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I had theses on the back burner for a long time and opted to give the T-bolt clamps a try per some reports on other sites. I think they are the shiz! Very simple design and said to work better than rubber bands and zip-ties!



errrrrrr . I like the t clamps/bracket setup where did you find the t-clamps? about how much $ ? i need some for 43mm tubes.

Nice job

I found them on ebay, 4 clamps ran me $14, which I believe was the best deal I found early last year. These range from 48mm to 56mm, but they have smaller; the bolts just have to be trimmed down a lot when you get to the limit. I find that my steering stop was fine for keeping the forks off the tank, but now the clamps hit. I wanted to avoid denting the tank at all costs, but I also want to get the most steering angle I can due to the fork offset. I just welded a strip of 1/8" to the back side of the lower clamp, and made sure the tank was pulled back as far as I could. Also made sure the weld stayed cool to avoid any stress in the clamp. The seat is really all that is holding the tank down now, and I have to come up with some eccentric dampers on the frame to ensure the tank doesn't slide forward. I'd like to come up with a different arrester for the rear of the tank, but I can't see anything wrong with using the seat.


It was just enough room with the old clamps I made, I think I can get away with a little dent, it probably won't be noticeable.

So the tail section has been through a couple revisions since starting this project. The first design utilized a sheet of thick diamond plate with some angle welded to it. It kinda worked but I was never happy with it, just too flat or something. It was also hinged to the frame at the forward most section, which I didn't think looked right either.

I started fresh with a sheet aluminum cut to the shape of the plastic cowl, then a length of 1/4" square was welded around the edge. Since the bottom was even more flat and rather flimsy I added a support structure down the center.



Definitely not as flexible and gives it some definition.



To finish off the area where the cowl and the pan meet the frame so its not such an abrupt cut off, I just added a couple "winglets".

Looks like crap... Send to me.....

Seriously, love what you're doing, truly nice work!

LOL! It does look pretty good in that post huh I'm getting some error 500 code when I attach pics. lemme try this again maybe...

Nope, something internal goings on. I'll try an edit the post later on.
I have you to blame for all this, OMR! lol I came across your bike and there was no turning back! Thanks alot! No, seriously, thank you, your build was a big help and inspiration from the beginning.

pics of the tail construction to go with the previous post:

The section under the seat is separate from the part under the cowl. In its final version I ended up making the same bolts that hold the upper shock mount also hold the tray with some countersunk stand-offs. Its a tight fit, has to be fenangled a little to slip in n out and the rear section must be removed before anything ( not exactly simple ), but at least the rear section only houses the battery and it unbolts easy enough (three bolts). Right now I'm working on the layout of electrical components for it thinking if I get around to using a TIG again I might relocate the battery into the same area as well. I'm just going to let it roll for now though, plenty of room with the reg/rec located on the underside of the tray in the air stream nest to the shock mount. Here is a few not-too-detailed pics of construction, pretty basic:
old:

revised:
tacked together




This area has a piece of angle to fill in the gap that you can see in the pics in its most current state. But here you can see the stand-offs for the bolts:


where the two sections meet is an overlap of about 1.5". The spot welds here are for additional material because I didn't add up the length for the angle properly, oh well, live and learn.


As an aside, the ZX7 tail light bracket construction was fairly simple, one bolt and 6 pieces of aluminum:

The 5th piece is a solid insert pressed into the left tube and threaded for the through hole in place of the pin in this pic:

The 6th will be a sheet to fill in the odd shape of the top of the lenses and the cowl opening.
More pics of the final assembly to follow. Peace.

nicely done!

looking good !

leon

Thanks guys, It feels like I'm slowing down, but its just one step at a time now. I do have some updates though, I switched from mainly wiring while I wait on some harness wrap and a few connectors to getting the front brakes plumbed and the speed sensor mounted.
I'm using some old lines I collected, since I can't swing for three lines the proper length right now. My plan is to move the double banjo bolt from the caliper up to my splitter and run two lines from it down to each caliper block; here goes the splitter:
The GSXR lower clamp has two M6 threaded bosses underneath on either side of the stem.
I chucked a piece of hex in the lathe and turned this up with a little Mother's.


Then bent up a couple brackets to sandwich with the banjo bolts (since there will be no alumy welding).


After installing it and bleeding, I pulled hard on the lever and no leakage occurred. Should look much nicer when I get the new lines ran, but this will work till then.



The speed sensor came with two brackets, one for an M8 and one for an M10 bolt. As it turned out I had just one studded bolt ( I think that's what its called ) that is M8 on the long side and M6 on the other. I threaded the M6 end into the lower fender ear on the left fork because the hole in the fender was already damaged.


The sensor is pointing at the center of the brake disc rivets where the neodymium magnets fit almost perfectly. I could space only 5 of the 6 in this way.


The literature doesn't describe the air gap or if all 6 magnets must be used, I'm relying on the manual calibration procedure to correct for this. Once I figure out if it will work here I'll trim off the excess, but for now it should be good to catch my ankle on when walking by lol


I also serviced my horn switch as it wasn't making continuity internally. I didn't look very hard to see if there was anything on this procedure; nothing in the manual and most posts on the net were concerning continuity thru the bars. The construction of the switch implies that it was meant to be serviced though.
I only took one picture of this ( I know, I know, I'm slippin'! ), but it was actually very easy. Once removed from the housing, I de-soldered it to make it easier to handle. The "depressor" portion comes off once an e-clip is removed and the pin drops out. Then the rivet must be driven out, carefully ( and don't lose the silicon insulator). The contactor will fall out and it can thus be disassembled by removing the e-clip that holds the pin and spring:


With it completely disassembled, all the surfaces can have the corrosion scrubbed off; I also had to straighten out the copper contactor with a pair of pliers. Reassembly is just the reverse (obviously ); I used a piece of 1/4" steel plate to press the rivet head against while I tapped on the small end with a drift and light hammer. Tested with the multimeter, and it goes beep! Mission success! Now to repaint the horn and install.
Cheers

Internal server error again.... Are my pictures too big?