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1997 Kawasaki ER500 project

13K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  Exuptoy 
#1 ·
Hello all, just thought I'd share my little project. Not a very inspiring base for a cafe project but I like a challenge.:rolleyes:
Anyway, picked up this 1997 ER5 up 3 years ago as cheep transport to work. It's my first "big bike" and started my love affair with two wheeled transport.
Here's the bike stock, looks ok in the pic's but it's very tatty in the flesh.
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I'm a total novice at this really, I have built a drift trike in the past, and my first bike (Suzuki GS125) was also converted into a very basic cafe racer.
So any advice is really welcome, and I'll have lots of questions toward the end of the build, especially with electronics..
Cutting the rear end off was the fist big step, no going back now but I'm pretty confident with a welder so what's the worst that could happen!
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Bike stripped down to rolling chassis and rear hoop welded in, you can see how crusty the frame is. Lots of sanding and grinding ahead to get it back to bear metal.
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Started thinking about number plate mounting options, liked the idea of a swing arm mounted plate, I found an image of a ER5 cafe racer that had one and basically just coped that.
The anodised red plate holder was just a cheep thing I found on ebay, has the option to have the rear indicators mounted to each side, but I'm not going that route.
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Next I wanted a way to keep the air box, just to save myself any headaches in tuning later on, plus the bike's overall design doesn't lend itself to the classic view straight though the frame look, so some form of panelling was a must to hide the ugly air box and electrical components.
I came up with the idea of two separate panels on each side, just enough to obscure the view of the internals that hopefully when painted to match the frame will just look as though they are just parts of the frame.
this is how it looked pre paint!
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All this was done in the summer, but I bought another bike and spent more time riding then building. Ive dusted all the parts off a few weeks back, got the engine and frame painted and back together.
so this is where it's at at this point.
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Still deciding on a final colour scheme. I'm leaning towards the red and black, but with the wheels white, and a but of white on the tank to set it off.
 
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#3 ·
Why would anyone ever want to mount their license plate, the light to illuminate it as required by law, plus any other items on an arm that is bolted out the rear of the swingarm and moves up and down with every bump in the road.
... unless the bike is a hard tail, you have increased the unsprung weight (which is performance counter-productive) and found a great way to shake all of that stuff to bits.

Naturally you will also need to swap out all of your incandescent light bulbs with LED's because the filaments in the lamps can't possibly withstand the vibration and you will need to use locktite on all of the bolts because those are going to shake loose.

Curious what is the up side to that particular modification? because I'm just not seeing it :confused:
 
#7 ·
Again I find myself ignoring my mother’s advise..... If you are worried about aesthetics which I assume is what you meant instead of atheistic..... (unless your plan is to complete some sort of godless creation), then practice running a few beads before you start welding on a motorcycle frame. What Trials was trying to tell you in a diplomatic fashion is that your license plate bracket attached to the swingarm in that way is a dumb idea. I’d say it’s a really dumb fucking idea , but don’t want to appear rude.
 
#5 ·
Got a bit more done today, front forks and wheel on, wheel still needs powder coating but I wanted to test fit my brake caliper upgrade. I've fitted an ER6 LHS caliper, the advantaged being that its got two large pots instead of one small and one large pot. picked it up used for next to nothing and a deep clean and a few coats of red caliper paint and I'm really happy with how it looks, was a straight fit to!

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I've also decided I'm going with clip on bars, so I've cut off the clasps on the old top yoke that would have held on the bars, sanded it down and got a coat of primer on.
this led me to start thinking about the dash, I've already got a super cheep GPS speedo. I was going to drill holes in the top yoke and add LED warning lights there...but I decided on something a bit different!

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Definitely not to everyone's taste I'm sure, but I think it'll look cool with a few coats of lacquer and once the yoke is gloss black. Just got to experiment to find the correct resistors so the LED's will work with a 12v input.
 
#9 ·
Not looking to beat up on your brake 'upgrade' OP because I'm sure you will still have adequate brakes but:
:confused: The theory behind the leading brake piston being smaller then the trailing one is that it improves the heat and wear characteristics of the brake pad material. The one featuring 2 different sized pistons is marketed as a design upgrade by the people that make brakes (like Brembo).

A real upgrade would be a 4 piston calliper setup, because then you have pistons pushing against pistons instead of pistons pushing against themselves.
4 piston brakes would give you increased brake force plus it improves the response, feedback or feel at the lever.


Once you ride 4 piston brakes, it's really hard to go back to a 2 piston anything and be impressed.
 
#11 ·
Mounting a license plate is always a challenge if you are trying to make it look pretty :/ it is the ugliest thing that you could possibly put on any motorcycle or car.
Anything that does not draw your eye to it or make it more noticeable (other then as required by law) is a visual improvement.

... like painting things you Don't want to stand out with black paint.
 
#13 ·
... like painting things you Don't want to stand out with black paint.
I beg to differ....

