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My "Sportbike" build

56K views 209 replies 77 participants last post by  Turrock 
#1 ·
Hey guys, saw from another post that there is some interest here in bike builds, figured you might like to see what I'm working on, I'll give you the truncated version now, if you'd like to see the full build go here:
ChopperWeb.info - Not a chopper, but I like this forum, hope you like the bike....

Here's the cliffnotes version:

Specs and Goals:

1977 XS650 frame/engine the engine will remain mostly stock, just rebuilt.
I'm switching the engine over to fuel injection. It will be run by Megasquirt controlling fuel and spark.
The motor will be turbocharged and intercooled- if my #'s are correctly calculated, I should be getting about 88hp out of the engine, so maybe 75-80 at the rear wheel.
ZX6R front suspension and bars
Buell swingarm and rear shock
Frame will be 70% my own construction
Bike will have all the same specs as a modern sportbike regarding the rake/wheelbase/ect... However, it will be taller than most sportbikes. I've got really long legs and I like taller bikes, plus, I want to keep people from wanting to ride my bike.
Wheels will be f2/f3 style
Full brakes from ZX6R
Custom subframe and tail section of my own design
Buell headlight and windscreen
Suzuki GSXR gas tank
bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.....

Pictures:

Tail section I molded from foam and fiberglassed: (Which I've now decided not to use and am going to make a new tail out of sheetmetal that mimics the KTM RC8 tail.)



Buell swingarm, was initially purchased because the warrior engine is a right side drive. I still wanted to use it, so I'm filling in the right side, and cutting a space for the chain on the left side.

Made some paper templates:



Cut the pieces out and welded them up. This is my first time working with aluminum, it's pretty fun.



smoothed the welds, the piece should be welded in place pretty soon:



Here's the frame I started with:

 
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#3 ·






That's what I've got so far. I know it looks like there's a lot of space around the engine in the frame, but the turbo is going back there, along with the intake manifold. The intercooler will be mounted vertically on the downtubes.

I've got a mockup turbo coming in the mail, also my blow off valve and Buell rear shock.

Just after I wrote this I started thinking about something else on the bike and went down to look at it.

It's funny how the mind works sometimes. I was down looking at the bike thinking about another aspect of it, when I looked at my other bike, and turned the bars.

There's no way I could turn the bars on this bike with the frame the way I made it!!! Haha

So I had to cut the top bars and redo the front section so the forks would have the room needed to turn.

Old version:



New version:



It's a little tough to see what I did from those pictures, but at least now I can turn....
 
#4 ·
Got my rear shock today, sheesh, this thing is a lot b***** than I expected. Really nice part though.



Not much today, I got my blow off valve in- it's a stock 1st gen DSM model. They're extremly reliable, and it's ironic because the turbo I'm using is a TD05-14B Mistubishi turbo!



Only other thing I did was shape some tabs for the subframe mounting and tacked them in place. These I used some welding rod to simulate a platform to set the tail on so I could get a better idea what it's going to look like. Also, I think I've pretty much got the height set for the swingarm so I'm going to start building the upper mounting point for the shock.



OK, not too much to show you guys lately, been finishing my move to the coast, setting up shop in my Dad's garage

I got my new rear wheel in the other day, a couple mockup pics:



Got my turbo in the mail too, slight change of plans there. The original 14B I was supposed to get didn't show, the guy refunded me, and it worked out well actually because it made me look around some more. Got an even better setup with my new choice K04 turbo from an Audi TT:

 
#5 ·
I also got started on my flanges for the intake manifold I'm making. My dad had some aluminum in his shop so I started drilling:







obviously they'll be shaped more eventually, but that's the basic idea.

I should have my front wheel and forks showing up soon, as soon as they get here I can start setting up the ride height of the bike and it'll start looking a little more complete.

Got a fair amount of work done on the intake manifold recently:



here you can see the plenum and the throttle body feeding it, and here's a few shots that show the positioning:



tight fit, but it'll clear
 
#6 ·


In this shot you can see the holes I've cut for the runners, and also you can see my finished intake flanges:



I don't have the mandrel 90's I need to finish up the runners yet, or the alumnium injector bosses, but I should have those ordered soon. I also cut out the caps for the sides of the plenum, but I'm not going to weld those in place until everything else is welded up.

Also, I'm going to build a short bracket from the Throttle body to the upper motor mount to help support the manifold.

I'm having a blast welding this aluminum, it's really interesting material to weld, For my first major project I feel like it's going pretty good:







Yeah buddy, got my front end in today, 2007 GSXR 600 forks and lower triple.

Looks like my assumptions are correct, the fork size is the same as ZX6r forks, so I can use my Kawi clip-ons, and also I'm going to use a Kawi upper triple.
 
