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Suzuki GSX-R750


Neil

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For years I have wanted to build one Suzuki's all time classics, the ubiquitous GSX-R750, I even started scratch building one years ago, but never got around to completing it. I have owned one or two of these bikes, the road versions that is, although my very first one was an ex-proddy racer, put back into road legal trim for street use. Basically the previous owner only used to ride it at weekends ...... ahem :whistle: .

I was so pleased that Fujimi released a 1/12 kit of this bike, but on the flip side a bit disappointed at the particular machine they chose, which is the 1986 Suzuka 8-Hour endurance bike of Tsujimoto/Schwantz. From a personal perspective, and being extremely biased, any early GSX-R750 (road or race) really MUST be in a Blue and White scheme. Can you tell that every GSX-R that I have owned was Blue and White ......?

Anyway, here's the box-art of the kit ......

FUJIMI750_zpswd4uc2xx.jpg

Not a particularly inspiring choice, hate to say. I would guess that Fujimi chose this 'bike because of potential home-market sales, which if true, would be understandable I guess. Only a guess on my part though.

However, from a personal perspective all may not be entirely lost. What would be so much more appealing in model form would be one of the '86 SERT Kenwood GSX-R750's, which look so much better. Essentially the frame, engine, wheels, swingarm would be pretty much the same as the Fujimi kit, although things such as fairing, seat unit, fuel tank, front forks, calipers, footrests, gear lever/brake lever, headlights and such, may (or may not) need modifying or changing in some way.

From all of the pics of the '86 SERT GSX-R750's that I have so far found, there is not, as such, a 'standard' equipment fit on these 'bikes during that year. Things appeared to vary according to circuit raced, type of race, rider preference etc etc (and, who knows, sponsors 'pockets' maybe ...... as with most racing?). There seems to be numerous variations of equipment fit: front calipers appeared to vary between Nissin/Lockheed/Brembo, front forks changed spec, calipers mounted differently, headlights used/not used according to race type, different exhausts ......? Lots of permutations!

Anyway, here's a few pics of the Kenwood GSX-R's (how a GSX-R 'should' look!)

Suzuki-GSXR-750-1986_zpskhjuhad5.jpg

SERT1986_zpslblndzls.jpg

SERT750_zpsnyhccqgq.jpg

Now, don't they just look so much nicer?

Basically, if I do go for one of the SERT GSX-R's, there will be quite a bit of modifications to the kit fairing, seat unit, fuel tank, forks etc etc, more or less as per the full sized versions.

B)

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Fine subject, looking forward to this :)

Woohoooooo!

Fantastic Neil!!!!

The GSX R's are a very very noticable absence from Kit manufactures and damnations I want one.

Also had 'right colour' GSX, but I had the 1100.

Looking forward to this one mate :)

Steve

When they first came out, there was nothing like owning a GSX-R, probably a bit like owning one of the Kawasaki H1 or H2's during the 70's. Similar kind of reputation or mystique for the 80's 'biker. :)

My first 750 was the 'G' model I think it was, with the short swingarm, allegedly 'box' section sand-cast frame sections (when box section really should mean four-sided and not three-sided ...... :rolleyes: ) and those flexy 'plasticine' wheels which, when you put your palms against the brake-disc rotors and grabbed the alloy wheel spokes and squeezed, would bend noticeably. Made for interesting handling, but so lightweight it was blisteringly quick for it's time. Would try and throw you off at the slightest provocation though. Ah, memories ...... :lol: .

B)

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Nice subject....

I liked your last GSXR you had...the purpley black coloured one.....much nicer than factory white/blue

Must of been somebody else, not me, I never had a Purple/Black one. They looked bloody awful. Only ever had Blue/White ones.

B)

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maybe it was Owen or Clive or one of my other biker mates...could have sworn it was yours when the model club used to still meet up the social club near Wentworth Green....but if you say you never had one,you never had one. :shrug:

Nope, never had one in those colours, hated the look of them. Not sure if Owen ever had a GSX-R, he was always into Kawasaki's, Eddie Lawson replica's and such. Could of been Clive though, because you knew him long before I did, he may of had one before I knew him, he did get a Yamaha R6 (?) though around the same time that I owned my 750WN.

