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GTS455 SP1 Project

90K views 294 replies 41 participants last post by  5.4 speedster 
#1 · (Edited)
ok, This is going to be a long one, and i plan on it growing and updating often. I know i've spoken with a few of you and brought up my project SP1 and every now and then post some pictures of some parts i've come across.
Well i finally took some time and got some pics to start my Official SP1 project thread

HISTORY

First off, a little bike history. The bike has had two previous owners. The first was Nick Ienatsch, 2 time AMA champion, motorcycle journalist, and lead instructor at Freddie Spencer's riding school. He sold the bike to an older man Named Henry who i bought the bike from with about 4000 miles on it. Most of it's life was spent as a track bike and came with Nick's track fairings. In fact if you have read or seen Nick's book "Sport Riding Techniques" the RC51 he rides throughout the book.....is my RC. Cosmetically the bike was in a bit rough shape when i bought it (damaged tank and a couple scraped fairings), but ran perfect.


DSCF0280 by gts455, on Flickr
Pic of Nick's Fairings

I bought it and first rode it with the intent of it being my cheap track bike and possible daily commuter ride.....that soon changed as i fell in love with it. Most fun bike i've ever ridden, everytime i ride it i feel like i'm on a WSBK replica. At the time i had a pristine and slightly tuned R6 (sold) and a pristine tuned Aprilia Mille R which i still have. I was a die hard Aprilia nut and was big on Motorcycle racing. I began to research the RC51 Racing heritage and HRC and really fell more in love with what the bike was. Come to find out these are getting rare and parts are even rarer, and thats when i decided to completely go through the bike and rebuild it into a weekend Canyon racer/HRC Endurance Racer wannabe.

Project Begins

I began going through the bike to see what it needed and began to realize it had been dumped in some runoff a few times at the track etc. I found torn wires and rotted wire insulation. Radiator hoses were rotted and beginning to tear as well. My original undertail was a cheap ebay one and i did not take my time wiring it up. I also followed the hotbodies instructions which was a big mistake and cut the battery tray to short. it worked but it was messy and honestly i'm embarrassed to have initially done that work.


DSCF0274 by gts455, on Flickr
You can see all the runoff from being laid down on the track on top of the engine case, notice the residue from leaks on the Thermostat. Also there is grease and grime everywhere from a leaky fuel tank

The bike had a few subtle goodies (race wheels, aftermarket sprockets in stock 16/40 gearing with DID 530 chain, Heli bars clip ons, Arrow Slip ons, galfer braided front brake lines, originally a Hyperpro Steering damper which had blown seal, and everything had been drilled and safety wired) None of the free mods were done. When i bought the bike from the Henry he did not know much of what had been done to it, except that it was maintained by Nick's friend who was a previous Factory team Suzuki mechanic on the racebike. He knew it had wheels but did not know what kind etc.
So i've been left in the dark as far as what has actually previously been done to it. I had contacted Nick and he did confirm the bike was truly his but could not remember how it was tuned etc.

My initial year of owning the bike in Aug 2009-Aug 2010 i made a few upgrades (pair removal, flapper removal, air filter mod, Galfer rotors/Galfer sintered pads, a GPR damper, Pazzo levers, Tyga carbon front fender, Magicalracing Rear hugger)


DSCF0020 by gts455, on Flickr
The SP1 on Memorial day 2010 after the initial mods

Right before i deployed in August 2010 i had an issue where my bike would shut off while shifting past neutral into first gear. Figured out it was the ignition coils and tore the bike down before i left. While i was away i had time to research and buy parts (a good amount of parts)....probably too much time and came back with a plan and route i wanted to go with the bike.

About a month ago i finally finished moving into my new house and began to tear the bike down and clean/rebuild. it's going to be a long while till it's done but so far i'm having a blast working on and learning this bike inside and out.

So far this is what i've gotten done this month-

-Completely re wired the bike using an HRC Basic Racer harness and adding in a seperate completely stand alone and detachable Harness for Running lights, brake lights, and manual fan switch. wired in Tach, speedo, and oil pressure. Also relocated ECU next to battery and a few of the relays to clean and organize it
-installed Turnone Snorkel
-Mounted Ethos Design Full titanium Banzai mount Exhaust
-Replaced rearsets with TSR Rearsets based off the HRC spec rearsets
-Replaced top triple clamp with Tyga ignition less.
-Complete SP2 rear swap utilizing SP2 subframe, battery tray, and hotbodies undertail. Had to swap to an SP2 Rectifier as well.