#7 ·
Some pics, the bike visually is starting to come together, also I get my front wheel tomorrow, so expect to see some pics with that in place tomorrow sometime.



Got my front wheel on today! Mocked up anyway....

I'm really really liking how this bike looks right now. Should be awesome when finished:







 
#8 ·
I was able to get started on the collector for the turbo manifold:





Also I got the injector bungs in the mail, drilled the runners for them and welded one side in place. Not so happy about my aluminum welding right now, I need more practice:





A few new pictures from tonight. Got the other injector bung welded into place, still not great welding, wish I has a chance to do some scrap welding on aluminum to get my skills up to par. Anyway just a few shots of the bike together with the turbo mocked into its final position:



Everything is a pretty tight fit!
 
#10 ·
Here's a couple quick pics of the turbo manifold I'm making:

I determined awhile ago that I would be able to check the oil on this bike (unlike on my chopper), so you'll notice the pipe snakes nicely around the oil dipstick tube :)







 
#11 ·
Masking tape is an excellent tool for mocking up tubing





That's about where I'm at now, that side that still has masking tape in the picture has been tacked into place. Due to how the head ports are placed on these engines it's impossible to build the manifold as one peice, so likely one or both sides will have a flanged section that comes apart for installation or removal.

So that's about where I'm at now, long long ways to go, but it's a really fun build hope you guys like it.
thanks
Sky
 
#13 ·
that's pretty sweet!

just a few questions, comments
1. how will you adjust chain tension?
b. how do you plan to protect the injectors from the heat from the header?
3. how did you determine the rear shock angle? looks a bit steep, which will result in a rapidly decreasing rate
d. it may look pretty cool and stiffen the frame if you boxed in the two frame tubes where they run vertically to the suspension pivot.


keep the updates coming, i can't wait to see the finished product.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for all the great comments guys!

just a few questions, comments
1. how will you adjust chain tension?
b. how do you plan to protect the injectors from the heat from the header?
3. how did you determine the rear shock angle? looks a bit steep, which will result in a rapidly decreasing rate
d. it may look pretty cool and stiffen the frame if you boxed in the two frame tubes where they run vertically to the suspension pivot.
Chain tension will be adjusted by a manual tensioner mounted to the underside of the swingarm near the pivot. That's the current plan anyway.

I'm using thick walled stainless steel for the turbo manifold, one of the reasons for this is to retain the heat inside the tube, this speeds up the exhaust velocity and makes for better pulses into the turbo, that being said, it'll still get pretty hot, however, injectors are pretty durable and I'm not worried about their proximity to the manifold.

You're right about that rear shock angle, it is pretty steep. At this stage though there's not much I can do about it. If I ride it and it turns out to be a major issue then I'll have to come up with something else, but right now I'm just going to run with what I have.
 
#23 ·
You'd be surprised how comfortable it is, then again I built it to fit me. It is a hardtail though, I just don't ride it for more than about 40 miles at a time :)



I built it with an air ride setup, the bike airs up four inches to ride, then sets down on the frame when you stop. Check the link in my sig if you want to see the whole build. Thanks for the compliments.
 
#26 ·
Got a few parts in, got my Kawi upper triple:



Here's my new intercooler. It's a perfect size! It originally came as a side mount intercooler on an Audi S4:



This probably isn't the final mounting position, but I'm trying out a bunch of different spots. It will be mounted to the downtubes in some fashion though.

Here's a couple of distance shots showing how the bike looks currently. Also you can see my 2005 ZX6R seat:





 
#27 ·
Got my cush drive in:



This is what sucks, because of the gearing in these bikes I need to use a 30 tooth sprocket, that's pretty small. So there's going to be lots of milling on this cush drive to make it compatible with the new sprocket. I'll also have to cut an adapter plate:



My brother owns a 2004 ZX6R and he recently got hit by a car. He's ok, but they totalled the bike out. He bought it back and is parting it out. He's going to give me the complete braking system and rearsets! Whoohoo, stuff like this never happens!

Also, here's what's been keeping the majority of my attention:



I've been trying to teach my wife to ride, but she gets really intimidated by bikes. So I tried to find the least intimidating bike EVER

I've spent the last month refurbishing it, it's almost ready to go, just a little bit more work.

It's going to be a surprise for her, don't ruin it!

Anyway, hope to start back up on this soon and get some work done.

thanks for looking
Sky
 
#28 ·
Awesome work, your aluminum welding skills look pretty good to me. I’m still having a hard time not blowing holes in aluminum. Also you say you would like to practice more with some scrap aluminum. I have found the best practice is to just keep welding parts you care about, yes it sucks when you mess them up but I seem to learn much faster then just laying beads on scrap metal.

Anyway, looks great and keep posting pictures.
 
#29 ·
...By far one of the best threads I have read in a long while...
 
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