My New Project :) FINAL BLOG INSTALLMENT ADDED
Geplaatst: do jul 16, 2009 10:53 am
Hello, thought I'd do a bit of a blog on my latest creation hope you enjoy it:)
I'll be posting this on a load of different forums so it'll probably have stuff in that you've seen or read before.
I'll try to make it as interesting/informative as I can so if you enjoy it leave a comment
Ok lets get started then, a couple'o months ago I had the sudden realisation that I own two running bikes both of which break down and both of which are IMPOSSIBLE to get cheap or for that matter even expensive parts for. So sick of hunting for spares I decided to keep my eye out for a new bike. Fortunately I've also now done enough miles to know what things I personally need a bike to have.
Reliable solid engine.
Cheap plentiful supply of secondhand parts.
Electric start.
Economical 50ish mpg.
Decent acceleration.
Decent turning circle.
More top-end than I will ever want.
Twin Cylinder, I only like twins or singles it's just my thing.
and a steel frame/swingarm so I can weld things to it if the need arises.
Having spoken to a good ammount of experienced people I realised a GPZ500 ticked most of these boxes. So when one came up on Ebay for peanuts I snapped it up
And here it is, a 1988 lime green example.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4636.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4637.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4640.jpg
Not only was it extremely cheap but it also came with some nice freebies:
Haynes book'o'lies:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4643.jpg
Brand new chain:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4644.jpg
Brand New Sprocket:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4645.jpg
And a spare engine too:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4646.jpg
RIGHT THEN FIRST THINGS FIRST:
First to go would be the panels, they serve no useful purpose and the fairing weighs as much as a pair of wheels with the tyres on
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4676.jpg
Then it was a case of determining what frame modifications I would need to do. This was a case of putting the camera on a 10sec timer then running round and holding the new seat at the desired height/position, whilst trying to look as gormless as possible (an art which I have perfected rather well):
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4716.jpg
With an idea if where the seat was going to I marked the subframe each side:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4718.jpg
And then got on with my favorite part! CHOPPING THE ARSE OFF IT!
YOUTUBE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxEyY6UJm-c
Sorted:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4731.jpg
With that done it was time to re-inforce what was left with a couple'o bits of bar:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4726.jpg
Sorted:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4736.jpg
HEADLIGHT
Fortunately I had a spare 8" lamp laying around in the yard, I know everyone's fitting tiny lights or fitting them in weird places where they don't work for sh#t, which is fine if you don't ride at night but I do so I want decent illumination. With the lamp in hand it was just a case of knocking up some brackets. This time I wanted the headlamp to be unusually high as I figured it'd compliment the lines of the bike and I've oftern read that high-mounted lights illuminate the road better.
First thing was to work out where exactly I wanted it to go, back to putting the camera on a timer!
Looks about right:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4729.jpg
Then chop a bit of bar the right length.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4730.jpg
Then to clip it in place for one last look before the brackets are made, very nice:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4731.jpg
The brackets will be made from 1" box section for two reasons, because I hang luggage on the front of my bike quite often so I want them strong and because I already have some 1" box section and I'm too lazy to go and buy anything else:
They're a very simple design, 2 peices of bar with a short bit welded to the bottom to attach to the forks with hoseclips:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4734.jpg
I then drill a nice big hole in the top of each one:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4743.jpg
And bolt them to the headlamp shell:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4744.jpg
And fix the whole mess to the forks with four hose clips, sorted, and very strong indeed:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4747.jpg
OK so far so good, Part 2 coming soon where we crack on with a new exhaust
I'll be posting this on a load of different forums so it'll probably have stuff in that you've seen or read before.
I'll try to make it as interesting/informative as I can so if you enjoy it leave a comment
Ok lets get started then, a couple'o months ago I had the sudden realisation that I own two running bikes both of which break down and both of which are IMPOSSIBLE to get cheap or for that matter even expensive parts for. So sick of hunting for spares I decided to keep my eye out for a new bike. Fortunately I've also now done enough miles to know what things I personally need a bike to have.
Reliable solid engine.
Cheap plentiful supply of secondhand parts.
Electric start.
Economical 50ish mpg.
Decent acceleration.
Decent turning circle.
More top-end than I will ever want.
Twin Cylinder, I only like twins or singles it's just my thing.
and a steel frame/swingarm so I can weld things to it if the need arises.
Having spoken to a good ammount of experienced people I realised a GPZ500 ticked most of these boxes. So when one came up on Ebay for peanuts I snapped it up
And here it is, a 1988 lime green example.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4636.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4637.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4640.jpg
Not only was it extremely cheap but it also came with some nice freebies:
Haynes book'o'lies:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4643.jpg
Brand new chain:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4644.jpg
Brand New Sprocket:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4645.jpg
And a spare engine too:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4646.jpg
RIGHT THEN FIRST THINGS FIRST:
First to go would be the panels, they serve no useful purpose and the fairing weighs as much as a pair of wheels with the tyres on
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4676.jpg
Then it was a case of determining what frame modifications I would need to do. This was a case of putting the camera on a 10sec timer then running round and holding the new seat at the desired height/position, whilst trying to look as gormless as possible (an art which I have perfected rather well):
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4716.jpg
With an idea if where the seat was going to I marked the subframe each side:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4718.jpg
And then got on with my favorite part! CHOPPING THE ARSE OFF IT!
YOUTUBE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxEyY6UJm-c
Sorted:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4731.jpg
With that done it was time to re-inforce what was left with a couple'o bits of bar:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4726.jpg
Sorted:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4736.jpg
HEADLIGHT
Fortunately I had a spare 8" lamp laying around in the yard, I know everyone's fitting tiny lights or fitting them in weird places where they don't work for sh#t, which is fine if you don't ride at night but I do so I want decent illumination. With the lamp in hand it was just a case of knocking up some brackets. This time I wanted the headlamp to be unusually high as I figured it'd compliment the lines of the bike and I've oftern read that high-mounted lights illuminate the road better.
First thing was to work out where exactly I wanted it to go, back to putting the camera on a timer!
Looks about right:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4729.jpg
Then chop a bit of bar the right length.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4730.jpg
Then to clip it in place for one last look before the brackets are made, very nice:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4731.jpg
The brackets will be made from 1" box section for two reasons, because I hang luggage on the front of my bike quite often so I want them strong and because I already have some 1" box section and I'm too lazy to go and buy anything else:
They're a very simple design, 2 peices of bar with a short bit welded to the bottom to attach to the forks with hoseclips:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4734.jpg
I then drill a nice big hole in the top of each one:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4743.jpg
And bolt them to the headlamp shell:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4744.jpg
And fix the whole mess to the forks with four hose clips, sorted, and very strong indeed:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg50 ... CF4747.jpg
OK so far so good, Part 2 coming soon where we crack on with a new exhaust