modified, aftermarket, or custom. nothing is safe (78 KZ1000)

[doc_rot]

Thanks guys. been chipping away. should have an update sometime soon.

BTW CarbsAndCylinders have you posted any more pics of your Harris Z1? that has been a dream of mine for a while. probably easier to build a replica than find one of those. nice bike.

 

[CarbsAndCylinders]

I will take some more pics of it. The PO who built the bike, spent a lot of money and time on it. I am really looking forward to watching your build!

Brian

 

[rundown]

Glad to see those molds were for the gauges, for a minute I thought you were making some kind of strange brassiere, didn't know what DTT was coming to. Great work.

 

[m511y]

I'm keeping an eye on this one. Such amazing fab work. Your giving me tons of ideas.

 

[HollywoodMX]

Nice build and cray detail. Please tell me you are going to ditch the pos stock rear break though.

 

[doc_rot]

Nice build and cray detail. Please tell me you are going to ditch the pos stock rear break though.

Thanks man. I didn't like the looks of the factory A1 caliper when I first swapped it. It is a bit bigger than the stock LTD caliper. However its looks have grown on me. I think it matches the Grimeca calipers pretty well and and looks like the most seventies caliper i have ever seen. Its a 43mm dual piston caliper so it will have no trouble locking up the rear wheel if I want to, probably when I don't want to as well. : The only real performance benefit that would come from a swap is weight savings. Which I may do in the future because i'm too stupid to leave things alone. I just rebuilt/painted it. It was pretty roached. both pistons were shot and the only replacements I could find came from the UK so it was not inexpensive. I also rebuilt the MC and painted that as well. I used Gun Kote, which is IMHO the only caliper paint worth a shit because it is completely impervious to solvents, and I have yet to bleed a caliper and not get brake fluid everywhere. I also had the rear disk refinished and drilled. It had pretty deep grooves and some run out. Blingin!

I swear its the small stuff that takes the longest. I got the turn signal mounts, taillight mounts, tailpiece mounts, and tank mount finalized. I also made a steering stop, but my buddy thought it was a bit crude so he spent like 2 hours remaking it. Glad he's on my team, the damn perfectionist...

I have now turned my attention to the seat. I remade my seat pan. and bought a bunch of foam.

I have sewn a bit, but it is not my strongest suit. I ran a couple test seams on some vinyl with sew-foam using different weights of thread, and trying out a couple different stitch patterns. I was struggling to use my mothers sewing machine so she offered to help me with the final. I need to make a pattern first. Stay tuned, I should have the seat finished this weekend. 8)

Two stroke sewing machine...

 

[HollywoodMX]

Thanks man. I didn't like the looks of the factory A1 caliper when I first swapped it. It is a bit bigger than the stock LTD caliper. However its looks have grown on me. I think it matches the Grimeca calipers pretty well and and looks like the most seventies caliper i have ever seen. Its a 43mm dual piston caliper so it will have no trouble locking up the rear wheel if I want to, probably when I don't want to as well. : The only real performance benefit that would come from a swap is weight savings. Which I may do in the future because i'm too stupid to leave things alone. I just rebuilt/painted it. It was pretty roached. both pistons were shot and the only replacements I could find came from the UK so it was not inexpensive. I also rebuilt the MC and painted that as well. I used Gun Kote, which is IMHO the only caliper paint worth a shit because it is completely impervious to solvents, and I have yet to bleed a caliper and not get brake fluid everywhere. I also had the rear disk refinished and drilled. It had pretty deep grooves and some run out. Blingin!

I swear its the small stuff that takes the longest. I got the turn signal mounts, taillight mounts, tailpiece mounts, and tank mount finalized. I also made a steering stop, but my buddy thought it was a bit crude so he spent like 2 hours remaking it. Glad he's on my team, the damn perfectionist...

I have now turned my attention to the seat. I remade my seat pan. and bought a bunch of foam.

I have sewn a bit, but it is not my strongest suit. I ran a couple test seams on some vinyl with sew-foam using different weights of thread, and trying out a couple different stitch patterns. I was struggling to use my mothers sewing machine so she offered to help me with the final. I need to make a pattern first. Stay tuned, I should have the seat finished this weekend. 8)

Two stroke sewing machine...

Sweet update.

Try it out but I think that rear caliper setup works like ass. On my z1 in mint shape it was terrible.

 

[Erskine]

Top banana.

 

[doc_rot]

Sweet update.

Try it out but I think that rear caliper setup works like ass. On my z1 in mint shape it was terrible.

The Z1 never came with a rear disk. If you had this caliper, the entire rear end would have to be swapped, and a bracket for the MC / pushrod pivot made. No offense intended, but I wonder if you had the correct components set up properly, mint or not. I hardly ever use my rear brake, except in emergency braking situations, or on dirt/grass/gravel. In any of those scenarios you do not want an aggressive rear brake or the rear will lock up. I'm sure this setup will have plenty of brake force.

