[makenzie71]

More to come...

 

[makenzie71]

Alright...I wanted a 180mm cross section in the back and a real shock. This bike came to be with buggered bearings, a soft shock, and ruined brakes. TIME TO UPGRADE! Or at least it's certainly an upgrade over what it had.

To start with, I had two options. I accidentally left my notes in the shop so this will be vague. I had on hand an entire K5 GSXR600 donor bike, and I had most of an R6 rear end (swingarm, wheel, axle, cush, brake, links). I went with the GSXR rear end because the swingarm was shorter than the R6, it was narrower at the pivot than the R6 (gives me greater flexibility for maintaining center), the link mounts were in geometrically similar locations, and I had the entire assembly on hand. The downside to using the GSXR swingarm was the 25mm pivot bolt. The R6 (at least the '05 model) has a 20mm swingarm pivot bolt so nothing fancy is required to fit it to the bike...that being said, if you go with an R6 arm it may require some shaving off the frame or the arm...I didn't have it in hand to try but I had to make a spacer to position the GSXR swingarm in the frame, and the R6 swingarm was noticeably wider than the GSXR arm.

To get the arm mounted was pretty straight forward. Suzuki uses a hollow pivot bolt for the GSXR. The inside diameter of the pivot bolt is supposed to be 20mm. It was quite rusty, and the ZR botl was pretty rusty, so I had to do a LOT of sanding on both to get it to work...but essentially I cut the ends off the Suzuki pivot bolt and used it as a bearing spacer. I'm concerned about rust and getting it apart later. I may end up taking the whole assembly all back apart and drilling holes in the sleeve so that grease will get through.

Now I could have used the ZR7 shock, but I wanted the full function of the GSXR piece. The GSXR shock has a large reservoir on it, though, and was a couple inches longer. I ended up having to cut out the battery box and then had to remove the factory shock mount.

I laid a steel beam across the spars for a new shock mount. It is 1/4" thick and channeled, but still flexed a little so I added a U brace on top. I'm not completely happy with it, which is why it's not really cleaned off...I may end up grinding it all off and starting over with something neater. In the end, between the two braces, I also lost the filter box. Now I'm going to have to figure out a way to make a new filter box that can fit around the braces or go with a lunchbox/pods.

As said above, the link geometry of was a boon...each mounting point was very close between the GSXR and ZR7. It's not a perfect match, but very close. However, the link is much wider than the ZR's and the swap cost me the center stand. The stand will simply not close around the link. It wouldn't even raise enough to put the tire on the ground.

Battery will be relocated to the trunk.

All in all, I like the look, and I like the added meat in the back.

Hopefully by next weekend the GSXR forks will be mounted up and ready to go.

 

[carryall]

A lot of work and R&R but kudos for doing it. Too bad you lost the center stand. That's something I'd never give up IMO. The airbox (or lack of) might be the most frustrating part for you if you go with just pod filters. It's doable, but usually you lose some smoothness in drivability somewhere. IF you can come up with the airbox, I think it would help, even if you have to "modify" it to fit around the braces, etc...Good luck and continue to post your progress. Interesting.

 

[Obo]

Seems a lot of work and potential errors / problems just to overcome replacing the rear shock with a better one.

Just how many teeth are on that new rear sprocket anyways?

 

[makenzie71]

A lot of work and R&R but kudos for doing it. Too bad you lost the center stand. That's something I'd never give up IMO. The airbox (or lack of) might be the most frustrating part for you if you go with just pod filters. It's doable, but usually you lose some smoothness in drivability somewhere. IF you can come up with the airbox, I think it would help, even if you have to "modify" it to fit around the braces, etc...Good luck and continue to post your progress. Interesting.

I was a little bummed to lose the center stand. There's a chance I could have saved it, but making it wide enough to clear the link would have looked odd and added a number of other complications. She went as a casualty of the fight.

I actually do NOT want to do a lunchbox or pods. The filter box will simply not fit around the bracing for the shock, though. I'm going to have to make a cage that will secure the filter to the plenum, though it will not be exposed. Not as good as having the filter box, but better than trying to make pods work...the way water marks are on the plenum makes me think if I ever got caught in the rain it would just pour water straight into the belmouths.

Seems a lot of work and potential errors / problems just to overcome replacing the rear shock with a better one.

Just how many teeth are on that new rear sprocket anyways?

First, I do a lot of this kind of stuff not because it's necessarily the best way to go, but mostly because it is very fun. In the end, I didn't just want a better shock. I mostly wanted a 180mm cross section. In getting that I got a lighter swingarm, lighter wheel (yes, it's actually lighter than the smaller ZR7 wheel), a shorter wheelbase (by a few mm if that counts), a better shock, better brakes, and it looks cool.

I have lost count each time I tried to get the number of teeth. I believe it has all of them ever. It's what came with the GSXR.

 

[makenzie71]

I'm going to have to cut a plate to adapt them, but rearsets:

 

[carryall]

I just noticed the size of that rear sprocket too...Is that a sprocket, or a saw mill blade? HOLY CRAP, you'll be able to climb trees with that thing. LOL

 

[makenzie71]

That monstrosity comes off when I change the tires.

 

[lpscruggs]

Hmm, interesting, I hope it all works out for you, but remember you really don't need a 180 section rear tire with an engine that is good for 70hp at the ground. Be very sure that the completed bikes axles are square and properly aligned. that will make or break a motorcycles handling characteristics.

