[mickey356]

True. At the end of the day it's just plastic. I may just do the seat cowl and be done with it. It's not a huge priority right now, getting it on the road is. I dropped it off at my buddys shop almost a month ago and he hasn't touched it yet. I'm gonna go by today and take the calipers off and rebuild them this weekend. The temp is supposed to drop a bit next week so I'll just start going there and working on it myself. I was getting the KZ and my Scion cleaned up and ready for sale and was hoping they'd be sold and out of the way by now to free up some work space, but both are slow moving.

Geets, as for delta box, I'm no expert but I think it's the name of the chassis design and not the swing arm but I've been wrong before. I'll look into it.

 

[Teazer]

Deltabox was the name for the frame AFAIK. Says it on an FZR1000 frame I have here and that thing has a conventional (for the time) swingarm on it.

FZ600 had a conventional steel frame compared to FZRs with Deltabox which went around the outside of the motor rather than over the top. Forget thos ugly old FZR seaas and look for say an early V twin TZ250 seat. Subframe on that bike is simple and shouldn't be too hard to make it all work.

 

[Teazer]

Deltabox was the name for the frame AFAIK. Says it on an FZR1000 frame I have here and that thing has a conventional (for the time) swingarm on it.

FZ600 had a conventional steel frame compared to FZRs with Deltabox which went around the outside of the motor rather than over the top. Forget thos ugly old FZR seaas and look for say an early V twin TZ250 seat. Subframe on that bike is simple and shouldn't be too hard to make it all work.

 

[KeninIowa]

See here's why the newer tails are too short;

The OEM side panels attach into a flange on the tank and one side has a hole for the petcock. Many race bikes use the more modern tails like the Airtech, but for proper retro aesthetics they just won't do.

I have two OEM solo seat covers. I've only ever seen four listed on eBay. Bought two, lost one last second to the guy I beat on a prior auction. The last one was listed by the guy I got my CA 86 from, he wanted a whorehouse price, it wasn't that nice and he's mad at me because I wouldn't sell him back some shit I got from him.

Not sure what the point of any of that was ^. Other than if you see a factory seat cowl for sale you better swoop it before I see it.

 

[KeninIowa]

See here's why the newer tails are too short;

The OEM side panels attach into a flange on the tank and one side has a hole for the petcock. Many race bikes use the more modern tails like the Airtech, but for proper retro aesthetics they just won't do.

I have two OEM solo seat covers. I've only ever seen four listed on eBay. Bought two, lost one last second to the guy I beat on a prior auction. The last one was listed by the guy I got my CA 86 from, he wanted a whorehouse price, it wasn't that nice and he's mad at me because I wouldn't sell him back some shit I got from him.

Not sure what the point of any of that was ^. Other than if you see a factory seat cowl for sale you better swoop it before I see it.

 

[mickey356]

And there you have it!
That factory cowl looks perfect and since, in all likelihood this bike will be a street bike for its foreseeable future, why not go that way.

Ken, seeing your bike has left me no choice but to paint my wheels black (was originally thinking gold) and do my best to restore the plastics to original graphics. That bike looks absolutely perfect as is. I'm getting me one of them cowls.
I'm assuming that the factory one screws in where the belt on the passenger pad is/was? I can probably recreate that on an Airtech cowl by just adding a tab to slide under the 'cap' above the taillight and drilling two holes.

 

[mickey356]

And there you have it!
That factory cowl looks perfect and since, in all likelihood this bike will be a street bike for its foreseeable future, why not go that way.

Ken, seeing your bike has left me no choice but to paint my wheels black (was originally thinking gold) and do my best to restore the plastics to original graphics. That bike looks absolutely perfect as is. I'm getting me one of them cowls.
I'm assuming that the factory one screws in where the belt on the passenger pad is/was? I can probably recreate that on an Airtech cowl by just adding a tab to slide under the 'cap' above the taillight and drilling two holes.

 

[Geeto67]

All this FZ talk has made me start to miss my old '94 FZR600. I felt like a bear on a tricycle riding it but maybe it is time to search for an 89 FZR1000.

