I bought a rolling chassis that has a GSXR1000 swingarm and rear rim on it. Shock mounts were added to the swingarm so dual shocks were kept. What I'm concerned about though is that the top shock mount was used as usual and now the shocks are angled out to meet the wider width of the GSXR swingarm. The shock is mounted as usual with the standard top shock nut. Along with the angle of the shock, the top of the shock has some space between the frame and nut but don't think it moves because of the angle binds the top on the shock mount. Noticed the tire is extremely close to the shock and I'm surprised the tire doesn't hit the shock spring in the wheel/shock travel. Does anyone know if there is a spacer/mount extension that can be bolted over/on the top shock mount stud to extend it outward to bring the top of the shock out to put the shock more in an upright angle like a stock shock set-up usually is?

While reading the factory shop manual it says the lower rod ends will be identified by a weight mark, in the form of a capital "I", to make sure the rod ends are assembled in the same position as they were in. My rods do not have any stampings or markings on that machined surface. Luckily, there is only one way to reassemble the lower bearing caps. If they are put on wrong, the side machined surfaces do not line up, leaving a step. I was happy to find this, as I had disassembled the rods before looking for markings! Lucky beats good, every day of the week... Most of my bearings are now in transit with an expected delivery date. The two lower rod bearings coming from the UK have shipped, but I have no tracking information. We will see how long it takes to get here.

Now that the case cleaning process has started, the blast cabinet decided to act up. The nozzle on the gun is a consumable item and wears away during use (over a long period of time, depending on media type). The nozzle was too worn, so another has been ordered and that will ship out tomorrow. I still have a lot to do before I am ready to blast, but the machine won't be ready until mid to late next week now.

The wiring harness still needs to be cleaned up (dirt wise) some more before it is ready to go back in. I stalled out after doing some of the rewiring on the bar controls, so those need to be finished, too. The new gps speedo has an antenna that I have to find a spot for. Since it needs to be in clear view of the sky, right now the top of the front fender is the leading candidate. All of the ignition parts were working when it was parked 28 years ago. I may get some new coils when I get close to finishing the electrical. I am missing the battery hold down bracket or strap, so I have to source or make something to replace that part.

Several items are waiting until after the motor is back in the frame. The shift linkage needs to be cut to length and fitted. Also the steering damper mounts have to be fabricated. The chain clearance through the swing arm brace needs to be check carefully. It will be close, but I can't tell if I have enough room until the motor is in and the sprockets and chain are installed. The rear shocks do not have any bushings in them (came on a parts bike I bought), and are an unknown brand. They may not be the correct length for this bike. I would love to put new rear shocks on this bike, but that is a later decision. The front forks have a small amount of seeping from standing unused for so long, and who knows how they were treated since they were not on the original bike when I got them. So I have all new seals and orings coming for them. I also have a factory shop manual (just for the forks, brakes, and front wheel), and of course there is a special tool required to disassemble them. They are available online, but around $120. I may try to make my own when I get to that point, but the front end will be coming back apart before this bike is ridden for the first time. The steering stops need to be fine tuned (which requires grinding through the powder coat). Turns out I left too much material now that I have rolled it around off the stand.

That's the end of my rambling for now. I have been sitting at my shop desk writing this, while staring at the bike. Just doing a mental run down on what still needs to be done.

good stuff guys. itll be handy for when i finally get to my manifold

Anyways, made some progress on the suspension swaps this weekend.
Swing arm parts. KZ on the left, ZX600 on the right. Just swap the sleeve, drill the spacers, and it ready to go.






Chopping off the end of the zx9r steering stem and swapping it onto the kz stem




Machining the top triple... This was quite the adventure


Made a bushing insert like Leon did here . I kept mine above the top of the triple tree for a better weld though (compensates for my shitting welding)



My All balls taper bearings will be in soon! So close to being a rolling frame again.

Bdog wrote: 750 R1, I have found that when someone prefaces any statement with “I’m not trying to be an ass” they are about to be an ass.

