THE WIDOW MAKER

Hey fellow speed junkies! I wanted to show you the work I’m doing on my TL1000S here in the Isle of Man. Yeah widow maker seems to be bandied about by everyone and no one ‘bout these bikes, but after owning four S models and two R models, I wanted to make this 97 S one more er... er... stupid!

The head shakes on these beeeetches is worse than a BJ from Esther Rantzen, so first thing was to rip the clip-ons off, and stick some wider flat bars to give me more leverage. Other mods so far have been removing all that heavy light/clock/plastics on the front, and give the old girl a little more spright to the front end, and if it works and laps round the TT course are quicker and easier, then a K5 GSXR fairing will be grafted with a small projector headlight and Koso setup. I’m also going to be modifying the exhaust, get rid of the left side can, more ground clearance round the hairpin as it catches at the moment. Working with a mate who runs a race business over here, making a custom map to suit the Honda Civic injectors, and custom bellmouths that exit the frame sides.

Currently machining a new upper shock mount, which I’ll weld into the existing frame, and then fit the Hayabusa swingarm and shock linkage. Why? I love the tillers, and prefer the characteristics of the S over the R (yeah I know I’m odd) but also love the torque and drive of the big vee. Plus it qualifies for the classic!! Hopefully it will be a capable little mountain circuit shredder!! All the best! Dave East, Isle of Man.

FB: Wow, that’s some serious commitment right there! We take our hats off to you. Let us know how it carries on, and hopefully we’ll see you over at the Classic next year!