KZ900 Streetfighter

I really like this mono shock setup.

Well done and if they were to do a factory version...might be like this.

excellent job......

question what is keeping the gas from sipping out of the " T".....is it the fact that the two pieces were pressed together?

too answer for doublezed,
the .002 interference fit(the id of the hole is .002 smaller than the od of the barbed piece.) should seal it up.


leon

Thanks for the compliments guys, I feel like it really is on the home stretch. It's funny you should mention factory style, 4TheKz1000, I was aiming in that direction from the start, but I felt like I lost some of that factory-esque appeal when it came to the bracing around the upper mount. Glad to see the vision wasn't totally lost. It kinda makes me reconsider it being called a "streetfighter" (I really don't know what to call it :side: ) but I like to think I kept the character of the KZ while making it perform at a more contemporary level, and it looks bad ass doing it! :evil:
Spdy, you are correct about the press fit. I am relying on the interference to provide the sealing action and since its not under any considerable pressure I think it should be ok. In hindsight I could have used a little threadlocker or epoxy and it might have filled any gaps, but most likely it would have been wiped off anyway. I can tell you that it took a little bit of force to crank the vice, so its either a nice fit (I tell myself) or its galled it so bad it leaks like a sieve lol. I should have gone and checked it out today, but I started homework as soon as I got back from class. I'll see if I can make it out to the shop tonight and report back.

Thanks Leon, I used to keep a few Carroll Smith books (Engineer to Win, etc...) on race engineering and pick up knowledge wherever I can; the .002" interference fit is one that I recall from a when I started tinkering in the shop when I was in my early teens ( I talk like I'm old, I'm only 23! :lol: ). But I'm always trying to learn more, which is what has led me to pursue a degree in engineering. I'm just finding it takes a lot of time and determination these days to make that goal.

I can't imagine it leaking, but if it does, you could always aluminum braze it at the joint on either side.

Cory

another option would be to heat the cross piece(with the big hole) to about 450 for 30 minutes and freeze the barbed piece for the same amount of time and then slip then together and let them cool.
guaranteed no galling then,but you really need a honed finish to insure no leaking.

leon

Been a little bit since my last update. Its such nice weather here, really want to go for a ride... :whistle:
First up, I got my carb float levels checked and the T's hold alcohol, although I could see the level of fluid dropping ever so slowly in the feed tubes, never a drip fell in over three hours...
I bought some muffler packing called Techmat. $20 flat for a 12X24 sheet and its bout an inch thick. I was able cut it in half and then cut it diagonally to spiral wrap around the insert. Then I hit the can on the buffer real quick and used a couple stainless screws to lock the cone down.



I painted the hanger with VHT metallic black (looks like graphite) and bolted it and the muffler onto the frame and slipped the repainted header on (VHT again). I ran into a little issue with the #3 and #4 collars not slipping by the frame very well when I was doing the mock-up last year. I knew I would have to shave down the one side of them. They turned out decent and you can't really tell at a distance. I could have painted them black but I wanted some contrast up there to go along with the polished fins on the head and the other intake candy. Probably going to either paint the carb tops or polish them. I *almost* went with titanium header wrap since the primaries were pitted with rust, but I decided I could come back to it another time. My dad and I think it would look good. The bike really doesn't have the "cafe appeal", it would lean more to the "race inspired" look, but I have a bit of a problem with that. I don't like to do things of this matter strictly for aesthetics. I'm sure it would fit the bill with the overall appearance of the bike. In reality, though, the header wrap, though beneficial for keeping exhaust temps consistent to aid evacuate gasses from the ports a little better, i.e. "scavenging", I think it is a bad idea for bikes and cars driven every day for my own reasons. For looks, nothing would beat some chrome or even better, polished stainless tubes... drool.... But ceramic coating would probably be the best compromise of thermal efficiency, looks and the headers lasting longer. Maybe one day...

Speaking of polished, I think there should be more of it So I hit the handlebar risers then repainted the super bars. To be honest though, I like the little touches of chrome/polish here and there, none of it seems out of place to me. I think I want to add the red-line treatment to the front rim
too, maybe I'm the only one who likes the splash of red, but it has never bothered me.

Getting a little mixed up with my posts lol!
I also thought it might be time to put headlight mounts on too, along with the cheapy ($40 :side: ) blinker lights I found. Call me old school, but I like that they are incandescent bulbs rather than LEDs. I don't have much faith in cheap LED's anymore. The mounts are just bent 1/8" sheet Al with a gusset welded in the corner. My previous mounts were beefier (as seen in the pics at the beginning of the thread), but they were a pain to install and personally I don't think they functioned well. I had theses on the back burner for a long time and opted to give the T-bolt clamps a try per some reports on other sites. I think they are the shiz! Very simple design and said to work better than rubber bands and zip-ties! :woohoo:


I also installed the steering damper and top clamp, finally. Both were painted with VHT, the damper with cast aluminum and the clamp with black metallic.



getting a little more done each weekend. looking forward to starting her up soon. Happy wrenching

You're getting so close with the build! She's looking fantastic. I love that little tail kick up you've welded in to kick the tail cone up a bit. Overall, really clean build and great fabbing ideas. Almost at the finish line!

DoubleZed wrote: Getting a little mixed up with my posts lol!
I also thought it might be time to put headlight mounts on too, along with the cheapy ($40 :side: ) blinker lights I found. Call me old school, but I like that they are incandescent bulbs rather than LEDs. I don't have much faith in cheap LED's anymore. The mounts are just bent 1/8" sheet Al with a gusset welded in the corner. My previous mounts were beefier (as seen in the pics at the beginning of the thread), but they were a pain to install and personally I don't think they functioned well. I had theses on the back burner for a long time and opted to give the T-bolt clamps a try per some reports on other sites. I think they are the shiz! Very simple design and said to work better than rubber bands and zip-ties! :woohoo:

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I also installed the steering damper and top clamp, finally. Both were painted with VHT, the damper with cast aluminum and the clamp with black metallic.

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getting a little more done each weekend. looking forward to starting her up soon. Happy wrenching

That's a cool idea with the T-clamps as some of the custom sized mounts you find on the net are stupidly expensive.

Another thing I like about these is that I can always come up with a new set to suit my style, Stazi. I didn't like what I was seeing at commercial venues, I was looking at the headlight/turn mounts the Sanctuary bikes use but anything remotely like that was out-of-this-world expensive. Its too bad the turns signal housings are plastic instead of metal, I actually think they look nice, rather plain or understated looking. I'm afraid to over tighten the lenses for fear of cracking the casing.
This is what I came up with before eventually ditching:


the rear is a bit different, I'm still not all that satisfied, I just got fed up redoing the tail. This is the third or fourth rendition. And I still think I want to change it...
This:


Became this:

I'll post the rest of the tail section construction.