TOPIC:

the bike starts as a 1200$, found it on sunday morning in the paper, holy shit, that's a turbo bike, and i'll be there with the cash in a few. didn't even dicker.

the turbo/turbo engine is slated for a drag bike. so, out that comes, and in goes a 73 z1 bottom ended, 1015 block and head n/a engine goes in. ride that a while, while putting together a plan.

here's where i am coming from:



and here:



the point where i decided that the turbo engine would be more fun pushing my ass as fast as i dare go on a drag chassis, was the point where this plan sort of hatched. put that together with a strong desire to go to california to see the motogp, and it's a recipe for a little adventure.

build the 77 to be what i want it to be: mild n/a engine, 1197, cams, ported head, and small carbs. lots of tq.

a decent, cool-looking suspension setup. modern brakes, usd forks, mono-shock rear end. and, keep it as green as possible. i liked the looks of the current crop of 636r and rr setups, so that was easy. radial brakes, "petal" style rotors, massively braced swingarm, 17x3.5" front wheel, and 17x5.5" rear. modern rubber, front and rear.

i have the front end ready to go. i took a kz stem out of the lower triple. cleaned it up in the lathe, and made a bushing to adapt the stem to the 636 lower. a little TIG work, and swap the bearings to the new triple.







the pics will show the front suspension mounted on my drag frame, to verify my work on the stem.

this setup will use the 636 clip-ons for now, until i locate a z1000 top clamp, which will facilitate the use of a normal 7/8ths bar.

the frame needs to be tweeked a little so that this fits. basically, i need to remove the old kz steering lock, and weld a new on on that is appropriate for the new forks. the old one hits the lower triple, hard... it could be clearanced, but the steering stops on the new lower tree aren't even close to it.

the rear required the swingarm be narrowed about 1/8th of an inch just behind the pivot. once that was done, it slides cleanly into the frame. i bored(had bored, my lathe isn't big enough) the 636 swingarm bolt to the size of the kz bolt. works out nice and slick.

the 636 has just a tad under 6" of rear travel, so i need to do some work out back to get things right. i'l be fabbing up the upper shock mount, then i will be removing the center stand tabs from the lower cross member, to facilitate the new pick up for the shock linkage. i also will need to cut the factory passenger peg mounts off to fit the wide arm.

probably going to do a set of rear sets from another bike. this i haven't decided yet. lots more stuff to do, and it needs to be done before july. 8^)

i'll add more pics and data as the process moves along.

some more of those pics:









(the last two are of my swingarm on wireman's frame)

hope i haven't bored everyone to tears. 8^)

--r

Post edited by: solomrus, at: 2006/12/19 00:30

Post edited by: steell, at: 2006/12/20 10:50

You are pretty slick at fabricating. looks really cool.
In the second picture, in the garage, what is the white round spot on the right side of the seat, right above the shock? Some photo anomaly?

Post edited by: pumps, at: 2006/12/19 01:34

Post edited by: pumps, at: 2006/12/19 01:35

thanks for the kind words, i appreciate it.

probably some dust that was caught by the flash in that photo. or a big hole in the seat that i missed. 8^)

--r

front fender and front wheel/tire/brake rotors found and purchased.

should be shipping out from OK today. if fedex comes thru, might have the front end on the 77 this weekend for some poser shots. 8^)

--r

yeah that is gonna look pretty cool,not as quite as cool as a stock frontend with a turbo tucked in behind it and a 3" gsxr arm out back but itll be all right!

8^)

--r

Solumrus:
Wow man, that is out-standing! I've got a little "geek" question for you. I'm doing some suspension swapping and my friend who owns a speed shop here in Kansas is going to do the work. Machine mills and the stuff we need; Could you offer a little more detail in the front triple modifications? On my Z1R project I'm putting an inverted FZR 1000 front end on it. My ELR (clone) I'm putting a ZX7R front end on. Looks to me that you kept it financially reasonable with the stem mod...hadn't considered that and was just about to get a custom triple cut...your option really looks more appealing. Also, on your rear-shock set up, please keep us posted as that is the next mod on my 'J' bike (must b/c of the 6" PM that is going on).

Hope I didn't "geek" too much. This is a GREAT post; please keep us posted.

-KR

wireman wrote:

yeah that is gonna look pretty cool,not as quite as cool as a stock frontend with a turbo tucked in behind it and a 3" gsxr arm out back but itll be all right!

atleast you get to play around on both builds!

so true man, so true.

--r


wireman wrote:

wireman wrote:

yeah that is gonna look pretty cool,not as quite as cool as a stock frontend with a turbo tucked in behind it and a 3" gsxr arm out back but itll be all right!

atleast you get to play around on both builds!

kr, i initially thought that i would locate the correct bearings to leave the 05 stem and triple intact.

yeah, right... i'd still be looking.

i really can't claim the idea for popping the kz stem out, and making the sleeve to adapt it to the 636 stem. i totally used the idea that caffcruiser's machinist friend came up with. save for the fact that i had the tools to make mine myself.

to get the kz stem out, grind the weld off of the bottom of the lower triple. an angle grinder worked fine for me. i had to cut quite a bit more metal than i expected to get it out of there. once you see the parting line all the way around, you can use a brass drift or something soft to knock it out of there.

the 636 triple i had to borrow a press to get the stem out of. pretty much cake, the stem popped right out. some measurements, a couple hours on the lathe, and i was good to go. a little heat to allow the stem to drop into the collar, and then a couple of welds to secure the stem to the collar.

i put the 636 triple in the oven at about 400 degrees for 30 minutes, and then i dropped my adapted kz stem right in. pressed the bearings back on, and then stuck it in the neck. you'll use the kz top nut, washers and such, with the spanner nut under the triple to set bearing tension.

works out pretty slick once you have it all sussed out. doing it this way will make it pretty much a bolt on. which is what i was going for. it's all pretty much standard stuff.

i just ordered a set of aluminum headlight mounts from LP this morning, so those should take care of the light housing. i will be using that electronic speedo/tach solution that caffcruiser posted a whie back too. i just need to get that ordered. those two things will allow me to mount my light, and have a complete gauge solution(speedo, tach, indicators lights for several functions) and cean things up quite a bit.

i'll run the stock controls from the 636 on the clip-ons while i look for the top triple from a z1000. that upper clamp will bolt right on the 636 forks AND allow me to use 7/8ths bars. i might just mod the 636 clamp to use the bolt-on type bar mounts, which will let me use either 7/8ths or 1 1/8ths bars.

i'll keep you posted on the rear suspension. it's gonna take me a little longer to get to that part of the project, as i have wire's chassis to get done here as well.

--r

Thanks R!
I appreciate the quick reply as I'm in Topeka this weekend and I'll be dropping by the shop to chat with Brian about your advice.

On your back end: I have some ideas from 'Streetfighters' in an old article that I keep handy to salivate over. I can scan it and copy it to you if you don't already have a plan...or even if you do.

Again, my thanks.
-KR

topeka, sweet. not too far away! there's a couple of us up here in omaha. wireman for one.

we should get together this spring... ride somewhere.

thanks for the offer... pretty sure i have a plan in mind tho. i know how i want it to be, i just need some specific dimensions. i can't get those until i clear some other stuff out of the way.

i've been looking for some more japanese bike tuner magazines. i scored one on ebay, and i see some more on the japanese yahoo auctions. i just need to see if i can get my friend over there to buy them and ship for me.

it's really cool to see what they do to these old bikes, as they are less into straight line, and more into handling and performance.

pm me for a phone number if you need to call me about that this weekend. i'd be more than willing to answer any questions you guys have.

--r