Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
We noticed you are blocking ads. DO THE TON only works with community supporters. Most are active members of the site with small businesses. Please consider disabling your ad blocking tool and checking out the businesses that help keep our site up and free.
I've been lurking around this section for a while now and I figured it was about time I shared my project.
I recently sold both of my previous bikes in order to buy one of my dream bikes, a Ducati 1098s. After I bought it though I discovered that I no longer had something that I could comfortably ride to the bar, the bowling alley, or any event that required leaving the bike unattended for a while. Since the budget didn't allow for buying another modern bike and I had always wanted to build a custom bike I decided to start this project.
Here's the bike I started with. A 1980 CB750F that I picked up off craigslist for $700. Totally stock, and though it ran and functioned it certainly wasn't terribly well maintained.
On the first ride I was pretty frightened by the bikes lack of brakes. I thought about going through and fixing up the stock stuff, but since I already wanted to change the bars and the forks are pretty shitty anyways I started looking for a set of forks from a newer sportbike. Well Craigslist scored again, I found a guy parting out a 2005 ZX6R, the same bike I just sold. He had pretty much everything except the bodywork and engine. I really only wanted the front end, but he made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and I ended up taking the whole thing home.
Here's where things got tricky. I wanted to put the Ninjas entire front end onto the honda. The catch is that the steerer tube on the Kawi fork is much larger in diameter than the honda, and is a bit shorter as well.
The simplest way I could think of to solve this problem was to swap the steerer tubes between the 2 sets of crowns, but that's a little more complicated than it sounds.
The kawi stem was pressed into the lower crown, and by pressed I mean it took everything my shop press had, plus a little heat to break it free. The honda on the other hand was all steel, and the steerer tube was pressed into the crown, then welded on the bottom. This was actually the easier of the 2. Just grind down the weld, and press out. No big deal.
Ok so now we have a steerer tube that fits the frame, but a crown with a hole that's too big. Thankfully I had a fix for this. I pulled a piece of heavy wall DOM tubing off the rack and chucked it up in the lathe and started carefully cutting away at it. I ended up with a sleeve that duplicated the dimensions of the bottom end of the kawi stem on the outside, and was a tight fit for the honda stem on the inside. I then pressed the adapter into the crown, pressed the steerer tube into the adapter, and then welded the steerer to the inside of the adapter.
Poof, we now have a ZX6 fork that will bolt to a 32 year old honda.
I also had to make a sleeve for the upper crown, but that was much simpler. Just a tube with the correct ID and OD to properly center everything.
So here's the first fit up of everything. I wanted to use as much of the modern control pieces as possible since the old ones were pretty wasted. In the end I was able to use the stock Honda Clutch cable with the Kawi lever, and had MotionPro make me some custom throttle cables. I'm not putting signals on this one (unless johnny law gives me a ticket) so I ditched the entire left side switch cluster and rewired the kawi ignition switch and right side controls to work everything.
Yes, the kawi forks have a lot less offset, and are quite a bit wider than the originals. The biggest issue with this was keeping the clip-ons from hitting the tank. I ended up fabbing up a steering stop tab that works great, but I will admit this thing doesn't turn as sharp as it used to. Really only an issue when parking though.
So even though this thing is gonna be a bit of a hack job by my standards, and not a show bike by any means I do want it to be functional, and be something I can ride regularly. With that in mind I'm adding a few details that arent really mandatory, but are nice.
This is the first one. Fitting the Kawasaki fork required the removal of the stock honda steering lock bracket as it was in the way of the Kawasaki ignition switch. Well after getting everything mounted I realized that if I flipped that bracket over and did a little grinding it would actually still work. So after a little toying around with placement I welded it back on, and I now have a functioning steering lock again.
So next on the list I got to work hackin on my frame. This is gonna be a solo ride, no room for bitches
Fabbed up a little reinforcement plate which will also provide a place to mount the seat pan, as well as the tail light bracket. Also pulled the battery and started cleaning up all the wiring crap that sits under the seat. Gonna make a custom battery box and hide it to clean up the look a bit.
Also went ahead and ditched the rear brake. Shit was just gonna slow me down. Saved 12lbs too ;D
So here's how I did the seat pan and mounted it up. Added a couple rubber bumpers to the rear frame plate I made so the seat pan actually floats on rubber. Put an alignment pin at the back and a single hold down bolt in the center to hold it all in place. The cushion will sit on top of this.
Ok, so I love the naked, it's missing a lot of parts look of this bike:
but at the same time this is gonna be my daily beater, and I need it to be quite functional, as well as cheap, so I'm not willing to take a risk on tiny lithium batteries (that dont have a great reputation) nor do I wanna have an obnoxiously loud exhaust. So I'm gonna take the stock size battery, which was replaced 2 days before I bought the bike, and relocate it to a much more invisible location under the swingarm. In order to do this I needed a new battery box though. It ended up coming out a little different than planned, but I'm gonna make it work, cause it's pretty cool just the same.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
