Front brakes

I just got this entire lot from a '95 FZR1000 Exup for 50 Euros delivered to my door!
These 6 pots are hard to find and expensive even on Ebay.
They came with almost new pads; they're in need of a lick of paint but I think this was a bargain...

Torque arm

Home made torque arm...
I had a couple of rose joints laying around (from some old steering dampers), so I thought about making a new torque arm, using steel thread rod, steel tube over it and a couple of nylock nuts to get the rose joints aligned in the right direction.
I always liked the look of these things; slim and clean...

Rear end part 2

Ok, some updates and details on the rear end.

Left and right side axle spacers...

First thing to do was to choose the correct left spacer to get the wheel perfectly centered...

I had to make a couple of small spacers to offset the brake caliper to the left so it wouldn't touch the disc and get everything right and centered...

Other options were offseting the brake disc to the right, with M8 washers;

or cuting the axle spacers to get the caliper hanger in the right position...

But I'm working with what I've got in the spare parts and bolts & nuts bin, as this is a project on a budget (very small budget for that matter), and machining and milling time costs $$$, so almost everything is done in-house.

 

Rear end

For the rear end, I'm going to use my ever faithful JMC extra long swingarm, although this time the chain adjusters will be at their shortest wheelbase position.
I'm going to use a single stock Yamaha FZX chain drive kit.
I'll use the Vmax shocks for the "Cafe racer" look...
or the Progessive Suspension 11" shocks for a lowered dragster stance.
Along with that, I'll fit (again) the Kawasaki ZZR1100 (ZX1100 in the US) 17" x 5.5" rear wheel.
For the rear brake system there's a:
- Vmax/R6/R1/YZF600/YZF1000 front brake rotor fitted in the Kawasaki wheel (bolt-on);
- '96 Vmax front right caliper (or any regular 100mm yamaha front caliper, including the gorgeous blue spots from the R1/R6)
- Vmax custom caliper hanger for use with the 4 pots and front brake rotor. (there's loads of these for sale on Ebay or Vmaxchat)
- Home made rosejoint torque arm.
The CNC caliper hanger was fited with a bushing to reduce from 20mm to the 17mm of the FZX rear axle.
Next you just have to center the wheel in the swingarm and fit some aluminium spacers to get everything tight.

The engine...

Well, not sure what to do about this yet...
I took the engine off the frame and did a compression test.
Standard for the '88 FZR1000 Genesis is 11kg/cm2.
I have low compression on #4 cylinder:
#1 - 10.5 kg
#2 - 11 kg
#3 - 11 kg
#4 - 9.5 kg
I had the valves adjusted a while ago, so I think this may be a piston/cylinder/rings issue.
I haven't opened up the engine yet, because I haven't decided yet what to do:
Rebuild this engine with a 1029cc Wiseco big bore and fit the 40mm Lectron carbs
or
Get a FZR1000 Exup or YZF1000 ThunderAce engine and turbo it.
I know ThunderAces have stock forged pistons and this would be good for turbo use.
I'm planning a fairly low boost, medium compression, and about 200/220hp target, running on pump gas.
In portugal we have 95, 98 or 100 octane unleaded fuel, so I think this is not a problem.
I'd like to build an "old school street special", and the turbo route is a good challenge.
I've never turbo'ed an engine, but I'm pretty aware of the work/trouble/sweat/tears/swear involved.
I've been researching and reading a lot about turboing motorcycles and I'm pretty sure I'd be the only twat with a turbo bike around here... :-)
Anyway, this will be a long term project, I'm sure I'll have the rolling chassis ready long before the engine.

Lowering the bike

When using the 11" shocks to lower the bike, the swingarm almost touches the battery support.
To prevent any swingarm/frame close encounters, I cut off the battery support as you can see.
The plastic box where the battery fits, rests in this support and is attached to the frame on the left and right side, so I think there's no problem by cutting off this little piece.

Coolant in the frame

I never really liked the idea about the coolant running inside the left lower frame rail, from the radiator to the water pump.

So the "in" and "out" were plugged.

I bought two cheap rubber plugs from an auto parts store.

I'm going to run a long braided coolant line from the radiator to the water pump.

I'll have to use the FZR1000 water pump cover because the inlet faces forward, to catch the line coming from the radiator.

Coils

The FZX coils are located under the left and right chromed "7" shaped pieces on the tank/airbox cover.

As I run individual air filters, I thought about moving them to the inside of the top frame rails, so they wouldn't be so exposed to moisture and rain.

I must confess, i saw this done originally on SatinBlack's FZX, so, as it was a great idea, I had to do it myself too...

Sorry about the horrible welding, the electric grid on my garage does not support the arc welder more than 2 seconds before switching off.

Must sort that out...

Down to the frame

Well, as you can see, it's down to the frame.
All cleaned, new lick of paint.
Swingarm bearings were ok, cleaned and freshly greased.
The coil brackets were cut off and welded on the inside of the top frame rails.
NOTE: You can only do this if you use individual air filters.
The frame coolant inlet and outlet were plugged as I never really liked the idea of the coolant running inside the frame. I'm going to use a long braided coolant line from the radiator to the water pump. I'm going to use the FZR1000 water pump cover because the inlet faces forward where I need it.