1986 Suzuki GSX-R

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Price: 13,995.00 USD

(A NOTE ABOUT EBAYS NEW CARAMEL PROGRAM – I had a buyer use that previously and it was a pain for them. I have no way to unselectnit when listing. I would prefer you select other payment option and contact me to arrange payment)

What you are looking at is probably thee nicest GSXR1100 currently available. It has been fully rebuilt and is a museum level nut and bolt restoration. I want to address this first so that you know exactly what you are buying. The bike is 1988 spec but its titled as an 1986. Why is this?? Have a seat and ill explain.

I am an expert on these bikes. I have had many of them and will date myself by saying my first one was an ’86, in ’86! They have always been special to me and probably my favorite bike and ive owned everything including RDs,RZs, CBXs Lawson Replicas, Kawi Turbos, you name it, ive probably had one. The first gen GSXR1100 is my favorite just because they were such a radical, groundbreaking machine when they came out. They almost immediately decimated the competition both on the racetrack and sales floor. Yes they were that big of a deal.

I came across this one about 2 years ago and it was pretty straight but in rough condition. I knew that i was going to do a full tear down and rebuild but I had a couple options for the direction I went on the rebuild. I could do a resto mod, full original, full custom….lots of possibilities.

All of the ’86-’88 1100s are rare but some years and colors are more rare than others. In the 1986, the blue and white is my favorite scheme, but I have had the red/blue (commonly referred to as the british flag scheme) and they can be made to look nice too by going with white wheels. Out of the two 1986 schemes, the blue and white is a bit more rare than the red and blue these days. Then you have the ’87….the blue and white scheme on the ’87 was a dud but the red and black was really nice. It was a great red and the black is actually metallic. The red/black ’87 is more rare than the blue and white. The 1988 model is more rare than both the previous years. They were produced in much lower numbers than the ’86 and ’87. The main differences between the ’86 and ’87 were only the paint schemes but the ’88 had cosmetic and mechanical differences over the previous models. The blue and white ’88 is a bit more rare than the red/black but the red and black ’88 is arguably the best looking scheme of the entire 86-88 run and the most sought after by collectors. As mentioned, there was more to the 1988 than just a different color scheme. It featured one year only 3 spoke wheels with a 5.5″ wide rear that were wider than the previous years

So back to my choices for the restoration. The bike was so complete and close to stock that I knew I didnt want to hack it up and do a resto mod, I also knew I didnt want to do a full custom paint job either…just not a fan of that on vintage bikes. That left me with one option – full original restoration. I had planned to redo it in the 1986 blue and white scheme. However, an opportunity presented itself that changed my path. I had considered doing the 1988 red/black scheme because its my favorite, but I would have to use the 1986 wheels and to me it would just look odd. That is until, by an absolute stroke of luck, I found a set of ORIGINAL 88 WHEELS! There is a reason I just shouted that – because they are extremely RARE. As I mentioned they are one year only 18s. Now I could build a full 1988 spec bike, a tribute, a clone, whatever you want to call it…..I also found the 1988 decals (another stroke of luck) and now had everything to make a red and black “1988” I typically am not a fan of clones because im very particular and always notice something that isnt correct, or missed….but not this bike. Even the most hardcode GSXR afficionado would not be able to tell that this isnt an ’88 – and that is the only reason I even did it, because I knew that I could make a perfect 1988 clone…if I didn’t think it would be perfect, I wouldnt have done it. Im not a fan of deception but got tired of explaining what the bike was so I just say its an ’88 now. You can choose to do that or not….no one could tell.

