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I think the battery box is finished minus paint and adding foam for the battery. I ended up adding a small bar with two studs for the relays I’m adding in. One SPST for the coils and a SPDT for the headlight. Each will have it’s own fuse in the fusebox.
I started unwrapping the harness to chase down the extra wires for the second turn-signal/hazard relay. The Zx14 switch takes care of it internally so a second relay is redundant. I’m using the same style harness wrap and heat shrink tubing like I did with the DynaS.
More wiring competed. I think I have everything planned out. Just waiting on some correct colored wire to arrive for the main harness so I can keep constant with the Kawi wiring diagram. Right and left side switches are wired with new terminals and connectors.
I’ve been working on another bike for a guy so not much progress. But, I was able to pick up another seat in trade for some left over parts from the build. The cover is crap, but I ordered a repro stock cover so no worries there. The pan is about. 8/10 with a single small crack. My ultimate plan is to make a seat like the examples below. No one that I can find makes something similar for the 650’s; just the 900/1000’s.
Here’s what I’m starting with.
Tips or suggestions on shaving down the foam would be great. I’ve heard of electric carving knife or a grinder with sanding disc (messy?). Would like thoughts on adding a gel insert, too.
I use a serrated bread knife. I use a closed cell foam kneeling pad as an insert a lot and just trace the shape on the old foam then cut it out and lay it in the hole. My last seat I just completely replaced the foam with 2 layers of the pad and then a small bit of a lower density foam layer on top.
A file sander works great for fine shaping. I have a short one that runs a 3/8 x 13 inch belt but if you could get a hold of one that runs a 3/8 x 18 that would be even better. A long knife with a fresh ground edge works like a serrated knife for hacking off bigger pieces. Be extremely cautious using an angle grinder! It will move a lot of material but also will snag and run into things you don't want it to run into like your hand, don't ask me how I know.
Electric carving knife from ebay (NOT the wife's!) works great. And like Maritime sez - a thin layer of soft foam to "skin" it really smooths the look of the final upholstery.
Not much to report, but made a little time to start finalizing my rearset positioning. Not sure if I’m set on the location just yet. I may make the adapter plates needed with 2 or 3 different mounting possibilities for some adjustment…we’ll see. I’ll have to offset the pegs about 2” out from the frame so that the shift lever clears the sidestand. Just eye-balling it, the left engine cover will make ground contact about the same time the footpeg will.
I did give that option a thought, but that’s a more invasive surgery than I want to do with this project.
I removed the factory mount on my Gpz750 and made my own mount with a newer Ninja sidestand for the rearsets on it. Crappy pic, but shows what I came up with.
I made a print to machine out my rearset adapters. Good thing I plotted it at a scale of 1:1 as the OE mounting holes were WAY off! I think I adjusted the dims correctly so I’ll print it out at scale and try again.
Back to the wiring… I almost got the harness finalized. I have to purchase a couple small terminals and add a short branch to the main ground circuit then testing before completing the covering and wrapping.
I couldn’t get the holes to line up quite right with my 1:1 drawing as my measurements weren’t as accurate as I thought. I abandoned the print idea and decided the old school method of transfer punching and drilling holes in scrap plate is easier and a bit more accurate.
While I was at it, I drilled and tapped the pegs for M10 bolts. The rearsets originally use M8 hardware and even sleeve down a 10mm ID bearing to 8mm because of it.
I still want to tweak the peg and hole locations a small amount as well as design a tidy method to offset the brackets away from the frame. That will probably consist of round spacers with some registers so the load isn’t completely on the hardware.
I made one last template and got all the holes to line up where I wanted/needed them. I transferred the locations to some 1/2”x 3” 6061 bar and started carving the shape out.
Next I turned up the required spacers. I added a boss on each end. The stock peg studs have a 12mm diameter shoulder and 10mm threads, so I replicated the same setup on one end but with a 10mm through hole. The other I turned a 5/8” diameter boss to match a 5/8” end mill I had. The spacers offset the adapter plates 7/8” from the frame.
Once the spacers were done, I plunge milled the 5/8” holes in the adapter plate. I did this so the the spacer take some of the load rather than letting the bolts take it all in pure shear.
The mounted assembly gives me about 1/8” clearance between the shift lever and sidestand spring.
Now I just need to finish shaping the plates and make them pretty. I also may do something to the spacers to dress them up a bit since they are really plain looking.
PLEASE don’t mind the big oaf in the seat. He’s just there to make the bike look prettier. Honestly though, with the cut-down seat and new peg position, it’s much easier to squeeze the tank with my knees.
I also couldn’t help but hang the muffler on, too.
I planned on running pod filters like I’ve done on my Kz1000, but wanted a more “racey” feel and look. So after so internet scouring, I found some velocity stacks on eBay UK. They were selling cheap with a best offer option, so I scored all four for £16 ($21.98 shipped with tax)!! They’re meant for a pocket bike or some other small CC carb, but with about 5mins on the lathe each, they fit perfectly. I bored them from 40mm to 41mm to account for the rib running around the flange and 4.5mm deeper.
For having such a bad situation to start off with the wiring looks real nice man, I will be tackling that on my little bike this summer; seeing you dive into it like that is motivating me to get after my wiring project as well!
I actually enjoy wiring. I do suggest some good crimpers, terminals and connectors, if you don’t already have some. I try really hard not to use the colored bullet and spade terminals from the local parts store. I like factory style connectors where possible.
CoreMoto ran a Independence Day sale with 15% all brake lines including custom ones so I jumped on it. I missed their Black Friday sale last year, but wasn’t quite ready anyways.
I have a black rear Brembo coming to match the fronts. The gold one was just a place holder.
The main harness is done as far as I’m concerned. I had to add a third relay as I wasn’t thinking clearly about my headlight circuit and the headlight was on as soon as I connected the battery…now it’s all good. I need to find some decent harness straps and I hate zip-ties holding harnesses to frames. They’re ok for keeping the harness wrap from undoing, but I like the ability to not cut the zip-ties if I need to move the wiring to get to something.
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