Project Katmandu: GS rebuild

[ChasF]

the Magura fat bars are very strong, they take a real hammering on enduro bikes and I've never seen them break but I imagine they would break rather than bend like the original steel bars.

I would use the bars you have with rox risers which will allow you to adjust them to the best position for you. In the event of a hard crash I think the risers would give before the bars broke. I know you can't account for every eventuality but in general it's unusual for the bars to get damaged in a crash on a R80/100. Good crashbars to protect the rocker covers are a good idea.

 

[pete.keys]

the Magura fat bars are very strong, they take a real hammering on enduro bikes and I've never seen them break but I imagine they would break rather than bend like the original steel bars.

I would use the bars you have with rox risers which will allow you to adjust them to the best position for you. In the event of a hard crash I think the risers would give before the bars broke. I know you can't account for every eventuality but in general it's unusual for the bars to get damaged in a crash on a R80/100. Good crashbars to protect the rocker covers are a good idea.

I'd never heard of these Rox risers before. Just looked them up and they look just the job!

 

[pete.keys]

she rides

Richie Moore (speed) to the rescue. He had an axle shaft clip which he posted Friday and arrived yesterday.

Axle shaft reassembled and bike stuck back together.

And first ride .... awesome to try her.

The bike is a little high.. but I can get my feet down tip toes both sides.

Seems to pull strongly with the 33/11 diff ... pleased with that. Its 10% higher than the 37/11 diff and the reason for all the 4bolt rear end rigmarole

The wilbers shock works really well

Front brake is excellent

High speed stability not as good as I expected... no better than my r100g/s. I will have to investigate why this is. Maybe its down to the tyres after all?

 

[pete.keys]

gearbox or clutch failure...

I have done about 75 miles on project Katmandu and have been very happy with the way she rides, handles and stops.

After about 30 miles there was what appeared to be a screeching noise. I think it was from the clutch. This came and went but this morning when pulling away it was really bad, and the clutch started to drag.

The plan was to ride around on her for a couple of weeks before the strip. I guess the plan just came forward!!

The only issue I had with my test rides are the restricted fork movement as the DRZ yolks don't have an offset, being in line with the steering stem. I'll have to think/look about changing these but its likely to be and expensive option. Anyway got time to think about this whilst the bike rebuild.

 

[MattW]

High speed stability not as good as I expected... no better than my r100g/s. I will have to investigate why this is. Maybe its down to the tyres after all?

The only issue I had with my test rides are the restricted fork movement as the DRZ yolks don't have an offset, being in line with the steering stem. I'll have to think/look about changing these but its likely to be and expensive option. Anyway got time to think about this whilst the bike rebuild.

Could the reduced trail due to the zero offset yokes be affecting stability (although the offset spindle might make up for some of this)?...

 

[Shep]

Good to see it all up and running.

Can't say that I like that front brake hose though

Good luck

Shep

 

[pete.keys]

Good to see it all up and running.

Can't say that I like that front brake hose though

Good luck

Shep

Yeah front brake hose is wierd. Its the standard DRZ one that will run up the front of the fork sliders when I get/fit them. Alternatively and will probably replace the cable anyway after the rebuild.

 

[pete.keys]

Could the reduced trail due to the zero offset yokes be affecting stability (although the offset spindle might make up for some of this)?...

It could be. The geometry now is the same as the DRZ - I've never ridden one so not sure what it'd be like at 100mph.

After riding the bike a bit more I became less concerned about the stability. My stability measure is very technical - to get to speed - aka 100mph and wobble the handle bars. I haven't really got a bench mark on what it should be like

I will look out for some different yolks though to give them a try ...

 

[MattW]

It could be. The geometry now is the same as the DRZ - I've never ridden one so not sure what it'd be like at 100mph.

After riding the bike a bit more I became less concerned about the stability. My stability measure is very technical - to get to speed - aka 100mph and wobble the handle bars. I haven't really got a bench mark on what it should be like

I will look out for some different yolks though to give them a try ...