DSCF0262 by gts455, on Flickr
Bike as it sits today


DSCF0268 by gts455, on Flickr
SP2 rear all re wired and re organized


DSCF0270 by gts455, on Flickr
TSR rearset


DSCF0265 by gts455, on Flickr
Tyga top clamp


DSCF0264 by gts455, on Flickr
Turnone Snorkel

Goodies Already bought waiting to go on
-Turnone airbox
-Moriwaki Stage one Cams
-HRC 1/6 turn Throttle
-New cush drive bearings for PVM wheels
-HRC overflow bottles
-PCIII
-Framesliders
-Seat/Tank quick release pins
-04 Hayden Tank Replacement with keyless fuel cap and HRC tank pad
-manual fan toggle switch with carbon fiber handlebar mount, next to clutch lever
-Matris Damper
-New SP1 SE rear cowl
-Scotts ignition stick conversion
-Samco Hose kit
-TSR Slave cylinder

Future purchase in the works when funds are available
-Endurance style Front fairing
-Nitron rear shock
-Fork Cartridge kit
-Rear Link
-15T/41 530 gearing with DID chain
-Rear braided brake line
-Dunlop Q2 tires
- in the far future i'd like to do some upgraded radial calipers and rotors
- and i'm sure there will be much more as i read more threads from all the cool stuff i've seen come out of this forum and speedzilla
 
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#2 · (Edited)
UPDATE


DSCF0260 by gts455, on Flickr
Yesteday I was finally able to figure out what kind of wheels these are by looking at the cush drive, PMs :) (Thanks for the help Stig)


DSCF0276 by gts455, on Flickr
These are being replaced by....



DSCF0279 by gts455, on Flickr
....These
 
#3 ·
Fantastic project and work there!

Interesting to see the SP1 & SP2 do share different top yoke nuts.
So I have a spare blue anodised nut (For SP1) from Probolt, which would go well on your bike (Since it won't fit mine!) :D

Looking forward to watching your progress with this RC. It'll be a helluva bike if you keep going with this sort of attention to detail :)
 
#4 · (Edited)
Stig, comes through once again. today i got my matris damper except its for the SP2.....since the stem is too small for the mount im going to lathe a spacer. also the nut that came with the damper is anodized blue and is too large. Your SP1 nut is actually much needed and perfect for the project. i'll trade ya or give you some cash.

And thanks for the kind comments, its going to take me awhile but this is my serious project bike and i'm not going to cut any corners. itll be a lot of work and money but i think it will sure be something to be proud of doing myself and i bet its going to be even more of a blast to ride.
 
#7 ·
Moriwaki Stage One Cams. They are really mild. Lift stays the same, Duration is slightly different. so it utilizes stock valvetrain, anymore aggressive like a Moriwaki or HRC stage 2 requires the HRC valvetrain (which i do have with an HRC ECU, both on a shelf waiting for another RC motor somewhere down the line....way down the line)

It'll be awesome, no doubt! PM sent about the nut exchange. :)

I note the oil cooler is located differently to my SP2.
The more I look, the more I realise there seem to be a lot more changes between models than I'd at first thought.
Yeah, its pretty crazy. There were not a lot of significant changes besides the Throttle bodies and exhaust ports on the SP2 but as i search for parts/read the maintenance manual, there are a bunch of small differences.
some others include the subframe, rectifier, wire harness and routing in the rear, dual fans and relay on the SP2, SP1 uses a thermo switch on the SP2 the ECU takes the reading from the sensor and controls the fans, oil cooler location, steering stem, and a few other things i can't think of right now.

It gets pretty interesting but the good thing about having a project like this that you can take your time with is you can pick and choose/modify from both bikes and take the best from both.
 
#6 · (Edited)
It'll be awesome, no doubt! PM sent about the nut exchange. :)

I note the oil cooler is located differently to my SP2.
The more I look, the more I realise there seem to be a lot more changes between models than I'd at first thought.
 
#8 ·
I think the cams may differ between the two models too. Moriwaki don't seem to make them for the SP2.

There seems to be more upgrade parts available for SP1 than SP2... ;)
 
#9 · (Edited)
I think the cams may differ between the two models too. Moriwaki don't seem to make them for the SP2.
I'm pretty sure the cams are for either but they were only marked SP1 because they were produced for the SP1 Race bikes. at the end of 2002 Honda dropped support for the RC51 and switched to the CBR1000rr. so its time as a world class race bike really stopped after Nicky won AMA in 2002. So all these race spec bike parts made by Moriwaki, HRC, and TSR to name a few really stopped development after the SP1 and although continued to produce them for private race teams, there weren,t many changes made as far as the works bikes go....hence most parts are labeled as SP1 and most Japanese Race bike part developers manuals and kit catalogues list only for SP1's ....most of the parts are interchangeable though.
Doesn't matter anyway, cams are pretty much unobtainium at this point unless you have them custom made. I got super lucky finding these and overpaid about 4 times what they were really worth. 5 or 6 years earlier with money i spent on these i could have done a full stage 2 cam and valvetrain.

HAHA Stig, i wish that were true. i've just been really lucky and gone international when buying parts.....i've purchased from Australia, Japan, all over Europe. i've probably paid twice as much for shipping as i did for the parts. it took me forever to find a banzai mount system for the SP1, let alone a full titanium and only 10 of em were ever made back when the SP1 was released. The SP1 has killed me when looking for parts....i was searching for OEM wire harnesses and found about 40 for the SP2 and none for the SP1. And everyone has SP2s now so i can't even sell used SP1 specific aftermarket stuff.
You SP2 guys have it so easy when it comes to parts:D....joking, its getting pretty close to even at this point. Parts are just not cheap or available.
 
