'78 KZ1000 makeover

porchev914 wrote:

Thanks for the frame pics 79MKII. It looks like I'll have all the bracing your pro job has, in one degree or another. I wonder if there will be an appreciable difference between using round tubing versus plate steel like your frame. I'm working on the mid top tube cross braces today

I sure love the way the cross bracing looks. I'm sure it's at least as strong and probably stronger than plate. Anyone have info on that??

I wanted to keep the neck gusset smaller just so I wouldn't have any problems with coils and wires :dry: but I never thought about the tank :blink:
After I tack in the top cross braces I'll throw the tank on to make sure everything is still kosher. I am happy I did get the backbone cross braces finished. I got a wild hair and used some of the 1" tube I had used for testing in my tube roller. If anything, the curved tubing looks cool (to me) for these braces. I started with a 10" section and used a 1.25" hole saw for an offset core out of the center:

Then I cut the tube in half. The hole saw cut side will fit against the center top tube. Then I marked out the general location and direction of the perimeter tube fit and started grinding away in the bench grinder until they fit. Funny thing is, the curve adds a nice asthetic look to a part that will never bee seen by anyone but me :pinch:

trianglelaguna wrote:

was thinking about adding jmodel type vert bars

What does the J model bracing look like Tri? Do you have any pics?

Here are the little cross braces in place. They are as close to the coil brackets as I could get and actually get the tubes into place. They turned out pretty decent. At least, I think so :laugh: :laugh:

That top pic looks wierd to me. I took another from the front quarter that shows the braces better. Now as long as I don't decide to copy the Santuary bracing from the perimeter tubes at the neck to the front cradle, the only thing I have left to do to the frame is to modify the subframe and figure out my battery box/electrical layout..and probably a handfull of other things that will come to me in my sleep later :laugh:

Sweet! those should clear the tank nicely.
Well done, that looks better than Sanctuaries.
look at the file i sent u. u will notice that Kawi spent a lot of time beefing up the neck as the years progressed.
funny, even the 78kz650 had way more neck bracing than the 1000. its like they tested it on the 650 first.
just study every brace they added on the gpz.

mark1122 wrote:

Sweet! those should clear the tank nicely.
Well done, that looks better than Sanctuaries.
look at the file i sent u. u will notice that Kawi spent a lot of time beefing up the neck as the years progressed.
funny, even the 78kz650 had way more neck bracing than the 1000. its like they tested it on the 650 first.
just study every brace they added on the gpz.

Aww shucks Mark, you're making me blush. I'll take a look at that email.

I noticed that on TDubs frame; the frame has substantially more bracing in the neck area than mine. And here I thought the UJM's of the era were basically copied and resized for different engine sizes :huh: Just goes to show what I DON'T know :blink:

Yea, that curved, round tubing looks killer! Maybe you'll have to go with some kind of lexan body work so it can all be seen!

Lexan.
Now that sounds familiar. that's what i make for a living. Our company used to be owned by G.E.(General electric). GE sold off our devision a couple years ago to a Saudi company. now we are called SABIC Inovative Plastics. Saudi Arabian Basic Industries.
Felt pretty weird for a while.
But i got over it, they still pay me, so life goes on.

Lexan is cool stuff. It's that expensive piece of plastic that I clean with Plexus every time I go flying :laugh:

mark1122 wrote:

Lexan.
Now that sounds familiar. that's what i make for a living. ...

Wow, how perfect! You can make us KZ bodywork in Lexan. That would be cool! Imagine how cool LED's would look. Maybe you can get started on that tomorrow? :laugh: Just do it on your lunch or something. :laugh:

I bought a cover from Klasmo that had what I believe was lexan in it - decided to sell it though when money got tight and I wanted some other parts instead.



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