 

[Geeto67]

All this FZ talk has made me start to miss my old '94 FZR600. I felt like a bear on a tricycle riding it but maybe it is time to search for an 89 FZR1000.

 

[jaguar]

yeah thats what you need to do.....find more bikes....

 

[jaguar]

yeah thats what you need to do.....find more bikes....

 

[KeninIowa]

quote:Originally posted by mickey356

Ken, seeing your bike has left me no choice but to paint my wheels black (was originally thinking gold) and do my best to restore the plastics to original graphics. That bike looks absolutely perfect as is. I'm getting me one of them cowls.
I'm assuming that the factory one screws in where the belt on the passenger pad is/was? I can probably recreate that on an Airtech cowl by just adding a tab to slide under the 'cap' above the taillight and drilling two holes.

Yes, they attach through the strap holes. The OEM cowls have tabs that hook under the seat.

OH LOOK, there's another one in Ken's toolbox!

Thanks for the kind words r.e. my 88. It has the black wheels and forks from my other 86. Red 86 front fender. Those changes just transformed the look of the bike. I'm not a fan of the gold calipers, but even all told they sorta worked in the combination.

 

[mickey356]

GIVE IT TO ME!!!!

Seriously Ken, if you want to sell it, let me know. I just sold the KZ so I'm flush with cash

I spent the morning cleaning and repainting my exhaust and wheels. I think the black wheels will look nice on the red and white FZ.

Got a lot done yesterday but I still have lots to do. I'm super motivated now that I don't have a working bike anymore.

Clutch is done. Way easier than I thought.

Gotta put new brake fluid in. It calls for 3, yes?

And fork oil is 5w?

 

[Geeto67]

Fork oil is 7.5wt or whatever weight ATF is. I usually say 10wt if you are going to spend the money on real fork oil and not just reuse the red stuff from granny's slushbox.

 

[hillsy]

Brake fluid is DOT3 or 4 (but not 5).

 

[KeninIowa]

quote:Originally posted by Geeto67

Fork oil is 7.5wt or whatever weight ATF is. I usually say 10wt if you are going to spend the money on real fork oil and not just reuse the red stuff from granny's slushbox.

Think that's wrong, but I'm not where my manuals are. I'll tell you later.

FWIW, I know your a smaller dude, but the forks are sooo soft on the FZs stock. If I had some money burning a hole I'd put some Racetech springs in it.

W/O emulators rebound damping will be too fast then, run heavier oil and see what happens? Or buy emulators. Actually you may not have to being lighter, just for giggles go to the Racetech site and plug yourself in the spring calculator. Report back.

Thing is, the spring controls the wheel, the damping controls the spring. It will never turn good until it has enough spring to drive the front wheel in the ground. Period. IMNSHO

Have you checked your steering head bearings? My one 86 and 88 they were so bad the bikes were dangerous to ride. Never rode anything like them. Actually what was most strange was when I pulled them out I couldn't see any flat spots on the races or balls. Shit, my old GT 550 the head bearings felt like a ratchet and never bothered anything.

 

[mickey356]

Ken, Racetech says stock rate is .464 but they recommend, for my weight, .865 how much can I get going to 10w?

The springs are $115 each so it's not ridiculous money, but I would like to ride ASAP if I can get the front set up to a usable standard with a heavier oil. ** I just saw they'll do a fork rebuild for $125. Maybe I should just send themout to them this winter.

Now, howabouts that seat cowl?

 

[Geeto67]

Manual may say 5wt but ATF is about 7.5wt, at least according to the grumpy ol timers I get my info from.

 

[kenessex]

Mickey,
I would go with 10 wt, although if you are going to change the oil a couple of times this summer, I might consider just using ATF and see how it feels. I also like the Progressive Suspension springs. The Racetechs are better, but might not be needed for the street. I probably have an extra set of black FZ wheels, but I won't be back to my parts again until October.

Ken

 

[mickey356]

Thanks Ken. I spent the better part of 3 hours today prepping my wheels for paint. I'm gonna prime and paint them tomorrow and see how they come out. I did the Fuchs on my 911 and they held up great for 2+ years, so hopefully I'll have the same luck with the FZ wheels.
I'll check the progressives out as well.