What a beautifully maintained GSXR1100K. You can really feel the owner’s love for this bike. This time, after four years, we’re doing front maintenance, oil change, and fluid exchange. The stem from four years and tens of thousands of kilometers ago. I’m amazed at how much Newtech NC100 grease remained and how good its condition is. It’s interesting how you can tell the quality of lubricants only after disassembling them years and many kilometers later. The races are in excellent condition. If there’s no problem, there’s no need to replace them. Lately I’ve been thinking that constantly replacing press-fit parts is a bit risky. So we’re changing this to front maintenance with fork OH plus stem lubrication. That brings the price down a bit. We lubricated both top and bottom thoroughly so it stays in good condition for a long time. We’re polishing the bottom case and finishing it with Guncoat clear. There’s some age-related deterioration, but it seems the clear coat adhesion to aluminum polish isn’t quite ideal. We can’t polish it without removing the compression damping. We’re going to drill it out, tap it, and use a sliding hammer. When we pull it out, the spring and ball come out, so we have to be careful not to lose them. After that, we tapped the bottom case side, fabricated a semi-hollow bolt, sandwiched a gasket, and sealed it. Since it’s brass, don’t force it in or out. There’s no individual part specification, so be careful. The fork oil contamination was moderate. This is the latest version of polish and clear. We’ve gone through many versions, but the latest really does give a better finish. Every time I think, “Hmm, was it like this?” and face a storm of questions and countermeasures. The fact that there’s always something new to learn is what makes this job fun, I suppose.
Skipping ahead a bit. We use SKF seals. After stroking the rod, we pull a vacuum to remove fine air. Rod stroking removes quite a bit of air too. Using a handy tool like this gives me peace of mind that the air is definitely out. It suddenly looks rejuvenated. Since it’s Guncoat clear, it might be resistant to stone chips too. The fact is, it’s my own doing, but the work keeps piling up year after year. The stem nut is aluminum from a GS1200SS. It’s a super cool part with lightening holes. Get one before it’s discontinued! We’re fabricating a silencer band. Do you determine it by outer diameter or inner diameter? Wall thickness and circumference. I think most normal fabrication can proceed with elementary school math. We cut it to the required size with a shear, and rolled it up with a three-roll bender. We fabricated the jaw. We added a rib at the boundary between the radius and the straight line to reinforce it a bit. Then we marked the sweet spot on the actual part with a marker and finalized it. We fixed it with spot welds, and finished it with a second pass (without adding filler rod). This looks good. We changed the engine oil to Newtech NC50 10W-50 and replaced the oil filter, We changed the brake fluid to CCI Golden Cruiser DOT4. We also replaced the diaphragm that had become all wrinkled. That completes this service.
