Retirement

[pekingduck]

Congratulations on retirement, from a noble profession too!

Both of those bikes were/are superb bikes, very easy to work on and reliable. Pull the tank off with one bolt, and the valve cover is right there. No shims, just threaded tappets like a Honda 90. The brittle cardboard valve cover gasket that bakes to the head and cover surfaces is the worst part of it.

I was Service Manager at a Suzuki dealer then and recall a few of the 1100s had warped rotor issues. Stator windings and especially regulators were other areas of concern. I would at least flush the braking systems on both, but expect to rebuild them as a precaution. Then you're good for another 10-20 years.

Thin rotors?

My theory is that warped rotors are generally a result of a long hard stop, with the brakes applied during the cooling cycle, so that areas where pads contact remain heated longer and cool at a slower rate.

If I need to make a high speed panic stop, I try to let off the brakes during cool-down.

Thin rotors?

My theory is that warped rotors are generally a result of a long hard stop, with the brakes applied during the cooling cycle, so that areas where pads contact remain heated longer and cool at a slower rate.

If I need to make a high speed panic stop, I try to let off the brakes during cool-down.
Hard to determine what the cause was, as they were customer bikes, and they deteriorated gradually. We would warranty them if we didn't see impact (Or Kryptonite) damage, but replacements were no better.

As I recall, it wasn't a problem on the 1980-81, or on later models so likely a manufacturing issue. 1979-80 Honda CB750F and CBX also had the same complaint to a lesser degree. For out-of-warranty customers I would take batches of them to be centerless ground. They came back perfect with no subsequent complaints, so likely a bad batch.