KZ650 cafe-racer

Thank you!
 
When I started to write my previous message the thought flashed in my mind that it was pretty quiet here in Kyiv for a day or two. And according to the genre, the thought was shortly followed by  windows panes and walls trembling from an explosion somewhere not far away.   Following days were noisy and filled with sounds of our artillery pounding and explosions of anti aircraft missiles whenever our air defense systems were hitting something in the skies. Once, when I was at my workshop  (to check things and get some packaging materials for parcels) I had an occasion to shoot a photo of the aftermath of an aircraft rocket explosion. Here it is.

 
 
I am taking no photos these days due to security reasons. At the beginning of the war people were posting a lot of photos and videos from the sites hit by missiles  and that materials were used by russians to locate hit areas on maps and correct aim for next strikes.   At some point the government restricted such material posting and that was a wise move. There are still some people (sent here or hired from locals) who work for russians and give them information about dispositions of our forces and correct air/missile  strikes, but they are gradually detected and detained by law enforcement units.  
 
The day of the latest ceasefire talks with russia   and the day next to it were the loudest since it became a classic of russian negotiation tactics: hit hardest on the day of talks. Russians said that they would put back some forces from Kyiv and north of Ukraine, but there were no fools to believe them.  They likely tried to regroup and from the sound of our artillery, some of them indeed regrouped, but likely metre or two under the ground. Dunno what caliber of guns our guys used, but one could feel their outcomings through the walls with one's body.
 
Visit to the workshop brought a thought to my mind.  I have not received "call to arms" yet and still more or less am a master of my time. Last parcel I sent yesterday and for today afternoon  I have no "help tasks" to accomplish. So I thought maybe it's   time to start a new topic here. Around a year ago I started a new project directly connected with Kawasaki KZs. I made a cafe-racer kit for Kawasaki Zephyr 550/400 (direct descendant of KZ/GPZ550). It took around six months to complete the project and then I decided to go further and build my own version of Zephyr 550 with kit. That stage isn't completed yet though. However, I feel like it may be some kind of reward for your kindness and help: partly it would be entertaining and partly may give you some useful information. So I'll try to start this new thread today.

 

Hey Gazzz good to hear you are still safe and better to hear you are still thinking about your projects in your head, its good for the mind to have things that remind us of better days. The post is back sending packages to the Ukraine, if you need anything just ask and ill send it.

Thank you! Yes, chains of supplies (that could be restored) were more or less restored here and businesses (those of them that survived the first month of war)  are trying to get back to work. So it is possible to get all necessary things. But if I have a task to get something not available locally, I will let you know.

Hi Gazzz,

I recently read that the Ukrainian government has announced that citizens won't have to pay taxes on any armaments and equipment they capture from the Russian invaders. Maybe after those bastards are pushed out, you could expand your business. I, for one, might be interested in a custom-modified tank...

In all seriousness, though, best of luck and pleas know our thoughts are with you.

All of you have seen what I could do to aluminum parts. I already gave some tips on how to do that. Now it's time to give those tips that I have kept for myself. I thought them out on my own working on aluminum polishing for years. As I already mentioned polishing - it's a lot of sandpapering. So one has to keep a range of sandpaper at hand. Since I also regularly sand steel and fibreglass,  I keep a large box specially for sandpaper and Scotch-Brite. All these materials are of automotive grade and my favourite brand for sandpaper and sanding discs is Sunmight. It is not a problem to store sandpaper sheets and sandpaper discs, but sandpaper sheet rolls always tend to fill all the space in the box and intertwine. Solution that keeps them in tidy rolls and makes them easy to use is simple. It's good  old caps from penetrating oil and carburettor cleaner cans.

 
 
However, keeping sandpaper sorted is the simplest thing. Next tips will be about tools I invented while polished different aluminum parts.   I have never posted them before, even on my own website.  I preferred to keep them for myself since I worked them out on my own. But in times like we have here this knowledge may be easily lost and that will be no good. So I decided to share them with you. These tips  wouldn't make work for you, but they may make it a bit easier.
 
Here is the first tool: attachment for rotary tools to help sandpaper parts. It is especially good for different deppenings and hollows (like depressions  for bolt heads in engine covers, for example).
 
To make it one needs a thick shit of hard rubber. I bought that rubber in sheets in shops that sell rubber for shoe soles repair.  One also needs a set of round hole punch tools.

 

Let's punch a couple of round blanks from the rubber sheet. The result might look quite raw, it doesn't matter.

 

Then we have to drill small holes at the approximate centre of rubber blanks, like this:

 

Next thing we need for our tool may be found in a set of accessories for rotary tools. It's a screw mandrel for small felt polishing discs.

 

I recommend  putting a washer on the screw before screwing it into the rubber blank. If the screw length is bigger than rubber thickness, put some additional washers on the screw.

 

Now it's time to put a future tool in the bench drilling machine and make it perfectly round  with the help of sandpaper (grit 60-80). I also recommend removing some weight from  rubber by means of making it conical.

 

Next point is self adhesive hook-and-loop tape or disc. Last time I was buying such things I found  150mm discs. Still using first of them though. 

 

 

It is crucial to degrease rubber contact surface thoroughly  before mounting hook tape on it. Result will look like this:

 

I have a lot of such attachments  of different  diameters. One may punch sandpaper pads for these attachments from sandpaper discs of different grit. In such a way this type of attachment is not only  very useful, but also quite cheap even as one has to replace hook tape on it from time to time. I used such tools to sandpaper KZ650 engine covers and CBX550 wheel hubs and brake components.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is another small attachment for a rotary tool. Initially it was a  thread adapter (or something like that) with a round body. I decreased the diameter of its threaded rod so it could fit a rotary tool collet and put 3M hook and loop tape on its body.

 

 

 
In this way a piece of sandpaper  disc may be mounted on it (with small overlap) like this. Mind direction of rotation.


 

I invented this attachment when I became tired searching for sanding bands of fine grit.  Using this attachment requires some accuracy.

 

 

Next tool I invented for working on side walls of grooves and ribs. It consists of a rubber disc and mandrel for large cutting discs.