Goodbye LTD, Hello MKII !

Here are some detail pics from around the steering head and backbone........

And a few from around the battery box area.

I also cut off the steering stem lock and welded up the hole, and welded new stops for the forks onto the steering head. I cut off the stock exhaust mounting points and welded up the frame tubes, but I kept the mounting points for the passenger footpegs. It's no fun going alone

sweet progress!
that should take care of any flex issues :evil: !

keep us posted,

leon

Wow....that is alot of bracing what are you planning on using the bike for?
All that bracing will add alot of weight .
:ohmy:

531blackbanshee wrote: sweet progress!
that should take care of any flex issues :evil: !

keep us posted,

leon

I hope so
I'm a big guy, and I could feel it squirming around in the corners, especially loaded up with gear on road trips. Combined with some stiffer rear springs and the bigger tires and forks, I'm expecting a significant improvement in the way it feels. I can't wait to get it on the road!

spdygon wrote: Wow....that is alot of bracing what are you planning on using the bike for?
All that bracing will add alot of weight .
:ohmy:

Just street riding and some touring, here in Texas and one yearly ride through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico (1600-2000 miles in a week--fun!)

I'm not really worried about the weight, and the new suspension and wheels takes some away too. The biggest issue with weight on this bike has always been the rider

Alright, I'm back! I've gotten quite a bit done since my last post, I'll be putting up some pics and thoughts in the next few days. I think I'll start with my adapted rearsets and what I've been doing to make them fit.

This should be pretty familiar-bare mounting pegs. I'm going to use them to mount the new rearsets and bracket.



This is my cardboard template for the bracket. It will be made of 5/16 aluminum plate, and will slip onto the stock mount pegs at the bottom, and use a motor mount bolt at the top. The hole for the swingarm pivot bolt is just for aesthetics, the rearsets will have to come off to remove the swingarm.



This is how everything will line up. The lower rearset mount point will attach to the upper stock peg. I'm going to remove the threaded end and drill and tap it for an allen head bolt. The bottom peg will use a nut on the stock threads. The top will use a longer bolt which will thread into the upper motor mount bracket. I'll fashion spacers to go behind once I've got everything where I want it.



I'm making my mock-up brackets with MDF. It's easy to cut and shape, and will be reasonably sturdy for me to sit on the bike and see if I like the foot position.



So, this is how the shift linkage is going together. As it sits, it is now a reverse pattern, 1-up, four-down. I think I'm going to leave it that way, I've always wanted to try it. I can always redesign it later if it doesn't suit me. The linkage pieces are mid 80s Ninja 600.



The next two pics are the mock-up brackets installed, without the upper holes finalized. They fit tightly over the pegs and seem very sturdy.





The rearset is designed to hold the rear M/C, but it interferes with the sidecover (more about that soon), plus, I think it looks a little cluttered. I'm going to remove the mounts for the M/C and heel guards on both sides, leaving just the triangular brackets. I'll also go into how I'm going to use the new brake pedal to actuate the original rear M/C in it's original position in another post soon.

One final pic:



The boy is diggin' it! Almost 9, and nearly big enough to ride it!!

bike is really coming together..........always like the tank of those mk11
great job......

Very nice. What mirrors are those?

Alan

spdygon wrote: bike is really coming together..........always like the tank of those mk11
great job......

Thanks! I love the MKII look, don't see many around. I always ran out of gas on our trips out West with the LTD tank. I'm hoping this tank will give me a little more range.

Haybus wrote: Very nice. What mirrors are those?

Alan

Thanks Alan! I bought the mirrors out of the Dennis Kirk catalog ages ago. I'll look this evening and see if they're still in there, and post the part number.