1977 KZ1000 Restomod

There is still a decent amount of clearance between the tank and the top clamp.

 


I put the wheels on an took some measurements today. I shortened the shocks as much as possible and set the forks to flush with the triples. I then lowered the front wheel until it was about 10mm lower than the rear (this allows for the difference in static sag later). Using the middle seting on the jig the rake was 24° and the swingarm angle was 10.5°. Technically the swingarm angle will be a bit larger as it is an unweighted measurement so both wheels should be at the same height. It is still OK at 10.5° though.

I am pretty happy with this as a starting point. I can lengthen the shocks up to 10mm if I need a larger swingarm angle. I can also lengthen the forks up to 20-30mm if I need more rake or just to keep the rake the same after raising the back end. Getting to 24° without needing to lenghten the forks was a best case scenario for me - leaves me with a good amount of room to tweek things once I've got it on the road.

 

Bit more progress today. Got the holes for the rear shock mounts drilled. Will weld them up when I get back from a couple of weeks holiday

The drill guide and cutter adapter (the adapter was done on the neighbours lathe, the guide on my new one): 

 



6.5mm pilot holes: 





22mm holes for the outside of the mount. The inside holes had to be opened up to 10mm - ended up being a bit off, but a bit of work with the file and the mounts lined up square without having too big of a gap to fill on the 10mm side.

Nice work. You may be already aware of this but most swingarms are asymmetrical so if you welded the lower mounts symmetrically on the swingarm they will be offset from the frame centerline.  Check the shock mount alignment top to bottom before welding them in.

wrote:

Nice work. You may be already aware of this but most swingarms are asymmetrical so if you welded the lower mounts symmetrically on the swingarm they will be offset from the frame centerline.  Check the shock mount alignment top to bottom before welding them in.

Yeah, the lower left mount is about 5mm offset. I checked and if I weld the top mounts symmetrically the right hand shock will line up near to the inside of the mount and the left hand shock will line up near to the outside. I figure this is the way to go as it makes it easier to swap out the swingarm.

Looking good Calum....

I might have missed it, but are you going to brace up the frame while you're in there?

wrote:

I might have missed it, but are you going to brace up the frame while you're in there?

Yeah, I have a bracing kit lying on the workbench ready for after the holiday. Need to make up a couple of extra pieces to keep the MOT guys happy - a tube where the crossbar behind the battery case was and a couple of tubes to brace the new shock mounts. I'm allowed to weld non-critical stuff like the oil cooler, tail and seat mounts, but I'm only going to tack the bracing etc.on so it can get welded by someone with the right paperwork - Germany

Started tacking on the bracing and the loop, after aligning the loop I realised that the back end is slightly twisted. New plan is to get all the bracing forward of the shock mounts welded up and then get the frame straightened before I line up and weld the shock mounts. Am now waiting on word from the guys doing the MOT as to whether I can get the front welded up locally and just get them to do the shock mounts. If not I'll just be doing a couple of extra trips through the black forest.

 

Got the front of the frame welded up last week (edit: got it done by a local welder) and took it to the guy to get straightened. Hoping I can pick it up next week and get the shock mounts tacked on, then I can do another mock-up and figure out where the exhaust mounts need to go.

Impressive welding!

Just realised that I didn't phrase that too well - got it welded up meant I got someone else to do it I'm not allowed to weld much on the frame as you need to be certified if you want to get through the MOT when it's done. I can weld the seat mounts and exhaust brackets etc. just not anything structural. 

It'd look a lot different if they were my welds 

Got the frame back. Straightened up and the head bearing surfaces were redone. Threw some parts on today so I can see where the rest of the brackets need to go. Exhaust is mounted as low as it will go in the photos. Will probably lift it up a bit so it's parallel to the frame (you can just twist the muffler at the mounting point to change the angle).