Not at all, I am not great at getting my point across by typing, {I'm getting old, typing was for secretaries when I went to school} ,the biggest problem I find with written word is that it {or emotion} can be interpreted any way the reader likes, and people get offended far to easily these days, again, I meant no offense, I can tend to make things sound a bit blunt at times, but as I said, no offense intended. I had a look at your bike and it has a stock length gsxr swingarm, which is longer than stock kawasaki , your front end has the Zx clamps and forks, you have a 17 inch front wheel. I based my observations on these. I've been doing conversions like this for some time now . I have a friend who, apart from being a National race champion, is a mechanical engineer, makes his own racing frames and exhaust systems, is brilliant at setting up both race bikes, and sidecar race outfit suspensions , His twin brother also races vintage Japanese bikes, he's currently racing a 1100cc 1972 CB750 with a ceriani front end, I'm lucky to have access to a lot of very good gear and knowledge, I'm actually using his shop to modify my 750 R1 suspension and frame at the moment, I need his lathe to make up spring and axle spacers . lengthen the damper rods in the forks to match the longer fork tubes, and fit the swingarm . Motorcycle suspension is a bit of a pet project of mine, I've always been around racing , my father even raced jaguars in the 1960's. Don't get me wrong, your bike looks great, your suspension, after sorting out spring rates and adjustment would ride better than new easily, my point was you could definitely make changes to the geometry to make it more corner friendly, I'm not trying to bash it at all, I've seen some absolutely ridiculous bikes with bits and pieces from half a dozen different bikes bolted on and they all think they handle just great, in all reality, most wouldn't have a clue what a good handling motorcycle is like to ride. If you would like to know what your trail is, I'd need the fork length, from centre of the front axle to the top of the fork, the rake of the stock Kawasaki frame, the triple clamp offset , the diameter of the front tire fitted to the rim and the wheelbase, if I also had the equivalent stock dimensions of the 650, I could give a good comparison to the stock bike. I just finished reading another book on motorcycle suspension written in the mid 90's, It was kind of boring because it just went over everything I'd already read and understood, it was full of formulas that are no longer needed thanks to computers and rake and trail calculators, that use the very same formulas.. Suspension hasn't changed much in the last 30 odd years , it just been refined....

Bdog wrote: I didn't say it didn't. I have stiffened the frame with bracing, added '95 ZX6R front and '92 GSXR600 rear monoshocked. I did go through the stock bike first with progressive springs in the forks and new progressive shocks for the rear with a boxed steel swingarm. I have owned mine for almost 20 years and continue to tweek it now. I built it for me, and I do think that with the weight saving in rotational, unsprung weight, the ability to adjust rebound and compression for my weight, and a massive upgrade in braking power and feel, that it does all of what I have claimed. I do have reservations about the seat for long rides however.

On the track, a stock 650 would go round better than your bike with its modifications. Not trying to be an ass here but, Handling isn't about better brakes. You've altered every aspect of the bikes suspension without knowing what each change does or effects. Rebound , preload and compression are only adjustments, fine tuning, its the geometry that sets up a great handling bike. What is your fork length, {centre of axle to fork top} what is the triple clamp offset, what is the front wheel and tire diameter, what is the length of the swingarm, what is the angle of the swingarm ? ALL of these things have an effect on "handling", whilst I have no qualms with the new braking ability of the bike, and it probably looks great, It won't "handle" better than the stock bike. I'm in the middle of building a bike at the moment, I have spent hours doing the calculations for the new suspension {this isn't the first time I have done this}, I have had new fork tubes made to the correct length i need, I am using an 18 inch wheel set so the wheel with tire measurements, along with rake and offset are all used to calculate the correct geometry, I will end up with a different rake and offset which will give me about 100mm {4 inches} of trail, an ideal number for this bike with this set up. At the back I am using an alloy swingarm, twin shock at 500MM in length, the same length Moriwaki used on his Moriwaki Kawasaki monster from the early 1980's, that bike was a giant killing machine and started of Wayne Gardners international career, I then have to calculate shock length, Both with and without rider, to establish not only the correct swingarm angle, but what effect the rear has on overall rake, as this effects rake and trail at the front as well, measuring suspension "sag" and spring rates are also part of this equation. If I were to use 17 inch wheels I'd have to start calculating all over again as the smaller diameter wheels turn in quicker the the 18's I'm using. I'm not trying to talk down your bike, Its just that far too many people think that by simply bolting on more modern parts it makes the bike "handle" better, in all reality, that's just not correct... For well set up older bikes just look at AC Sanctuary's bikes, they are built to a formula that they know works. I'd also like to point out that even Kawasaki got it all wrong with the first Z1R, they simply bolted on a 18 inch wheel and did nothing about the triple clamp offset which produced real small trail numbers and a poorly handling bike, all the race bikes of that era used 18 inch front wheels, so Kawasaki simply bolted one on, it didn't work, a simple change of triple clamp offset would have made all the difference, they went back to a 19 inch front on the next model.

