Goodbye LTD, Hello MKII !

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configuration this helps ?

Here are a couple of pics as promised. These are before-and-afters of the sprocket hub. I had right at half an inch machined off.

That looks pretty good Scoot, just wondering, is this a high end power motor or will you be launching it hard? I'm wondering if the integrity of the cush drive (sprocket carrier) has enough meat on it for a larger tire. I think you will be ok but the thought did cross my mind.

Cheers, Doug

Got some work done on the bike yesterday. I’ll lead with some pics, then talk after….

The last two main modifications to tackle are getting the sprocket offset measured and bracing the frame. Both require the engine in the frame, so I bolted it up. I also needed a little motivation to get me going, and seeing what it’s going to look like completed is definitely motivating.

With this in mind, I planned my motorcycle work table so that my engine crane legs will fit underneath:

I’m sure that this isn’t news to some, but it’s a lot easier to install the frame around the engine rather than the other way around if you’re working with a bare frame. The crane makes standing it up when you’re finished very easy. This is the first time that the engine and frame have been bolted together in over ten years. Got a few goose bumps seeing it.

All the frame mounts/brackets lined up except for the bolt-in bracket under the engine on the right side:

I don’t remember any spacers between the bracket and frame to make this line up. The welded-in brackets all line up, so I know the engine is in alignment. What am I doing wrong here?

I noticed that a couple of the exhaust studs were bent, so I took them out. They looked a little familiar, so I looked on the shelf, and sure enough :

These are replacement studs that I bought for my Ford F250 a few years ago. Not exactly the same, the end that threads into the head needs to be shortened a little, and the non-threaded shoulder isn’t as long, BUT, in a pinch they would be perfectly good substitutes for the Kawasaki parts.

And finally…….

Craigslist score!! Seller said that they’re from a 2004 GSX-R 600. $20!! He also threw in the stock exhaust.

So now I need to get some parts on the way. I’m divided between 520/530 chain selection, so I think that I’m going to troll Ebay for used sprockets to mock it up and measure the front offset. I know that there are proponents of each size here, weigh in with thoughts/ideas/opinions.

Later…………..

Very interested in seeing how you install those rear sets as that's where I'm at on my bike! Any plans for rear pegs to keep two up riding or is this a one man show lol?

Id take that frame and check it out really carefully to see if its been hit/twisted in the past,those motor mounts should all line up.
Theres no difference in the width of engine cases that Im aware of,thats why Im leaning towards something being tweaked in the past

If you know the measurements you can take some between the bottom tubes. Seems one must be pushed in. Does the center stand have a spot that has been hit by something? It looks that way in the pics.
Wayne

maybe this will help with the sprocket offset measuring.




leon

Perfect timing Leon, I was just thinking about how to do that last night

Now the right side of the front sprocket, is that measuring from the side of the sprocket at the teeth or where the sprocket touches the side of the engine? I'm assuming its just as the pic shows, measure from the right side of the teeth.

as long as the counter shaft sprocket is flat backed you can measure from the root of the teeth.

leon

w8lifter21 wrote: Very interested in seeing how you install those rear sets as that's where I'm at on my bike! Any plans for rear pegs to keep two up riding or is this a one man show lol?

I'm on the fence right now about the rearsets. I think I might ride it this spring with the stock footpegs and controls, and change to the rearsets next winter. I'm keeping the accommodations for a passenger-this was my first bike, but my wife has never gotten to ride with me on it. I definitely want her along when it's back on the street!

All right, I'm back! I've finally made some significant progress on the bike. I spent a couple of weekends cutting, notching and bending tubing and plate, and my brother came down at Thanksgiving and welded it up for me. Frame is braced! Take a look..........