Testarossa's 78 KZ1000 Fighter Build

I agree with you Plummen. I like the look of the spectre fender better, but it's not the easiest fit. I may try to make the GSXR fender look like the spectre with a little creative body work.

Mark thanks for pointing out that Kerker in the classifieds. Unfortunately it's not quite in the budget this week. I have Cubscouts, Girlscouts, little league, all starting this week with dues and uniforms to buy for each. It's also Kelsey's (my daughter) birthday, so that pretty much covers my discretionary spending. Anyway, I want to make sure that I'm not scraping it too bad.

Finally, I must say that I think the shock rebuild was well worth it. The KZ suspension feels a heck of a lot more smooth than the zx-10r by bouncing on it while stationary. I can wait to perform the rolling tests. If only Brandy could push a little faster. :laugh:

lookin good josh,keep up the good work.

leon

I like I like!

I like it, It has a nice stance to it. Good job.

The only flaw that I can see is that it's not parked in my garage!
NICE bike! ...and I like the gsxr fender...sorry to go against the flow, but it's round and 'organic' like the tank, tail and sides...just my 2 pennies.

Brilliant ride!
-KR

I wonder if you might be up to the challenge of making your own fender? Use packaging tape and cover your tire with it, and tape the rest of the wheel off with polyethelene plastic sheeting, then layup a fiberglass or carbon "fender" over the tire, that way its perfectly contoured to the tire. I think I'm going to try this route on my bike.

porchev914 wrote:

I wonder if you might be up to the challenge of making your own fender? Use packaging tape and cover your tire with it, and tape the rest of the wheel off with polyethelene plastic sheeting, then layup a fiberglass or carbon "fender" over the tire, that way its perfectly contoured to the tire. I think I'm going to try this route on my bike.

I think that I have just about recovered from the effects of all the epoxy fumes when I built that little canoe, and now you want me to start making fenders. :laugh: But seriously, how is the carbon fiber cloth to deal with compared to glass? Is it any more resistant to unraveling, or runners pulling than the fiberglass cloth?

Any work like making CF fenders will be attempted after my bike has some miles on the clock.

It isn't any more resistant to unraveling, and the 2x2 twill weave is even more fragile than the plain weave. But the carbon cloth is much more drapable than fiberglass, and confoms to compound curves better. As far as the fumes, I'll take epoxy fumes any day over polyester resin :X My eyes would start to burn when I stood over a mold laup for too long

Adam, you got me thinking. After I stepped off the black bike when I got to work this morning, I did the usual look back, and thought "Hmm maybe I could try some CF bits on the Ninja when the time comes." There I go again. Not even done with the first project and already scheming the next. I had to fight off the urge recently to get a real nice gpz 1100 and then a 82 1000csr that was awful cheap.

I have found the epoxy fumes to cause bad headaches even when I wore a respirator and thought I wasn't getting much of it. I'm pretty sure it's way more toxic than the polyester. BUT it is the good stuff...

I know everyone reacts a little differently Nelson, but for me the styrene monomer fumes (the thinner in polyester resin) is what gets to me. I haven't found any adverse reaction to epoxy resins, but again, thats just me. You bring up a good point though about protection, and a respirator and eye protection "should" be worn at all times. Do I? Not usually, but it's still a good idea.

Josh, after tackling the carbon bodywork, it has become a project in and of itself. I'd recommend you stay the course, get the old girl running, then fiddle with the less important cosmetic stuff. You're smart though, I'm sure you had already come to that conclusion

porchev914 wrote:

I know everyone reacts a little differently Nelson, but for me the styrene monomer fumes (the thinner in polyester resin) is what gets to me. I haven't found any adverse reaction to epoxy resins, but again, thats just me. You bring up a good point though about protection, and a respirator and eye protection "should" be worn at all times. Do I? Not usually, but it's still a good idea.

Josh, after tackling the carbon bodywork, it has become a project in and of itself. I'd recommend you stay the course, get the old girl running, then fiddle with the less important cosmetic stuff. You're smart though, I'm sure you had already come to that conclusion

Nelson describes the exact reaction that I have to epoxy resin fumes. It was the worst when I was replacing the floors in my boat. All those fumes were just trapped down there, and I just had to live with it until I had the whole floor glassed. That was something like 70sq.ft. of fiberglass and about 2 gallons of resin on that project IIRC.

Yes Adam, I had come to that conclusion a loooong time ago. My project is modular. First build the bike with the suspension, brakes, tires, and stance that I want. This phase is almost done. Now I will probably ride it for a year or so, and see how I like everything. This gives me time to tinker with the zx-10r. Next build the motor that I want. Who knows what will happen next. I view this bike about like mark1122 does his. I plan on keeping her for a while, and there will be a slow progression.