The Gixxer I have now id the one at the show behind the KZ.

MAR.

Very good to hear from you as well. I moved to Washington State. Been pretty busy with household things, so the GIXXER will be a winter deal.

The "plan" is modern forks, and carbon fiber wheels. The bike is really light, and I think it will really benefit from carbon. Because Paul gifted the bike to me I owe it to him to take it up a notch, and will be able to afford it.

The KZ needed suspension work, I bet it made a real difference. It's light, and the frame should be really really stiff. Good suspension would really bring it into modern bike performance range.

Paul lives in Livermore, CA. would be cool if you found yourself around there to arrange a cup of coffee with Paul, he really digs the KZ. He rides a Guzzi and has a weak spot for mid eighties VFR 750's.

You getting miles on the KZ makes me smile, I sure appreciate hearing about it. My phone number is still the same as when we met if you ever need advice on my redneck handiwork. Reminds me I was looking at Autometer web page, they have some classy looking gages for motorcycles there if the speedo problem is still active.

www.autometer.com/gauges/pro-cycle.html#1&profile=products

TK
GOOD to hear from you. The Z1B is wonderful. Just took it to Dave Moss to work on the suspension. Fells much better. He suggested rebuilding both forks and shocks and put in 5 weight oil.
Bike probably has around 6k miles on it and no matter where I ride it draws a lot of attention. I have heard countless stories of guys their KZ 900s doing remarkable feats. LOL.
What the plan for the Suzuki?

Thanks for the reply and info. I came across many many RFY stories and they seem to be the most plentiful cost effective ones out there. I heard more negative than positive though. Based on your input it sounds as though your experience is good. What model did you get and how long have you had them for? The biggest thing I was concerned about was the eyelets not lining up correctly and having to make spacers and such, those seem to be the general complaint in regard to the RFY shocks, that and the longevity. Thanks again!

Some people get Chinese shocks and compare them to Ohlins, and surprise surprise, they're not as good.

I got mine from Ali express and I've only had them on for about 6 weeks, but I've been happy with them.

These are the ones I got: www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.html?order...roductId=32841532582

There are a few options on length, colour, eyelet sizes and spring size if you order from ali express. I asked the seller for the correct eyelet sizes and the 8mm spring instead of the 7mm spring - the stock spring is 7mm but I was bottoming out even with full preload and without luggage. The 8mm spring is noticeably stiffer, but feels more like a modern bike, and corners much nicer now that the back end doesn't dip in so much.

They have less travel, but not by a huge amount - 3.2" of travel, I don't have the stock shock travel in front of me (it's in the service manual), but it's slightly longer . The harder spring means this doesn't matter so much though. You can compare the spring rates here: chrislivengood.net/wp/rfy-shock-updates/

They bolted straight on - the only clearance issue was the bottom of the shock was touching the chain guard, but that may have just been because my chain guard was slightly bent. I bent it back in a little further and no issues. Some other models (mostly hondas I think) use a clevis instead of an eyelet like the kawasaki's do. Sometimes those clevis fittings are too wide and give a lot of movement between the shock and the swing arm, and can cause the clevis to fail. I think this is the main reason why these shocks have a bad rep on some forums - a one-size-fits-all clevis fitting is used where it really shouldn't be. For eye-to-eye shocks, it's not an issue. I think the shocks are ever so slightly longer - maybe 5mm - because sometimes both wheels can touch the ground when the centre stand is down. There's not much in it though.

I swapped for a kz650B rear wheel on my kz750G which had a 16" mag drum brake rear from the factory.

The KZ750B has factory disk and a 20mm axle. KZ650 has factory drum brake and a 17mm axle. To put the KZ650 wheel on the twin you will need to find bearings for conversion, and ream the brake plate out to 20mm. You will also need custom wheel spacers, weld a torque link mount to the swingarm, and devise a new brake linkage.

