My GPz750 Resto-mod (pic heavy)

StreetfighterKz wrote: Soooo........the Vfr800 rim I bought turns out to be a 16" Cbr900RR front rim. I didn't notice it until I went to mount the 17" mock-up tire I have and the tire practically fell over the 16" rim. So now I'm back to looking for a 17" Vfr rim plus trying to resell the 900RR rim since it's been more than 2 weeks and the seller won't take a return.

I'm hoping that when I do get a proper 17" rim my axle spacers and brake adapters will still work but I doubt it.

Later, Doug

That truly bites.

I'm in a holding pattern for a front rim, so I forced myself to finish up the rest of the tubing for the shock mount. I cut a small thin sheet metal brace off the frame and replaced it with a cross-tube a bit lower. I assume the stock piece was to keep the frame loops from spreading which mine will also do. Then I tackled the top right tube and then finally the top left tube. I'm going to have to find a professional welder to finish welding everything together as I've read chromoly needs to be TIG'd to mild steel to reduce stress and cracks.

From the back


From the top


From the side


Also the seat/tank hold down bracket bolts had been replaced with 6mm bolts that look like they were welded on by a 6 year old kid with a stick welder. I cut off the yucky stuff and drilled 8mm holes in the correct location. I then machined down the head some short 8mm flange bolts and welded them on. I think they look much better and fit the 8mm holes in the bracket better than the smaller studs.





Later, Doug

Sucks about the rim but your forging ahead. Its looking cool.

i always try to caution people that want to "fit" something and "tack it" together to go have someone else tig weld it.
tig welding is very sensitive to any contamination or moisture.
if i am tigging something i fit it, clean it,tack and weld it.all at once.
i do not leave something tacked to come back even the next morning to weld back because it can already have rust and other airborne contaminants on the back side of the weld area.
and you can't get to the backside to clean it now that it is tacked.
and that will come back through the weld puddle and cause you to have bug holeing and other problems.
so if you are going to have someone tig something for you fit it up but don't tack it .
let whoever is going to be doing the tig welding weld prep,tack and finish weld it.

thats my .02 fwiw,

leon

I guess it's a little late now but thanks for the advice Leon but I don't know how I would fit everything and make sure it all lines up without tack welding it. How would I go about fitting everything as complex as this without tacking it?

Which brings up the fact that I just e-mailed someone to TIG it. They're thinking around $100 but I have to remove the engine and the front end and pretty much have the frame degreased and blasted. If I do that then I might as well just have the whole frame powdercoated which means more $$. This is turning out to be more a pain than the actual fabrication.

Later, Doug

Does it have to be tig? Would not stick, wire or gas welding do the trick?
Wayne

kzz1king wrote: Does it have to be tig? Would not stick, wire or gas welding do the trick?

Flux core and MIG will hold but I'm not sure for how long and with my life being held by those welds I want to do it as close to correct as possible.

Later, Doug

Made my way back into the chilly garage today. Luckily I had enough propane left to get me almost all the way through the tasks I did today.

I was browsing eBay a good bit ago for some modern-ish rearsets for the GPz since the upper left mount for the stock bracket was interfering with the swingarm. I was looking at the cheap Chinese ones when I stumbled upon some "ZX12 CG REARSETS ADJUSTABLE" for $99.99 or Make Offer so I made an offer...and the seller accepted it.

For the left side, I placed the rearset as far back as I could so that I could see how close to the swingarm the lever bracket would be. Then I set the right to as far forward as possible to see side-cover interference with the master cylinder mount. Then it was a balance game to make sure I could place the mounting bungs in the same spot on both sides of the chassis. Here's the final result.





The Gilles rearsets came missing a few parts, including a left peg and shifter lever, so I had to order a lever bearing, a toe peg, and shift lever. I could have ordered a left peg but I had some left over aftermarket pegs from my Kz900 project that I decided to try and use. I cut off the pivot and then drilled and tapped for a M8 bolt. Works well and was way cheaper than ordering an actual replacement peg.


I fired up the Hobart welder and finished welding the mounting bungs. I stood on the pegs and felt no flexing and heard no cracking/groaning from the welds. I believe they're solid enough for me.

Final result...



And I couldn't help myself so here's a small sneak peek of something I will be fabbing toward the end of the build.


Later, Doug

Got more propane and as a result more motivation so back into the garage today.

I started by removing the front fairing and stock GPz front end.

After comparing the GPz stem and the Zx11 stem, the GPz stem's OD was a close fit for the Zx11 ID. I was going to press out the Zx11 stem but I don't have a press and beating it out with a 4lb mini-sledge didn't work. So I chopped off the Zx11 stem with a band saw and used a flap disk to smooth out the remains flush with the lower tree. Then the GPz stem's weld to its lower tree was ground down and that stem beat out.

I lightly cleaned up the GPz stem and drove it into the Zx stem and lower clamp to the right depth. Fired up the welder and joined the two.




Bearings are on the way but that doesn't mean i couldn't dry fit it.



It's hard to see but I have about 1/8" clearance to the oil cooler with the Zx11 steering stops. I haven't tried clearances with the gas tank on but I'll get to that later today.


The GPz ignition switch bolts right to the Zx11 upper clamp but I'm unsure what to do with the stock gauges. They originally mount to the upper triple clamp but the Zx11 doesn't have the mounts. I can fab something but I was also thinking about mounting the cluster to the fairing bracket so it doesn't move with the forks. Any ideas?



And here is how I left it...


Later, Doug

good work.

it looks as tho mounting the gauges to the fairing mount might be the cleanest solution.

leon

The weather website says -7*F but with windchill it's -40*F. I wanted to do work but obviously not in an uninsulated garage that has holes in the roof and only a small propane torpedo heater for warmth.

So I brought some work inside. The gauge cluster had some speaker wire looking stuff tapped into the harness using what looks hot glue and red silicon. It looked like poo and probably worked about as well. I brought the soldering goodies in from the garage and got to work.




Worked some magic...




Later, Doug

BTW, have any of you fitted a Zx750A2 inner fairing to a Zx750A1? It looks like I have to drill a few holes on the outside around the back of the fairing. Is it worth the hassle? Also thoughts on mounting the gauge cluster to the forks or fairing stay?

Later, Doug