Another amateur build thread

asphalt900 wrote:

Well then. Do you have a big boat with many oars, ha. Wife is full blooded Norse.
 

Yepp im from Norway ,but i have no boat i had a tiny boat once 2 oars and a 25hp jhonson haha.

Texas just make sure you use some clothespins and a few cards to emulate that sound, wait, this isn't the Western Flyer Schwinn forum is it? Rolf but you do eat Lutefisk don't you?   

TexasKZ wrote:

Clearly, something had to be done with those wet-noodle LTD forks. I reckon some 90 wight oil could have done the trick, but why bother with simple and cheap when I could spend a pile of money on something much more complicated, like the forks, triple clamps, stem, handlebars, wheels and complete brake system from a 1995 GPz1100?

 

Cool project. following along.

Rolf1976_KZ900 wrote:

asphalt900 wrote:

Well then. Do you have a big boat with many oars, ha. Wife is full blooded Norse.

 

Yepp im from Norway ,but i have no boat i had a tiny boat once 2 oars and a 25hp jhonson haha.

My 12 foot johnboat is powered by a 5.5 hp Johnson!

asphalt900 wrote:

Texas just make sure you use some clothespins and a few cards to emulate that sound, wait, this isn't the Western Flyer Schwinn forum is it? Rolf but you do eat Lutefisk don't you?   

A balloon strategically tied to the forks works, too. I was warned about lutefisk by a Finnish friend. A couple of years later, I moved to Minnesota, where they had a vat of that stuff at the end of every smorgasboard. Smelled like somebody boiling dirty gym socks.

TexasKZ wrote:

asphalt900 wrote:

Texas just make sure you use some clothespins and a few cards to emulate that sound, wait, this isn't the Western Flyer Schwinn forum is it? Rolf but you do eat Lutefisk don't you?   

A balloon strategically tied to the forks works, too. I was warned about lutefisk by a Finnish friend. A couple of years later, I moved to Minnesota, where they had a vat of that stuff at the end of every smorgasboard. Smelled like somebody boiling dirty gym socks.

I sense an innuendo there Texas. But you pulled it off so eloquently without evin being rude, just a hint of bragging though. Well played.
 

asphalt900 wrote:

I sense an innuendo there Texas. But you pulled it off so eloquently without evin being rude, just a hint of bragging though. Well played.
 

Perhaps I missed the innuendo, or perhaps you missed the decimal between the fives.

5.5 Johnson is average, nothing to be ashamed of, ha

Believe it or not, another small flurry of activity.
Two things underway.

1. Getting the head ready to send off for a serious massage. Since the cams I have require shim under bucket, I need the parts for that conversion. The choices seem to be
a. Used parts from a 550, 650, 750 or GPz1100. I have poked around the interweb for cheap used heads and what I have found, I am not sure I would be 100% confident putting into a new build. With the cost of shipping, they would not be really cheap.
b. APE makes some very sexy titanium parts that do not have the stigma of low price. Some folks say titanium would be overkill in a street bike.
c. Kibblewhite make titanium retainers that are significantly more expensive than APE 😱, but make some lightweight followers (buckets) that are almost reasonably priced.
d. Schnitz Racing sells APE stuff for noticeably less than APE🤪
e. CMS claims to have the factory parts for less than any of the other new options. The heaviest option.

I am leaning toward APE retainers from Schnitz and followers from Kibblewhite. Is there any reason this combo would not work? By the way, the head builder dood prefers the lightweight stuff.


The other bit I have been piddling with is the seat, tail, rear light business. My plan is to use the seat pan from the ratty LTD seat I have and shape it to work with a late '70s KZ1000 tail piece and the taillight from a 1995 GPz1100 / ZX7R. Will try to get a pic or two up soon for you pic junkies.

Check back in my build thread for widening the tail piece to fit the later frame, your seat should be close to fitting then

Wookie58 wrote:

Check back in my build thread for widening the tail piece to fit the later frame, your seat should be close to fitting then

I paid close attention to what you did. It was an elegant solution, and I may end up there. My plan is to have a little upswept angle, and I am 83.4% sure I can get it to fit without splitting it. I will try to get a pic posted tomorrow. 

I think my bigger problem will be reshaping the seat pan. I have thought seriously about following your lead there, and making a fully custom fiberglass pan. As odd as this may seem, I'd like to keep as many Kawasaki parts in the build as I can, even if they have been modified.

Do you have any thoughts about the APE/ Kibblewhite pairing?