Testarossa's 78 KZ1000 Fighter Build

larrycavan wrote:

testarossa wrote:

Larry, what front end are you running on your bike? I figured that I would need to crank my preload adjusters way down. I think that the KZ has about 150lbs over what the GSXR weighs. I hope that I can adjust enough with just the preload settings. I would rather not have to replace those springs just yet.

1996 ZX7R is what I have. On some year zx7's the adjusters are preload, on other years they are ride height. Mine happened to be the ride height adjusters. Worked like a charm when I cranked them down.

A couple of times my header hit the road in bumpy corners and needless to say, I didn't like that feeling :ohmy:

The adjusters were setup with 6 lines showing. I cranked them down to 1 showing.

Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up on. Looks like you've got a ton of adjustment to work with

Thanks for the heads-up Larry. Actually the reason for my preload adjusters being backed out was due to fork rebuilding. I like to back them out before I unscrew the top cap. It makes it that little bit easier. I was gonna start with the book settings for the GSXR, and work from there.

mark1122 wrote:

larrycavan wrote:

See the big round adjusters on the top of the forks?

When you setup the bike, turn them equally all the way down until you have 1 line showing. As they are now, the front will be too soft.

Set the damping adjusters to OEM delivered settings. You'll be right in the ballpark

I got some time to work on my front suspension tuning this weekend. Amazing is all I can say about how the bike handles now. Feels like a Ninja!

Make sure u test the brakes hard, on the front end. if the front wheel locks up easy and skids, u need more preload. the forks need to dive just enough to transfer weight to the front wheel for strong braking.

i almost got run over buy skidding into the next lane,INTO oncomming trafic, at a curve entry.:woohoo:

Good point Mark. I like to use the zip-tie trick for adjusting the front preload. You loosely attach a zip-tie to the fork slider just below the dust boot. Just tight enough so that it will hold position. Then go find a dry straight road and simulate the hardest stop that you will ever do. Sorry, no stoppies for me. Anyway after you do the hard stop, you measure the distance from the top of the zip-tie to the top of the lower fork end. I usually adjust and repeat until I have about 1/2" of reserve travel. As you know, things get hairy when you use up all of your fork travel.

Thats a common trick on MX bikes to see of you're either bottoming out on a track or not using enough of the forks stroke. Adjust accordingly

larrycavan wrote:

:woohoo: I'm happy to report that I didn't experience that thrill Mark...... I'll just bet your heart beat was hitting redline about that time :laugh:

It was like Holley F**k,Sh*t.F**k,Sh*t............
it was a real dumb ass moment, where u say to yourself, what the f*ck are u doing A Hole.
i was on unfamiliar roads and i just hammered it.:woohoo: well when u are at cruising speed and u HAMMER a 1200, u only have a few seconds before u are at red line in 5th doing 130mph. Well , as i quickly remembered. u really should know whats up ahead, BEFORE, u twist the throttle. So hear i am doing MACH 10 and the road starts to turn hard.
OH BOY !!!! So i am hard on the front brakes and she starts to skid,then i'm hard on the back brakes and she goes sideways, let off the back straighten out, hard on the back goes sideways....... now im in the next lane looking at the on coming traffic. They are HARD on the brakes too. I had horseshoes up my Ass that day for sure, as I got slowed down and maneuvered back into my lane, all i got was, faces of shock, no horns or anything.it was VERY, quiet in both lanes.
Keep it twisted(in all the right places)
Mark

testarossa wrote:

mark1122 wrote:

larrycavan wrote:

See the big round adjusters on the top of the forks?

When you setup the bike, turn them equally all the way down until you have 1 line showing. As they are now, the front will be too soft.

Set the damping adjusters to OEM delivered settings. You'll be right in the ballpark

I got some time to work on my front suspension tuning this weekend. Amazing is all I can say about how the bike handles now. Feels like a Ninja!

