Mission: Ground Pounder will encompus classic Drag bike styling, Super Bike performance and modern road going suspension. Along with a host of custom touches to add to the minimalist values. This resurrected scrapyard survivor will become an ultimate  stop light destroyer.

Back Story: Before StreetKORE was born, I worked in a motorcycle salvage yard in Charleston, SC. This neglected example of a ‘77 Suzuki GS750 was rusting away in the back lot for decades. It was owned by one of the shops good customers and was intended to be a parts bike for a number of his projects. He really had no attachment to it anymore, so there it sat. In the 80’s it was turned into a mild lowrider. Lowered suspension, home made drag bars and some mild tuning. At some point in it’s life the original motor locked up and from there it found it’s resting place in a corner of the yard. 20 years later I came along and for some reason found a spot in my heart and a burning image in my mind for this rusted relic. I asked the owner a price and he responded with $100. Being a broke 20 something kid with other responsibilities, that extra $100 was never in my pocket at the right time. A couple of years after my employment with the shop I was in the process of moving out of town. Call it fate, happen stance, or dumb luck, I had to swing back through to get a $2 part for my current bike and the thought of the loley GS poped into my head again. And it just so happened our good friend was in the shop that day too. Guess what, I miraculously had $100 in my pocket as well . God was smiling, the planets aligned and the rusty mess found its way in the back of the U-haul.

Current Progress: It’s been a slow progression thus far. Once time presented itself, the entire bike was stripped to the frame. The only original parts to be used will be the frame and gas tank. The 20 years of corrosion made for an eventful day dismantling. After a few hours of toil it was on it’s way to becoming a new bike.

First order is getting the frame setup. Anyone who has ever ridden a 70’s era motorcycle knows the frames have an inherent flex in them. This bike will be sprung with modern suspension, which will only magnify the issue. The rear end has been converted to monoshock. An “X” brace and cross bar has been made from 1″ tube and the upper shock mount was drawn up in CAD by our friend Shift1313 and formed in a CNC press by our other good buddy CK187 from the customfighters.com forum. Frame bracing continues across the front down tubes and in the subframe.  Seat rails have been lowered 1″ and a new subframe is being constructed from 3/4″ tubing. The subframe will be more for aesthetics than anything, as it will be the frame work for the tail section, mainly.

Suspension consists of a +9″ ‘95 GSXR swingarm, extended by Fish’s. Rear shock is from an ‘06 GSXR600. Rear linkage is ‘91 GSXR with custom made dog bones. Front forks and clamps are from a ‘99 R6. The clamps have been shaved and smoothed. Lower legs are being shaved of fender and brake mounts. Wheels are 19×2.15 Front from a KZ550, 18×5.5 rear from a GSXR1100. Brakes are custom made all around. The rear rotor is a custom laser cut wave piece bound by a vintage single piston race caliper. Front brakes will be handled by a one off 19″ perimeter rotor cut to match the rear wave. Caliper will be a monoblock radial mount with custom bracket.

 This project has been sold as a rolling chassis. New Project comming soon.

Sport Twins are really great street bikes. Even if they aren’t the fastest thing on the road, the amount of grunt you get with minimal effort just makes them a blast for the tight windy back roads and congested city streets. 

StreetKORE’s Super Chicken, VTR1000F, was another one of those odd ball projects that fell into place. I acquired the VTR in 2007 after a good friend had relocated to Japan. The bike was taken well care of over the years and had a number of performance tweaks already done to it. By the time it got to me though, it had fallen fate to ebay listings. In a last ditch effort to separate himself from many of his belonging before the big move, my buddy started parting it out. Much of the bike wasn’t selling fast enough though. By the time I had gotten hold of it, the carbs, radiators, some key electrics and a number of odds and ends were missing. I ended up jumping on the bay myself to replace what wasn’t there. After a number of months collecting the needed parts it became a mad dash to get the bike in running order as I had just sold Damage Control.

Once the bike was on the bench, the mods started swiftly. The forks and brakes were already top notch. Race Tech 0.95 springs and Gold Valves were in the forks. All brake and clutch lines were Kevlar, The clutch was upgraded with Barnett HD Springs. The notorious cam chain tensioners had been replaced with APE adjusters, and a K&N was in the air box.

I removed the air box snorkel and re jetted the carbs with a stage 1 tune. The stock header was cut before the “Y” to make a 2-1 and caped off with a shortened Two Bros silencer. Buck at Goblin Mill Worx in Summerville, SC welded up the inlet cap to make a bolt on into a slip on, as well as welded up one of the dual radiators to make a single rad conversion. I fitted dual 4″ electric fans, made relocating brackets and ran new water hoses. The factory oil cooler was relocated behind the front head pipe and new oil lines were made to suit.  

