These days’s guest publish is by Mitch Boehm, Editor & publisher of Moto retro Illustrated. It’s a commonplace thread with us ’70s/’80s superbike men. We either owned (and offered) or wanted one of the streetbikes we saw sliding around Laguna or Daytona underneath guys like Wes Cooley, Freddie Spencer or Eddie Lawson. Kawasaki KZ1000Rs. Honda CB900Fs. Or Suzuki GS1000Ss. Simply searching on the nasty matters made our blood boil, but for whatever motive lots of us just couldn’t get—or preserve onto—them in our children.
Larry Pearson is one such enthusiast. After looking Lawson, Spencer and Cooley duke it out within the early ’80s at the AMA Nationals inside the Pacific Northwest, Pearson had constantly harbored foremost-league lust for a Suzuki GS1000S—a limited-edition open-magnificence superbike available in ’seventy nine and ’80. Pearson in the end found an S-version when buddy Devin Corbit bought one and got bogged down on its recovery. “Devin were given bored with me whining about buying it,” says Pearson, “and due to the fact he needed cash for his road rod venture, he offered it to me.”
Pearson had constantly desired to installation a hundreds of thousands with the right Stuff—the stuff Cooley and the Yosh crew used on its racers: rearsets, low bars, a step seat, a Lockhart oil-cooler with strains strolling along the right aspect of the cylinder, and the whole lot blacked out—with an technology-accurate Yoshimura header topping it all off. “The Yosh pipe took me over a 12 months to find,” Pearson says, “and it’s mint. I’d have probable taken this motorcycle back to inventory had it not been for that pipe.”
With best 18,000 miles on the clock, Pearson’s GS1000S become mechanically sound—which he proven with assist from Honda tech Charlie Brown. So he started his chassis customization with an engine removal and a complete strip and powder-coat of the body, which includes changing all seals, bearings and bushings once that work become finished. Subsequent got here stainless brake traces, slotted discs from an ’80-spec GS1000S, a fixed of NOS mirrors, new cables, Conti Blitz tires, Tarozzi rearsets, and a brand new grasp cylinder. Pearson refurbished the wiring harness, and brought a brand new subfender, piggyback Honda CB1100F shocks and a the front fender from the identical motorbike, which routed air right to the oil-cooler. “They’re pieces I constantly knew might look perfect on this bike,” Pearson says. “The fender has that cool spoiler on pinnacle, and it’s way lighter than the stock metal fender. I had to regulate it, however it’s effortlessly one in all my favourite pieces.”
Pearson spent heaps of time on his S’s aesthetics to get them best. “I painted the engine sun shades of black,” he instructed us. “Flat for the cylinders, head and block, and semi-gloss for the valve cover and engine covers. I like contrast. Two blacks ensure the engine doesn’t appear to be it’s been ‘dipped’ in paint. I additionally painted the wheels, fork and the whole thing else I should think of in satin and gloss black. Even the bars are powder-lined black.”
though black dominates the engine and frame, the bodywork stays the traditional blue-and-white Suzuki/Cooley/Yoshimura livery. “The factory colours have always knocked me out,” he informed us, “so I stored the unique colours. It’s what makes the S-version what it is. I constant numerous dents within the tank and some cracks within the sidecovers and fairing. Then repainted the whole thing in urethane, using manufacturing unit Suzuki decals throughout. I also introduced the Yoshimura sticky label to the tank, and buried the whole lot below ten coats of clear-coat for a finish the factory could simplest dream of. I additionally changed the seat by using hacking two inches off the foam and reshaping it, so it’d circulate the tank greater easily. Suzuki made some unsightly seats, but this one appears proper.” Royal Upholstery in Spokane included it for Pearson in textures, all with lovely French seams. A great deal sleeker, he says, and still very comfy.
The simplest glitch was the S-version’s hard-to-discover dash assembly. “unfortunately,” Pearson says, “a part of the dash was damaged off due to a tipover. I took a bit of a damaged Kawasaki ZX-14 windscreen, found the ideal curve from it, cut it to shape, bonded it to the Suzuki sprint panel, and recovered it with matching vinyl. After a whole disassembly and cleansing, the inventory sprint seemed logo-new.” first-rate.
Pearson’s custom GS1000S took him greater than 18 months from start to finish. However like maximum initiatives that contain this plenty idea, attempt and passion, the cease result is not anything quick of stunning.
“This bike has been burning in my mind for three a long time,” Pearson says, “and now i have one in my storage! It’s a dream come real. It rides, handles and runs as correct as new, maybe even higher. These motorcycles have a soul, and the sound of that Yosh pipe is pure song; it takes me proper returned to the early ’80s! It’s so much fun to journey, and it stops people useless in their tracks after they see it. ‘Whoa,’ they are saying, ‘that’s a freakin’ Cooley-reproduction Suzuki!’” that is quite a great deal what we said while we first laid eyes on his S-model unique.
Thanks to Mitch Boehm. Get your subscription to Moto retro Illustrated here.
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