TV show "Pinks"

[tacoman]

Anybody been watching this on the Speed Channel?  Its nice to have something to watch on that channel besides NASCAR.  Basically, its two drag racers and winner takes the other's vehicle.  The host tries to be a little too intense, but other than that its good.  The best was the other night, a guy on an '83 GS1100 beat a guy on a Harley VROD.  Before the races, the host was asking the Harley owner why he would risk an $18k bike racing an old Suzuki.  He seemed unworried and very confident.  After losing (with a several bike length head start) the VROD owner complained his clutch was slipping.  The Suz owner said "Its a Harley, you should have been prepared for problems."  Anyway, the VROD owner is no longer a VROD owner.

[rider123]

What makes it worse was supposedly the Harley guy was a semi-pro racer!!! They both had similar horsepower but once that GS mill starts to get into power band time, goodbye!! All on the 2 valve GS mill to boot!!

[aquavelvis]

It was a very satisfying episode to watch.

One minor nit, Tacoman: I owned an '82 E model for several years, and even adjusted the valves on it myself a time or two, and am pretty darned sure that Suzuki GS11s and 12s were 4-valvers from '82 on.  Maybe my memory is faulty -- I'm getting on in years (52) and perhaps a bit too observant of the daily cocktail hour.  I loved that bike, and only sold it in order to help finance...you guessed it...a brand new '00 B12 in December '99.

Nothing like a big-block Suzi to humble the ignoramii (sp?) out there who think Harleys are bitchin' performance bikes.  They're probably guys who just bought their first Harley and have always bought into Harley "machismo" marketing.  A good friend of mine is a long-time Harley owner/rider, and he knows better, so they're not all as stupid and/or ill-informed as the guy on 'Pinks'.

[Dragbike]

Well that is what I was thinking too. The thumb rule is 1000 2V and 1100up 4V.
And yeah the VROD guy, not only going to the races but heads up and on TV too. I think I would of had a super tune on that ride.
Brent

[B12Teuton]

The VRod is only slight less of a heep than other hogs.
The engine is failry nice, but the rest of it is pig parts.

[tacoman]

The special "Screamin Eagle" edition is only slightly faster and they're going for over $20K!  I give kudos to Harley's top brass, they've sold a lifestyle and people will pay bucks for it.

[Red01]

One minor nit, Tacoman: I owned an '82 E model for several years, and even adjusted the valves on it myself a time or two, and am pretty darned sure that Suzuki GS11s and 12s were 4-valvers from '82 on.  Maybe my memory is faulty -- I'm getting on in years (52) and perhaps a bit too observant of the daily cocktail hour.  I loved that bike, and only sold it in order to help finance...you guessed it...a brand new '00 B12 in December '99.

Perhaps it's your observance of the cocktail hour that made you credit Tacoman for the 2-valve statement when it was Rider123.

 

Oh! And one minor nit on you, aqua... I didn't think there was a GS12 (until the B12 powered GS1200SS)... didn't they come in 1100 & 1150 flavors?


I didn't see the show, so I haven't seen the Suzuki in question and I'm no expert on the old Suzuki inline fours, but isn't the 4-valve TSCC motor a direct descendant of the original 2-vale motor? Can't the 2-valve head be put on the newer bike? I know the Pro-Stock Suzukis still run the 2-valve heads because the rules allow more displacement for a 2-valver than 4. The speed tuners can get enough flow out of those two valve heads that they'd rather have the extra cubes than the extra valves.

Regardless, the GS11 was no slouch thru the traps and was the fastest thing on two wheels in its day.

[Bazza]

The VRod is only slight less of a heep than other hogs.
The engine is failry nice, but the rest of it is pig parts.

Those hog people are sending you straight to He** Manny!

[Bazza]

I owned one of these and 4 valves/cyl is correct.

Here is a blog on the GS 1100

[rider123]

To be honest I have an '84 GS750EF with the TSCC engine with 4 valves and I never had a problem beating Harleys. Sometimes I didn't even know we were supposed to be "racing"! Never a V-rod though. My bike when new put out 84 horsepower. With the Yosh pipe on it probably around 90, due to the age of the bike it's probably around stock at 84 horsepower which still beats most Harleys, not to mention probably 100 pounds lighter.

Acording to that "All suzuki's site" it's supposed to be a 2 valve motor. But I know they had a 4 valve as well. Whether 2 or 4 valves it's going to beat a Harley!

I think the 2 valve had shaft drive, and was more "cruiser" like. Same engine different head.


Hell if it had a "one valve" reed valve setup(?) it would probably keep up with it!!  

This is what I have and will be up for grabs in the spring as I bought a new bandit.



1984 GS750EF. Suprisingly, the ergos are very similar to the Bandit's

[Red01]

Acording to that "All suzuki's site" it's supposed to be a 2 valve motor. But I know they had a 4 valve as well. Whether 2 or 4 valves it's going to beat a Harley!

You have to remember the "All Suzukis" site is based in Europe (Sweden), so his info leans to favor the European market bikes more than the US. (I couldn't even find an '84 GS750 on his page). The 4-valve TSCC bikes were called GSX in Europe, while the US didn't change the designator. If you look up the GSX750 there, he even mentions that the GSX750's were called GS750's in North America. North American bikes didn't adopt the GSX designators until the SACS powered bikes came out.

[Vee Dub Nut]

its bound to be a four valve.. I had an 80 GS450L that was a four valve, I cant imagine the 83 1100 being a 2 valve

[2005B12S]

1980 was the first year of the big 16v Zook powerplants, 1100 and 1150 mptors are all 16v.

Many parts interchange, such as putting a 16v 1150 head on a 16v 1100, but the 8v and 16v heads do not.

As we all know, the VRod is a piece of overpriced cr@p, If you want a real muscle cruiser, Mr. Max is the only way to go.



Ride On, Ed.
2005 GSF1200SZ
1983 GS750ED

[Red01]

Many parts interchange, such as putting a 16v 1150 head on a 16v 1100, but the 8v and 16v heads do not.

Like I said, I wasn't sure, but from reading the history of the GS on GS Resources it sounded like they might since they make it sound like they just slapped a new head on the older motor.

Suzuki decided to equip their air cooled GS engines with 16-valve heads (which they could do, since the GS engine was DOHC in the first place, and the whole power train stood up to higher power levels better than the 8-valve, SOHC Honda's)

And from http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_engine.htm

The history of the GS engine

Initially, the basic GS engine design underwent a few stages:

the quintessential GS, an air-cooled, two-valve-per-cylinder DOHC engine, which set Suzuki off as a serious competitor in the UJM market, and a good one to boot! This design was first introduced in the late 70's.

the 4-valve-per-cylinder GS, introduced in 1980, which had basically the same air-cooled engine, but with another cylinder head, featuring 4 valves per cylinder and a reworked combustion chamber (TSCC). In Europe and Japan, these models were known as the GSX's.

[2005B12S]

I was not trying to refute anyones statement, just stating the facts. I do not consider myself an authority on everything nor have I ever met such an individual.

BTW, the GS1100/1150 16v motor has been the mainstay dragbike motor for the past 15 years. The older 8v motors don't even come close. Smaller valves create higher velocity (Bernoulli's principle) and can tolerate higher rpms due to their reduced mass.

Harley uses the 2v rule to build their huge pushrod twins, I have not seen anyone go back to a 2v head design on a GS1100/1150.

Ride On, Ed.
2005 GSF1200SZ
1983 GS750ED