TOPIC:

0h yeah, I remember! Mock ups and such definitely necessary for your project! I kind of went blindly nuts with mine, a sain thing would had been making it run first. But so many things were bad, all had to be checked, I guess at the end in my case it paid off doing everything once.

Can't hear your bike roar and see it ride! Then will come the painting and polishing. Looking forward to seeing all the next steps!

Ok, engine in and bolted down, carbs on, new proposed chassis members in place...





IT FITS!

I can cut where I want. Tomorrow I'll ask the welder what he thinks and where to cut/weld etc.

Happy!

Welder says Ok, it can all be done without losing frame strength or rigidity. But I now have quite a bit of metalwork to do... cut and shape the end of the new crossmembers so they fit properly before welding. Also need to review where the rear shocks will attach at the top and how I will strengthen those areas. Left side is OK as the lifting handle was there and the metal is thick at that point, but on the RH side I need to fabricate the extra metal. And then it needs two small triangular braces to make sure the design can handle the rear fork attachments being above the cross members.

I have also enquired with Hagon about their twin rear shocks to see if they can fabricate ones that will fit the bike when the frame is cut and keep the ride height the same. They said yes, no problem, not even any extra cost. Result!

I also have my eyes on a set of Ducati Multistrada front forks (Ohlins) but I need to get some advice on whether these can be adjusted to carry the extra 100kg that the KZ1300 has over a Multistrada... I have found a specialist near my work which I will go see later this week hopefully.

Paul

I did not manage to chat to the suspension guy, so still not sure if the Ducati front suspension can handle the KZ's extra weight. Hopefully I'll get some time to drive out to him next week.

But the metalwork has been done. The new cross braces are 'lipped' at each end so they fit nicely onto the frame. Next week I'll weld them in and then (after taking a deeeeep breath) cut the old cross braces. No going back then!

After that it will need two triangular pieces welded in to build in extra strength for the rear shocks, and then the rear section can be cut off to make way to the rear 'loop' behind the seat. At this point I'm not sure how I am going to bend that piece to how I want it, not having any tube bending tools...

Right, no way back now. I have welded in the new and cut out the old.





Stan wants the brackets on the old cross member, so that will probably find its way to Canada.

I still want to weld in two triangular pieces above the new bars for strength and then the shock mounts can be installed a little further forward for the 10mm shorter Hagon shocks that I have on order.

Not sue how I will be doing that as I am not sure exactly how these mounts are constructed. It looks like a bar inserted halfway into a hollow bus that has been inserted into the frame and welded at both ends. Cutting the old ones out and re-inserting them in another part of the frame is precision work.... it needs to be in exactly the right place and at the right angle....

Then I can weld a cross bar in to the rear of the seat and then the rear section can be cut off.

Its starting to look a little like what's in my head!

Thank you in advance Paul!

A funny thing, seems like I needed your frame and you mine. I have the brackets missing - and you have them all but want the off! Sounds like most thing in life. I feel lucky and blessed that with such incredible timing both of us will have exactly what we want.

Bike looking good and with the lower seat, and lower center of gravity, I am sure the bike will ride superb.

Cheers!