I added DYNA mini coils and 8mm wires for spark. Rewired the Reg/Rec unit from a TLR and added a Kuryakyn volt meter and Trail Tek Vapor multifunction dash.

The subframe was made from a donor 900RR unit. Buck and I cut and re-welded it to fit the VTR with a bit of a kick to throw some weight over the front end and get the lines of the bike a little more aggressive. The seat is a custom stitched GSXR750 with diamond tuck velor and leather edges. The battery and all the electrics along with half the wire harness fit under the seat, amazingly enough.

Lighting started off with a very nice 5 3/4″ Bullet headlight that Buck had machined himself. It’s very nice unit, I managed to save it use on the Ground Pounder. I eventually replaced it with a VW Beetle Driving lamp that looks similar in shape to a V Rod lamp and added a mini projector for the high beam. Looked very robotic with that setup. Worked surprisingly well, with very good light. The tail lights are a pair of ‘06 GSXR600 rear turn signals. They were converted to dual element sockets and fitted with 1157 LED bulbs.

The tail is the same model pocketbike unit used on Damage Control. The rear was trimmed to fit the tail lights and the seat pan removed for the latching seat. The tank, fender and belly pan are stock VTR in factory Yellow. A black Vortex cap and CRG bar end mirrors are the only add on pieces.   

The bike that started it all for StreetKORE. The base platform was acquired in the latter part of 2003. The overall condition of the bike was in sad shape. A wheeley gone bad had resulted in the bike running head first into a wall. The front end was tacoed, the plastics were trashed, but the engine and frame survived. In the beginning, the plan was just to get it rideable again. I had some spare parts laying around the garage, some steel tubing and a garage full of tools. During a hurricane filled weekend I got to work.

The front end was replaced with a spare TLR setup I had sitting in the corner. The upper bearing cup of the neck was machined to accept the Suzuki stem and the whole thing slid right in. The neck of the frame has also been shaved of the fairing mounts. The bars are the original prototype for our StreetKORE DC Fat Bars. Hand made from 1 1/8″ steel tube tapering to 7/8″ ends with integrated 3″ risers. Front master cylinder is from a CBR954 and runs steel braided lines down to 6 pot Tokico’s clamping 320mm Busa rotors.

The Single sided swingarm comes from a ‘97 VFR750. The 900RR shock was reused along with the link system with flipped triangles to raise the ride height. Rear wheel is a BSA Alloy 17×7″ car rim, adapted with a 25mm wide, 4×100mm spacer, and wrapped in 200/55-17 Maxxis rubber. Rear brake caliper also comes from a TLR in custom mounts.

Engine has a mild tune. The air box was binned for pod filters. Carbs have been jetted with a stage 7 kit. +4 degree Two Bros ignition advancer adjust spark timing, APE manual cam chain tensioner replaces the auto adjust unit. Spent gases exit through a Yoshimura stainless header and 2″ baffled tip. Barnett Clutches and HD springs apply power to the ground along with +6 final gearing.

All the electrics have been relocated under seat while the Battery hides in the frame behind the engine. The wiring loom has been cut down to bare bones. Ignition, head and tail light only. Headlight is a  Blue lens Wave unit from Germany. Taillight comes from an ‘04 ZX10R.

Body work is minimal. Tank is stock 900RR with Vortex cap. Tail piece is a modified pocketbike tail mounted to a  custom adjustable subframe made from 1″ steel tube that mounts via adjustable Heim joints. This allows around 1 inch of adjustment up and down for desired seat height. Frame, forks, wheels and bodywork has all been painted Black to keep it sleek and simple.

SPEC SHEET:

1993 Honda CBR900RR

Engine: 893cc CBR900RR. Pod Filters, Stage 7 Jet kit, Yoshimura header, 2″ baffled tip, APE cam chain tensioner, Two Bros ignition advancer.

Frame:1993 CBR900RR, Re-machined neck to accept Suzuki bearing, Shaved fairing mounts, custom adj. height solo subframe.

Front End: TL1000R forks, clamps, Wheel. Key mount shaved. 954 master cylinder, Tokico 6 pot calipers, braided lines, , Busa rotors. Custom steel flat bars with integrated 3″ risers.

Rear End: VFR750, 17×7″ car rim, 200/55-17 tire, TLR rear caliper, 900RR shock, flipped linkage.

Bodywork: CBR900RR gas tank, Vortex gas cap, modified pocketbike tail section.

Electrics: Stock loom modified to run Ignition, head and tail light only. Battery in frame, components mounted under seat. WAVE headlight, ZX10R taillight. Relocated key and start switch.

Paint & Powder coat: Frame, forks, wheels painted by BLUE @ www.bluekustoms.com

Engineering: Battery box, rear caliper mount, handle bars, subframe, rear suspension links, rear wheel adapter, frame mods. All work by StreetKORE.