1975 KZ 900 , ZRX Swingarm, 89 GSXR front end

531blackbanshee wrote:

you asked for a pic of 79mkII's bike awhile back,i think he missed it.hopefully he won't mind me posting this pic of it i got from an old post.

leon holmes

Very sanitary, very nice....yes

It was an orange custom 79mkII, that I saw in a magazine in about 1982, that reaqlly got me to thinking about building one of these. The MkII, they would sell like crazy if they would just bring them out again.

If you search KZ on U tube you will find some old promo video clips of the Superbike class. I am tellin ya those guys had big Kahooooonahs, riding that kind of horsepower on old school brakes and tires.

The MkII just exemplfies that era, even more than the Eddie Lawson replica.

anddddd Salute!!

tk11b40 wrote:

stoppee wrote:

low siding in turn 2 Spokane Race Park

11B40...I don't want to bring this up, as this brings up a tramatic event. But all your riding years were not smooth and trouble free. As you recall, you did have problems that one day, while leading the pack of scooters down the straight stretch at SRP! A little to hot in the turn, to many hard parts on the ground, wheels up...well you can see the results! Hope you learned that some things are not ment to turn!

Ahhhh Lovely memories....

I used to ride a little honda spree around town. Going around corners pivoting on only the centerstand peg at night was always a fun one :woohoo:

Bike is looking great!

tk11b40 wrote:

The rake, now the swing arm is at Eds waiting for a tig welder. I need the wheelbase to cypher the rake.

What is the exact distance from the frame mount to the rear axle on your swing arm? with that information i could cypher the rake without my swingarm.[/quote]



swing arm, axle to axle is 21 3/4"
i just put a degree indicator on the front axle to get the rake #.
It just doned on me that the bike would have to be sitting level to get an acurate #. i'm sure my garage floor is not level, so i'll have to recheck the rake #.
when i adjusted the bike to LOOK, level, i got 27* of rake ,but now i will have to recheck it.:side:

I love your little white carb tube block. Great idea.

I know I am the new guy here but i got a bit of info for you that might intrest you. I am a zrx 1100 owner and one of the highly sought after mods to the swingarms is a bracing service. These arms... especially the 1100's had a tendency to get a bit of flex when pushed really hard. They seem a bit unsettled entering high speed corners. this mod suposadly fixes it. the 1200 wern't as bad due to the type of tubing used for the arm. Here are a few pics of a finished arm. This guy added 6 pieces... the one just to the inside of the drive chain is the most critical to get right (so the chain doesn't hit it).

I figured if you allready got the arm off and clean it would be a good time to add a few braces....

gearhead119 wrote:

I know I am the new guy here but i got a bit of info for you that might intrest you. I am a zrx 1100 owner and one of the highly sought after mods to the swingarms is a bracing service. These arms... especially the 1100's had a tendency to get a bit of flex when pushed really hard. They seem a bit unsettled entering high speed corners. this mod suposadly fixes it. the 1200 wern't as bad due to the type of tubing used for the arm. Here are a few pics of a finished arm. This guy added 6 pieces... the one just to the inside of the drive chain is the most critical to get right (so the chain doesn't hit it).

I figured if you allready got the arm off and clean it would be a good time to add a few braces....

Stoppee has an 1100, i have ridden it and felt something simular to what you speak of oh great one.

That is something I will be looking into for sure.

Thanks!!

I have the zrx12 arm, on my kz. I felt a huge improvment over the stock kz arm but it could use some bracing as well. there is a lot of side flex when u down shift. so u know it has to be flexing in the corners as well. Thanks for the tip.

tk11b40 wrote:

So I am putting on the details drain tubes etc. and had to figure out a way to sanitize the float drain tubes.

I had a scrap chunk of urethane, drilled four holes in one end. 1 hole out the other.

I took a 1/8" drill and connected the four holes to the single one.

Slipped the float bowl drain tubes into the fitting, with a dab of silicone to seal it, then ran a single tube out the back, looks much nicer.

thats gonna be nice when its finished!

The guy that offers the bracing service on the ZRXOA website can do 1200 arms too. He actually buys extra arms to cut apart and keep the same extruded aluminum shape as the OEM stuff. I believe the 1100's are just round stock. He usually waits until ten or so guys want them done and does them all at once so you have to get your name on a list and when everything is set to go everyone sends them in. He has been hard to get ahold of lately and last I knew wanted to get out of the welding and just sell the DIY kits. I think the kit was about 225 buck? all the pieces pre cut and shaped ( and he is VERY GOOD at it!) His bracing service cost 325 for the 1100's and 350 for the 1200. included shipping and materials. Here is a pic of one of his 1200 arms. and an 1100 before welding.

Very nice. Thanks.

gearhead119,
any chance you know what the swingarm weighs after it is braced?just curious how far apart it is from my chro-mo underbraced swinger.tia,

leon holmes

it weights.... a little more... LOL
Actually I don't know but I can find out. The first pic of the 1100 arm belong to Pete "a.k.a KWICK" at www.ExpensiveLightweightStuff.com .. This guy is crazy for Titanium. His ZRX ... named "Calista".. weighs just 400lbs. Titanium everything... from the swingarm pivot to the brake pins.. you name it.. he made it lighter. here is callista's link www.hyper-formance.com/calista.htm
I'll drop him a line and he will know...

That swingarm stuff that is pretty smart thinkin. I will most definatly be looking into that, not til winter though, i am really trying to get the bike up and rolling at this point.

The rake measurement...:laugh: I know I should just be quiet, but it clearly points out you are a confident intelligent guy. Not afraid to admit an error.. outstanding!! My hat is off to you.

I was always wondering how you got a 22 degree rake, that is really steep. I am betting you are around 26 degrees.

This is a really good forum full of relly smart folks...