TOPIC:

Well, I got the bike up and running just in time for winter, but now I have to change stuff!

It started with this:
Katana Swingarm thread

I won an arm and axle on ebay last week and it should be here soon.

Yesterday I was talking to a friend and asked if he knew anyone who could make me a 20mm outer/17mm inner sleeve so I could use my wheel on the axle for the swingarm.

He offered me pretty much anything I want (suspension wise) off a CBR600RR parts bike he has.

We did some googling and the rear axle is 17mm, and the rear tire size is 180/55/17 and the chain is a 525.

I jumped on JT sprockets and found a 525 front sprocket that will fit (01-05 GSXR600)

I am also going to pull the front forks and see how hard it would be to swap them.

I'll start posting pictures once I get the parts.

Right now the bike looks exactly like the above pictures, minus the rear wheel and swingarm.

I can't wait to get started, I wish it wasn't so cold here. The old KZ's not going to know what hit it.

cool,what kind of header is that?looks like some kind of a yosh spinoff

Gemini...at least that's what the can says on it. The header has no markings.

i used to have a gemini.we all passed it around and then my ex-brother in law ended up with it,i asked him about it a few months back and he said it disappeared out of his storage:angry: .

reminds me of one of these

I got the swing arm tonight.

Couldn't do much, but I took a few pictures to show the difference between it and the stock arm.

1977 KZ1000 swingarm vs. 1999 Katana GSX600F swingarm



The Katana arm is almost exactly 4" longer.

I also picked this up, along with the diodes and resistors I need to make it work with the KZ ignition system.



More pictures when I get more done.

it's hard to beat the kat arm if you are wanting to extend and widen the back.plus the fact that it is steel makes it easy to modify it for dual shocks.
are you liking it?or thinking you might go a different direction?

are you thinkin that you will use the kat arm and the honda wheels brakes and frontend?sounds like you might have everything to do the complete conversion.

The Kat arm was a great buy, it seems like a nice part if you are looking for a wider and longer swingarm. It was nice because +4 inches is exactly where I wanted to be.

Can beat the price either...they are all over ebay for cheap. Paid $30 plus shipping for this one.

I definitely want to use the Honda parts, but some digging in Honda parts diagrams shows I was way off on the rear axle size. Looks like its even larger than the 20MM KZ axle. 28MM I think!

I am going to get them and do some measuring, but I think I am going to put the bike together with the stock rear wheel/tire for now.
I don't want to be stuck with no bike to ride when the warm weather comes.

I wish I had the money for a later Katana wheel/rotor/caliper. 17x4.5 wheel, would make me pretty happy and would bolt right on.

The only thing I will need to make the stock wheel work is a sleeve with 17MM ID, 20MM OD. Then fab some shock mounts and a brake caliper stay. Possibly some spacers for wheel alignment.

sounds like you have a game plan.you can always change up if/when you find the wheel that suits you.

The swingarm is on hold until I get the funds for a few parts I need, but I found more stuff to do for free.

I flipped the stock pegs around and shortened the controls. I cut them and my dad brazed them back together for me.

Then I started installing a set of straight bars my dad dug up for me.

The original wiring would not come out of the stock bars, so I cut it off. The I spent Sunday splicing, soldering, and heat shrinking it back together. I also notched the housing so the wires could come out.

Now I just have to put it back together.

I am still trying to decide which way to situate the shifter so it works with my size 13 waterski I call a shoe.

Might end up reversing it and getting used to the backwards pattern.

Here's a few quick pictures, I will get more when it's not so dark, and cold.

keep up the good work!