Windjammer | GSX-R 750 chopper

I first saw this bike a year or two ago in a Facebook post, and then in pics from various vintage chopper events, and just loved the concept of a chopper, a proper springer/hardtail chopper, with a fairing. I’ll let Tommy, the owner and builder, tell you about it…

Words by Tommy Pics by Nik

“I bought the frame, a 300-section back tyre, big tube, jobbie, in the early 2000s, and the set of springer forks too, and’d put them into storage, and that’s where they stayed until the last Covid lockdown. A good friend was selling a water-cooled 750 GSX-R (after he’d had a few near-misses on it, reckoning “the things possessed”) and, very begrudgingly, he sold it to me. I kept the engine and back wheel and flogged the rest.

Once I mounted the engine in the frame (high up, taking advantage of the original tall scooped sump to keep the ‘pipes inbound – instead of being in the way of the footrests like on some four-cylinder chop) with new brackets, I cut the back end off the 300-wide frame, and nipped it in to suit the stock wheel spacing, shortened it, and welded/gusseted/braced it up. After machining new neck and wheel spacers, spindles, and caliper mounts, on my trusty old lathe, the springers, with a 21-inch ‘crosser front wheel were sorted. I then smashed out the tinwork, sissy-bar, and seat base, and chucked the autojumble coffin tank I’d picked up somewhere on just to use up other bits I had hanging around (and to get a reaction from my dad and his mates… no joy).

I guess I was aiming for that early streetfighter look of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s that you used to see in BSH and AWoL as they’d been my favourites when I was a kid, but that aim took a swerve when I held the original huge radiator up to the single down tube frame. How do you hide that? I coughed at the price of clever Italian tail-unit rads and, after speaking with mates, I decided a smaller SV650 rad’d do the job, but it was still big.

I found the windjammer fairing behind someone’s shed, so I checked no mates could see me, and struck a deal under the cover of darkness, wearing a balaclava and a wheelie bin. As soon as I offered it up to the bike it was done – it was stupidly awesome, and got a strong reaction from my dad and his mates (result!), and so was mounted up before I could change my own mind. The headlight shell was welded up and spun around to make for a salt-flats look, and now gives access to the inside of the fairing. Cheese holes were drilled, and the screen cut down as a progression, and a set of cheapie streetfighter lights were split, and mounted in it, as well a Chinese speedo unit, with Knightrideresque flashy lights, fitted into the LH fairing pocket. 

It was then stripped down and sent for paint (I’m crap at paint) to Victor at LC Body Shop near Great Yarmouth – I just wanted a thick coat of black paint to stop rust and fast. He smashed it, better than I could ever do, and before long I was into the wiring, losing all the unnecessary squit, figuring out ECU connections, and rebuilding and balancing the carbs, while my wife Natalie covered the king n’ queen seat I’d made. I made a new battery/electrics box, with ribs – if you put it on your head you look like one of the Knights That Say ‘Ni’, which is handy. 

A misfiring issue (poor pickup magnet) was diagnosed by another good friend and, after six months of building, and two weeks testing, we (Nat and I) were on our way to The Hook Up in Wales – the other side of the country. The bike ran great, and we had proper warm weather and post-lockdown freedom – what a party! We had a ride-out in the beautiful countryside with my mates on the Saturday, and picked up a few beers, putting them inside the fairing, all 16 of them! Riding back to the party I started getting drops of liquid on my face, then the smell of beer, and before long I couldn’t see through the beernami in front of me. My mate of the bike behind could hear us laughing and, when I stopped at the entrance, with beer pissing down the forks, I got a few “your bike’s leaking” followed by laughter after I explained. Thankfully, only four cans were lost to fibreglass abrasion.

Since then I’ve made the 4-into-1 stainless exhaust, expansion tank, and 4-into-1 air-filter box which makes it run smoothly, and it’s been to Wales (The Hook Up) twice, the South-West Chopper Fest in Somerset, Skeggy for a DTRA event (no, I didn’t race), a France-Belgium- Luxembourg-Holland road trip (The Nomad Run), and a few local parties after being on the road just over a year. On the way home from The Hook Up last year, the tank split on a crease, and I pinched the hole with my fingertips to do the last 20 miles home, but managed to TiG-weld it back together for this photoshoot, and then it was off to The Nomad Run.

It definitely goes faster than I can handle, and stops well, but, most of all, it’s a bloody good laugh.”

Spec: Suzuki GSX-R 750WP engine (re-jetted 38mm Mikuni carbs, one-off one off 4-into-1 air-filter box to take stock air-filter, modified Suzuki SV650 radiator, Suzuki RF900 igniter, one off stainless 4-into-1 with eBay silencer, one-off manifold clamps)/rear wheel/rear brake/foot-rests & hangers (modified), unknown rigid frame (modified), Honda CRF250 21-inch front wheel/brake, one-off caliper mounts, unknown springer forks, braided stainless brake lines, one-off ‘bars with internal switchgear, aftermarket speedo unit, BMW Windjammer fairing (modified)/front indicators, autojumble coffin tank (modified), one-off king n’ queen seat (foamed/covered by Natalie), aftermarket rear mudguard (modified), one-off electrics box, one-off mudguard struts/sissy-bar, one-off loom, aftermarket streetfighter headlights (modified), aftermarket tail-light/indicators (one-off hood)

Finish: Black by Victor at LC Car Body Shop (07713 974241)

Engineering: Bike built & all work by owner, except one-off manifold clamps by Raw Steel Choppers (07814 540528 or www.rawsteelchoppers.co.uk)

Thanks To:  “My wife, Natalie, & kids for support & tea; Victor at LC Car Body Shop; String at Raw Steel Choppers; Mr Bridges for electrical knowledge; & all my friends/family for advice & laughs, especially Geoff who knows when I’m proud of a part I’ve made and’ll just reply with “that’s shit…”