Yes... will be good to meet up Stuart. got to say Im quite enjoying my little jaunts into Shropshire and Cheshire. Will be nice to get back into Wales, considering the border is at the bottom of my road, but the Shires have thrown up some nice routes that Ive never bothered with before, and much quieter than our normal Welsh runs👍👍
Shhh, dont tell everyone.Originally Posted by Enoch
A massive improvement!
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Blimey, that's amazing! A really tastefully done piece of work. I was pleased with myself when I managed to fit a silencer for my bike which was designed to fit my bike!
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Last edited by manganr; 1st February 2021 at 19:40.
I always ride with the panniers on my GSA and the winter months can wreck them so I got some plates laser cut at work to strap onto the pannier bars for mounting Kriega look a like soft luggage to.
Gave me something to do!
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The start of my planned Africa Twin nut & bolt restoration has been delayed as the guy doing it had to have an operation. In the interim Ive been wondering whether to change plans and, rather than restoring it to as new, ask him to come up with a plan for customising it. Im still in two minds though, so thought Id get some other opinions.
The bike is a 1991 XRV RD04, so the first of the 750 models, and they seem to be fairly rare these days.
So, what would you do, have some fun with it or rescue what is now a classic?
Please rescue it!!!The start of my planned Africa Twin nut & bolt restoration has been delayed as the guy doing it had to have an operation. In the interim Ive been wondering whether to change plans and, rather than restoring it to as new, ask him to come up with a plan for customising it. Im still in two minds though, so thought Id get some other opinions.
The bike is a 1991 XRV RD04, so the first of the 750 models, and they seem to be fairly rare these days.
So, what would you do, have some fun with it or rescue what is now a classic?
+1
Decent bikes that can be rescued, should be IMHO.
Theres plenty of tat out there which is much better suited to modifying and playing with. I should know, I keep buying them!
please rescue!
don't bastardise!
it's a nice old bike, pretty sought after and capable for its time.
Old adventure bikes polish up nice!
My first Ducati was an 89 900 supersport. It was quite a shock coming from modern Jap fours.
Here's an old pic of my 78 SS900 Desmo, probably the only bike of the many I've owned that I regret selling, having owned it for twenty years.
Yeah, gotta say that was a mistake.
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Memories... Fabulous bike.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
One of my current projects is to put a tuned Gpz1100 engine into a 78 Z650 frame, along with modernish suspension, brakes etc. I needed tp polish the engine covers before they could be used, however as I got started, I noticed a shallow dent in the clutch cover. I could've got another from Ebay, or bought an aftermarket one from the Japanese / US tuning shops. Nah, that's too easy... so lets make one instead. This is how it was done, its a little deeper than the OE version, in case I want to use a lock up in the future.
Youve got to many toys👍👍
It's worse than that mate, he's using them, too.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Nice work, but why did the piece in picture 3 start off much thicker than needed? I must be missing something?One of my current projects is to put a tuned Gpz1100 engine into a 78 Z650 frame, along with modernish suspension, brakes etc. I needed tp polish the engine covers before they could be used, however as I got started, I noticed a shallow dent in the clutch cover. I could've got another from Ebay, or bought an aftermarket one from the Japanese / US tuning shops. Nah, that's too easy... so lets make one instead. This is how it was done, its a little deeper than the OE version, in case I want to use a lock up in the future.
End result is great though.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Yes it looks odd. Its actually not one thicker piece of alloy, but three, as once I decided to make one, my mate (who did the hard work) decided he'd make two more for himself, and since the set up takes the main amount of time, its not much more work to make three as one.
This is something he has been working on during the recent lockdown, makes my stuff look easy..
I will be fitting the Altrider bash plate to my GSA Triple Black tomorrow. The one I fitted to my last GS was infinitely easier than this one. Hopefully some of the instructions will make more sense tomorrow.
New custom seat designed from my tattoo.
New Headlight, pegs, exhaust wrap, tyres, brakes, discs and spring clean.
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Dont look back, youre not heading that way.
Very cool springer.
And there's me working out how best to fit a Givi Maxia to a Road King Special :-)
New Speedo/Rev counter set. Smaller than standard Triumph Bonneville dials and in polished stainless steel housings rather than plastic.
