Fcuk a truck, it's been too long. (Not-so) Quick update: I had purchased a complete Yamaha R6 frontend for the CB650z, with upgraded KTech sport springs - a true racing BEAST! But the seller - a mate of mine - asked to swap these with those from his newly purchased 2016 Triumph Thruxton. He's an actual racer and I’m eager to see what he does with his Thruxton to get it racing-fit, so we swapped. The Triumph frontend is nowhere near as sporty as the R6 one, but is way more in keeping with a CB650Z. I'm learning that my projects won't always benefit from the latest and greatest pieces of tech (no matter how good a mates-rate deal). The R6 would've radically (maybe even, predictably) changed this build. I had hoped to have the CB400T front wheel that had been on the CB650z, modified to accomodate a second rotor (apparently this can be done on some Comstars) but I have been reliably informed that these Comstars cannot be modified. So I had to find another dual disk front wheel and happened upon one from a CB900F ... with the rest of the frontend for $150AUD. Bargain!! Honda CB dual disc wheels, in good condition, go for $500+ I would've happily used the CB900F frontend on this build had I found them first. They look every bit the part, exactly the same age and styling and, knowing Honda, they probably are the exact same frontend. I'll save these forks for another build. So the Triumph Thruxton frontend along with the CB900F front wheel, is currently being fabbed up at a mate's. I will update further once we're out of lockdown and I can head over to pick everything up. Roll on next week!!

4 sparks

3 years ago

REALLY can’t summon enough motivation to attend to the electrics of this bike, so instead I’ve set about dealing with the tank. I’ve never painted anything before and despite the flaws in the primer that I can see, I’m pretty proud of this first attempt - and it’s far better than the state it had been in.

4 sparks

3 years ago

So the stripped jet in my #2 carb point blank refuses to come out - JIS screwdriver, left hand threaded drill bits, you name it, I've thrown at it. Another jet screw was stuck and the left hand drill bit worked a treat, but not with this one. I suspect a replacement #2 carb is in my future but the prices of individual carbs is beyond stupid (when I can find one), for a couple of hundred Australian dollars more, I could get a fully refurbished, complete 4carb set. In frustration, I returned to the frontend. Again, there's not too much I can do here but I changed the ball bearings on a spare CB400T front wheel and attached it to the Yamaha R6 front axle; grabbed the tank from the CB450K2 (the CB650Z's tank is in a proper barn-found state) and chucked on the seat from another bike. I'm liking how this build may turn out. However, I've yet to get the CB650Z started ... so I've a very expensive set of racing forks on an immovable, possibly unrepairable, bike. How NOT to approach a bike restoration project

4 sparks

Ashley carter

I snapped a jet in a kawa Z1300 carb.... The trick is heat..

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3 years ago

Being technically disadvantaged, the best I can do right now is a mock-up. So I’ve added a random seat I had lying about in the garage, and a Benelli styled tank, purchased for this build, and took a step back to admire the possibilities ... it looks FIERCE!! It's about 35cm (just over foot) too long at the rear. I wasn't planning on cutting anything, but that butt definitely looks too big on this!

5 sparks

Yaedio X

@roman.falter Please do, would love to see other builds

Roman Falter

The xj900 ... i did s build on this too. Underestimated bike ... if i can find the time i put some pics on this platform

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3 years ago

Finally figured out the bearings, installed them and mocked the front end up. I need to fabricate some proper spacers and figure out what to do for a speed sensor - the Yamaha R1 (front-end donor) seems to use a different type of sensor, maybe engine based? And the XJ900F speed sensor cannot accomodate the R1’s wheel axle ... nothing's ever simple, eh? I’ll need to figure something out and a GPS based speedo just isn’t legal over here. ... And I'm not sure if it comes through in the photo, but the rear end of this bike goes ... on ... for ... DAYS!!! Definitely, need that arse chopped!

3 sparks

3 years ago