B)

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The GSX R was the last bike I owned; apart from being an excellent and surprisingly user-friendly sled, it was precisely the Bol D'Or look of the standard machine that appealed to my inner head-banger.

This will be a crack-a-lackin' project! :popcorn:

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Grabbed a couple of detail sets to use on the model, from Hobby Design (first pic) and also from Top Studio, in the lower pic. These contain numerous things, not all of which will be used I hasten to add, such as oil cooler matrix, brake discs, front and rear sprockets, bolt heads, washers, footrest hangers, footrests, 'R' clips, fasteners, cable clips, exhaust can, fork brace, turned metal fork legs, battery box, braided hoses, exhaust springs, etched chain with separate side plates and rollers, clutch components, various brackets, fuel filler caps etc etc etc ......

Hobby Design set

HobbyDesign_zpswfjyet1f.jpg

Top Studio set

TopStudio_zps7iobphbq.jpg

Certain things in both sets are, possibly not surprisingly, duplicated. For example both sets contain brake discs, although in my opinion the ones in the Top Studio set are much better; they consist of the disc rotors which are used in conjuction with the 'dished' central carrier of the Fujimi kit plastic item, which is possibly more achieveable than the Hobby Design set which supplies flat etched central carriers (in Steel) which somehow have to be 'dished' without distorting them and hopefully keeping them absolutely square and undamaged. Seems a little ambitious. The holes in the brake rotor faces are much better defined in the Top Studio set too.

Will be interesting to see if the etched chain in the Hobby Design set works out, wanted to try and make one of these for a while, now is the chance to do so. I have visions of those tiny etched side plates, and the chain rollers, pinging across the room and me swearing an awful lot ......

B)

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Yep, if anything were to persuade me to put my money where my overworked gob lives and try building a cycle kit, it would be the Top Studio stuff -it looks wonderful. I downloaded the instructions for the chain a while back; admittedly the prospect of fumbling all those little Planck-length items into an actual chain seems a bit daunting, but imagine how awesome it would look when finished...you can't NOT do it!

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Yep, if anything were to persuade me to put my money where my overworked gob lives and try building a cycle kit, it would be the Top Studio stuff -it looks wonderful. I downloaded the instructions for the chain a while back; admittedly the prospect of fumbling all those little Planck-length items into an actual chain seems a bit daunting, but imagine how awesome it would look when finished...you can't NOT do it!

Trouble is, I have kind of made a rod for my own back with that chain now, havn't I ? Just hope it works!

Did a similar(ish) kind of thing with a chain in the Motorsport GB from several years back, on a Suzuki RGV XR89. Instead of tiny steel rollers, I punched out plastic discs with a Waldron set and glued them on the inside of the chain surfaces. End result was quite effective.

Link is:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/9408-suzuki-rgv-xr89/

Hope to start sticking bits together on this kit in the next few days.

B)

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When they first came out, there was nothing like owning a GSX-R, probably a bit like owning one of the Kawasaki H1 or H2's during the 70's. Similar kind of reputation or mystique for the 80's 'biker. :)

My first 750 was the 'G' model I think it was, with the short swingarm, allegedly 'box' section sand-cast frame sections (when box section really should mean four-sided and not three-sided ...... :rolleyes: ) and those flexy 'plasticine' wheels which, when you put your palms against the brake-disc rotors and grabbed the alloy wheel spokes and squeezed, would bend noticeably. Made for interesting handling, but so lightweight it was blisteringly quick for it's time. Would try and throw you off at the slightest provocation though. Ah, memories ...... :lol: .

B)

Yes...Ahhhhhhh the memories....

I had one of the first 1100's that were released in South Africa, and that was off the old GSX 1100 3 ton barge of a bike, onto the new GSX R that weighed about as much as a grape, with basically the same engine. First order of business was the gazooms came off and a Cowley 4 into 1 was slapped on and a Titanium Blue Chain, and off we tootled down the street. Not 50m came the first introduction, the front brakes needed to be handled very lightly otherwise you went flying...