I have a little MT-125 until I can get to take my DAS, I have an issue using paddock stand as the ABS sensor on the rear wheel. I've found this, but I'm not 100% it would be safe to do. Anyone care to comment?
http://r125trackbike.blogspot.com/20...rspick-up.html
Thanks
Fish
I've wanted to buy my old Turbo Zed back for awhile, as its owned by a friend. He started to restore / modify it but hasn't been able to do much with it for a few years. Like me he has other bikes that need work, and there's only so much time and money he can devote to his projects.
The bike was built in the mid eighties as a road legal drag bike.. I'm told by the original owner that it was one of the fastest such bikes of the time.
Fast forward twenty years, the poor Zed had been left languishing in a damp shed when I saw it, bought it and brought it home. The engine was stripped and found to have bent conrod and other serious problems.
The original plan was to restore it back to its turbocharged glory. But as ever life gets in the way and I sold it on to my friend who had other plans for the old Zed.
The turbo has long gone, as have the lightweight wheels, forks, frame an bodywork! But even so the engine is still something special. It has a big block from the states which allows it to be take a set of big pistons, taking the engine from 1000cc up to 1400cc. Oh and it also had homemade Nitrous Oxide injection too... that was super dodgy so it wont be used.
The good news is that the bike comes with a different Z frame, that's been braced and strengthened and modified to take wider modern wheels, its even powder coated. In place of the classic Z1 bodywork, it comes with a mint set of bodywork from a late seventies Z1000 Mk2.
I'm still thinking about which way to take the Zed... build it as a road bike, turbo it, or maybe go for broke and build a 'show bike' with lots of high end parts... inspired by the Japanese custom house ''Sanctuary RCM'' Google them they are v impressive bikes.
Probably take about a year, just in time for my Birthday.
First two pics as it once was, when I bought it, last pic as it sits now, having just bought it back..
If it was me I wouldnt do it as the swing arm is a stressed member and any cracks will only end in pain. On my Kawasaki, where any penetration or item is hung off the frame the big K have welded a nut or boss on. Thus the item , steering damper , bobbins etc screw into the welded part not the frame.
Im sure there will be better folk with more engineering knowledge along soon to advise.
Steve
Personally I think itd be fine, and wouldnt have an issue doing it if it were my bike..
Why do I say that?
Well it looks as though there is a raised boss there which will add extra thickness. And secondly the area around the chain adjusters is going to be fairly strong anyway. Thirdly, yes youre drilling a hole, but youre also filling that hole with metal ie an M6 bolt.
Peoples aversion to risk is different and I can understand why some would say its not a good idea. But for me, thats a small mod and I cant really see it causing a problem.
just get an ABBA stand instead ? you can also buy adapters so it can be used with most other bikes
https://abbastands.co.uk/
Small holes can be worse than large holes, as they can be greater stress-raisers. Of course - you can reach a (large) size of hole where you have diminished the parent metal to the extent of causing failure.
Drilling a (say) 5mm hole might not be critical but - introducing a thread to it, really increases the chance of crack propagation. Crack propagation can be extremely rapid once started.
I'd steer clear of drilling/tapping.
Having finally pulled the bodywork out of its packing, that came with my new project, I've had a change of heart about giving it a new paintjob. The original paint is just too good to be resprayed. The tank did around 2000 miles on the bike back in 1979, before it was removed and stored for many years. So now I'm just going to have the ZRX12 front mudguard colour matched, as the bike is getting forks from a ZRX1200.
Keep it original paint wherever possible, always the best option on classics, long term it will add value. Short term it just looks correct for the period
Sanctuary all the way!
Theyre amazing.
Im with Enoch on this; Id be happy drilling a small hole in an aluminium swingarm.
Not knowing how thick the aluminium is on such a small bike however, I dont know whether it would be thick enough to cut enough of a thread into to support the bobbin.
A local fabricator could quite easily make up and weld a pair of bobbin supports on the underside of the swingarm though.
Wow, they look brand new!
Is this one going to be fairly standard apart from the ZRX forks?
Are you doing a complete front end as its so much easier than just changing the forks?
