the braced swing arm made by Calfab,which by the way was one of the worst mods we did. The braced swing arm was actually too stiff and made the bike near unrideable causing a severe front end 'push'. I'm leaving it in the build purely for the look not the function.

We did a frame bracing effort to compensate but in the end the stock swing arm went back on and some other poor unsuspecting newb excitedly went away with the 'trick' braced swingarm. Needless to say he was'nt really friendly with us after that for some reason