(I believe its an beautifully done Egli Vincent knock off (and not an original) made by the late Patrick Godet)

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Although having said that, I'm preparing myself (mentally) to powder coat a belly pan black that I spent countless hours banging out of aluminum....which begs the question... if you were going to end up just coating it, then why the fuck didn't you just make it out of fibreglass?
 
#14 ·
Glad someone found humour in it.... lord knows we could use a good laugh these days. Its probably as close as you can get to the verboten subject of religion without Tex swaggering in here and putting a cap in my ass. Just in case he does... I'll thank him in advance.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I'm terrible at spelling, but I would like to think I can at least read! however I've apparently demonstrated to the contrary! :eek: I deserve the "godless creation" quip.

So the swing arm mounted number plate is definitely cause to brake out the smelling salts its seems, I'm aware that its un-sprung weight, and that's a performance negative, but surely its no worse than a hard-tail would have to deal with in terms of extra vibration. Plus I've seen loads of aftermarket swing arm mounted plate brackets on sale, so I assumed it wasn't that much of an issue? it really is very light weight.

The brake upgrade, I've seen it done a few times, something of a common upgrade for the ER5 (if there is such a thing) these bike's used to be used as trainer bikes by test centres in the UK because they are very forgiving, designed to be low cost simple, easy to ride commuter bikes.
It's my understanding that the leading small pot (as stock) means you get a more progressive brake feel, it's less snatchy (better for stop start city riding) but this sacrifices all out brake bite. I know form experience that if you push on a bit the stock brakes are really bad! the ER6 brake swap has been done, the caliper has a lager pad contact aria, people say its improves the braking quite a bit, the caliper cost my £20, it's worth a shot. I'm not spending much on this build...its a ER5! I want to use it to hone my building skills on and just have a bit of fun with.
 
#17 ·
At the end of the day it is going to be a street bike, so personally I wouldn’t fret about unsprung weight too much. Your fellow countrymen (assuming you are in the UK) built Vincents and they have a lot more than just the plate bracket and light going along for a ride on its pivoting rear frame member. It also has the headlight attached to the boingy part of the front forks. In my humble opinion, the long hoop that your plate/ light will be mounted on the will be flexing constantly. Unless it’s spring steel, it probably won’t like that. I’m assuming it’s not made from solid bar. If you are in the UK, then what are the MOT curmudgeons going to say about it?
 
#18 ·
I guess I'll find out one way or the other, the hoop is stainless steel solid 10mm bar, I'm pretty sure it weighs in at less than 500g. and it's got a reinforcing strut as well. I'm no expert but I've done fabrication work on cars and I'm fairly confident it'll be fine.
as for the MOT, well my car passed it's last one without a working horn, but I know the guy so I guess that helps ;)
 
#20 · (Edited)
Um, no, sorry but you are wrong about brakes, but have fun with it :cool: is all good.




... people usually bolt that type of bracket on so you can remove it and ease removal of the rear wheel. Like if you have a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere.
The unsprung weight you are adding, is also hanging waaaay off the back, there is no place it could contribute or experience greater inertial forces,
you know about leverage, yes? You built a lever.
 
#21 · (Edited)
There are people that know a thing or two about building bikes that mount the plate on the swingarm.





I highly doubt there are many people here who are good enough riders to notice a difference with and without it mounted. And yes, I do have a 1200S just like the one pictured so I have ridden a bike with the plate mounted there. The last time I rode the bike this season was at a trackday. The plate mount wasn't what was keeping me out of the advanced group.

I cringe a bit looking at the single rod structure but the idea of mounting it on the swingarm isn't the worst thing I've ever seen.

EDIT: Hmm, looks like my pictures aren't showing up again. Time to renew whatever certificate it was that just expired I guess...
 

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#22 · (Edited)
I guess the difference is you guys must enjoy nothing but smooth paved roads to ride on.

If the concept of unsprung weight, inertia and leverage confounds anyone, try this little experiment:
Pick up a 3 pound weight and wave it up and down at arms length like a swingarm for a while.
Now pick up a 3 pound length of 2x4 lumber, hold it at arms length by only one end of the lumber, and wave it up and down for a while.
Bet you don't even have to actually try that experiment to already know; it's not going to go so well.
 
#23 ·
That plate would be laying in the ditch after about five miles of GA backroads. Three miles of any southeastern interstate. And yes it is a godless creation. ;)
 
#24 ·
Nice project. Gonna be following this as I’ve just found a 99 sitting in a shed for £100 ($130) so doing something like this is a no brainer for me.

I’m preparing getting ridiculed as soon as I start asking Qs..

What you doing for tyres (tires?) sticking with standard or fitting something like MT60’s or 90’s (chunkies) or going with something like Avon’s (skinny cafe style)? Standard sizes are 110/70 & 130/70. Be interesting to see where this goes.
Good luck.
 
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