Soon to be a kat 600 fighter

[goodfornothing]

Tits! Great work so far! WE WANT UPDATES!

 

[andoor]

Tits! Great work so far! WE WANT UPDATES!

Thanks!!
Updates coming soon. Hopefully...

 

[andoor]

Ok finally some updates!! I made my tail section supports out of some 1x1 tube. It took a lot of thinking and some trial and error to get all the angles right. Using the Bridgeport was key!

Next I have to drill out these supports and weld in some threaded slugs to bolt on my gsxr pass pegs.

 

[andoor]

Finished the foot peg mounts.

I need to get my seat finished so I can figure out the mounting location, and weld everything together.
This is the vinyl I am going with.

 

[VegasChinois]

I can't truly have an opinion on that, since I have never actually had a trailtech speedo. What I can say, is that it's a great looking gauge, it's made for newer sportbikes (newer as in... 1990's + really) and came with tons of hookups and brackets. It has 2 new temp sensors that you can unscrew the old and put these in for water and oil I believe...(haven't done that yet though). I only paid $200 as it was a CL find...so I didn't feel like I was getting hosed. Look around for a good deal, I'm pretty happy with it, and see this thread for the other version of the RX2 gauge. He seems happy with his purchase as well.

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=36761.80;topicseen

Oh, and thanks for the compliment on mine! ;D

Bro, I've got the KOSO RX-2 and have mixed feelings about it: the fuel gauge has to be based on a 100ohm or 512ohm sending unit. My 2nd Gen Suzuki Bandit 1200 sends empty at about 92ohms. So the fuel gauge either shows 1/2 full or 1/2 empty all the time. I use the speedo passive unit that came with the kit & Its very accurate using the supplied magnets that get read by the passive sensor attached to the caliper bolts on the right side of the forks. I used two brackets that koso sent with the kit to create a Fraken Bracket that works. The Tach reads 1,000 rpm above what the engine is actually revving when taken right off the coil for the no. 1 & 2 cylinders. Did install the oil temp gauge with an adapter I made down in the pan by removing a gallery plug bolt. That works real well but the RX-2 gauge set only can read up to 248 degrees. For a Suzuki air-oil cooled gsxr based engine like mine has the normal op temp is around 212 but I do use it to diagnose what's going on w/ engine performance and when the bike's fully at op temp so i don't tear shit up when i really get on it. I contacted Koso N. America in Montreal (the set is made in Taiwan & the directions are translated pretty badly) & they basically gave up. I'm looking for a gauge set for my next project & dont think I'll go w/ a Koso next time...Will try to attach some photos & feel free to contact me if you get a Koso & want help w/ the set up...

BTW: Great Build -- Keep it Going

 

[VegasChinois]

Sorry! RX-1

 

[deepwaterimports]

awesome stuff if it helps a mate of mines husband did a similar looking one to the inspiration shot you posted.

http://www.bladerod.com/

 

[MotorbikeBruno]

Looking killer so far. New gauge is sick!

Get back to work! haha Thought that was part of your build, didn't see Vegas posted it :-X

 

[andoor]

Vegas- thanks for the heads up on the koso. I think I am still going with the trailtech. The koso doesn't have enough additional options to make the price worth it for me. I will do a writeup once I get the trail tech installed and let you know what I think.


deepwaterimports- thanks for the pic that is a great looking bike.


No real progress yet, but I have changed one major thing about my build. I am no longer going to use the stock clipons mounted under the triple. I bought a set of renthal ultra low bars and I am adapting the stock risers from my CB360. Its probably going to be more work but it will fit the style of the bike bike better. I also plan on commuting and taking some longer trips on this bike so the bars will definitely improve the comfort.

 

[andoor]

I have been getting a decent amount of work done. My seat is all put together and covered with one layer of headliner material for some extra padding. The vinyl came in yesterday. I should have to seat done this week. I also machined my extra CB360 risers to work with my new renthal bars. I just need to figure out the height I want the risers at and make some spacers. If the bars are too low it will interfere with putting the key in the ignition.


Some pics!!

 

[andoor]

Seat is done. I think it came out pretty good. There is a little bump in the middle where the two pieces of foam come together but I am not too worried. I will see what it looks like once it breaks in. I can always recover it, I have enough of the vinyl to redo it 3 more times!

 

[MotorbikeBruno]

Wow, that's some good seat coverin' I suck at it

I dig the handlebar mounts too. Well done man! Keep at it!

 

[JRK5892]

awesome!!!!!!!!!! seat is awesome

 

[thebronze]

Seat looks good.... If You wanna hide the "bump" .. Find Yourself some thin foam and wrap the entire seat with it 1st....before You cover it with leather, etc..... it hides the imperfections alot better.

 

[andoor]

Seat looks good.... If You wanna hide the "bump" .. Find Yourself some thin foam and wrap the entire seat with it 1st....before You cover it with leather, etc..... it hides the imperfections alot better.

Thanks! I was hoping the headliner material would do the trick to smooth out the imperfections, but I guess I need something thicker next time.






Tomorrow I got the day off. Time to weld the tail section and all the seat supports!!!

 

[andoor]

Slow progress... Here are some pics from last week of the completed tail section. I wanted to match the shape of the seat the best I could, and it turned out to be harder than I expected. It is not perfect, but I am happy with the way it came out.

Next up is more fab work for the R6 tail light supports. Then the engine goes back in to fab exhaust, belly fairing, and anything else I forgot. Then all apart again for paint. I am still trying to figure out some body work for under the seat, and what I want to do to smooth out the tank. For now I want to get everything that needs to be welded to the frame done, so I can paint it. Then be able to focus on rebuilding the forks, the brakes, and new wheel bearings etc.

 

[MotorbikeBruno]

Nah man that looks great! It's killer! I'm interested to see what you do below the seat and up to the gas tank. My Hurricafe has those open since I wanted to ride it last year and I'm starting to get the itch to work on it again...keep it up! 8)

 

[andoor]

So one of the main reasons why this project is taking so long is because I have been doing some work on the side for friends. I am making some extra cash, but it is really tough to get anything done quickly with a full-time job and a life to tend to. Not to mention all my fab work is done at my parents place which is 45 mins away. The first project was another Katana that needed some maintenance work and the owner wanted a quick streetfighter treatment. The current “customer” project is a full restore with some mild customization on a CB200 for my girlfriends cousin. I am trying to get the CB200 done before the owner moves back to Miami in May. I doubt my kat will be done this year. Add to that, another friend wants me to swap over all the parts from his CB750 to a hardtail frame and fab some additional parts. Maybe it’s time to quit my day job…

The kat I did some work on. Made up brackets for the stock gauges, new headlight, reshaped the rear plastics, and a ton of maintenance work.

The CB200 pile of parts, frame cleaned up and primed.

 

[andoor]

Back from the dead!!! So I took about a year off from this project to restore a CB200 for someone in the family. Now that the CB is done and winter is finally over I have been getting back into the katana project. I have finished all the misc fab work for the tail light, under tail panel, and electronics. The bike is again a pile of parts ready for paint. Haven't been taking many pictures, but will get some up once the bike starts to take shape in the next few months.




The CB200 I restored in its new home in Miami Beach!!

 

[crazypj]

Cool, another one re-started now the snow has gone away 8)