'78 KZ1000 makeover

wow, they look great. they will really be noticed when its all on the frame.

porchev914 wrote:

Black black black

Black is a good choice, but just make sure that the part is very clean before you give it to the anodize shop. Blow out any recesses, and wipe the flat surfaces down like you were getting ready to paint it. Take special care to make sure that there is no left over coolant from the machining process. The shop should do that for you, but it never hurts to be too careful.

Many of the parts that my machine shop makes are required to be black anodized, and we have had batches come back with lighter spots which look purple. It's due to parts that aren't perfectly clean before they go for the electrolyte bath. What often happens, is that some small amount of water soluble coolant will be trapped in a threaded hole, and it works it's way out in the bath.

Just like anything else, good prep work is key.

porchev914 wrote:

On a side note, has anyone ever ordered hardware from Bikebandit? I placed an order for some bike specific nuts and bolts a couple weeks ago. I haven't heard a damn thing since....... :dry:

If you look to the right of the part number on their online order form, you will see a clock. Highlight the clock with your cursor, and it should tell you the est. delivery time. Green means it's in stock and will ship right out. Red is not in stock and longer delivery time. I have had good luck by ordering all the in stock items together and not putting in any special order stuff. Usually if the stuff is in stock I get it in 3 days. Last time that I ordered a non stock item it took about 10 days, but this wasn't a dealer item.

Good info! I for one appreciate the heads up Test!

DoubleDub wrote:

Good info! I for one appreciate the heads up Test!

Yeah, I thought you guys wouldn't want the awesome purple spotted parts after paying a shop for a one-off anodize job. We have seen this problem from multiple shops, so it's not just one bad outfit giving us problems. On the parts we make, anything other than black is un-acceptable. They are part of a very sensitive microscope spectrometer that cannot have any stray light penetration within the assembly. Here's a link to one of the more common units that the company builds: www.brukeroptics.com/senterra-overview.h...=0&print=1%98309527F

Wow those triples and forks look awesome...I really want my next project to be a modern-suspension-swap-KZ-type project.

I think the black anodize will look very nice...but man, I'd have a hard time hiding all that beautiful aluminum. What about polishing it and clear anodize? Just a thought...they are beautiful either way. I feel the same way about all aluminum in general..don't like to see black alum swingarms either....hides the natural alum beauty. just my $.02!

It's probably just my memory, but I don't remember a bearing seal on the top?? Maybe mine was/is missing? :blush:

Thanks for the heads up Josh. I'm going to polish some of the surfaces that are seen so you don't see any of the machining marks. I was going to give the triples a thorough bath in acetone before going to the shop. Now you're lecturing me on prep importance The tables have turned :ohmy:

I had thought about simply polishing the triples Mike. But after thinking about it for quite some time, I decided to go black for 2 reasons. One, the fork sliders are black, and the black triples with polished stainless hardware will look really tough and make a good color match with the sliders and contrast on the bronze upper tubes. Two, I didn't want the triples overstated. Polishing would make them stand out, and the theme of the bike is moving toward an understated custom. I'm going to try and keep things from standing out, with everything except the engine being dark. Or something like that :S

porchev914 wrote:

Now, for the Coup-De-Gras :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

In my living room when I got home was a box wrapped in what I can only describe as standard Canadian issued packing tape. Inside that box was the crown jewel of my front end

Here are my custom triple's, courtesy of irishwill

:woohoo:
Oh...I think I need a moment to myself...
...wow!

gotta agree. I think the black anodise will look good with the stainless bolts.I like the understated custom look.gotta look twice to really see everything.

OK...you convinced me on the black. Going back and looking at pictures of the forks, I think black will look better and the SS hardware will set them off nicely.

As far as the offset...the main purpose is to allow the forks to slide further down in the triples so the front end of the motorcycle will be higher, right? I'm sure the GSXR forks are shorter and this helps to "offset" that?

Well, you could look at it like that, but the big deal is that a lot of inverted forks are shorter in overall length and you could end up taking away some critical ground clearence if your front end drops too close to the ground. You are going to want to pay attention to your steering geometry.