i bought this suzuki gsx400t off a mate about feb99.it cost £400 punts and was in alright nick. the engine had very poor response up to 5000 revs than it took off a lot quicker than expected.

it had been imported from germany and had a heavily restricted exaust on it .i drilled out the exaust and upjetted the carb two stages and the pickup was much improved but there was still a strange power surge at 5000 revs.

i rode it around for about six months making small improvments as i went along. my cb750 chop entered the picture and intrest in the ol gsx dwindled. it was loaned to my brother for a while (he learned how to ride on it ),after that a mates bike blew up so i gave him it to go couring on for a while.

it got left in the shed for a few years then only getting started every six weeks or so.it got pretty damn scruffy and needed a rebuild .a mate needed a bike to go to the isle of man tt and that gave me reason to get stuck into it.

the bike was stripped,frame sanded and painted,all bearings replaced,new battery and loom,new tyres,everyting cleaned,sprayed or polished . the engine was stripped checked ,new gaskets and rebuilt.it looked like everyting was on course for the tt festival.

it looked like the engine had never been opened before .i was surprised to find one of the bolts holding the sprocket onto the front cam was a little loose. it was causing the sprocket to knock back a little until enough power kicked in .when that happened it regained full power .this explained the funny powerband.looking at the tabs over the bolt it seems that it left the factory that way. the tabs diddnt seem like they had been touched.

the whole bike was almost together.i sanded the tank/sidepanels for spraying and discovered loads of little holes in the underside of the tank. it was`nt fixable and after a lot of searching and trying different tanks intrest was lost once more. it didd`nt make it to the tt.

its running and everything is working just no tank.

!!!!! news flash !!!!!

this ol baby is getting chopped, parts so far include 15 inch rear wheel, long forks,alloy yokes,and loadsa autosol and sandpaper.UPDATE....ive decided not to use the original downtubes/headstock etc and iv`e built a new one off frame for the ol gsx. its done in cd seamless tubing ,37.5 degrees rake ,5.5 inch trail,65 in wheelbase.

i`ll update with pics soon.

2/12/04