Original make and model: Yamaha FZX 750, 6-speed.

Year of make: 1992, bought in 1995 with 15000km on the clock.

Mods: 1988 FZR 1000 Genesis engine, fully rebuilt with Bimota con rods, 6-speed gearbox from the 750, Lectron 40mm carbs (not in the pic), individual K&Ns, full race 4-1 headers, Supertrapp megaphone, 17" wheels front and back, steel braided lines all over, JMC extra long swingarm, YZF750 foot controls on home made aluminium brackets...

You can contact me:
Ricardo Damazio
Portugal
torkezilla@gmail.com

Site Hits since December 2009

quinta-feira, 29 de setembro de 2011

terça-feira, 9 de novembro de 2010

Fuel bowl plates

An update on the finished fuel bowl plates.
These are fixed under the fuel bowls, keeping everything in place and preventing bowl distortion and leaking.
There are some new CNC machined billet fuel bowls, and machined plates, but I like to do things myself. (And often fuck up everything in the process).
You can check out some fuel feeds I made on the lathe also.
The FZX frame is a bitch, with those two upper frame rails right in the way of the carbs, so you have to get around things sometimes to make everything work right (without resorting to heavy power tools or big hammers...)
Enjoy.
Comments always welcome...









sexta-feira, 8 de outubro de 2010

Motörhead - We Are Motörhead

Just for kicks...
Live at Brixton Academy,London (25th Anniversary)

sexta-feira, 17 de setembro de 2010

30mm Shells

Just for fun, I had these 30mm shells from the Fiat G91 aircraft laying around and thought about turning them in the lathe and polished them.
Not sure yet what I'm going to do with them. Bar end weights, footrests...?



Lectrons Update

Just some pics of the mirror polished bell mouths.
Do these look sexy or what?





terça-feira, 17 de agosto de 2010

Lectron carbs

Rebuild is going real slow.
For a good build you need at the very least least two things: Time and money.
I have time (unemployed), money I don't!
So, everything I can do myself is being done; engine rebuild is in stand by for now, Wiseco 1029cc kit and all parts (gaskets, bearings, orings...) will have to wait.
Meanwhile I turned my attention to the 40mm Lectrons I'm going to fit.
I bought these carbs years ago from Manny (from Canada), tried them for a short while, but these things are not very streetable. They are more suitable for a Garage Queen, which is what my FZX is becoming after all these years.
I disassembled the rack, disassembled each carb completely, blueprinted and removed and deburred all sharp edges, polished the slides and bell mouths. Converted them to metric screws (sorry).
Machined a new twist wheel on the lathe and made new top covers for all 4 carbs.
I'm thinking about converting the carbs to powerjets. Powerjets are used mainly on two-strokes, but it's a good idea for four strokes also, because you can have a richer top end (with the powerjet) while using a leaner needle for better bottom end and mid range.
Lectron carbs don't use jets (except the powerjet). Only a specially cut needle that does it all. Simplicity at its best.
Something I like to say:
The beauty of engineering is in the simplicity.
For those of you not familiarized with these carbs (made in USA) check http://www.lectronfuelsystems.com/


A small video of the Lectrons.
We call these Guillotine carbs. Guess why...




Home made milling machine. The plastic fuel bowls are prone to distort and leak, so I'm making these plates to keep everything tight and sealed.


General view.

Notice twist shaft and twist wheel.
Lectrons usually have direct individual throttle cables.



New twist wheel turned on the lathe.

Converted to metric.



New top covers cut and polished.

Polished slides

segunda-feira, 5 de julho de 2010

Headlights

Ok, every time I go to the bathroom or open a nice cold one (some times both at the same time) I change my mind about something on this rebuild.
I found my "CyberMax" headlight, made originally for the Vmax, in my old "box of bits and parts".
I bought this headlight years ago from Exactrep (www.exactrep.com) for my Vmax, used it for some time, then changed it for something else and stashed this away.
Check out the pics and feel free to comment on your preference.
I like the classic retro square headlight, but this "Alien" thing just looks too cool...


domingo, 20 de junho de 2010

June 2010 Update

Ok, rebuild is going slow, but here are some updated pics.
I've changed the rear brake caliper hanger position, you know how it goes, as builds progress, some things change along the way; some to solve a particular problem not initially predicted, others just because I changed my mind.
I'm using an underslung caliper hanger position, using a longer home-made torque arm, Vmax disc, caliper and hanger. This way I get a cleaner look on the rear wheel.

I wanted to fit a double headlight but keeping the square light trademark of the FZX.
I bought this headlight from M&P (www.mandp.com), which is exactly what I wanted.
I have the rolling chassis almost ready, just small bits and bobs to fit, build and solve.

