Testarossa's 78 KZ1000 Fighter Build

Yeah, it's from a grind shop that don't use any more. They couldn't seem to reliably hold a +0/-0.0005" tolerance, so we switched vendors. Nobody was inspecting the stock until it got to me. By that time the material was on the shelf for 2-3 months before it would make it to my machine. See where the problem lies? Compounded by the fact that our purchasing dept. doesn't want to deal with getting a RMA for material that doesn't meet tolerance, so the company asks me to try and use up the junk stock until we get into the good stuff from the new vendor. Me being the accommodating worker ant that I am, agrees to use up the egg shaped bar and I pay the price. Just the joys of working for a multi-national corporation. Purchasing agents in an office 1500 miles away who would rather update their facebook status than make life easier for their co-workers.

Actually the main problem with this bar is that it's more out of round than anything. Since my machine uses a guide bushing to support the material, if the bar goes in out of round, it comes out, out of round. When trying to hold these types of tolerances, everything matters. Roundness, temperature, moon phase, high tide, keys in the wrong pocket. :laugh: In general, a Swiss machine will hold 60% of the tolerance of the barstock. That is to say that if the bar is out of round by 0.0005" then the part will be out by 0.0003". Out of round by 0.0003" and +/-0.0001" don't mix. Can you tell that I'm picky about my material?

yessir!
i can tell that you are a very particular machinist.
when you are trying to hold tolerances to tenths you have to be.
that crap makes me sweat in wierd places.:dry:
at least they have the right man on the job.
a man who truly relishes pickin nits!


being skilled labor is not what it is all cracked up to be is it.no rest for the wicked,

leon

Enough of me crowing about my egg shaped barstock. How about some motorcycle progress?

I'm pushing to get the bike ready for a safety inspection this week. That's my last step to having a 100% street legal bike. I spent the past weekend cleaning out the garage. Now I have enough room to work inside with the door closed when the weather gets too nasty. Much better.

First order of business was to tidy up the wiring. That's 99.999% done. All I need is a pair of mini female spade connectors that attach to the micro-switch for the front brakes. Have a look under the seat. No more spaghetti bowl.

Tomorrow, I hope to re-install the more restrictive, stock baffle which the carbs are tuned for, so that it will run well enough to get down to Mr. Sticker. I'll save the tuning for my straight through baffle for the Datalogging O2 sensor thread in the near future.

I felt comfortable installing the badges temporarily to get a picture.

All that should be left is to re-install the fuel tank and tail, check fasteners, install overflow hoses, and aim the headlight.

I still need to buff out the front fender, and I have yet to tackle the small run on the tail piece. Not sure if I'll get to those items before the inspection. We'll see.

Here's a better shot of my refurbished tank emblems.

Your bike is looking killer! And what a thread this is, bikes and even some machining talk. What's not to love!:woohoo:

I just spent an hour or so tonight filling in the white paint on my emblems.
I fixed some 600 grit paper to the face of a parallel to remove any paint from the letters.

Steve

with the emblems on it makes the blue pop.when you source those little brake light switch terms id be interested to know where you got them.also that fuse block.it looks like they are the new style plastic fuses.very nice bike.

wow,the bike looks really nice with the emblems on there josh.
the wiring is super sanitary lookin to.
good luck with the inspection,


leon

Josh, that bike looks awesome.

S_J_H should have thought of that. I might actually get some use out of my parallels. Just can't use 'em too often in the Citizen.

Camaroguy, here's the link for the fuse box:
www.delcity.net/

EDIT: original link didn't work. This link is their main page. Just click the tab on the left for fuses and fuse accessories. Then fuse blocks, and finally the eight way fuse block. I got this idea from Otakar.


Del City requires a $25 minimum order. I got a whole bunch of heat shrink tubing to fill the minimum when I ordered the fuse panel. I prefer the ATC fuses since you can always find them at the gas station. As for the terminals, I'll let you know. I think I saw them at O'Reilly's, but not sure.

Leon, safety inspection on a MC in Texas is a no brainer. If you can stop it in 20 ft from 20mph, all the lights and horn work, and you have at least one mirror, your good. Just another $12.50/yr tax disguised as a safety measure. Oh, and they make sure you are carrying insurance. No emissions for bikes, yet.

It turned out really nice Josh, you have every right to be proud of your accomplishment.

Looks fantastic Josh! Now go enjoy that Texas weather with it next week! We are currently getting about a foot of snow

Great great job all around!!