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Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:12 am
by riversbikes
A few things came together this weekend -- a pleasant Saturday to work, and parts and machining all arriving in time for me to play with.
First up, the rearset plates. These are from Projection Components in the UK, to my specs. "My specs" may be a tad off as it now looks like the pegs are jacked up pretty high. Will have to see how they feel when I am sitting on the bike. If it is off, I might have an idea on how to adjust them lower, by pivoting the plate downwards slightly, and drilling a new hole. We'll see. They also may need to be spaced out somewhat to clear the shock body a bit. I assumed as much, and will get some spacers machined when I get closer to completion.
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The front wheel came back from the machinist. It is now centered in the R6 forks, with captured spacers (nice!). The radial caliper is a magura model originally from an Aprilia RX supermoto. The adapter is one available on ebay, meant for an early R1. Some measurements and research indicated it should work, but the moment of truth showed it was compatible, with some adjustments. You can see the spacers underneath the caliper for the oversize rotor; the adapter plate itself also needs to be spaced to center the caliper over the rotor.
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You can see in the first pic, a new design of lower shock mount. Here is the mockup for the upper. That's 4130 aircraft seamless Chromoly tubing. The threaded collar slides inside with a nice interference fit which should make welding it fairly straightforward. The plan is to weld that tube to the frame spar, reinforced with some 4130 sheet I also have. This "saddle weld" should be strong enough, considering the total length (9 inches) of "contact" between the 2 tubes. I am farming out this job to my local tig welder expert. You can see the ride height adjustment built into this design.
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I was also able to fit the "gutted" engine. You can see the front downtube (I was able to find this rare piece in California), originally intended for the liquid cooled 660 engine also works with the aircooled lump. The header pipes give a sense of exhaust routing as well, but the 2-1 collector, specifically the end, fouls on the frame tube. So, when the engine is securely mounted, and the carbs in place, I'll need to do some cutting and refitting to finalize routing of the exhaust.
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Front quarter view. Thankfully I did end up with a mockup engine, as it was heavy enough on its own. The rear engine mount is actually 16mm. Some careful drilling with a 17mm drill bit allowed me to ream it out to fit.
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So, once the rear shock has been finish-welded, the next step is to get the bike on wheels, and finish the rear subframe and align the engine and countershaft sprocket to the rear wheel. More spacers will need to be made for the rear engine mount.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 5:26 pm
by edfmaniac
What tank did you use? Mine in from a '93 RG125.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 6:34 am
by riversbikes
Its from a cagiva mito, had to order it from Germany.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:50 am
by edfmaniac
I had to order mine from GB. Almost ended up with a nicely aged Lucky Strike tank but the seller wouldn't ship to the US. It's going to get painted in the long run anyway but it would have been nice to have during the 1000mi break in and tuning period.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:36 am
by zippy49
Hi James, good to see that downtube on your project. Rare piece, eh? I should have charged more! ;-)
Good luck and please keep updating with pics.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:00 pm
by riversbikes
Hey Zip, "rare" doesn't always mean valuable! :-D

I dropped the frame off at the "expert" welder to turn my acetelyne tac welds into tig goodness. Will post some pics when it comes back, and should be able to put it on it's feet then!

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:40 am
by zippy49
riversbikes wrote:Hey Zip, "rare" doesn't always mean valuable! :-D


That certainly describes our bikes....when we try to sell one.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:17 pm
by riversbikes
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A few pics of the finished shock mounts. No, that's not my welding... a master with a tig torch gets the credit.

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Should have the bike on it's "feet" this weekend, and then finish off the rear subframe.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 7:44 am
by riversbikes
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Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:11 pm
by edfmaniac
Looks like you are having fun. Beautiful welds. I found a guy who can do aluminum that well and he will be getting my business as long as I'm in Austin.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:27 pm
by riversbikes

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:06 pm
by DAVID THOMPSON
LOOKING VERY NICE! in the video

MAKE THAT BAD BOY A DAILY DRIVER it would run excellent on the roads in my area

DAVE

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 3:48 am
by edfmaniac
I'd register that bike too. Mine is legal. In Texas, all you really need as far as lights go is a tail/brake light, license plate light and hi/lo head light.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:03 pm
by riversbikes
I won't rule it out, but licencing bikes in Canada/Manitoba is a nightmare.... and expensive. $900 gets me a plate for my '99 zx7r for the short Canadian summer. This would be classed as a custom, and if I can fool DOT into thinking its an xt500 engine, I save a bit of money on a small displacement certification. In the end it might be more hassle than its worth, but I won't discount it yet. Glad you guys liked the video.

Re: my mz project

PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:23 pm
by edfmaniac
$900 for a plate? That's insane. I can register and insure my bike for less than $200 a year. There's a little extra cost for the first registration due to taxes and such but......I guess we are lucky.