I'm going to design and build some front engine mounts from 10mm thick aluminium. the stock front mounts use two 8mm bolts to the frame, but there's an extra 8mm bolt mount that's not used (???)
The idea is to build a triangle shaped mount, using three 8mm bolts to the frame and other to the engine.
Let's see how it will look...

Another detail, I decided to to stretch the wheel base to max, using extra lenghts of chain.
What are you gonna do, I can't help it, I like them long and low...






terça-feira, 13 de abril de 2010

Frame

Using the FZR1000 engine, I thought it would be a good idea to stiffen the frame at the swing arm pivot area.
I made some cardboard templates and cut the frame reinforcements from rectangular box section steel.
Black paint in the pics was just to get a general look of the (crap) job.
After welded, everything will be sanded, prepped and painted matte black.
I'm crap at welding, please bear with me. This was done with stick welding, using 2,5mm rods.
I'm saving some euros to buy a good quality MIG welder. Easier to weld and nicer looking welds.
Feel free to comment...







domingo, 28 de fevereiro de 2010

Front end part 3

Ok, more on the front end saga...
The YZF750 forks are in, with new seals and fork oil.
The FZX stock wheel is in, with the special axle adapters I had made (check previous post, Front end part 2), since I'm also using the stock FZX axle.
I got some used Yamaha R6 brake rotors from Ebay (bolt-on onto the FZX wheel)
The YZF750 6pot calipers didn't align with the R6 rotors so I had to make a couple of caliper hangers from Naval quality 10mm thick aluminium.
I made some cardboard templates first, just to get the basic shape and measures.
The pics show just a rough cut of what the hangers will look like.
They will be fine shaped and mirror polished.
In addition, safety lock wire will be applied to all 4 caliper bolts.


terça-feira, 16 de fevereiro de 2010

Front end part 2

The triple trees are on.
Fresh steering bearings. The stock adjusting nuts have a rubber washer between them. I usually replace this with a solid metal washer and tight the two nuts together as per factory specs.
The top triple tree is from RairoTec, I got this on Ebay real cheap a few years back. It's CNC machined and comes with bolt-on risers to use your stock handlebars or dragbars.
I'm using clip-ons, so the risers are on the shelf for now.










I wanted to do something for a while now, and decided this was the perfect time.
I wanted to be able to use the stock wheels for two purposes:
1- For that "old-school street special" look;
2- They're preparing to have bikes go through a MOT annual inspection (Yes I know, we're lucky bastards so far), so bikes will need factory spec wheels and tires to get approved (probably).
Older design bikes are of course much safer with modern wheels and suspension, but go tell them that.
They discard all responsibility of having to judge if a 17" wheel conversion job is safer or not, so it's easier to say "bikes must have all factory specs", end of story. Bastards...
I needed a quick way to change wheels without to much hassle.
So...
(Here I go again, letting out all my secrets...)
I had two adapters/spacers/sleeves made, that allow me to use the stock FZX wheel and axle (spindle) on the YZF750 upside down forks.
But for this you need BOTH fork legs to have clamping bolts for the wheel axle. This is a must.









































Front end

I'm using the complete front end from a '94 Yamaha YZF750 Exup.
I rebuilt the front forks with new seals and good quality 10W fork oil. The springs are Ohlins.
As anyone who've replaced seals on these suspensions knows, it's a b*tch to get the spring spacer and fork cap back on without someone assisting you.
I was really pissed about not being able to do this on my own (again), so I scratched my head, and about two beers later, I designed this in my head and built it using some steel threaded rod and scrap metal bits.
It's ugly as hell but it works, and that's all that matters to get the job done.
The bottom end attaches to one of the brake caliper mounting holes, and the top "grappling hooks" fit in the metal spacer (which has one hole on each side for this purpose).
With one hand holding the spacer/hooks (with a heavy leather glove on, just in case), and the other with a 13mm spanner turning the nuts (which have been welded on to the steel rod), thus pushing the rod and hook/spacer down.
When it reaches the fully compressed position, you can simply pull up the fork dampening rod and attach the fork cap back on. Presto.
Just as a sidenote for all the lads on the FZX Club:
Notice "The BIG Hammer", on the second pic. Always have the big hammer near by, for when things don't go as you liked to. That, and lots of beer...



segunda-feira, 1 de fevereiro de 2010

Rad cover

I got this great stainless steel, laser cut rad cover from Woz.
He's one of the lads from the FZX Club and he makes these awesome custom made radiator covers for the FZX,  in "FZX700", "FZX750" or "FZX1000" layouts.
Check it out.
Thanks Woz, great product!