'78 KZ1000 makeover

531blackbanshee wrote:

like these .

leon

p.s.from here
www.rocketindustries.com.au/search.php?&...on&page=200&limit=50

leon

BTW Leon, you are right about my upper subframe mounts.....far to ghetto to leave it as is, so Tuesday I'm going to order some tubing ends and clevis mounts. Much cleaner, pro looking and better fitting. Thanks for the link bud.

Adam

So there I was, staring at my bike, wanting it to be done. I was thinking about paint, and the few tidbits I needed to finish the engine. But reality sunk in, and I realized I still had fabrication work that needed to be done before I could think about cleaning up the welds and painting the frame. Namely, I still had to make a battery box/mounts, electrical mounts, tail light, passenger peg mounts and outboard bearing support frame mounts. I bought a used '05 CBR1K tail light ($9 shipped) to see if I can make it work ok. I bid on some '05 GSXR750 passenger pegs, hopefully I'll get those for the $10 opening bid. I removed the stock electrical panels from the factory battery box, and set them aside. I need to make the battery box and mount the battery, then see how I want to integrate the electrical components. So this weekend, it comes down to the battery box. I had visions of titanium battery boxes, but I want progress so I settled for less exotic materials.

I started with a block of styrofoam and cut it to fit the battery plus a little for some foam padding. Nothing fancy, I used a straight edge, a sharpie and a hacksaw. I used a styrofoam block instead of the battery as a mold so that I could make the box deeper than the battery, and trim it to my desired depth.



I wrapped the styrofoam in packaging tape to keep the resin from sticking to it and make demolding easier. I picked up a different type of resin that I wanted to try on some other parts, and figured I'd try it out on the battery box. The new resin is vinylester, kinda in between Polyester and epoxy. Close to epoxy strength, but closer to polyester cost. It is catalyzed the same as polyester with MEKP, so it stinks, but its viscosity is much thinner than polyester, and thats what I was looking for.

The first layer of fabric



Then after a few layers of chopped strand mat, extra corner and edge reinforcing, a couple more layers of carbon fabric on the outside


Now I'll let it cure, check the battery for fit, trim it and see how I want to mount it. Then I'll mold in some brackets that will bolt to tabs I'll weld onto the subframe, then I'll weld a couple more tabs for the electrical mounts. I should dig my engine out of the rafters and bolt it into the frame and get the outboard bearing support mounts sorted. Details........

I wasn't super happy with the asthetics of the last layer of CF, so I sanded the outside of the box real quick and wrapped it one more time. After letting it cure I cut the top half off and dug out the styrofoam. I tossed in a piece of the foam padding and the battery to make sure it fit :whistle:


It could be worse. I certainly could have made it thinner and lighter, but it's holding a 10 lb hunk of plastic, lead and acid. I'd rather it hold up.......... Tomorrow I'll stick it in the frame and see where I can put the mounts to hold it. Perhaps I can even get the mounts cut and welded/laminated in place. That would be something

Nevermind :sick: :blush: I tried to fit the box in and......no go. I made the box wide enough to fit some 1/8" foam padding in on each side. That, plus the thickness of the laminate and the box won't fit between the frame rails. Now I have to make the battery box out of metal. Now I have an interesting carbon fiber box that, well, I can't do much with. Oh well, these kinds of things are to be expected. I'll make the next box out of aluminum, what the hell! :laugh:

Boy that's some kind of high zoot carbon fiber box to throw loose hardware into. Nice effort, and I think you are about to find out the part of the mods that I found most challenging. How to make all that electrical stuff fit in less space.

Did you get your vinylester resin from US Composits? I have a boat re-furbishing project that I'm working on, and I have been interested in that stuff for laminating casting decks and such. I have worked with epoxy and regular polyester resin, but never the vinylester. How did the resin perform for you? I would suspect that it might be a little easier to work with if it starts out thin. It would also be nice to save a little dinero while laying up the large expanses of fiberglass that I will be working with.

Youve been away from the bike for a little while it might take some time to get back into that honed,creative zone.that cool carbon box will make a real nice pencil holder for your desk.

the only thing about "taking forever" :pinch:
on a project is that some of the stuff you thought was "good enough"in the begining is not acceptable after seeing how much time you have put into the project.you are like "oh well might as well take the time to make it super trick" .


snowball effect,you know :laugh: .

keep swingin,you are way closer than when you started .

leon

how about some detailed pic's of your new pencil holder ? did u like the outcome. how did u like the new resin ?
nice try anyways.

Josh, I got the resin from my local supplier since it was easier. I paid $10 more for it here than at US Composites, but shipping would have eaten that up, so I suppose it would have been a wash. The resins viscosity was closer to that of the epoxy I have been using, which made whetting out the cloth easier and faster than using polyester resin. Having it be catalyzed also lends some flexibility, since I can back off the catalyst for longer working time when its warm/hot outside. It was a dark green color out of the can, but turned a darker amber color about 5 minutes after mixing the catalyst in. I'm not a big fan of using either polyester or the vinylester resin on carbon cosmetic laminates because it's not water clear. It muddies up the three dimensional look the fabric naturally has. But for a boat refurbish? I would definitely use this over polyester or epoxy. Cheap as polyester but its thin and whets out cloth so much easier and faster with longer working time than epoxy. I'd definitly give it a try on your project Josh.

Mark, when I get home I'll wipe the new/unusable battery box down and snap a few more pics. The new resin worked very well, especially for what I was using it for. Ultimately, I got the vinylester resin for my fuel tank. Vinylester resin is reportedly much more resistant to the chemicals in the newer fuel blends than epoxy. So my plan is to laminate the top couple layers of the tank top with epoxy and let that cure. Then I will prep the inside by sanding it then completing the layup with the vinyester and the remainder of the reinforcement. The tank bottom I'll do entirely with the vinylester. Thats the plan anyway. But really, the tank is not at the top of my priority list as much as finishing up any fab work on the frame so I can get it painted.

Leon, I emailed that company for its US importer since they're in OZ. Maybe you know of a US supplier of the same kind of parts before I start poking around myself?

Thinking about my battery tray.....maybe I will make it out of Ti. What the hell. The stuff I have is thin so it won't get in the way and its super strong. Hmmmmmm :silly:

adam,

www.polyperformance.com/shop/Threaded-We...e-Adapter-p-349.html

how many are you looking for?

i could just spin you some up if you are not needing a bunch.

leon

I would only need 2 Leon, but I also need the clevis ends to go with them as well. The ones from the site you linked are limited in variety. Any other suppliers/vendors on the top of you head Leon?