When I bought the project from a mate, it only had the bodywork, a modified frame and the complete ZRX front end. The frame has been braced and has a ZRX swingarm fitted. It was never going to be a standard bike. The engine is coming from an old Z1 turbo I used to own, but rebuilt with 1400 forged pistons, big valve, flowed head, welded crank and so on. The forks have been rebuilt with new stanchions and they may end up going off to maxton to be revalved, not sure yet. Wheels will be lightweight Dymags.. which I'm currently saving my pennies to buy. Brakes, controls etc will be top end stuff, not decided which parts yet. I also have another Zed I'm building, that one has a 1170 motor in a Z650 frame, which is closer to being completed.
Thats an intricate piece of work (well art really!).
I hadnt noticed the upside down mono shock mechanism, is there any reason for this as all the Japanese systems Ive seen have the linkage below the swingarm and the top of the shock fixed to the frame? Adjustable ride height too by the look of it?
I dont suppose it matters which way its done as long as the shock gets compressed!
Last edited by Dave+63; 5th April 2021 at 09:26.
Im not sure why Harris did it that way other than the F1 was kind of based on the Yoshimura/Suzuki XR69 racer of the late 70s. I guess Pops Yoshimura must have had his reasons, but I dont think it matters much, you still get rising rate suspension it just takes up less room if the rocker hangs off the bottom.
Looking at the connecting rods, they appear adjustable. Where they are in that set up certainly makes it easier for the mechanics to quickly adjust the ride height. Not so critical on the road but useful in a race set up situation.
Theyre also much shorter than underslung linkages so will possibly save a little weight too.
Last edited by Dave+63; 5th April 2021 at 09:31.
Without being able to see it, Id assumed the lower end of the shock was fixed to the frame.
Id never quite understood how the Suzuki full floater actually worked and compressed the shock from both ends. Finally, its now clear to me, thanks for the info.
I once had a set of Dymags that I got along with a Tigcraft Supermono. I had standard ZXR400 wheels with wets on too. The weight difference was unbelievable.
I saw your post re the Z650 and will be interested to see the end result. Ive had a couple in the last and would like another but struggle to justify the prices theyre now fetching (and I cant have too many bikes in the garage). Most re-engined Z650s tend to have the GPz750 motor, either standard or 810 which is obviously a much easier job than yours!
The classic 3 spoke Dymags can now be had in alloy as well as magnesium, I'm trying to decide between the 3 and 7 spoke alloy options.. both are very cool and very light. As they should be for 2200.
The Z650/1170 was another project I bought which hadn't got very far when I got it. A bodged frame which had already been cut up, engine cases, block and head that all needed huge amounts of work and money to use.. head and cases were both cracked. Oh and a Z1000 tank. Not much really.
Wheels came from my old drag bike, forks from an R6, swingarm another ZRX1200. Its a real bitsa.
One problem with widening the frame, is that the seat and tail section don't fit, so had to make a new seat base and widen the duck tail.
Ive got an R6 front end on one of my projects and a VFR400 rear. My endeavours pale into insignificance next to yours though!
One problem with using the R6 front end on an older bike is that the R6 front guard doesn't look right, and so far I haven't found anything suitable that would fit straight on the fork mounts. What front guard will you be fitting, if any?Ive got an R6 front end on one of my projects and a VFR400 rear. My endeavours pale into insignificance next to yours though!
Im not sure yet; Ive got the R6 mudguard which could go on but Ive put a fork brace on it and may just hang a small chrome or plastic guard from that.
That said, I dont think the zxr400 mudguard looks out of place on my other gpz
I hoped the forks would be the same as those on a XJR13, they are similar, but the guard mounts are different. I'll probably make a fork brace and bolt a suitable retro looking guard to its underside.
Its never that simple is it?
Hanging something from the fork brace seems the easiest option although I had to buy mine as I dont have the tools to make one.
Im sure the wife wouldnt be too happy if i spent a few grand on a lathe and milling machine just to make a few bits!
Ive got a crappy bench mounted pillar drill and am considering upgrading to a decent floor standing unit so that could double up as a vertical Miller.
Looking at both, it may not be too difficult to fit an xjr mudguard with a spacer or two.
R6
XJR
A few bits n bobs on the XDiavel..
Yes its frustrating to see such a small difference, why didn't Yamaha just keep them the same lol.. Might buy a s/h XJR guard and see how it looks/fits..Looking at both, it may not be too difficult to fit an xjr mudguard with a spacer or two.
R6
XJR
The R6 mounts are also about 12mm greater between centres but thered probably be just enough room to get two offset bolt holes in the spacers for the front mounts.
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