Yea u need to work out the seat (alot of people re model the back end of the frame to simplify it) and the tank and as u said figure out what u are keeping or moving about. My GSX frame is covered in those pliable harness/cable holders attached to the frame ...which is a good thing but I doubt I will use them all again as I want to 'hide' things like wiring as much as possible. A full on mock up of everything is a good move before doing the frame .... and of course u may need to add some tabs to fix the new seat or tank.
This is just my observations after a thousand hours of research,reading and viewing. If anyone wishes to jump in , please do. My first real mods will be on the GSX .... thats why I only paid $200 for it Ive seen plenty of rears get changed to either fit a seat, simplify the back end (including something to add a more simple taillight/indicators setup) or to remove the ton of brackets ,plates or wateva that held the stock lights,cowlings etc. Here on your frame are the frame gussets .... this is what gives the frame its strength ..... not to be messed with unless u really know what your doing. now with that bridge type bracket across the back I would think that could be removed but replaced with something flat or further back therfore doing the same job as the original but suitable for the new seat or wateva. In your case though it looks like a good support for a custom seat as it is. As for the GSX its a case (for me anyway) to take off all those brackets and tabs and the tabs at the end of the tubes and simply (?) put a curved tube to join it up ..... then just add a plate maybe to bolt on the tail light/number plate assembly. So you start with this ..... And end with something like this...... Then this..... And the seat sits nicely ...... Im going to use a 'full length' single seat myself This guy mentions some rear modding here.... http://www.caferaceraustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=336&p=1553&hilit=cutting frame#p1553 And something worth a read .......... you have to be careful you dont change things that need to be engineered Its fairly old so theres probably more 'rules' in place now http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi28.pdf And heres a sample of what to look out for also .... http://www.caferaceraustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=124&p=3163#p3163
Man, thanks for the info G.I. I really appreciate the time and effort you are putting in to help me out. You must have been lurking deep within the internet to find that pic of the CBX, I have got the bike apart now. However, for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get this f'in thing off and I'm about to smash it to pieces with my hammer haha Apart from that it came up pretty good
youve done well ..... hold the hammer! Cant quite tell in the pic if they are just rounded heads? Id presume yes as they wouldnt have an easy out method as its to keep your helmet secure. They must be rivets of sorts ...... Id say u will have to drill them out...... unless u can just cut everything clean off from the back .... depends if u want to re use it I guess Whats it look like from behind ? ..... looks like 1 goes into the frame and the other into a tab.
Yeh, 1 in the tab and one in the frame with captured nuts on the inside. I'm gunna drill em out i think, I dont use it anyway. It's funny because the actual locking mechanism on it is so **** you could snap it with your hand. no need to take the whole thing off. BTW it look like its a really big grub screw, there isn't really a bolt 'head' as such, just a threaded O ring on the outside off the frame.
So the bike is in pieces now and I didn't get it sorted in time to get it powder coated on Friday so hopefully it will be ready for Monday. But now I have all these pieces and I don't even know where to start. Where should I start first? G.I, I was just checkin out your FZR thread and I have that exact rotary tool, maybe I could start doin **** with that?
work out which tabs to keep for tank and seat. and things like battery. the last thing to do is assemble the cafe racer and then when everything is done dissassemble and take to powdercoaters or if re assembling as original powder coat now. if you powdercoat now how are you going to do any mig welding as you will have to grind finish coat off.
Well the plan is to get it all set out before anything gets powdercoated, but it's saturday and the missus is away for the w/e so I wanted to start doin some stuff on the bike. This is my first cafe racer so I'm just need a little push in the right direction.
start on the seat. take a template of the old seat base and start from there. the horse before the cart.work out lights etc and look up ebay.com.will take 2 weeks from china but could be 3.as a single seater rear footpegs can go.start the foam mock up. have you a long body sander as will help shape the lines. 40 grit paper to sand off foam.
I would start by seperating all the parts and bits that u arnt going to use/put back on in a box or wateva and push them into a corner. The big advantage when u have things 'off ' the bike is when u clean them up. Especially larger things like the motor and wheels. Put the motor on a piece of board (as opposed to the garage floor) so u can 'roll' it over a little to clean all the nooks and crannies I lay my wheels on a spare bike tyre so the sprocket or discs dont touch the ground. At the other end of the scale I clean up every nut and bolt .... whether its rust or grime .... cant see the point in putting grotty screws/bolts into nicely cleaned or newly painted covers or wateva. Are your forks pitted? Hows the swingarm? ..... need cleaning, painting? ...... get the degreaser into the internal tube and bearings. Make sure u plug up the intake and exhaust and plug holes to keep crap from entering the motor. Also keep the carby wrapped up or in a plastic bag for the same reason. Clean up the cables then hang them up and put a few drops of oil in the top so it runs slowly down inside to lubricate...... the 'dental drill' would be perfect for the rusty end connectors.
So turns out I had access to a sandblaster after all, albeit a rather small one. I measured today and I just might get the swing arm in there, but I tested it with my top triple, handlebars, side stand and a few bolts and they came up really nice. My question is: should I just prime and spray these parts?
Bloody beautiful ! I was going to be asking myself the same question .... paint or powdercoat ..... even though Im going to do my frame gold I think Ill be asking a price for those other things as well but in black. Might not be much more for you as they will just get done in 1 go with the frame ..... ?? Then again maybe u want to try your skills at painting ..... if it fails u can always sandblast them again ......
Well I was gunna have the black frame & gold highlights lol How much difference is there gunna be between powdercoat and paint in terms of quality?
etch primer first and only a light coat. needs zinc chromate for alloy.then when dry a coat or 2 of undercoat. this will only keep the rust off for 6 weeks so a light top coat is advised if not doing final coat for a while.if using a paint with hardener in it buy a disposable space suit and use an air supply from a distance away,
Looking good! You have to tape up all the areas that you don't want paint on. Like the inside area of the triple clamps where the fork stanchions fit. Also all threads will need the same treatment unless you plan on re-tapping them. I have read that you should wear gloves when handling blasted parts to be powder coated.
For the skin oils I will give the sandblasted parts a good clean with metho and let it dry before taking it in to the powder coaters. But that aside I have a progress report, apart from the previous pics I have also sandblasted the bottom, the brake lever, and some nuts and bolts. I degreased my swingarm in preparation for it to be sandblasted tomorrow (and it was real dirty). Now I am currently pulling my rear shocks apart to inspect a;; the bells and whistles and I'm not to sure where to start. Hopefully someone can help me out. I got the spring off, and there's still fluid inside it. Here's a pic of the shock. Circlip on the inside, is this assembly on the side some kind of accumulator or res? Either thread or another circlip? And this.....