KZ750 have a rather unusual conical rear hub so finding an existing rim and spokes will likely be difficult.
IMO the easiest way is to buy rims and spokes from Buchanan's. Lacing and truing wheels ain't too hard, just takes patience.

yeah I'll need to do some research. I can't seem to readily find GPZ 550 specific wheels anywhere, but some Lesters for a KZ 900 were on ebay. I shoul probably just start planning a fork swap to something more modern and solve a few problems at once (brakes, modern tires, better suspension, better looks etc.) Perhaps a Ninja 500 fork nad wheel swap,. Wondering about adapting a similar wheel to the existing swingarm, but againI should just do some research instead of asking vague questions here.
Thanks for the thoughful reply and I really do appreciate a lot of things I've learned here or been inspired by from y'alls projects. Thanks for all of that if I've never said it.
Y'all should probably hear it more than you do.

MAR,

How are things, how is the bike?

The GSXR in a few of these photos is now mine. The owner decided to give it to me, very generous of him. I now have another custom to ride.

Dr. Gamma wrote: If you are looking for a light set of 18 inch wheels, look into find like some 1986~1987 GSXR750/1100 wheels. The early 1100's had a 2.75X18 front and a 4.00X18 rear. The 750 had a 2.50X18 front and a 3.50X18 rear. And they don't weigh much at all!!!

If my Morris on my MK II start to come apart, I might have to adapt the extra GSXR1100 wheels I have for my GSXR750 LTD. I like the vintage Morris wheels Marvic is making, but at over 3,500 U.S. dollars for a pair. I would have to sell my kidney to afford a set!!!!

Just saw this post...I know it's old but I had to reply.....in regards to the 86/87 GSXR wheels, I did use them on my 1981 GPZ1100....they seem to me to be a no brainer. I milled out spacers, and tweak here and there. Used a gsxr rear brake, milled some pieces for it. Welded the brake mount on the bottom. I had to mill the brake rotor mounts in about 6mm to clear the stock forks. Milled the speedometer drive down a little and a little off the fork. The drive even works with a 1984 GPZ1100 or ZX 750 speedometer and gauges. IT's ~3 MPH off at 75mph. Tank gauge works, tach etc.... I used a zx750 light cluster and it bolted right on with some english. I hated that friggin ugly cluster that come on the b1... Using the stock swingarm I didn't have to use a offset front sprocket so no worries with the pickoff shaft side loading and toasting the bearings and seals. I had to cup the swing arm just a tad, nothing big. I used the 1100 rear wheel so i could run a 150 or 160, but if you used the 750 3.5" and a 140 it will clear no problem. Of course, like all projects, I found a even better "family recipe" using a set of zx1100 triple clamps (which are ~.75" wider, and zrx1100 rotors(same bolt pattern)) which have 1/3" the offset, which them makes milling the rotor mounts not necessary. You do need to make a brake adapter, which is easy. However...the gixxr axle front axle is 2mm larger, so I had to make some inserts on my lathe so the fit was correct. All of the small stuff is a pain in the butt, and took 90% of the time. So far no issues I aligned the front and to 1/8" and have experienced no wobbles or slappers. I need to seriously upgrade the front fork internals. I have a set of racetech springs and GoldValve Emulators ready to be installed. I am installing a fork brace and steering dampener as well. Rear shocks are off a ZRX1100 rebuilt and revalved and with hyperpro springs by Jamie Daughtery. He says don't bother with the Ohlins, the KYB's properly tuned work as good ot better for way less.


Do you know what the weight difference is between the GSXR wheels and you Morris's? I'm sure they weigh way less.

JS-

loudhvx wrote:

531blackbanshee wrote: a rod through the pivot set in some v-blocks and a rod through the axle slot in set in v-blocks will tell the tale on the swingarm.

leon

That's what I did.

I think I also used some blocks and a big square to make sure the swingarm axle mounts were equally offset from the ends of the pivot tube. (In other words making sure the axle is centered between the swingarm bosses on the frame, and thus the axle is centered on the frame.)

if i understand you correctly, that was one of the first things i looked at.
by axle you’re referring to the actual rear axle and not the swing arm pivot bolt?
the axle seems fine as long as the markings are to be trusted. but i’ll be remeasuring everything when i take the wheel off for tire mounting.