japstar
Been Around the Block
Hi there,
Some key things about me:
-Belgian fella
-Student engineering, but heart for hand work.
-Started out with restoring old Honda Camino
-Than Honda cb50
-Honda cb two fifty as daily ride, but hoping to change that with this project
This project has been going on for a while now, but only recently decided to start a project page on a decent forum.
I started off with buying two bikes. The ZX550A on the right for the engine (more power and no mechanical advance and better front fork), the KZ550 on the left for the cooler looking rear end and fuel tank.
Next up was stripping the frame of the KZ550 from redundant mounting points and backstructure.
Upon disassembling the front fork of the ZX550, it seemed teh stanchions were shot, so I needed to look for a new front fork. The fork of the KZ550 had an offset for the wheel axle, and i didn't want that.
As for the adjustments on the frame, I bended a hoop to weld on the rear end. I've cut out the sidewalls of the tank and brazed newly fitted knee dents in there. Originally, the tank had a bad shape, causing a discontinuïty with the seat. That was the first reasing to start grinding away on the fuel tank
I also straightened the frame (where the saddle will be mounted), because the stock frame had a kind of valley in the frame, not ideal for the straight seat I was aiming for.
I wanted a slightly bigger swingarm angele, so i modified the linkage dogbone to make ik longer. I made a I-profile like the stock dogbone, grinded the stock dogbone in two and welded the piece between it.
Accoring to kawasaki, the rear shock wasn't serviveable. But I didn't find that word in my dictionary so i added a valve to service the shocks.
I also found another front fork of a suzuki GS550, for dual disc brake. I also like the older look.
Modified the forks to lower them without the need to raise them in the clamps.
Also brazed on of the two rebound holes shut to get some more rebound control.
Some key things about me:
-Belgian fella
-Student engineering, but heart for hand work.
-Started out with restoring old Honda Camino
-Than Honda cb50
-Honda cb two fifty as daily ride, but hoping to change that with this project
This project has been going on for a while now, but only recently decided to start a project page on a decent forum.
I started off with buying two bikes. The ZX550A on the right for the engine (more power and no mechanical advance and better front fork), the KZ550 on the left for the cooler looking rear end and fuel tank.
Next up was stripping the frame of the KZ550 from redundant mounting points and backstructure.
Upon disassembling the front fork of the ZX550, it seemed teh stanchions were shot, so I needed to look for a new front fork. The fork of the KZ550 had an offset for the wheel axle, and i didn't want that.
As for the adjustments on the frame, I bended a hoop to weld on the rear end. I've cut out the sidewalls of the tank and brazed newly fitted knee dents in there. Originally, the tank had a bad shape, causing a discontinuïty with the seat. That was the first reasing to start grinding away on the fuel tank
I also straightened the frame (where the saddle will be mounted), because the stock frame had a kind of valley in the frame, not ideal for the straight seat I was aiming for.
I wanted a slightly bigger swingarm angele, so i modified the linkage dogbone to make ik longer. I made a I-profile like the stock dogbone, grinded the stock dogbone in two and welded the piece between it.
Accoring to kawasaki, the rear shock wasn't serviveable. But I didn't find that word in my dictionary so i added a valve to service the shocks.
I also found another front fork of a suzuki GS550, for dual disc brake. I also like the older look.
Modified the forks to lower them without the need to raise them in the clamps.
Also brazed on of the two rebound holes shut to get some more rebound control.