Well I've never ridden an airhead GS at speed but I wouldn't be surprised if DRZ geometry might feel a bit twitchy - whole different ball game as far as CofG / weight / frame stiffness etc goes. My concern might be that certain combinations of speed and loading might precipitate some hard to control oscillations / weave?

Dunno - just thinking aloud....

 

[(RIP) pastyman]

When I first had my 100gs with the big tank andf fitted with tkc's, I tried wobbling the bars and went into the biggest tank slapper I've ever had at about 95 mph.. the moral, as my lad syco said was " dont wiggle the f... kin bars. I think the stability may well be as much to do with the tyres at speed. Its not a friggin sports bike.

 

[pete.keys]

When I first had my 100gs with the big tank andf fitted with tkc's, I tried wobbling the bars and went into the biggest tank slapper I've ever had at about 95 mph.. the moral, as my lad syco said was " dont wiggle the f... kin bars. I think the stability may well be as much to do with the tyres at speed. Its not a friggin sports bike.

excellent moral - had me chuckling for a while

 

[Rob Farmer]

Screech when you pull the clutch in sounds like the release bearing. Have you got the one piece or earlier multipart one? it's usually the early ones that screech when the bearings skid and flatten off.

 

[Padmei]

Bike's looking good Pete. I've got a -new-to-me KLX400 (same as the DRZ) however haven't noticed any real stability issues. The bike sits very different from the BM tho & is geared very low so cruising is at a lower speed.

Those wilbers look good. Were they chosen over the ohlins on price? I've got to get a new rear so interested to hear about wilbers as most seem to go for ohlins.

 

[borderer]

You probabally need custom Yokes made up. My Maico forks have billet alloy yokes and quite a big offset= great stability with plenty of lock

 

[pete.keys]

Bike's looking good Pete. I've got a -new-to-me KLX400 (same as the DRZ) however haven't noticed any real stability issues. The bike sits very different from the BM tho & is geared very low so cruising is at a lower speed.

Those wilbers look good. Were they chosen over the ohlins on price? I've got to get a new rear so interested to hear about wilbers as most seem to go for ohlins.

Yes on price and to match one I already had. In fact I acquired one of these units off someone on here a few months back. I was going to use it on my project bike and then made the mistake of putting it on my R80g/s. Until that moment i had always thought the r80g/s forks were rubbish. Funny enough ever since I put the wilbers on it my issues with the forks have gone away and its handling capability is massively improved!!

So with my project wilbers on the g/s I had to get another one - found it new on ebay for £475 - came straight from wilbers with setting and spring weight set up for the bike.

 

[pete.keys]

Screech when you pull the clutch in sounds like the release bearing. Have you got the one piece or earlier multipart one? it's usually the early ones that screech when the bearings skid and flatten off.

Hi Rob - not sure. Will strip the bike down to the frame this weekend and will rebuild /replace every nut/bolt/bearing/wearable on the build up. The gearbox maybe coming your way if the offer is still there?

 

[pete.keys]

wobbly front end

my fears about the high speed stability of my bike have been somewhat allayed. I had to pick up my s1000rr from servicing yesterday and as I had to wait I decided to test ride the f650GS and F800GS bikes.

At 90mph on both of these the "handle bar shake test" results were pretty similar to what I experienced on the katmandu project bike. So I guess my sports bike based expectations of what these bikes should handle like with a 21" front wheel has somewhat been reset

The other useful lesson learned: I'd far rather use my project bike for the trip than either of these:

 

[pete.keys]

5 hour strip

so time for the final strip

5 hours took me from

to this

but I can't get the engine out as the front engine bolt have seized solid. I guess it should just push out like the rear bolt - but even introducing a hammer to its doesn't shift it! Any suggestions?

 

[DrFarkoff]

use washers behind the nut use them to press the bolt or "draw" the engine bolt out one side or t'other

Do not thump or beat or hammer or you will mushroom it and cause yourself a LOAD of grief

 

[BigyellowGS]

I had the same problem and as Jethro said it's a matter of using the nuts to pull the bolt out. But I also resorted to heating the areas a bit and lots of penetrating oil!

Oh.. and whats the interesting looking twin shock bike you can see the back end of?