I didn't say it didn't. I have stiffened the frame with bracing, added '95 ZX6R front and '92 GSXR600 rear monoshocked. I did go through the stock bike first with progressive springs in the forks and new progressive shocks for the rear with a boxed steel swingarm. I have owned mine for almost 20 years and continue to tweek it now. I built it for me, and I do think that with the weight saving in rotational, unsprung weight, the ability to adjust rebound and compression for my weight, and a massive upgrade in braking power and feel, that it does all of what I have claimed. I do have reservations about the seat for long rides however.

Got a new bike to put this motor in. A 1978 kz650B. Did a tune up on the engine (helicoil in a cam cap, yay!) and will transfer the efi setup onto this 650 motor for testing.

Also ordered a 1997 zx9r front end (stock rim with 120/70-r17 tire) and a 1985 zx600 rear end (zr7 5" rear rim w/ 160/60-r17 tire). What a rabbit hole that was.... Using the zx600 rear because its the shortest aluminum swing arm i could find, and apparently the same rear brake rotor is used on the zx600, zr7, and zr9x, so it should fit together well.

the zr7 rear wheel and zx9r front wheel are very similar with a slight difference in the angle of the spokes, and different sized bearings. I ended up with the stock zx9r wheel as the brake rotors cover up the entire rim anyways :laugh:

It all depends on what you expect the bike to do post modification. The GSXR swingarm will be at least 6 inches longer, the Front end will have a 30/35mm offset triple clamp set giving you much more trail, the bike will handle like a pig, probably ok in a straight line, because of more trail and longer swingarm, but if you like canyon carving then straight up bolting on these parts will make it handle worse, if you are just going for looks then go for it, if you want it to handle, talk to people that know what they are doing...

So I was snooping around parts of my bike that I've never had a real reason to go snooping around. Just tracing wires, trying to learn as much about it as possible. Looking for where some of the removed police equipment might have gone (like I'm curious about where the amplifier was originally installed... the diagrams are very vague on that subject).

I found this. I'd read about it in the owner's manual but thought my bike didn't have one because the functionality seems to be absent.



I apologise for the blurriness. It's underneath the battery holder, and the swing arm is blocking me from getting a good picture of it. To get one this clear I had to put the bike on the service stand and shove my phone in a tiny space between the frame, swing arm, and the battery box.

It's a Stanley DUS-100 turn signal self-cancelling unit.

Is anybody familiar with how these things are supposed to work? Like behavior wise? For instance, is it a timer that just shuts off the turn signal? If it's hooked up and not working, would the turn signals just stay on or not even come on?

On the other side of it appears to be the voltage regulator.

That Ad is classic! I am going after this look. When I was young, never had any real money to build and modify these. I had my 1st mighty Z in 1977. Now Im 62, playing like a kid again! I will never learn! :laugh: :laugh: I'm gonna cheat with the GS Suzuki swingarm, have a 5" slick along with 18" front rim. That red tail is an original FRP ? Watson fiberglass, front fender is glass too. That is the plan anyway, might sit like this too, like my other 10 projects. Always loved them first professional Pro Stock drag bikes