TOPIC:

I don't believe in one size fits all in terms of welding technology, each has it's place. I likely don't have the same welder, flux core wire, or welding environment that you guys have so my experience will be completely different. The welder came with a regulator and a spool of flux core wire. I didn't want to buy a cheap welder because I've read they make terrible flux core welds, mostly due to limited adjustability and poor quality control.

I'm welding outdoors with 0.030'' flux core, this will have better penetration on my 110v outlet and will make faster hotter welds than using gas shielding or 0.035'' wire. Since it requires the max power setting for 110v on the frame tube I could use all the penetration I can get.

I did a few test beads over the weekend on some frame tube from the chopped off floorboards and the welds were much cleaner than I expected. After a quick wire brush I see no slag inclusions and very minimal splatter. The settings guide for the welder was spot on. What I'm practicing now is my speed so I can get a nice uniform weld, I came across over a dozen mild steel angle bars the same thickness as the tubing that will be great for practice and testing penetration.

At least wait until I post some of my welds before you start dissing the process. So far it's a lot of fun and I'm not experiencing any frustration.

I made a post in the tools section about my first attempts at flux core welding. It's more fun than I expected and I still need a lot of practice. Perhaps in another week my welds will be strong enough and look decent enough to start on the frame.

www.kzrider.com/forum/21-tools/603672-ho...irst-flux-core-welds

After a lot of procrastinating I finally welded the holes in the bottom of the frame where the center stand went.



The first filler welds were the hardest. I had to use lower power and lower feed speed or it blows a hole in the 1/8th inch thick tube. Once I got it mostly filled I used the highest power with faster feed speed over the top of it all to fill in where metal was missing.

After each pass I scrubbed the weld with a wire brush and wiped it all down with 99.9% alcohol. This helped a lot to get predictable welds. This is the result. It's not pretty but no one would see it so I didn't care, I just wanted to fill in the holes and for it to be strong. When I do the exhaust bracket next I'll focus more on trying to make nice looking welds.







I painted the side stand with 5 coats of VHT stain black roll bar paint as a test before I do the entire frame. It came out good, I just need to be sure that it doesn't touch anything before it cures.

My ugly welds were bothering me so I cleaned it up and tried to make it look close to factory.

I made this bracket from the old exhaust bracket, took about an hour to make it fit just right using the angle grinder.





Tack welded and checking that I like where it's at.

My first welds front and back.

Looks good.
Steve

The top weld looks great the but the bottom had issues when I tried to fill in the inside so I did that weld again. The second time it blew though the thin tube of the exhaust bracket so I had to fill that as well. I'm happy with how it looks, I don't think anyone will notice it's difference from stock welds once the bike is painted. Most of the splatter comes right off easily, it was from a lower power setting to fill in the hole.







The inside that no one will see looks good as well.

blakeem wrote: Did a leakdown, it looks like the valves are each leaking around 12-26%. I'm going to run a fuel system cleaner that will hopefully restore some of the compression.

The rear wheel bearings are a bit notchy so I ordered a set of those and I'm replacing the front wheel bearings as well. The rear sprocket fit great, no problems there.

The new exhaust is on but it hits the old rubber mounting tab and doesn't quite line up. I'm going to cut off the old exhaust mounting tabs because I don't want that rubber melting to the exhaust. I'll use a bracket to secure it to the frame.

Can also see the headlight mocked up, still need to attach the turn signals and wire everything.

Bringing this back from the dead, I'm sure, but what a cool project.

Back in 2006, or so, I was flipping through a copy of Cycle magazine and saw a KZ1000P project where they bought a CHP bike at auction and ended up about where you are now. I thought that was really cool and looked around for a nice KZ1000P, but couldn't find one. I ended up buying my @#$%^&!!!! KZ650 instead, and the rest is history.

I keep coming back to that KZ1000P idea though. I'd want mine more like yours is here. I'd keep the fat fender on the front and find a rear fender that matched that. The theme would be kind of like the police interceptor from Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry ... a stripped down version of Panch and John's ChiPs bikes.

Very cool project.

A few tips to help with your welding:

You can't get the materials you are joining clean enough. Prep both areas to be joined by cleaning, then clean them again. Oh yeah, clean them one more time!

Anti-splatter spray is your best friend. It makes cleaning off the weld berries a lot easier and will save you time.

Never use any brake cleaner product on materials you plan to weld. The chemical residue left behind on the surface will vaporize with heat, and if inhaled can put you in the hospital or even kill you. Alcohol is an excellent choice for weld prep cleaning.

If the parts to be welded have zinc plating, grind off the plating from the entire heat affected zone. Zinc plating, when burned, also puts off very harmful vapors.