'78 KZ1000 makeover

Adam,
Congrats on the swinger. That is one serious aluminum casting. Did you read the Tony Foale article that I forwarded to you? A SSSa basically cuts off one side of the triangle, so the other two sides need to be beefy.

I have the same question about the project thread. My project thread has already become slow to load due to all of the pictures. I was planning on seperating out all of the individual projects by heading and then linking my project thread to the sub-threads as an option. Hopefully the more experienced members or mods will weigh in on this.

Thank you Josh, and I just read the Foal artical. Somehow I missed in went I went through it the first time. I really liked that one though, as it speakes to me in language I understand: compression, tension, torsion and the geometry to resist those forces. I almost started to think about building a rig to check the torsional rigidity of my frame before and after mods, but I think just one more bite than I want to take right now. I have ENOUGH on my plate for the time being! :laugh: Now, I suppose its time to get started on the frame jig. Josh, did you want that frame weight with or without the swingarm?

Without, if you please. Sometime when you have to kill about six hours, check out this website. www.tonyfoale.com/ Loads of good info here. I would like to get a copy of his chassis book, but he wants 69 euros or about $95. It's probably worth it, but I'll have a hard time convincing myself to part with a Benjamin for it.

That is an expensive book at $86 (Amazon), but that guy has some good ideas and I bet there is valuable information in it. I wonder if the local library has it?...:huh: and

On with the show! Here are the base materials for my frame jig
I have (2) pieces of 2"x3"x6.5' rectangualr tubing. (4) peices of 1.5"x1.5"x18" square tubing. (3) peices of 2"x4"x12" rectangular tubing and (1) 2"x4"x18". All tubing is .120 wall mild steel tubing. I will need some more material for fixtures, but I'll get that later.

Now that I have something to modify my frame for (SSSA :woohoo: ) I thought I'd get started on the jig while my engine parts are out being matched to my cases

The 1.5x1.5" tubing is the transverse support for the main 2"x3" longitudinal jig base. Of the 4 transverse braces, the outside two will be located 5" from the end of the main rails. This will place them close to the wheel axle supports without being in the way. The other two will be located under the swingarm pivot and the engine cradle. Now, I need the fixtures (made of the 2"x4" tubing) to be tight between the main longitudinals for accuracy, but slide in easy without a beating by Uncle Ned (my sledge hammer)so I made a .030" shim by using 6 sheets of printer paper. I also clamped one of the other 1.5"x1.5" tubes to the top side of the longitudinals. This will act as a strong back and help prevent the main rails from rolling off of level when I start welding.

Another view

And a closer look...

Well well well. It just can't go smoothly, can it? I got everything set to weld that first transverse brace on and.....No Argon! That figures. I'll have to get the bottle filled up tomorrow, IF I can find a welding supply shop open on Saturday

I do have a question about posting though, if someone thats been here longer can enlightne me:

I break my projects up so the members with dial up can share. If there are a lot of pictures it will take so long to load that a lot of members will not be able to keep up with the build. Roy

porchev914, I'm impressed with your building skills to say the least. I'm a big fan of under tail exhaust and would like to see you work it out. Here is a pic I have of a nice system for your consideration....

Thanks Roy-b, I thought that might be the way to go, but I wanted to ask and be sure. I didn't even think about the slow load times for the dial up memebers. I'll start seperate postings in their appropriate forums.

And Bluemeanie your bike is bad ass! :woohoo: I love it! That is almost exactly the picture I had in my head for my build. do you have anymore pic of the installation? Is your tail piece stock? What mufflers did you use? We'll need to talk some more....

This is going to be 1 sweet ride porche, 1 sweet ride.
I agree with splitting the post up a bit.it may be dificult to organize it but i think its a good idea.