Hey everyone, here's a quick explanation before I launch into the project.

I don't ride yet, but a lot of the lads that I work with do and after riding pillion with a few of them I was bitten by the bug and with nearly a year of procrastination on my part I've decided to go for it and get my license.

However, in an effort to stop any more procrastination and excuse-making I've nutted up and bought a bike with the intention of working on her and having her ready for mid-March. It's a bit a**e about face I know, but there's no going back now!

So onto the project:

As of a couple of weeks ago, for the sum of £800 I became the then very happy owner of a 1990 GSX-R400 GK76A in black and metallic grey. After going at her with spanners and screwdrivers with my mates, we realised two things:
1) That a bit more work was going to be needed than we'd originally thought.
2) That the previous owners have probably never ventured near any of the bolts screws and fasteners and that they'd never heard of copper grease.

After scouring the internet for advice, this place seems to be the most recommended, knowledgeable and experienced forum for GSX-R400 owners so I'll be picking your collective brains as this project moves along!

Pictures!

Looks nice, is it running? just re-building mine now. project in the project section.

What plans do you have for her? or just pass test and ride?

Good luck on passing your test.

Cheers Marsbar, she ran fine but is currently in bits after I snapped three of the eight exhaust bolts off in the head. Two have come out alright but one'll need re-tapping over-size and a stepped stud putting in.

For the moment I want to keep her completely stock looking, but that's mostly due to funds. I think I'll modify and make things depending on how I get on with her.

Ah, muppet that I am I completely missed the project area! /Facepalm If possible, Mod's, can this thread be moved?

Update:
As can maybe be seen in the pictures of her still together, she looks to have been in a low-speed crash at some point. The nose cone was cracked in a few places and missing a chunk of plastic where the RH mirror used to be. So after a few you-tube videos, 'net and eBay buys later I had a plastex kit and a sheet of 3mm black ABS plastic. I won't go into details and process unless asked but the pictures below show the before and after.

Before, but after cleaning up & preparation:


After dressing back the finished repair, ready for a skim of bondo and later paint:

welcome mate nice bike i nearly got that of ebay i wanted it for the panels because it was the original colours of mine. you may be able to help me because i want to paint it the same colours again this year and i know someone who will make up the stickers off some good pictures and if i buy an old panel he will colour match it from that. if theres any chance you could help at some stage that would be great it looks nice and standard i do like it ! theres a genuine nose cone on ebay brand new the same colour as yours at the moment with all the stickers for about £150 but i dont know what import duty you would have to pay just incase you might be interested

Thanks donk, I've not seen that one on there but as it is I'm trying to do all of the work needed for an initial expense of £950 so I can't afford new panels unfortunately. That said, a mate has just sourced a full set of white, stickered fairings for £85 including shipping!

I plan on fixing the original ones and either having them painted by the painters at work or by one of the lads I work with who used to be a painter. I'm sure I could help at some point, luckily , I might be able to get new stickers made up in work too, so if you like I'll let you know how that goes.

cheers mate let me know how you get on. its only a photo of each panel on one side of the bike and a couple of how the tank was painted that i would like when you have time .i do miss the original paint i should of stayed on the thing and i wouldnt have this problem so it ran ok then i couldnt quite hear it on the video of it running ? and do me another favour keep the std indicators but if you dont sell them to me .......

I've pm'd you about the panels donk.

In other news the bike's on it's way, she's been cleaned up and I've re-wrapped the wiring loom where it needed it, cleaning off most of what must've been 20 years worth of grime and dirt. Speaking of which, does anybody know which other Suzuki's are likely to have a fuse-box that's the same as the Gk76A's? Mine's missing it's cover and from what I understand there's a lot of commonality of parts between Suzukis.

I'm thinking about replacing the rear-shock and a mate of mine suggested that a 1990's GSX-R750 one might fit; has anybody tried this or are there any commonly used replacement mod's for the rear shock? I'd have thought that even if it did fit, that being designed for a heavier bike it might be a bit too stiff for the 400?

I'll post up pictures of her now that the front-end is near enough finished (just waiting on metric fine nuts from HEL) and the wiring loom is being worked back in.

HalifaxMark wrote: I'm thinking about replacing the rear-shock.

GSXR 600 K6/K7 model fits right on, just done it myself, was easy to fit though as it bike was just frame n swinger.

Cheers for that Marsbar. :)

Mark,
I've been doing a rebuild and you are correct that a lot of parts are used on other Suzuki's. I basically just check out the part number in the parts manual and then enter it on a Suzuki parts supplier website (such as http://www.suzukipartshouse.net/pages/O ... ibrand=SUZ) and see what other models it spits back. Since the prices are usually crazy I check on Ebay first to see what used parts are out there.