1980 z1r front end conversion

after having done un-countable front end conversions for others i finally got around to getting my own together.
after having purchased multiple front ends,and putting alot of work into getting a 05 gsxr front end to play nice with a r1 wheel and brakes.i was cruising craigslist looking for a deal on a 04/05 zx10 i found a r6 lower triple with r1 legs and a vortex upper triple.i called the guy and set up a deal on the triples and legs.while composing a text to ask him about the brake components,he texts me back and ask if i want to buy the brembo big brake kit that was on the front end :blink: .um yes.
i had already decided to build a height adjustable upper triple,and had a couple of the pieces partially machined. .

leon

so the measuring and machining started.



i made it height adjustable by being able to remove and replace these blocks with different heights of custom made ones.




i needed to make up 3" of lost length from the kz front end.
i had decided against fork extensions and opted instead for a multi piece bolt together severe gullwing style upper triple.

leon

That is absolutly bad ass. I have never seen it done that way before.
/A

me either scubaanders
years ago i purchased an upper triple from irishwill that had some nice bar mounts,so i pressed them into service.


leon

i knew i had a lot of work left to do to get the z1r dash,headlight and fairing mounts done.so i figured in the interim i would just mount a 7" round headlight.
i wanted to make the mounts usable for the round headlight and later the brackets that would hold the dash,headlight,fairing mounts .
here is what i came up with.



i then made some cheek pieces that would hold the buell headlight.



the ignition switch on a z1r is mounted in the dash so i needed somewhere to mount it when i was running the buell headlight.
here is my solution for that.



leon

as anyone who has done one of these conversions knows steering stops become an issue.
i chipped the paint on my tank while fabbing the triple:sick: luckily i didn't dent the tank.
i cut a couple wedges of aluminum and fitted them to the lower tree to let me get all the steering lock i could.
then welded them in place.



leon

i purchased a carbon fiber front fender to use until i built the fender of my dreams :whistle:


i was finally able to get a little test ride in this weekend.
i say little because i somehow missed tagging it last year woops!
and ,i wasn't keen on getting stopped with an expired tag because around here that is an impoundable offense.
so only straight line testing as i live on the prairie and the curves are on the other side of town :pinch:

here you can see the front fender mounted.


here is how it looks currently.


and with the fairing mocked up.

i still have alot of aluminum chips to make before the fairing,dash,headlight gets mounted permanently.

i am pretty stoked with how it's turning out.
thanks for lookin.
leon

Whilst I understand why you've made that top clamp the way you have, I'd be worried about flex, with those joints on the vertical plane, most top clamps aren't as heavy duty as the bottom but, the top clamp should have zero play, it should be rigid. Adjustable offset clamps are made adjustable on the horizontal plane, not vertical, for very good reason, the way that clamp is bolted together on the vertical plane, will allow it to move {flex} , personally, I would tig weld the whole thing together.... The only way I'd even think about doing it that way would be if all those joints were doweled with an interference fit { I would have had fork extensions made myself}, having any play in that top clamp will put a lot of pressure on the bottom clamp too.. I like the work you've done but I would have made that part differently, or not at all.... Just my opinion

Damn Leon, that is badass! I need to pick you brain about building a CrMo swinger sometime.

750R1 thanks for the reply.
while i'm not here asking for anyones opinion.
i'm merely showing off the work i have done.
the clamp is perfectly rigid and will be observed for any signs of flex or shifting.
of which i expect none.
i am literally betting my ass on it.

doctorot thanks for the kind words.
hit me up anytime and we'll chat all about chromo swingarms :evil:

leon

It's not really shown in the pictures how you bolted them together, Did put some studs in between as well?
/A

scubaanders,
here you can see the 2 bolts on each side that go from the top and bolt into the riser,



there are also bolts from the bottom that bolt into the riser.

leon