Build thread on my Yamaha XZR650 racebike to a street bike. SELLING BIKE

Started by johnclemens, January 31, 2010, 02:01:05 PM

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johnclemens

Yep I planned on painting it Jason. I also did that to my old street Vision and your right it looks sweet. I will be waiting till I complete all the fab work and then paint everything.
As far as progress there is not much to report on. I am still waiting for the machine shop to lengthen the steering stem. Then I can complete the front end. Without the front end on I can't be sure about the level of the seat and tail section. Without them in the final location, I can't weld the pipes. So I am stuck! The machinist says by the end of the week.
Hurry up and wait....

johnclemens

I Got back to my project last night. I still have no triple clamps from the machinist. ::)
So I am trying to finish up the back end.

I got the final location of the tail piece so I can build the seat pan.
I have never done this before and found a few articles on the internet and took some info from all of them and came up with some of my own.
Hopefully it'll work out. I plan on having a shop do the foam and cover.

First off I made sure I covered everything I didn't want to get resin on.
Then I  tried to make a base to support the cloth and resin.
I simply shaped the cardboard with tape. I also added pop-cycles around the edge to raise the edge to give room for the leather to wrap around the bottom. As well as give a nice flat spot for the leather to be attached to the fiberglass.

I then covered the whole thing with metal foil tape. This is a trick I saw on the internet. It shape's nice and can be smoothed out. Then you wipe it down with wd40 so the resin does not stick to it. 

johnclemens

Then its just a normal fiberglass process.
Cut the mats first. Then spred a little resin on the surface and lay out the mats. Then you just spread some resin everywhere.
Lay another mat and spread some more.
By this time your feeling no pain and you kinda like the smell.. :P
Just keep repeating. One thing I read everywhere on every site about this process was not to use too much resin... So I took it easy with that stuff.

I did four layers. I know it'll take more but I didn't want to use it all up in case this pan was crap...
This morning I pryed it off and it looks pretty good.
Now I just rough up the surface with some 180 and  then add some more layers to thick'n it up but I think its gonna work.
I'll take a few pictures tomorrow after I trim it up.
Sweet!!

johnclemens

Also got my Radiator shroud trimmed up and fit.
Looks great and will give the front end a little Vision touch.
Hopefully the forks will clear it or I'll have to just take it back off.

Thanks to Tiger for the parts!

johnclemens

Ok, I got it all trimmed up and I think it looks great. I ended up with like 7 layers over the whole thing and maybe 4 or 5 more in the corners.
Total cost like about 35 bucks with tape, resin and stuff.
My first seat pan!

inanecathode

Any thoughts to adding some steel or aluminum braces to the more stressed parts?
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If you can't tell your friend to kiss your ass then they aren't a true friend.
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johnclemens

Not sure about reinforcing the seat with steel...
It feels pretty solid and it has a lot of support under it. I think I'll have the upholstery shop look at it and see what they think.
You might be right though. I was thinking I could just add some more fiberglass.

I got the exhaust started last night. The mufflers were pretty long so I shortend them 2 inches. Now that they are in the final location I can start to connect my header to them.
Its pretty simple, I buy the mandrel bent U-bends and then just cut them up and weld them back together.
For the slip joint onto the muffler I just cut a slit lengthwise and spread it a bit. Wrap it around one end and weld it on. Then I carefully weld up the slit. It fits nice and tight and I have found in the past with such a free flowing exhaust it does not leak at all.
Some of the slip fits I'll use a spring to hold them together. This one will look better with a band clamp.

I just cut the u-bend to what looks close, then test fit, cut, test fit, file, test fit, Then when I get it close I tack it in place. Then do the next piece. Takes tons of time to get it to look good and have the fewest pieces/welds.


johnclemens

Got the pipes all tac'd up.
Just need to pull them off and weld them all up.
It went pretty smooth and only took about a 6 pack.


YellowJacket!



