Suzuki GSX1100S Katana - 1981 - WIP

First we will be assembling the engine. I added a little detail at the engine, where I added the clutch control mechanism. Other than that I stuck to the kit parts. 

This is how the engine looks like, once assembled. Once this sub-assembly has been finished, I gave it a wash with Tamiya Smoke. 

The thin wiring was used where I suspected the kit wiring to be a little too large in diameter. The spark plug wires are kit parts. 

Here you can see the clutch control device at the right bottom of the engine block. 

Next we concentrate on the rear fender and the air cleaner. 

The rear fender receives a tail light and a licence plate. The air cleaner part, which includes also the battery, receives some detail painting; the instructions indicate to paint everything semigloss black, put I decided to paint the battery white. 

Stage 3 involves the installation of the engine into the frame. 

This stage is one of the most complicated and difficult manipulations of the whole build, because of the high number of fixing points. 

I have considered to fix the frame parts together before the engine and other parts were installed to avoid the clearly visible joints, but since they will be invisible afterwards I abandoned the idea. 

Some extra wiring was also fixed to the bike in this stage. 

Still a long way from looking like a real bike... 

Stage 4 involves simply the assembly of the mufflers. Next I painted them gloss black. 

Next the mufflers are attached to the engine. 

Extreme care has to be taken in this stage to avoid glue marks on the glossy exhausts and mufflers. 

But with some careful manipulation, it all comes together nicely. 

Also it is important to be careful with the model from now on, because finger prints are clearly visible on the black mufflers. 

It still doesn't look like a motorcycle though... 

So it's time to assemble the rear wheel and swing arm. 

Some careful detail painting gives the rear swing arm construction a realistic look. I also added real adjusting bolts at the rear of the arm for more realism. 

Once assembled, I also gave the sub-assembly a Tamiya Smoke wash. 

Next up: the attaching of the swing arm to the frame. 

I was not very pleased with the way the shock absorbers looked, since they were injected in one piece. So I cut away the middle part (where the spring sits) and I scratched the absorbers with aluminium tube and solder tin (for the springs). 

At the bottom, I added a small spring to the central motor stand. 

Now the model finally starts to look like a real bike. 

Stage 8 involves the assembly of the fuel tank. Since I already prepared the tank before spraying it, there is not much left to do here. 

So all I had to do was fix the fuel cap and a warning sticker. 

Next the tank is installed to the bike frame, together with some other parts. 

The tail light cover was a dark blue semigloss part, so that is how I painted the scaled down cover as well; I also added BMF chrome surroundings to the blinkers for more realism. 

Front view of the Suzuki so far... 

In stage 10 we tackle the assembly of the cowling. The instructions suggest to fix the headlight between the cowling parts before fixing them together, but I decided it would be easier to leave it out of there until after painting the cowling. 

That is why I cut off one of the joining taps of the head light, so it could be fitted into the cowling afterwards. A lot easier than masking the light to spray paint the cowling in my opinion. 

In stage 11 all the remaining parts of the bike, apart from the front fork, are attached to the frame. 

Kind of an odd sight, a motorcycle without front wheel... 

The seat of the bike has to be sprayed in two colours; the blue part is the same colour as the rear cowling. It looks a different shade because the seat is coated with matt varnish instead of semigloss. 

Interesting to see how a different kind of clearcoat can change the appearance of a colour... 

Now we can put the sub-assembly aside and concentrate on the front fork. 

First we assemble the front wheel and the handle bars. 

Once the brake discs are fixed to the front wheel, we can start assembling the front fork as well. I added some cable holders to the front fender for more realism. 

Here the front fork is nearly finished. Notice the cable holders at both sides of the front fender. I also used 2 typed of wiring to make a difference between brake lines and speedometer cable. 

At the right side there is a cable holder as well. 

The assembled steering stem head looks like this. 

Stage 14, the last stage before completion, is shown here: attaching the front fork to the main bike, together with some small parts. The final result is visible in the 'finished model pics' album.