Suzuki GSX-R1100

We gave you a sneak peek of John Dantzler's 1992 GSX-R1100 in the last issue of Super Streetbike, but three tiny pics and 100 words hardly did this gorgeous machine justice. Dantzler bought the bike box-stock in '94, and it has been evolving ever since. The bike serves, as much as anything, as a good advertisement for Dantzler's ability to shape plastic. The bodywork comprises a '92 front fairing paired with a TWC-special, stretched-and-molded rear tailpiece. Covering the headlight area is a heavily modified Yoshimura racing number plate with just a single headlight peeping through, and the windscreen features a unique carbon-fiber coating. The gas tank is another TWC original, hand-formed by Dantzler to hold two nitrous bottles that stick out of the sides. "Torn carbon-fiber" paint, with ghost skulls and other graphics along the center of the tank, was likewise laid down by Dantzler himself.

Like all of TWC's bikes, there's plenty of go to back up all this show. Dantzler's motor pumps out an honest 170 horsepower at the rear wheel, and even more when the nitrous is flowing. The cylinder heads have been ported and polished, and bigger pistons jack displacement up to 1127cc. A set of Keihin 41mm flat slides now reside on the intake side, while the exhaust is a Vance & Hines Sidewinder--and if you believe what those Harley-Davidson guys say, this loud-ass exhaust could save more lives than the Red Cross. Rounding out the motor mods is a set of drop-in cams, and the transmission gears were undercut before everything was slid back into the chrome frame.

The stock fork has been chromed and then lowered in the triple clamps, and an adjustable strut replaces the rear shock. The swingarm is a three-to-nine-inch-adjustable Adams piece, modded by Dantzler to hold both the battery and air-shifter reservoir. Additional bracing was added to the arm, before the whole shebang was chrome dipped. The rear wheel is an RC Aurora model, seven inches with bead locks, carrying a 190/55 V17 Shinko Stealth drag tire. To help keep the rear end looking clean, Dantzler removed the rear brake and chromed the axle bolts and sprocket. The front wheel is a matching RC Aurora wrapped in another Shinko tire, with a single disc on the lefthand side. In the cockpit, the bike uses the stock gauge cluster (chromed, of course) with the speedometer face blanked out and replaced with a Nitrous Oxide Systems plate. The rev counter tells Dantzler everything he needs to know. Handlebar grips are chrome TWC originals, and everything else that can be is plated: the switch gear, hydraulic reservoirs, levers and triple trees. Exceptions are the aforementioned windscreen and inner fairing, both finished with a carbon-fiber coating.

Moving the bike around for photos gave us a chance to investigate the TWC adjustable kickstand and custom rear sets. The stand is very short, and is adjustable by removing a split pin and sliding the inner leg up or down as needed. Like most everything Dantzler builds, these parts are chromed and look the absolute business. Firing the bike up has windows rattling and sends pets and small children running for cover. Watching Dantzler pull a few hard launches for Odell's camera was an experience. A seriously wild motorcycle, Dantzler says he'd sell it for the right money--he's scheming up a new project already. Ping him through his Web site (www.2wheelcustoms.com) if you're serious.