modification Suzuki GSX-R 1100 Streetfighter

 Workman, who hails from the UK, grew up drag-racing at “Run What Ya Brung” public track days, but his previous machine was hamstrung by its short, road-friendly wheelbase. So he built this longer, more strip-friendly machine, using the frame from a crashed 1989 GSX-R1100. Despite the logos, the engine is a bit of a mongrel—part Wiseco big block, part Bandit 1200. It’s now 1340cc in capacity with heavily upgraded internals, including forged alloy pistons, Carillo rods and a lightened crank.

It’s clad with heavy-duty Yoshimura engine covers and then Workman added a Pro-Mod style Nitrous Express ‘wet kit’ to send the power output through the roof. (‘I had a bit of trouble getting the bottle through British customs,’ he notes.) The front end is from a GSX-R1000 and now sports oversize 320mm Galfer wave rotors.

A modified swingarm stretches the wheelbase by 8”, allowing the bike to get its power down on the strip. The hand-beaten aluminum tank comes from an ex-Durex race team bike that competed on the Isle of Man, and the German-made bikini fairing houses an Aprilia RS250 lamp. The exhaust system is a genuine Yoshimura titanium duplex system.

So, is it quick? All I know is that Lee Workman’s previous bike would run the quarter-mile in a smidge over ten seconds—and this one is considerably more powerful.