Project Bike: fixing up a £400 Suzuki GSX600F

Dave bought this Suzuki GSX600F for £400 to participate in the Longest Day Challenge, but before it can cover 1000 miles in a day it needs a bit of work. Ok, a lot of work… Can he get it ready in time?

Words & photography by Dave Manning

I’d first heard of the Longest Day Challenge a couple of years ago, and had initially intended to take part last year, before the commitments involved with racing the Suzuki Bandit took over.

The basic premise of the day is to buy a bike for under £600, and then ride it from the bottom to the top of the UK, in one day. This, in itself, is a good enough reason to take part – it’ll be a laugh, and something of an achievement – but all-round good egg, Fast Bikes correspondent and LDC organiser John McAvoy has worked it so that the event raises much-needed funds for a cause that is very close to so many people’s hearts, Cancer Research UK.

To ensure that the bikes entered are roadworthy, you’re allowed to spend some money over the 600 quid, although that dosh is only for safety reasons to make sure that the bike in question isn’t going to throw you into the front of an oncoming pantechnicon, or spit you into some spectacularly spiky Welsh countryside… So extra money can be spent on tyres, brakes etc, and there is a catch-all-come-get-out clause with the “in the spirit of the event” statement that allows some flexibility on the budget. But the premise remains the same – a cheap bike, covering about 1000 miles in one day.

Oh, and just to add a bit more fun, the route doesn’t involve any motorways at any point between Lands End and John O’Groats…

My steed

Nigh on twelve months ago I bought myself a cheap Suzuki GSX600F, priced at a mere £400, with the sole objective of having it for the LDC. As mentioned, racing got in the way with a race meeting at Pembrey just a day after last year’s LDC, and logistically there was no way that I’d be able to get back from John O’Groats for the racing, and I’d committed to the full season. A year later, and it’s time to commit myself once more, this time to raising as much money as possible for a wonderful cause (in my case, in memory of my wonderful wife), and having a decent ride out at the same time.

While the bike was cheap, at a quick glance it does look quite clean, albeit with a few bits and bobs missing, although it came with a box of spares that included a standard (ie not cut-down) rear mudguard-cum-undertray, some switchgear and brake calipers, and the initial quick scan over suggested that, with the addition of a few parts (namely brake pads, and a new chain and sprocket kit, swiftly ordered from the good folk at Wemoto) it could be thrown back together and up and running in a couple of days…

I do seem to have an uncanny knack of fooling myself into thinking that things are going to be much, much easier than they really are.

The calendar has, at the time of writing, just flipped into March, and while I was hoping that I’d be booking the Teapot for an MoT, each day seems to see the Suzuki becoming less of a bike as I take more parts off that need fixing. As it stands right now, and with some things definitely yet to discover, I have:-

Fitted the full rear mudguard, number plate and plate light. Only the indicators work.

Cleaned the front brakes. Realised the pistons were seized, split the calipers that came with the bike, and managed to remove five of eight pistons. Then split the spare set of calipers (that were originally fitted to a Kawasaki Z650 project I have, that now has a GSX-R1000 front end) and also only managed to pull out six of eight pistons. With two rebuild kits on order, I will build two calipers from the four.

Fitted speedo cable from the Z650 front end. Discovered that the speedo is loose in its mounts, and none of the clocks have bulbs or wiring to them…

The throttle housing had its stub (that sits in the hole in the bars to stop it from spinning) filed off, so I drilled the housing and made a new stub from a bit of 5mm bolt shank and glued it in place. Then fitted the throttle cable. With the switchgear in place, and wiring plugged in, the headlight works (now that I fitted a bulb) but the on/off switch makes no difference. It’s on all the time.

The clutch action is ridiculously heavy, and the starter doesn’t work (switch issues?).

The ignition coils are not mounted to anything, just floating around under the tank. I need to make some spacers for the original mounting points.

The clock is ticking and I have a huge amount of things left to do, including – cleaning the carbs; adding lights for the clocks; finding and fitting front indicators; mounting the coils; assemble, fit and bleed the brakes; and actually start the bloody thing! Then it needs an Mot, and several test rides… No pressure then.

Come back later to see how Dave gets on in part 2!

The driving force

One in two of us will be directly affected by cancer at some point during our lives. Some of the LDC riders have faced the disease themselves; some will have lost family, friends or loved ones;and some will be travelling along the rocky road of diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

I, too, have my own personal reasons, as some readers will already know. I lost my wife to this dreadful disease in 2022, my father a couple of decades ago, and several friends, too. Each and every one of them fought hard to the end, never complaining despite the indignity of the treatment, accepting the pain and sickness and, despite the harrowing prognosis, still managing to smile.

I also know people who have come out the other side. They’ve rung the bell to signify the end of their treatment. They’ve raised their faces to the sky and said: “Thank you.” They’ve been able to do this thanks to the ongoing advancement of treatments for the multiple different types of cancer; treatments that are becoming less invasive, less intrusive, yet more efficient. This is why events like the LDC take place. For those who have suffered, and those who are suffering. For those who’re caring for those in pain, and for those who are developing better cures. For all of those people.

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