You all bring up some good points. Still to me chain is in the same catagory as carbs vs fuel injection and points ignition vs electronic. Guys always said the same thing about these things when they do rarely have problems for sure the simple points and carbs will be easier to fix than fuel injection and electronic ignition and much less expensive when they do fail, which is more frequent. To be honest I've never had a chain failure either in all these years, but still don't like chain drive and don't want any more of them. Some motorcycles with shaft have had big problems for sure, that is a fact. I've seen pictures of a couple BMWs with the single side swingarm where the whole swingarm snapped. That will leave a dent in the wallet for sure.

Got a bit of work done on the bike today. Dropped the old swingarm off, ground the pivot tube tabs out a bit to hold the new Ninja 600 swingarm, had everything ready to line up, check clearances...

And then there's an issue with the rear caliper mounting up. I either don't have one of the spacers (but I checked the parts diagrams, I have them all), or the caliper I was told was the right year isn't...

It took away about 2 hours of checking diagrams, flipping spacers, making sure things were in the right spot, and still no luck... It's times like these that really slow things down and make you scratch your head. It's a roller for now, and that's all that matters to me.

The swingarm fits into the chassis now, and is temporarily mounted up. The suspension feels a little "woody" right now (see pics) haha.

Rear end propped up, old rear off


Just a rough idea of what the end product is going to look like


Swingarm is a little greasy from dirty hands, but it's all polished up and ready to rock


Nice side view- the ride height will be lower than this- this is just with the 2x4 in place to keep the ass end up


Pretty mean looking, if you ask me



Hopefully I get this issue sorted out soon. More updates will follow with progress.

Devin

You haven't mentioned your swing arm.

I don't know what year you have but the first ones didn't have roller bearings they use a bushing.

Ether way if it wasn't greased regularly they will wear out and cause slop .

How many miles on her and how long have you owned it ?

What does your chain and sprocket look like ?

JD

Ed beat me :pinch:

NickMac wrote: My kz650 has had a wobble since the day I first rode her. Symptoms occur upon initial acceleration (wobble in one direction) and taking turns at higher speeds (40-50mph) I have changed fork oil/air pressure, balanced tires, aligned wheels, checked for play in the wheels (wheel bearings), and turning is smooth (steering stem bearings). At this point Im not sure what else to check. any input is greatly appreciated as this has been a recurring and unfixed problem.

thanks for you time and input.

-Nick

KZ650 bikes should have ZERO wobble from 0 - 120 mph. If there's wobble, here are the likely suspects:

Tires - these can look great but cause wobble. I had Michelin Macadams do this to me, and it had nothing to do with tire balance - they were perfectly balanced. If your tires are not new I would replace them and see if wobble goes away. Fixing everything else below can help mask a tire problem but will not completely eliminate the wobble if the tire is at fault.

Rear shocks - toss originals, get QUALITY shocks (I use Hagons.)

Swingarm bushings (or in later models bearings). Raise rear wheel, disconnect shocks, try to twist tire left/right, check for any play at all. There should be NONE. Replace bushings / bearings if in doubt.

Steering stem bearings - replace originals with tapered roller bearings and be done with that possibility.

Fork oil - purge old oil - fill to the CORRECT level with quality fork oil (I use 15w Bel Ray).

Wheel bearings - repack them or better yet replace them (especially if they don't feel dead smooth).

Wheel alignment - front and rear tires must run parallel.

Wheels - if your wheels have spokes check the wheels with dial indicator to make sure they run true.

Brakes - make sure disks aren't warped and contacting pads irregularly.

If all the above are done and wobble persists you make have bent forks or frame. Ed

Welcome and I agree if its not too late 1075 goes along way
there are tons of options on the front and rear otions I piece mealed
mine with an 02 zx 6 swingarm and mono with zx7 front end the ride is amazing

as I am sure any upgrade would be with todays springs and shocks.

my conversion started out almost identical just wanted a little larger rear tire
complete mono conversion later a 190 tire. one thing led to another led to another
led to another...good luck feel free to ask if I can be of any help

I am in Seattle, I love this city. Thank god I'm moving though haha, moving to a suburb of Seattle this October. Been in this vary apartment attached to the balcony pictured since November 2010, which is when I moved to Seattle. Time to switch up my life.

Now about that seat, I threw it out already haha, I am redoing it as well as making the bike a simple monoshock using the swingarm that's on the bike. I have a shop space now with a welder (professional retired welder) which I am stoked for. I am not making the bike crazy or anything but there will be some cutting, more simplifying and an ungodly amount of CLEANING

All I am doing to the engine is replacing pistons to the 1030cc, replacing the cam chain components and cam bearings, maybe the cam shafts. But all OEM nothing unreliable since every damn part for these bikes cost's a first born child.

Like I said, Mostly cleaning though still staying close to the café style. I want it to look like its 5 years old rather than 33 years, cleanliness wise.

I had something similar, turned out to be the needle bearings in the swingarm pivot.

I would suspect that used tire you put on there first :dry:
A matching set is the way to go, then balance them.

If you have spoke rims check them for trueness , you can tape a piece of wire to a fork or shock and spin the tire to check for roundness and side ways movement

Tap the spokes to see if you have any dead sounding ones that need to be tightened up.
Please note; before you turn any spoke nuts make sure that you loosen up the rust by applying something like Kroil oil or PB Blaster for at least couple of days before you try and turn one or you risk the chance of snapping a spoke, believe me I know :blush:

Have you done any work to the front end?

If you have stock ball bearings they probably need grease or to be replaced with roller bearings, about 40 bucks through Z1E, "your best bet"
Note; if you decide to just grease them be careful and follow the shop manual instructions , they are loose and will fall out,

If you don't want to take it apart right now you can still tighten the stem nut some but not too tight especially if you don't grease the bearings.

Grease your swing arm, can you feel any sideways play ?

Loosen,adjust and re tighten the front end as per the shop manual's sequence.

Please be careful until you get it figured out.

JD




Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to make the pics bigger

Cool thanks man. Unread skittle but of this thread and saw that aligning all that stuff can be a challenge but it's good for me somebody already did it.

tk11b40 wrote: Rear shocks:

fully extended 13.5" center to center eye to eye.

Yes they are 17 inch wheels, Front from an early 90's GSXR, rear from a 99 ZRX 1100.

Thank you for the compliment, you appear to be from Seattle, I was living in Wenatchee until 2007.

When you are ready just hit me up. I can walk you through the swingarm switch. The 99 ZRX fits right in. Then there is the chain alignment, and the front and rear wheel alignment.

Its all do-able.