Make sure u test the brakes hard, on the front end. if the front wheel locks up easy and skids, u need more preload. the forks need to dive just enough to transfer weight to the front wheel for strong braking.

i almost got run over buy skidding into the next lane,INTO oncomming trafic, at a curve entry.:woohoo:

Good point Mark. I like to use the zip-tie trick for adjusting the front preload. You loosely attach a zip-tie to the fork slider just below the dust boot. Just tight enough so that it will hold position. Then go find a dry straight road and simulate the hardest stop that you will ever do. Sorry, no stoppies for me. Anyway after you do the hard stop, you measure the distance from the top of the zip-tie to the top of the lower fork end. I usually adjust and repeat until I have about 1/2" of reserve travel. As you know, things get hairy when you use up all of your fork travel.

My readings say that the forks should bottom out occasionally when maxed out. this ensures that u are using there full range. I dont have mine set up that soft either. i used the cable tie method as well.i just wish i had done it before i almost killed myself.
:silly:

mark1122 wrote:

larrycavan wrote:

:woohoo: I'm happy to report that I didn't experience that thrill Mark...... I'll just bet your heart beat was hitting redline about that time :laugh:

It was like Holley F**k,Sh*t.F**k,Sh*t............
it was a real dumb ass moment, where u say to yourself, what the f*ck are u doing A Hole.
i was on unfamiliar roads and i just hammered it.:woohoo: well when u are at cruising speed and u HAMMER a 1200, u only have a few seconds before u are at red line in 5th doing 130mph. Well , as i quickly remembered. u really should know whats up ahead, BEFORE, u twist the throttle. So hear i am doing MACH 10 and the road starts to turn hard.
OH BOY !!!! So i am hard on the front brakes and she starts to skid,then i'm hard on the back brakes and she goes sideways, let off the back straighten out, hard on the back goes sideways....... now im in the next lane looking at the on coming traffic. They are HARD on the brakes too. I had horseshoes up my Ass that day for sure, as I got slowed down and maneuvered back into my lane, all i got was, faces of shock, no horns or anything.it was VERY, quiet in both lanes.
Keep it twisted(in all the right places)
Mark

:ohmy: :blink: :S :pinch: :blink: :ohmy: :side: :pinch: :whistle: :X

Nice Smiley face montage. Any progress lately?

No unfortunatly, this week has been mad. I will pm you about that later. I promise that I will have some work done on the battery box later today. I acutally laid out my wiring harness next to the bike yesterday and started to decide where to install everything. I also had a crazy drunken idea last weekend. Lets say it involves homegrown footpegs and heat shrink tubing. Pics to follow on that. Off to cut the lawn, purchase a garage fan (damn its hot already!), and get the black bike inspected. After that I'm in business.

OK, I know that it has been the better part of 3 weeks since I have actually accomplished anything on my build, but I have a few items that I worked on today.



I bought an AGM battery, so that I can lay it down flat. My original battery box is unusable since I have the mono-shock in its place.





Right now everything is just thrown in there, but I at least know that it all fits in between the side covers. I will clean up the harness and it will all be shrink wrapped after I install the new fuse box from Del City. I also got about a mile of heat shrink tubing when I ordered the fuse box.



One item of note to those who are bracing their frames. If you plan on using Dyna coils, then keep the cross braces on either side of the coil mounts. The Dyna coils are larger diameter than the stockers. I also had to add an additional washer under the original mounting hardware to keep the coil from rubbing the frame.

I got my replacement handlebar switches in the mail today. Thanks nads.com! My old switches were in rough shape from being under a tree for 17 years.





I also came up with a crazy idea to give the homebrew footpegs some grip.



All I did was cut some 1 1/2" diameter heat shrink tube into 1/2" wide strips and shrink them onto the footpeg. Then cut a longer peice and used it to cover the whole thing. Finally an peice of 3/4" covers the toe of the shift lever.

Nice to see that things are moving forward for u Josh.
if u haven’t already, i would completely disassemble the switches and clean up every contact inside. if u can find time to do it now, it may just save u some grief down the road.
Keep it twisted.

Good idea Mark. I did that with my old switches, and it's what led me to purchase these. Those things were packed full of dirt and everything was soo corroded that the solder had started to fail. I had about three wires that popped loose. These things will need a small amount of refinishing to be up to the quality of the rest of the bike.