78 Kawa KZ650 Road Racer/Cafe Project

Your swingarm angle looks high, even for the rear suspension being unloaded. Maybe you've accounted for this already, I was just making the observation. Still I love the project and I have been following along. The modernized cafe is definately my style.
 
bench grinder makes polishing SO SO much easier... i have a full buff wheel and could rip out a show polish on that cover in about 30 min... just to give you an idea of how much it will make a diff!
agree with chris, the seat needs shortened... those shocks where dope, too bad you are not oging to use them... heavy as hell huh? that sucks
 
mandwer said:
Your swingarm angle looks high, even for the rear suspension being unloaded. Maybe you've accounted for this already, I was just making the observation. Still I love the project and I have been following along. The modernized cafe is definately my style.
Click to expand...

Yeah - judging from the pics it looks like you might have issues with the chain rubbing on the top of the swingarm ??

I like the rear up stance though....but I like fighters so what do I know ?? ;D
 
Unfortunately the tail wont sit that high, though I do like it like that! Fret not, I am well aware of all the chain issues...it will likely rub a bit on the swingarm, but the sv arm was designed with a rubber slipper on top. Not unlike this one:

4-1.jpg
 
Just caught up on your build, and it is looking "all systems go". I have to agree on the shorter seat, but on the whole a really nice looking project.

Yet another thing I like about this forum. There are so many styles that I wouldn't have thought to consider if not for a great build teaching me to appreciate them. Keep up the good work.
 
perattzi said:
Unfortunately the tail wont sit that high, though I do like it like that! Fret not, I am well aware of all the chain issues...it will likely rub a bit on the swingarm, but the sv arm was designed with a rubber slipper on top.
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Just be aware that slipper is only designed for the slack chain hitting the swingarm. If the chain has any tension in it, it will rip through it like a hot knife through butter :eek:

You can change to taller sprockets front and rear to increase your chain height. Have a look over here:

http://www.jtsprockets.com/52.0.html?&L=0&sel_uid=4732&p=

You can go up to an 18 tooth on the front (stock is 16), not sure what your rear wheel is though ???
 
tip on the polishing; dont have to go up to much past 1200 grit...

start with a sisal wheel and heavy cutting rouge, (black in my case)... go over everything, putting lots of pressure on the really deep scratches... i use fantastic to get the rouge off between stages.... usually i need to do each stage twice to get out the serious scratches.

follow up with a cotton sown wheel, with brown rouge... use pressure, and feel the metal; eventually youll get the hang of when you need more rouge. clean the wheel every time it gets shiny with bits of aluminum.

clean again, then hit with a soft cotton unsown wheel with white rouge. polish everything up nice.

now comes the true bit of making everything shine; get yourself a super soft cotton cloth and some good aluminum polish that has jewelers rouge in it.... polish and buff with that until you cant see where corners end and start.




i should really make a thread on polishing; im pretty good if i say so myself ;) ;) ;D ;D
 
hillsy said:
Just be aware that slipper is only designed for the slack chain hitting the swingarm. If the chain has any tension in it, it will rip through it like a hot knife through butter :eek:

You can change to taller sprockets front and rear to increase your chain height. Have a look over here:

http://www.jtsprockets.com/52.0.html?&L=0&sel_uid=4732&p=

You can go up to an 18 tooth on the front (stock is 16), not sure what your rear wheel is though ???
Click to expand...

I already bought a 16t front, it is offset 9mm. Selection was pretty limited on what I could get, think they had a 17t as well but I chose to stick with the stock size. Rear is 42t.

Sure it 'looks' cool with the rear jacked up but it really comes down to getting the rake where I need it, and chain clearance. It's quite a balancing act sorting out the rear end. I knew it would be the hardest part of the project. The sprockets have to line up, the shocks need to mounted at an acceptable angle not too far from the rear axle, the length needs to so that the rake angle after setting sag is 25-27...spring rate needs to correspond to weight and the front end. on and on...


It's impossible to do one thing without worrying about 6 other things...pretty frustrating. However, the shocks I am going with have a ride height adjustment built in so that will help me getting it dialed in. But I gotta find out how much my bike weighs now so I can order the right springs. Just finding the money to order the shocks. :mad:

However, it looks like lining up the sprockets won't be too bad. Some good news
 
as long as the swing arm has a slipper you will be fine, keep the chain well lubed and it will never be a problem , if worse comes to worse you can always make a roller tension like some stretched out hard tails have to run
 
Yea, I think it will be fine, and by the time I have the rear ride height set to where it needs to be it may not rub at all with rider(me) on board. BTW the swingarm is designed so that the chain side sits lower like so:

swing_flat.jpg


I emailed YSS to see about spring rates and how much of an adjustment their shocks have, they list ride height as an adjustable feature on the web site.

As for the seat yes it will be a two up type...but i hate riding two up so I won't have passenger pegs. Too stressful and that is some serious responsibility. It will just be for looks.

I ordered some tools so I can begin stripping down the bottom end...needed a clutch hub holder and a flywheel puller. Also need to invest in some torque wrenches for later. Any recommendations? I have heard to steer clear of the digital type. Spring will be here in no time, been at this thing for over a year now...wow!
 
JRK5892 said:
as long as the swing arm has a slipper you will be fine, keep the chain well lubed and it will never be a problem , if worse comes to worse you can always make a roller tension like some stretched out hard tails have to run
Click to expand...

The chain tensioners on hardtails are used on the underside of the chain (the slack side) to minimise lash and keep the chain on the sprockets. I've never seen one used on the power (top) side of a chain.
 
it will be fine, the chain will be taut when the power is coming to it and will not rub, when he is at a slow slow pace he may get some rub but a spring loaded tensioner would addr this... we have used them on the output side on some radical frames... even the chop we did for my brother has a guide on the upper chain, he is pushing out 138 hp and 111 ft lbs torque... no trouble. it all again lies in the chain, if the chain is not taken care of it will create issues, if it is well maintained and lubed the it will be fine, (I would sugest a slipper) if it is metal on metal you will have issues... even on rockets i replace the slippers every 3- 4 years
 
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