Living the dream - I am now a Physician Assistant!!   :-)

johnclemens

Thanks Yellowjacket!!
I'm pretty happy with the way its coming along. If my machine shop gets my steering stem done It'll start looking like a bike again.
I hope to be riding it this summer.
Once I get it all together, then I have to take it all apart again to send stuff for powercoating. >:(

johnclemens

Got the pipes all done tonight.
The right one ended up being a little tougher as it needed an extra bend to clear the swingarm.
I welded up everything and then smoothed it all out. I use a blending disc on a 4.5" angle grinder.
Takes awhile and makes a huge mess. However the pipes will look much better when ceramic coated.
This weekend I am going to make the License plate holder and start working on my new gas tank.
cheers!

johnclemens

So last night I had a few friends over to ogle my buddies new V-strom 1000. Booze was flowing and we were having a great time.
Then, CRASH!!!!
My Vision project fell/knocked off the bike lift.
Of course on the way to the ground it caught on my other bike lift that was 3 feet away.
Broke the tail assembly, Cracked/scratched my nicely painted tank cover and bent up my exhaust brackets. I crashed my new bike and it hasn't even left the garage. :'(
I get the feeling that this is going to stall this project for awhile.
F**K!
Anyone have another tailight assembly?


funkamongus

That sucks so bad... Man I wish I had one to help you out but I dont.. Shoot. You were doing so well,,, dont stop now! Minor set backs....
I own:
1982 Maico 250 alpha 1... free
1982 Virago XV920J........ free
1982 Vision XZ550RJ....... 100.00
1972 BMW 75/5 W/toaster tank,  I babysit.
PICS ARE AT http://picasaweb.google.com/funkamongus20?feat=email
VIDS  www.youtube.com/funkamongus20
look me up on facebook. ride safe!!!

pullshocks


fret not

John Clemens, Tell us about your choice of the FZR400 chassis for your romping racer.  Was it 'handy' and available, or was it a specific choice.  Were there any other bikes you considered for the transplant?  What would you do differently if you were to do it all again?

I have a spare Vision motor and am considering making a project "really cool" street bike. 
Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

kev10104


johnclemens

Well once again a ROV member has stepped up and donated a taillight. ;D
Thanks guys.

The FZR400 chassis was at the time the best handling sportbike built. We had already chosen that chassis and were looking for one when I mentioned it to a racer buddy of mine. He said I have one of those in my garage with a blown motor.
I talked him out of the bike and the XZR was born. FZR400 and XZ550 together made.....a Yamaha XZR650
It was a good choice as it fit very well. The bike would have continued to win races but Suzuki built the SV650 and it was pretty fast right out of the box. Mine bike was faster than the stock ones. But as soon as they started building them, mine was no longer fast enough. I would have had to dump a bunch more money into the motor and I had had enough anyway. I went supermoto racing instead. The bike has been collecting dust in my office for 10 years now and I had enough of just looking at it and I wanted to ride it again. without paying 200 bucks for a track day. So I started this.

Thanks again fella's for the parts.
It is going to be  a week or so till I get back to the Vision. I got my Transmission all done for my Porsche so I will be working on getting it back in service this week.
Cheers



jefferson

Hey John,

I kind of remember you wanting to put it in a Hondawg chassis. A Hawk to be exact. I said no, no, no you want an FZR 400 chassis and sent you all those pictures of the Japanese bike, the Giladeross 750. Changed your mind real quick after seeing that piece of work. Now you have a real piece of work and it's going to be a awesome street bike. Nice work on everything.

Jeff

johnclemens

Not a lot to report on, as I've been busy working on my car lately. I continue to have transmission troubles but thats another blog. 8)

After the fall, Yet another ROV member stepped up and donated a brake light. Thanks Bob! Hopefully this one lasts longer than the last.
I got the pipes straight again. One had to be cut and re welded. Thats how bent it got! I also had to straighten the subframe as it got pushed over. I crashed a few times while racing and never did this much damage.  ???
At this moment I am back where I was 2 weeks ago.
I also started the body work on the tail. I used epoxy to hold a couple of nuts in place first. Then I just filled it with bondo. A layer at a time. When its mounted the bolts will come up from the bottom and you won't see em.

Still no front end from the machinist. Why do they tell you it'll be a couple of weeks when it takes a couple of months for the dude to get to it? Going to start on the wiring harness next I think.
Cheers

johnclemens

Ok I've got a bunch of projects wrapped up around the house. I'm now back at working on the Vision.
I got the front end all mocked up. The machinist dude did a great job and it fits sweet. I had to have the top bearing machined down as well as the stem lengthened,That was a bit of work but it fits perfect. When I take it back apart I'll shoot a few photos of the stem to show you how that was done.  I now have a 2006 GXSR 600 front end. with all the brakes and everything. :o
Since I am not running the clip on handlebars, I had to machine the top triple clamp to accept the bar mounts. I have a little lathe/mill smithy machine and it worked great for this. I got enough clearance for the nuts and still kept the posts for the ignition assembly.
So I've got the front end just about complete. Next I'm going to work on the headlight mounting and gauges.
Cheers!