Testarossa's 78 KZ1000 Fighter Build

tk11b40 wrote:

:laugh:

I like the fact that you hang it out there, and show 'All" the work!!!

The bike is great, and you can't make a great bike al at once.

Keep pinging away at it!!

If you do CNC a set of reasets, I might be interested in a pair of the plates. I built my linkage from old CBR parts, it's the plates I don't care for as I sawed them out and sanded the edges. Then I fixed the rest up real nice. It looks like the bike came stock that way except for the hole in one of my plates.

The thing was supposed to be a "rough draft" then I just moved on.

Thanks for reminding me why I chose to do things this way. I could easily toil away in the garage until I'm done and then select a few highlight pictures to post at the end of the project, but I wanted to give everyone the reality of my build. Lord knows, I don't fault anyone for presenting their build that way. I just want the people who are considering this type of build to see all of the little snags that make it a difficult task to get a hybrid bike on the road.

Maybe, I might prevent someone who isn't willing to go through the trouble of fininshing what they started to just keep riding the bike stock instead of having a pile of parts in their garage that never turns into a runner again. So you get it all. Successes and failures, life interfering, stupid used cars that need fixing, the lot.

I tell you that I have learned a lot from this excercise. My humility is well in check, and my pride gets suppressed frequently. My bike is behind schedule and over budget. On the whole, I think the majority likes what I'm doing, and in the end, I will have the bike that I want. One thing I do take some pride in, is that all my neighbors stare and wave when I make the block on the old Kawasaki. The newer one doesn't get as much attention.

One thing I do take some pride in, is that all my neighbors stare and wave when I make the block on the old Kawasaki. The newer one doesn't get as much attention.[/quote]

that right there makes it all worth it.i like sport bikes as much as anyone,but in three years they are outdated and most haven't been around long enough yet to get people interested in fixing up old ones much.kinda throw away's really.these kz's are only getting more popular everyday.
you have helped more folks than you will ever know with your honesty in your thread.


leon

Behind schedule and over budget? Is this a job with an irate client?:lol:

That's why my project has no schedule and I'm not keeping track of how much I spend (although I am keeping it relatively cheap, just not adding it up). Tracking everything just ruins the fun!

Nelson wrote:

Behind schedule and over budget? Is this a job with an irate client?:lol:

That's why my project has no schedule and I'm not keeping track of how much I spend (although I am keeping it relatively cheap, just not adding it up). Tracking everything just ruins the fun!

Yep, the irate client is called a spouse always complaining about budgets and time
:laugh:

porchev914 wrote:

Yep, the irate client is called a spouse always complaining about budgets and time
:laugh:

Here here!

DoubleDub wrote:

porchev914 wrote:

Yep, the irate client is called a spouse always complaining about budgets and time
:laugh:

Here here!

You beat me to it Adam. Actually, she doesn't seem to care too much about the money. I don't really care that it is over budget either. However, we both want the garage cleaned out for different reasons, so the time is the real concern at this point.

I know it's not true, I just couldn't resist Nelson leaving that comment wide open. Brandy seems alot like Marina, I'm very grateful my wife is as forgiving and compliant as she is. Let me guess on the garage issue... she wants it clean so she can park in there, you want it clean to prep for the next project?? :laugh:

My ACL.....I finished tearing it 1 year, 3 days ago in a soccer game. I believe the initial tear was the result of a hill climb crash where I missed a shift and stalled my bike in a perfect wheelie landing after jumping up a 2' vertical. Went over backward and fell about 6' (it was a steep hill + the vertical) landing standing up and hyperextending my right knee. Now, I've crashed ALOT in my life, but that hyperextension felt like someone stuck a knife in my knee and twisted it. Soccer finished it off and now I'm ready to ride again. That is, after I hire a hit man to sit in front of my dads place and shoot anyone that shows up The house is 2 hours away, and with a wife and 3 kids, I don't have much of an opportunity to get out there, maybe once a month

You saw my target, didn't you? That's 4 clips out of my trusty 45 at 15 yards, standing. Every man has his price. :laugh:

You are right, we need to get at least one car in there. We have a disagreement on which car. She wants the Miata, and I want to bring my Mustang home.

I hope I never blow an ACL, it sounds painful. A good friend of mine lost a track scholarship when he blew his playing football during his senior year of high school. That changed his whole life. Dude was a good athlete.

Well I'm single, and don't want to be, however I must admit there are advantages. Check my updated build thread for a visual example!

As for knees... I kept hearing guys say "get the braces BEFORE the knees go bad" so I wear the Asterisk CF braces for all my off road commando action now. They have saved significant injury a few times I'm sure.

I highly recommend avoiding an ACL tear. Mine was torn completely through though, requiring replacement. I would much rather have broken my leg...faster recovery, cheaper surgury and less residual issues with the repair. Like Nelson said, if you ride in the dirt with any agression, spend the $500 on good knee braces. I have logged hundreds of crashes, alot of them should have sent me to the hospital. And I end up crawling off a soccer field.....go figure :laugh:

porchev914 wrote:

Nelson wrote:

Behind schedule and over budget? Is this a job with an irate client?:lol:


Yep, the irate client is called a spouse always complaining about budgets and time
:laugh:

HA!! Does that ever sound familiar . :laugh:

Adam. glad to here things are moving forward. working on function now, and form later is an excellent plan.

was this "bike" a dirt bike?....or was it a mountain bike?......

100 pounds ago i was a mountain bike urban assault terror- joy commuter-dancing on the light form star to star....i would ride em like a city silent dirt bike...everyone knows the "i can get across sections of downtown quicker than a car"!!!! attitude......which i could...being above the mere mortals laws that cars must obey.........even now as i bend the frame and flatten the tires on the rims i can feel a surge of energy when i sit on a good no suspension old school fat tire bike...

But dirt bikes........FU(& them nasty inventions....i have ridden a dirt bike like "one" time for an hour an ended up needing the knee scoped yrs later,from that one hr dirt carreer....a dozen or more roadbike crashes have left me smarter but nearly scar free.....I have never seen anything more outwardly Russian Roulete than riding off road bikes.......for me it was the last jump on a virgin "to me" sand dune i had been eyeing in pismo beach on day in 93....i ,in my mind was gonna return the borrowed YZ490 i had been butchering a sand bowl and self made circle track with and was doing one last lap of the dunes....when i spied the said mystery dune,and attempted to crest it....straight down for about 70 ft was what i found on the other side!!!!!steering stem nut to left knee cap compression landing,hurt the worst of any crash to date and made me piss my pants......water on the knee and clicking for ten yrs until finally it would lock tight while free climbing steel structures in north carolina....it would stay locked for days ......only a determined drinking and passing out festival would allow it to magic unlock the inner knees disk in my sleep.......

Fu(% dirt bikes.......unless you really do something bad on a streetbike you will live a long life....a dirt bike will cripple you in about 30 minutes imo.......
just sitting on my non running xt-550 i can feel the high sprung inherent design flaws of a machine whose main purpose is to blind hurtle through wooded dangers...
everyone i know who has dirt bike experience has major scarring and issues......all done...