Must say though, they were very stable bikes, but when you started pushing them they became a bit wobbly.... Especially at high speed (not that I ever did that, just what folks told me... :coolio: )

Man oh man Neil, you've bought back some very fond memories....

Steve

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Progress could be little slow on this initially, quite a bit of my time could be taken up with other things in the not too distant future (non-modelling related) but here is a quick close up of the etched chain and other components for starters. Hopefully I would like to tackle the chain first because it is potentially one of the more fiddly and intricate parts of the build, and may well try my patience to a degree. Some etched chains are designed to actually operate, but not this one, fortunately, as that would probably be a little too extreme for what I need on this model, to be honest. It should just 'look' as if it will operate.

The chain consists of two one-piece continuous side etchings, with separate 'rollers' sandwiched between them and individual side-plates fitted to the outer faces. For a size comparison, I have included a ruler in the pic to give a sense of scale; for example the tiny chain rollers are no more than 0.75mm in width (not including the thin 'spigots' on either side, that locate through the side plates) which the sprockets will, hopefully, mesh neatly between. I think there are something like 112 of these individual miniature chain rollers to install. They are either side of the section of ruler, on the right hand side of the pic ...... :unsure: .

ChainEtch_zpsfgzr0fgg.jpg

As stated previously, there could be copious amounts of swearing involved when assembling the chain.

B)

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Progress could be little slow on this initially, quite a bit of my time could be taken up with other things in the not too distant future (non-modelling related) but here is a quick close up of the etched chain and other components for starters. Hopefully I would like to tackle the chain first because it is potentially one of the more fiddly and intricate parts of the build, and may well try my patience to a degree. Some etched chains are designed to actually operate, but not this one, fortunately, as that would probably be a little too extreme for what I need on this model, to be honest. It should just 'look' as if it will operate.

The chain consists of two one-piece continuous side etchings, with separate 'rollers' sandwiched between them and individual side-plates fitted to the outer faces. For a size comparison, I have included a ruler in the pic to give a sense of scale; for example the tiny chain rollers are no more than 0.75mm in width (not including the thin 'spigots' on either side, that locate through the side plates) which the sprockets will, hopefully, mesh neatly between. I think there are something like 112 of these individual miniature chain rollers to install. They are either side of the section of ruler, on the right hand side of the pic ...... :unsure: .

ChainEtch_zpsfgzr0fgg.jpg

As stated previously, there could be copious amounts of swearing involved when assembling the chain.

B)

Not could be mate, there WILL be, those things are buggers!!!

S

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  • 2 weeks later...

A little bit of progress with the chain.

Realised that the chain components needed to be held in some way while assembling them, so found a small piece of tooling block to use as a jig. Marked through the continuous side etchings with a sharp point, which would eventually be used to mount the tiny chain rollers.

chain1_zpsz1ecjdty.jpg

The holes marked into the tooling block were drilled the same diameter as the rollers, to a shallow depth with a pin vice, but allowing the rollers to protrude above the block surface slightly.

chain2_zps48xu3tzs.jpg

Rollers placed in position, on a dry-run.

chain3_zpsnkyggzuj.jpg

For assembly, a few rollers at a time were placed into the block, one of the continuous side etchings was placed over them in the correct position, the small outer side-plates were then placed over the ends of the roller spigots which protruded through the side etchings, and fixed with a tiny drop of superglue, as on the left side of the pic.

chain4_zpsw42hs2ul.jpg

One complete side etching with side-plates fitted. Just need to flip the assembly over, lay on the other continuous side etching with the small external plates to complete the whole chain assembly. Once finished, there should be enough 'spring' in the chain to allow the sprockets to be meshed between the chain rollers when they are installed.

chain5_zps86bnx023.jpg

When the superglue has fully cured, the chain assembly will be gently cleaned up/tidied up a little and any excess glue will be removed and the small roller spigots which protrude more than some of the others will be carefully and delicately rubbed down with fine abrasive paper. Have to hold my hand up and admit that I did lose one or two of the rollers, and tiny side-plates, while assembling the chain, but fortunately this is no big deal because there are plenty of spares allowed for on the etched fret. (Good job too!).

B)

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