Tried playing with notched tubes just using straight cuts at 90 degrees. My 25mm tube arrived an hour ago so I thought it was time to bite the bullet and try the bottom tube. Both bent ready to cut in. More tomorrow. Busy afternoon.
Got another hour in this evening. Gotta get my frame slugs turned down by 0.5mm as they’re too big then I can plug weld them into the frame and stitch it all up before adding braces and gussets.
Whilst waiting for my frame stubs to be modified I decided to concentrate on the tank mount. First I welded a couple of stays between the frame and tank so it was in its finished position then I removed the tank mount on the post I’d fitted. Then I drilled out the spot welds, found a piece of 1 inch angle and radiused the ends to go around the inside of the frame then welded the seat mount/tank fixing to the angle, welded it to the subframe and bolted the tank down. I then refitted the original shocks to get the ride height correct and to measure where the Triumph shocks will live due to their longer length. Hopefully this will keep the geometry correct. Next I found some 2x1 box to make the upper shock mount / brace. That was just a case of tracing the line with a pen and cutting with a grinder. Then I thought it would look better with a radius at the rear so thought I’d put this little how to with pics together. First decide on the radius and draw the shape, Then cut around the shape and along the edge leaving the radius from the edge as this will finish it off nicely. Then beat it around to close up the gap and weld up Darren also turned up with my frame slugs which have been skimmed to clear the internal weld. You can just see the edge inside my tube in the second pic below. I also cut off the lower tube on one side and what was left of the upper then fitted the upper shock mount. Still have to drill for the NS frame slug and weld it all up.
Yesterday I managed to fit my lower slugs and plug weld them before fitting the diagonals and welding the whole back end up. I hate how it looks so ended up grinding it all back but I think once the engine and forks are out I'll fully weld every seam and hope that the powder coat will blend it all. Shock mounts were made but ended up 10mm too short so they need remaking. They'll look like the 2 pics below once done. Still need to make the rear shock mounts. I'll probably do that tomorrow. My ZX10 rearsets arrived this morning, cost me £58 on the bay. Ironically the ER5 brake lever fits on the ZX10 spigot as it’s identical!!!! I love Kawasaki for stuff like that. My old GPZ750 was the same. Had to cut and weld the brake actuating rod but that’s gonna get replaced once it’s complete anyway. The gear lever will get binned as the frame and sidestand is bang in the way but I can extend the original lever and get it powder coated.
Just cut out two lower shock mounts and tacked one in place. They’re substantially bigger than the originals. Need a couple of spacers before I finish. Also need to source 2x16mm bolts with domed nuts.
This is a great. I love things like this...mainly because this is so far out of my capabilities. Thanks for sharing it all @exuptoy ...it's coming on a treat and I cant wait to see how it all turns out.
Cheers @hitch For anyone interested I think the colour will be a Kawasaki metallic brown in keeping with its Kawasaki heritage. Not sure about the orange too, maybe?? What you reckon?
Really been hammering on with this @exuptoy looks like great progress in such a short time frame! Great detailed write ups too, I doth thy hat!
Cheers fella, enjoying it too, unfortunately I have an enforced lay off now for 2 weeks as I arrived offshore this evening. Just means I have 2 weeks to plan the next bit and spend money on AliExpress and eBay
Been playing with Gimp photo editor, can you tell I'm bored on nightshift! By the way I'm not very good at it! Whats the verdict? Brown ok?