#10 ·
That's interesting to know.... Hmm, I may contact Moriwaki and see if they can supply cams, last time I checked they were still on their site, but that doesn't necessarily mean they still have them.

I have some close friends in the US military stationed here who are ever helpful in getting parts in from the States for me, but buying from Europe has it's sting with freight costs. Fortunately taxes in Japan are reasonable (5%), compared to say England, which is 10% Import Duty & 21% VAT, yikes!!

Yep, all these parts are getting rare. It's the case with pretty much anything old Skool, including cars and other stuff. Best get it whilst we still can... ;)
 
#11 ·
Let me know what Moriwaki says. i'd be interested to see if they still had rear links. last i heard starting about 2 years ago all the Moriwaki/HRC stuff dried up completely. Would be cool if that was wrong. I looked for Moriwaki rearsets before i found my TSRs for a long time with no luck at all. Even there exhaust stock seems to really have disappered this last year.
Yeah, i've had a couple of my buddies from the military stationed in Japan, but they are all down in Oki so all this stuff is really not readily available to them either. otherwise i'd be asking them for a few favors.
 
#13 ·
really? where? i've seen the link and SP1 slip on from mick hone....they want way to much for that though. over 500 for the link.
 
#16 ·
Finally got some time today to work on the SP1. Spent about an hour and a half and put the front Moriwaki cams in. Rear Cams will be done tomorrow morning.


DSCF0381 by gts455, on Flickr



DSCF0380 by gts455, on Flickr
 
#17 ·
Updates

More updates.....Am doing a new hydraulic clutch setup. Have TSR slave (Thanks Simon) on the way, will do a Brembo master, and braided line.

Also have an HRC replica Endurance fairing and will be on its way in a few weeks as well. (Thanks Nick)
 
#20 ·
AWESOME, thanks cbrbear. I still need them so that would be great. Thanks for the hook up.:)

Thanks John, Progress is slow but i will keep posting up as i go along.
 
#21 ·
Where did get the Mori cam & how much u paid for it..
 
#22 ·
got it from Mck hone.....and i overpaid about 3 times what it originally sold for. It was his only set and he couldn't get anymore.
 
#23 ·
gts455, BTW I did check into Moriwaki... They don't have RC51 cams any more, only for the VTR1000F (Super Hawk). So looks like you got some of the last ones...!

Are there any markings on your's to help identify some if I ever come across another set? :)
 
#24 ·
Hi gts455, can u help me..can sp2 throttle body fit into sp1 turnone airbox? Sorry to jack in your forum bro..
 
#25 ·
No problem man, i would think it would be fine. Just make sure you use an SP2 ECU with that thottle body, the programming is different from the SP1. If i were you i'd contact Brett on speedzilla. His screen name is turnone. He makes the airbox and he would know for sure.
 
#28 · (Edited)
More Update

Ok so this morning i finished up the Mori Cams. When i did the Valve clearance all 4 intake valves were out of spec. i was able to move my front shims to the rear cyclinder and bring them perfectly into spec. Got my Front shims from the Dealer (which they gave me free for my 2 old shims). Got it all back together and buttoned up.

This afternoon i started cleaning and polishing the engine case and components while i have it all opened up and accessible. I also did something i've wanted to do for a long time to the bike. I painted the HRC emblems on the case with high heat paint. scuffed, primered, and painted. Looks great in person. The pic reflects a lot of sunlight and makes it look spotty, but it really gives it a bit more character. Really happy i did it, going to do the HONDA and other HRC emblem as well.
 

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#35 ·
Ok so this morning i finished up the Mori Cams. When i did the Valve clearance all 4 intake valves were out of spec. i was able to move my front shims to the rear cyclinder and bring them perfectly into spec. Got my Front shims from the Dealer (which they gave me free for my 2 old shims). Got it all back together and buttoned up.

This afternoon i started cleaning and polishing the engine case and components while i have it all opened up and accessible. I also did something i've wanted to do for a long time to the bike. I painted the HRC emblems on the case with high heat paint. scuffed, primered, and painted. Looks great in person. The pic reflects a lot of sunlight and makes it look spotty, but it really gives it a bit more character. Really happy i did it, going to do the HONDA and other HRC emblem as well.
Be sure and coat those polished covers with a clear coat of some sort.
I polished mine as well just for grins, and they looked real pretty, but bare aluminum oxidizes quickly.
And they returned back to their dull state in no time.
That's what anodizing essentially is, artificial oxidation with a color added.
 
#29 ·
Looks good!
Was it difficult to do the re-shim job once the cams were accessible?

BTW, I see you've sold the SP1 hugger. If you need some more MR bits let me know, will be happy to help you in return, buddy.
 
#30 ·
Thanks, nope doing the whole cam job is really easy, just got to take your time, line everything up multiple times, and be as accurate as possible when measuring everything up. Also checked the compression to make sure the rings were still good and everything is working good. Valves are opening and closing properly, so i feel pretty good as far as reliability goes in the future.

Yep, doing an SP2 swing arm swap and picked up that thorsten ultralight rear brake too. So the hugger was sold. Will probably do another MR sp2 one. Will let you know when i do it, i defintely appreciate it, man.
 
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