 

[xb33bsa]

The Z1 never came with a rear disk. If you had this caliper, the entire rear end would have to be swapped, and a bracket for the MC / pushrod pivot made. No offense intended, but I wonder if you had the correct components set up properly, mint or not. I hardly ever use my rear brake, except in emergency braking situations, or on dirt/grass/gravel. In any of those scenarios you do not want an aggressive rear brake or the rear will lock up. I'm sure this setup will have plenty of brake force.

that huge boat anchor heavy KZ disc and caliper is just horrible though :-[ :-\
why not put something svelt on it ? and your swingarm bracing is a bit over the top as well,too deep it doesn't look right

 

[doc_rot]

Horrible how? Disk and caliper are definitely heavy, no arguments there. Like I said, i may do a swap down the road but considering I have a working rear brake that is fully rebuilt, it will not be considered until this bike is on the road and tuned. The swing-arm bracing is admittedly a bit overkill, too many braces, maybe a bit too low. However I think it looks fine, and if you dont.... ;D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c

 

[Drewski]

Horrible how? Disk and caliper are definitely heavy, no arguments there. Like I said, i may do a swap down the road but considering I have a working rear brake that is fully rebuilt, it will not be considered until this bike is on the road and tuned. The swing-arm bracing is admittedly a bit overkill, too many braces, maybe a bit too low. However I think it looks fine, and if you dont.... ;D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c

Haha! Good on ya doc!! Steady On Sir! ;D

 

[doc_rot]

So making a seat for the first time was A LOT of work. I did all the sewing, the only assistance needed was figuring out how to put the damn sewing machine in low gear, and someone pulling as i fed the final piping seam through because the machine was bogging down.

But it turns out I made a huge mistake, I didn't leave enough room for the vinyl to wrap under the seat pan and now it wont fit down all the way. GAHHHH!!! I spent two full days working on this seat i probably have about 12-14 hours in it. I really don't want to re-do the seat, so I have been thinking about possible solutions.

I trimmed all the excess foam off the bottom and riveted it as tight to the edge as possible. I think the easiest/cheapest thing to do would be to re-fit the top subframe rails. Any suggestions? I will remake the seat if that is my only recourse..... I'm floundering over here!!

 

[xb33bsa]

that looks fantastic you can do mine ??

 

[CarbsAndCylinders]

I agree, that looks great. Can you say a little more about the upholstery you used, where would one get something like this? Also, what kind of wood are you using for the rear suspension?

 

[fury413rb]

that huge boat anchor heavy KZ disc and caliper is just horrible though :-[ :-\
why not put something svelt on it ? and your swingarm bracing is a bit over the top as well,too deep it doesn't look right

doesnt look right or wont function right

 

[doc_rot]

I agree, that looks great. Can you say a little more about the upholstery you used, where would one get something like this? Also, what kind of wood are you using for the rear suspension?

thanks! Ill try and keep it brief. I'm not an expert i just read on the interwebs about how to do it. I bought my foam from Friendly Foam in Seattle, WA. i used the stuff they recommended. I started with 1.5" pink closed cell foam for the base. then I folded .5" gel-foam over that. I used RP2020 as a spray adhesive. its super strong. I then shaped the foam with an angle grinder with a flap wheel to rough it out and then smoothed it out with a orbital sander. I bought some marine grade vinyl and some 92 weight polyester thread. The thread is crazy strong. I then sewed .5" sew-foam to the vinyl. Sew-foam has a fabric backing so the thread will not pull out or cut the foam; it is what gives it the ridges. Its hard to see in the pics but i used a one stitch zig-zag instead of a straight stitch to spread the load out more. Once i had the ridges sewn i entrapped some plastic cording in vinyl for the piping. sew that loosely to one side, then sew the final pass tight against the cording. If you're really good you just sew it in one pass but I did it in three; progressively getting closer to hide my previous seams. I then sprayed the top of the seat with RP2020 and stretched the seat cover tight over the foam. I predrilled holes in the pan and used 1/8th" pop rivets to snug it down.

Whew! if you have any questions I can elaborate further.

BTW that is some of the northwest's finest 1x2 pine. Looks great alothough it makes the ride a bit wooden ;D

 

[doc_rot]

here is a close up of the one stitch zig zag (aka firestone stitch)

 

[CarbsAndCylinders]

Very nice

 

[doc_rot]

I have been real busy. I finalized my headlight ears. I decided not to go with the small 4.5" headlight. it just looked weird with the big gauges. I got this nice 7" headlight and promptly started cutting it up : I didn't like the mounting points so Eric welded some washers in with silicon bronze. I cleaned up the seams with some filler and am much happier with it now. I spent about 3 hours filing and sanding down the headlight ears to get them where they are. I also turned a some washers for the turn signal mount. I need to figure out how i want to route the wire from the turn signal now. I think i'm going to go into the headlight bucket with it. Im very happy with how the headlight/gauge cluster is turning out. Its such a great feeling to have an idea in your head finally come to fruition after a couple years.

I also refitted the frame rails 1/8" in on each side. was real easy. seat fits great now. I also did a down and dirty rattle can job on the frame to see what it would look like white before i commit to some good paint. I wasn't sure about the white frame i thought it might be too garish for my taste, but it highlights all of the frame mods we have done, and really pops. I think i will go with white for the final paint on the frame. I also mocked everything up to see what other frame mods will be necessary before i do the final paint on the frame. I still need to do something about and exhaust hanger, horn mount, mount for HID ballast, and carb support. Super stoked with the way it is looking. 8) 8) 8)