 

[makenzie71]

Don't need it...I've had plenty of bikes on narrower rubber...but I'm very fond of the profile. It's not about traction, but more about feel. Also, it looks awesome.

 

[makenzie71]

I'm basically just going to post the whole build in here as it comes to it...

Hopefully I'll get my GSXR triples back tomorrow...my machinist is welding up the base of the ZR7 stem and then pressing it into the GSXR triple. Then the forks will bolt right up...I'm very excited.

Also, as a crazy turn of events...the first ZR7 I picked up...in searching for the previous registered owner (was hoping to get his help in titling the bike instead of bonding it), someone has come up claiming that the bike is his and the person I bought the bike from stole it from him. He knows the name of the person I bought the bike from. He also claims he had the bike registered to him in Texas. Lastly, he told me that if I just give him back the bike I "won't get into trouble". When I asked him to provide any proof of ownership (which I said if he could provide I would stand by him in court) he said he didn't have to prove anything and that the police have all the information. Spot on. I politely told him to go get ****ed. I did check with both city and county police and the bike was never reported stolen. NICB, CarFax, and VinCheck are also clear, and the bike was last registered in another state. I have an appointment with the Auto Theft Task Force in the morning to do a VIN check...I was going to hold off bonding this bike but now I'm going to do it more out of spite than anything.

Despite all that though I have moved my project parts to the uncontested frame I picked up the other day.

Moving the GSXR arm to this bike was way easier and faster. I also made another bracket...I didn't care much for my original "U" brace so this one I made with 3/8" strap with angle welded to the top for rigidity. Also, just because I can't seem to do it right first time, I welded it to the wrong part of the frame and had to cut it off. I'm a firm subscriber to the old adage of measure once, cut/weld three or four times.

I've also read one here numerous times that pods are very hard to get right on this bike...well, looks like I'm going to have to figure out how to get them right because getting the carburetors out for cleaning and tuning was ridiculous and there's no way I'm going through the effort to get that stupid airbox back into the frame. Got it mostly stripped down, though.

Next on the agenda is a lot of cleaning and making a new tray for the rear. I'm also stripping all the paint from the tanks and body panels for both. The blue tank was a nightmare. I couldn't get all the creases to lift. I had to cut whole panels off the tank, hammer them into proper shape, and weld them back. Looks awful, but it'll work. There's still gaps and stuff but after some filler is laid over them it'll be fine. The tank will never look original, but should look decent. The inside will need to be cleaned and etched properly and coated with a "bag" polymer...something like Kreem. I generally don't like Kreem because it's a ***** to clean out if it fails, and it's not forgiving during application...but if it's installed correctly it'll be a thick, pliable, bladder-like coating...should be a lot safer than an epoxy coating like POR15 (my preference).

You can see the progress of the tank here...lots of pictures. Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

 

[makenzie71]

K5 GSXR600 front end mounted up.

Pretty tight clearance between the tire and the headers, but I already compressed the front fully and there's plenty of room. It's changed the geometry a lot...I'm willing to bet the bike will be a bit more twitchy. I will definitely be adapting in the GSXR steering damper...all it requires is a tab welded to the steering head to pull it off.

The tank is almost ready for paint. The tail is being stubborn. Whatever is on it isn't hard enough to sand...it peels off like latex and just clogs the paper. I sprayed it with aircraft remover and it hasn't seemed to touch it.

 

[makenzie71]

I finally got the "rubber" paint stripped off the tail...I used some variety of graffiti remover from Home Depot. Sprayed it on, let it set for five minutes, wiped it off. Had the stuff sitting on the shelf in the shop for years...wish I'd started with it.

I got the headlight mount mocked up today. I'm concerned about rigidity...there's only three threaded mount locations on the lower triple. It will certainly hold the weight of everything I'll have mounted to it, but the three mounts are pretty close together. I'm concerned with it flexing. I don't want anything clamped onto the forks, though, so it's hard to sort out how I can get a fourth tie higher up to hold it all stable. I'm thinking I might make a tube with a brace on it that I can mount to the ignition switch...just use a longer bolt for the switch and there's my upper mount. Don't know yet...

...more to come...

 

[carryall]

You going with/without a front fairing attaching to the box tab support on the front where the adjuster went thru?

 

[makenzie71]

No fairing. Maybe a little fly screen. I'm going to build a a cowl that'll cover the lights, with a little cutout for the instrument cluster...that'll be it. I'm thinking about making it from an old road sign just to annoy a certain someone. The whole assembly will be attached to the triples like the naked model's headlight.

 

[carryall]

If the screen is going to be attached independently, I would think your 3 point attachment would be fine IMO.

 

[makenzie71]

Got the headlight bracket, adjuster, and cowl finished. I'm really pleased with the bracket and cowl. I got it to hold the speedometer as well. I am as displeased with the cowl as I am pleased with the bracket, though. Turned out much bigger than I thought it would be (they are pretty deep and large lights so that figures). The front will still be covered in either mesh or I'll make some kind of surround for the lights. The tank and tail are going to be graffiti'ed...I was going to leave the front cowl brushed aluminum but maybe it'll look better if painted.

 

[carryall]

Maybe? But I'll go ahead and say it...that's hideous looking IMO. Sorry.

 

[makenzie71]

Yeah I'm not pleased with it at all...too big and too high. Now I'm looking around for a fairing similar to what was on the CB1100R concept. I like the look of the half fairing. I'd stick with the S fairing but both sides are busted up pretty good.

 

[carryall]

Maybe start with enclosing each light individually, as tightly/minimally as possible, then going from there using cardboard as a template material.