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

[Guest]

That's a very interesting point you make there Trey. You see some of these street bikes hacked around with after market gear with swinging arms like Blackpool Tower yet you say they can be too stiff. You would expect that to be a plus point and put all the effort into controlling it with the damper. Why would too stiff be a problem?

[Guest]

Richard too stiff and the bike does'nt 'absorb' enough feedback through the frame and the suspension ca'nt completely compensate the bumps in the track. What made our set up real bad is that we did'nt compensate at the front so you have a 'pushing a wet noodle up a hill' action.There is a real lengthy article in Moto GP technology about how the modern teams are building several different chassis with different stiffness. Basically it helps at full lean but makes straight line braking a difficult set up to sort out.Thats just a readers digest break down and I'm no expert on it by any means hope that sorts it a bit.

I got a rolling chassis mock up with the major components just dry fitted. Obviously a lot of tweaking is in order but its looking the part.

[Ian M]

Pushing a wet noodle up hill! LOL I think that is what I used to call Brown skid mark steering!!!

The Kat is looking great. The frame looks real good too. Alclad?

Ian M

[Guest]

Brown skid mark steering thats hilarious!Thanks Ian, no Alclad just straight up Tamiya TS-30 silver leaf

[Guest]

Richard, if you don't mind me asking, what kit is that? I've been searching for an Exup for ages but I didn't think anyone made them

It was the best bike I ever owned, refined brutishness and beautiful to look at, though mine was a later model than that one, it's one of the ones I always regret selling

:fool:

[Guest]

It's what you get on a wet day with Japanese Teflon tyres.

Many many years ago I used a mates 250 Wet Dream while he was away at sea. It was fitted with british tyres and I used to come up to roundabouts in the rain and go right around all the bigger Jap stuff with OEM tyres. They thought I was some sort of nutter!

Laugh, I nearly bought a round.

[Guest]

Sorry, forget that, just realized it's the OWO1, doh

[Guest]

Looking good!

Interesting build as well. I like the history with it.

Ah, memories of Jap nylon tyres!

I never realised a bike could lean so much until I discovered Avon Roadrunners.

I discovered that wearing my leather soled beetle crushers (my dad called them snow shoes) was preferable in the wet, as I could just stand up and hold my 50cc upright when it skidded!:cheesygrin:

[Ian M]

I always had the tyres changed as one of the first things, when I bought a bike., Rather liked the Arrow max. You could wear them down right across the tread, bead to bead and not just the 2" band in the middle!!! I think I changed foot pegs as often as I did the tyres some times!

Ian M

[Guest]

Tire tech sure has come a long way for sure! Thanks for the kind words everyone.

I finished filling and priming ,going to let it sit and cure overnight then a final sand should get them ready for some paint

[Guest]

Lovely finish, not a seam in sight!

[simontie]

nice build tray - that was my fantisy bike when i was on a yts (remember them) i worked out that if i lived to 176 and saved every penny i got paid i could just about afford one, those were the days! was offered one a few years ago and gave it serious thought but for the same money you can buy something that handles brakes and pulls faster than i think - never bought that either lol keep up the good work look forward to the finished result

[tr1ckey66]

Looking great as ever!

I like the katana in race trim - it looks mean. I quite like the 80's bikes in race trim. I quite fancy building a 350LC in race trim myself. I remember there used to be an LC racing series that was televised - absolutely fantastic racing and really close and scary!

I'll look forward to seeing the final thing cross the finish line!

All the best

Paul

[Guest]

I remember that Paul, that was real 'Proddy' racing. They used to get the bike keys out of a helmet and get on the bikes. Very close stuff and scary but generally the biggest nutter won!

[Guest]

That was some crazy racing back then for sure!Thanks for all the input everyone keeps the thread a bit more lively!

I got the headers wrapped up ,we used to do this back then but its a big no-no with todays titanium head pipes as it makes them brittle. Then the final trimming and fitting was tackled ,its close enough for an old Rat Racer.The front rim is backwards in the pics I've flipped it around the right way now lol