With that out of the way lets talk about the bike. It is a FULL restoration. It was taken down to the frame and built up from there. I wanted to keep it as stock as possible but it does have a few non stock items that could be changed if you wanted a full stock bike. The first thing to address was the frame, I had the choice to try and match the faded annodizing on the frame or have it polished. Polishing would be more expensive but the GSXR frames, especially the 1100s just look so good polished. Before it was polished I had it checked for straightness by a local shop that specializes in that. Then off to polishing. It was $1200 to have the frame and swingarm stripped down and professionally polished but it looks amazing. The frame was bare when it was done so the polishing is very thourough, unlike when someone tries to polish a frame with the engine and other items still on the bike. Once we got the frame back, it was time to start building everything back up. I got the rolling chassis together starting with the forks which are fullly rebuilt with progressive springs. The anti dive units were rebuilt and I used new steering head bearings. At the rear, new swingarm and shock pivot bushings. I had the stock rear shock rebuilt by Racetech and added a brand new spring, powdercoated red. Wheels are freshly powdercoated white and have Continental radial tires. They were in really good shape when I recieved the bike and date codes are good – 130 up front and 160 out back. Brand new bearings in both wheels. All hardware is either new, or refinished. I had the upper triple clamp polished too. Next up was installing the engine. Top end is fully rebuilt. I had it bored to 1109 (stock is 1052) and installed brand new Wiseco pistons and rings. I fully rebuilt the head. Valves and valve springs were inspected and valves were lapped in with new valve seals. Timing chain was checked. Also checked connecting rods for side to side clearance, all in spec but not surprising. This gen air cooled motors are known for their durability. It was now oil oring seals on the front oil pipes and installed new head, base, clutch cover and stator cover gaskets. After it was put back together, it was resprayed in the original GSXR engine color. Motor was reinstalled and all hardware was refinished or replaced. I installed new clutch plates and springs Also installed new clutch shaft, shift shaft and alternator seals – bike is oil leak free. When I got the bike it didnt have the stock aribox and had Mikuni RS flatslide carbs. At the time I didnt know much about them but rebuilding them and getting them to work right has made me an expert and they are awesome! – Plus, its very hard to find OEM parts for the stock carbs these days, especially the emulsion tubes which are usually always worn out. The RS carbs are fully rebuilt with OEM parts from Sudco. I installed new coils and plug wires too. This brings us to the exhaust which is another interesting story. Truth be told, if the bike had stock carbs in good working order, I would have installed a factory exhaust. They are out there and available. Bike came with an early gen Vance and Hines. Ive always liked them and think they sould the best on the air cooled motors. The header was in good shape but the aluminum can was a bit beat. Not from road rash, but dented. I probably could have saved it but had another idea. I measured the can with a micrometer and started searching around to see if I could just replace the entire can using a new piece of aluminum tube. After about a week of searching, I found a piece that was in portland Oregon. Bought it and had it shipped and it wasnt cheap but it turned out being a perfect fit. I drilled all the necessary holes to install it onto the header and insert the silencer and then sent it out to be polished. But there was one piece still missing. The Vance and Hines badge. I could have just left that off but then it would be a no name. After about a month of searching I found a repro badge that came out of Germany. That wasnt cheap either but it was worth it because the period correct V&H exhaust looks brand new!

Items to go over next was chain, sprokets and brakes. Chain and sprockets are brand new, with new cush drive rubbers. I completely rebuilt all three brake calipers using new seals and pistons from Brakecrafters. I then refinished them in the original Suzuki gold. I did Galfer braided steel lines front and rear. Both master cylinders are rebuilt as well.

Now onto the item that caused me the most headache of the entire bike, the seat!…did not expect that. I’ve recovered many motorcycle seats but this one was different. The design and shape of the seat required a very special fabric know as a 4 way stretch. I first tried using a more generic material but is caused the seat to “banana” and then it wouldn’t fit the bike correctly. And getting the right color was difficult too. Tried the eBay seat covers…junk, wrong color and wrong fit. I then sent it out to 2 local upholstery shops but both were a disaster…the first one stretched it too tight and the second to make it fit right, sewed in 2 seams right across the seat and it looked ridiculous. I took both costs in the shorts and basically ripped it off when I got home. I actually spent months going around and round on this seat and was giving up hope. Thankfully a life long freind that knows these bikes and owns an aircraft upholstery company told me he could save the day but I was skeptical based on what I’ve been through. Sent it to him in California and he absolutely knocked it out of the park. Perfect color, perfect fit, and even redid the solo cowl pillion.

Lastly and probably the most incredible item on this bike is the paint job. I assisted Jason Small with the correct lay out of the decals and paint lines and he pulled off the most amazing paint job Ive ever seen. Everyone who has seen it is blown away by the quality. It’s actually better than stock. Before it was done the fuel tank was treated and sealed with Caswells, also installed an OEM fuel petcock too. It has a brand new reproduction windscreen that came out of Poland.

This bike is amazing. There are probably very few left in this condition and probably only a handful that are completely redone like this one. I’m only selling it because it sits covered in my living room. It’s time for someone else to love and apprieciate it.

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