Testarossa's 78 KZ1000 Fighter Build

porchev914 wrote:

OK Josh, I have a question about your ZX10. Can you tell me the top of fork to axle centerline length on her? I'd really appreciate it bud.

BTW Larry, that is a super clean bike! :woohoo: Like Irish said, it looks like the LTD emblem is the only left of the LTD

Adam the forks on the 10 are 27.5" from the center of the axle to the top of the upper fork tube. The newer bike is raked 1.5deg more, so it's fork could be a smidge longer. Kawi does list the travel at 4.7" for both models. They should be close. BTW I measured the GSXR forks and they came out to 28.75" and the stock KZ boinger is 30.5"(unladen) Sounds like you'll have a lowrider if you go zx-10.

i keep telling you guys....gix is the way to go!

haha......just ball bustin'!!

mark1122 wrote:

camaroguy wrote:

is the back of the tank and front of seat missing a rubber perch in pics?looks like it should be more level.otherwise looks GOOD.

Or is the tank high at the front?
Testerossa, were u able to align the rear wheel with the front wheel?
I cant see the pegs well enough to coment .Sorry(my puter).

Mark, I just did a quick check on my wheel alignment, and the front tire seems to be centered relative to the rear. Now this is no scientific measurement for sure. I just found the straightest peice of tube that I have and set it against the rear tire, and then measured the gap to the front tire with my tape measure. (Nuclear Precision of course.) Got the same 1.5" on either side. Possible sources of error: no helpers to hold the straightedge (they split town for spring break), front wheel not exactly turned perfectly straight, bowed straightedge, I want it to be centered. I will get a better check when I have everything bolted down before final disassembly. I believe that things tend to move around when all of the motor mounts are tight, and all of the welds have a chance to work their magic.

irishwill wrote:

i keep telling you guys....gix is the way to go!

haha......just ball bustin'!!

I'm with you irish. Those older squid shuttles are cheap, plentiful, and state of the art for there time. That little $250 Gixxer gave me tons of parts and I sold the remainder for a $100 profit.

Green beers all around tomorrow. Erin Go Bragh! The redheaded one will celebrate.

testarossa wrote:

mark1122 wrote:

camaroguy wrote:

is the back of the tank and front of seat missing a rubber perch in pics?looks like it should be more level.otherwise looks GOOD.

Or is the tank high at the front?
Testerossa, were u able to align the rear wheel with the front wheel?
I cant see the pegs well enough to coment .Sorry(my puter).

Mark, I just did a quick check on my wheel alignment, and the front tire seems to be centered relative to the rear. Now this is no scientific measurement for sure. I just found the straightest peice of tube that I have and set it against the rear tire, and then measured the gap to the front tire with my tape measure. (Nuclear Precision of course.) Got the same 1.5" on either side. Possible sources of error: no helpers to hold the straightedge (they split town for spring break), front wheel not exactly turned perfectly straight, bowed straightedge, I want it to be centered. I will get a better check when I have everything bolted down before final dis-assembly. I believe that things tend to move around when all of the motor mounts are tight, and all of the welds have a chance to work their magic.

Thats very good news,my man, very good indeed.
it is ok to be out a bit. and if u are close now, that may give u a little wiggle room , if needed, latter. Good job.
U can even do this check with string from the rear wheel to the front wheel.i have a write up for it if u feel the need.
do u think the welds will change?

Right now most of the stuff that I welded is just tack welded. Generally when you do the finish welds and are running long continuous beads is when you put a ton of heat into the steel and stuff starts to warp. Also the engine cases are just set in place with no bolts. I feel that the heaver fully assembled engine, with all bolts tightened down may just try to change the final alignment. As I always say "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

testarossa wrote:

porchev914 wrote:

OK Josh, I have a question about your ZX10. Can you tell me the top of fork to axle centerline length on her? I'd really appreciate it bud.

BTW Larry, that is a super clean bike! :woohoo: Like Irish said, it looks like the LTD emblem is the only left of the LTD

Adam the forks on the 10 are 27.5" from the center of the axle to the top of the upper fork tube. The newer bike is raked 1.5deg more, so it's fork could be a smidge longer. Kawi does list the travel at 4.7" for both models. They should be close. BTW I measured the GSXR forks and they came out to 28.75" and the stock KZ boinger is 30.5"(unladen) Sounds like you'll have a lowrider if you go zx-10.

Damn, thats what I was afraid of. The R1 forks are 28.75" top to axle centerline also. I'm not sure I could suffer a total 4" drop on the front. 2.75" is plenty. Thanks for checking for me Josh

Yeah, 4" gets into the realm of totally f-ed up handling, header scraping, and not practical. Had a friend try that with his girl's GSXR-600. She learned to live with a 2" drop in the end.

testarossa wrote:

mark1122 wrote:

camaroguy wrote:

is the back of the tank and front of seat missing a rubber perch in pics?looks like it should be more level.otherwise looks GOOD.

Or is the tank high at the front?
Testerossa, were u able to align the rear wheel with the front wheel?
I cant see the pegs well enough to coment .Sorry(my puter).

Mark, I just did a quick check on my wheel alignment, and the front tire seems to be centered relative to the rear. Now this is no scientific measurement for sure. I just found the straightest peice of tube that I have and set it against the rear tire, and then measured the gap to the front tire with my tape measure. (Nuclear Precision of course.) Got the same 1.5" on either side. Possible sources of error: no helpers to hold the straightedge (they split town for spring break), front wheel not exactly turned perfectly straight, bowed straightedge, I want it to be centered. I will get a better check when I have everything bolted down before final disassembly. I believe that things tend to move around when all of the motor mounts are tight, and all of the welds have a chance to work their magic.

You must have picked up your tape measure the same place I got my nuclear precision bathroom scale :laugh:

Youbetcha! I had to steal that one from you. Too funny.

testarossa wrote:

Yeah, 4" gets into the realm of totally f-ed up handling, header scraping, and not practical. Had a friend try that with his girl's GSXR-600. She learned to live with a 2" drop in the end.

531blackbanshee (Leon)has some good info on making gullwing tree's.

Now that's a good, low cost option there. I would have never thought of going that route on my own. I'm gonna explore how mine rides at the current height before I think about gullwings.