'80 KZ550 Project

First bike, first build. Nothin fancy

FIRST -->I know many of you would rather see a KZ restored to mint pristine condition which is cool and I respect that...but this bike is so far gone (and free) I would rather chop it.

I wasn't going to post a build until I was nearly done but I was advised that if I come across a question, which I will, I should post in here.


1980 KZ550C LTD

Found in a junk yard.

I dug the bike so far out from a snow bank last month, but the kickstand was stuck in the ground and permafrost had a mean grip on it!

- Que the back hoe bigger than my house to pick the bike up..
- *SNAP!* que frame breaking, bending the kick stand mount out, and a rail that now looks like an L..


So now I have a bike home. Can only get better from here!

I wasted no time getting the bike apart. I Wished I had a camera to take pics of the bike in the snow bank, and then over my head like one giant CLAW game.

Again, I was horned up to take things apart so I forgot to take pics. :blush:


- Minus these...


- Minus these..the keeper box


- Add a tank, an old seat pan (not actually using it), A mini keg to hide electricals and battery..


- Minus everything again..
Note the shocks position just to get a feel for a straight'ish back bone. Just ideas floating around at this point in time

UPDATE:

just pics..


Stock shock mount:


IF I were going to keep a sprung rear, I would mount my shocks around here:


Rain stopped!


While back I slipped a sleeve over the busted rails.
Also repositioned the foot pegs so I could coast down the driveway and make noises haha


Its not perfect and its not staying!

UPDATE:

Took a photo to photoshop it:


Got the bike lift from the camp


Put threaded rod through an engine mount to keep things from going any more haywire.. check out that kink below the lower mount!!! gnarly!!:


Finally picked up some tubing. Its only ERW but I figure if the factory uses it I might as well tube match.

Got this piece bent up and cut some 3 inch solid rod slugs:


Sitting in place not even tacked. There IS a gap between the old tube and new one, so I can do a V butt joint weld.

Idea time!

Well I am using a pipe bender similar to this:


And basically its just not the way to bend tubing. SO! I am going to make my life a lot harder before I make it easier.

I have decided to adapt this pipe bender to bend tubing as well, without actually modifying the bender seeing how I am just borrowing it. I know I know, the pneumatic one is on sale at princess auto for like 70 bucks less than this one...instead I bought a mini bike lift (red one) and some electrical goodies!

I suppose Ill just ms paint for now so you get the idea.

So let me gather my thoughts here.
Square 1 shows your regular PIPE die.

Square 2 shows what I added on:
- green rectangle is actually a bent piece of flat bar to hold a piece of tube in the die.
- white rectangle is a length of pipe with a slug inside the top to go inside the die as well.

Note the "axle hole". I have to find the center of the die if it were a whole circle, so the radius. This is where the pivot point is going to be.

- Black circular saw looking thing has multiple jack points for when the die rotates.

Square 3
- Blue rectangle is my former. Its a piece of angle with a tube cut in half welded to it. To the right is a side view of it

Its important to use dies and formers specifically made for the tubing you are bending.

Square 4
- Rough idea of brackets to hold the former. Also going to incorporate a hole for the die axle in the right bracket.


If this works then I'll be the first to let you know!
Ive researched bender plans, all which seemed to work good, but its just not what I had in front of me.

If you have any questions, concerns, or even an idea that could help with the bender then fire away!

Im slowly taking picture of the tubing build as well.

I am assuming that the reason for the design change on the bender is due to the fact that the original design creates flat spots on the bends. This is a common problem when using this style of bender. I have found a way to use these benders in which flat spots or kinks are virtually eliminated.

First you cut a length of tubing longer than needed. After cutting tubing you want to clean ends than cut two discs of plate steel the same diameter as tubing. Weld one disc to one end of tubing. After welding on disc and allowing tube to cool. slowly fill tube with fine sand. I use silica sand, the same type used in sand blasting. After tube is completely filled and tamped I than weld on second disc to remaining open end on tube. What you should end up with is a piece of tube that will act as a piece of solid stock when it is bent. After completeing your bend you simply cut the caps off and pour out the sand. The result is a nice uniformly bent piece of tube free of kinks and flat spots.

Hope this helps.

Also I like the way you mocked up the shocks on the frame. The angle which the shocks sit are approximately where mine will sit on the frame I am designing.

I've read about the sand idea, and actually more than a handful of people have suggested it when they walk into the garage and see the bender.

I just dont want to be cleaning up sand lol

not to mention the tube will be bending like its a solid rod. hard as heck.

thanks for the pointer though! if it doesn't kink who knows, I may be posting pictures of me doing it.

Yeah it can be messy, but if you lay out a tarp and use 5 gallon bucket for sand its fairly easy clean-up. Yeah the bar is solid and hard as hell but if you take a 3 foot section of 1" solid bar stock clamped in a vise you "can" bend it by hand. Same idea as tube filled with sand. Given that you are using a hydraulic jack it should bend with relative ease. Also, just like solid bar stock wont kink the same will go for tube filled with sand, as long as bend radius is within reason.

Alright, I guess I have my first question towards the build...

I am going to build a hardtail for it. Ive got my tubing, Ive got my bender, my measuring device and some common sense... not much though.

I am looking for a traditional tail stretch. Basically how far back should I move the axle, and how much should I drop.

Ive read 3" out, 1" up. 4" out and even 4" up.

I currently have about 10 inches of ground clearance. I want around 6. Do I just raise the rear axle 4 inches? Just wondering if its that easy hah.

Ive searched and searched and looked high and low over google.

*UPDATE*
3 months go by and it seems I have nothing done!

slow and not even steady. Ive been spending more time upgrading the house and finishing the 30 x 60 garage

I managed to find some old car emblems, a sweet pontiac one with plexiglass in the center the size of a cd. Who knows how ill incorporate it.

here she is hard tailed.

oh yeah, its stretched 4 inches, and lowered 5.

I have to rake it now so i bottom rails are level. darn.