Swingarm Conversion Q's - Function or Looks

531blackbanshee wrote: krazyrider,

we are blessed to have some talent and knowledge on this forum in good folks who don't mind sharing some info. :evil:

have you seen the swingarms that les is building in his custom z1r thread?

super nice

rslingshot does an awesome busa swingarm,extended,underbraced conversion that anyone wanting a custom swingarm might think about for one of these old kz's.

i live in skiatook okla.(it's in my signature line :silly: .) :pinch:

i do not remember what i charged t-dub for the underbrace .

prolly not ENOUGH :ohmy: , :laugh: !

i work too cheap :sick: .

if you get serious about wanting a stocker underbraced shoot me a pm,i will come up with a price :woohoo: .

mark,

you ain't hurtin my feelings man :kiss: .


leon

...I have seen Les' work. He's obviously a very talented individual. This place oozes with talent and knowledge. It's quite amazing, actually! I consider myself very lucky to happen upon this place and very lucky to be engaged by so many of its members. I'm very thankful to be able to start a thread such as this one and accumulate a vast wealth of knowledge in such a short period of time. In many forums a new member is usually lucky if anyone even reads his post, never mind address it. You should all take a bow for being selfless individuals and I thank you for it.

les holt wrote: Good words Leon! There are quite a lot of talented people here covering a vast array of skills from electrical, paint, fabrication. I don't do my thing for income, I do the 40 hr a week bit for that, I do it because I enjoy it and I'll bet most who offer up their help do it for the same reasons.
Godfrey, your right on the brand setting the price but that's still wrong and they know it, they just don't care. They figure if you own a Duccati you have taste and money, well, I have both, that slice of pizza for lunch tasted like cardboard and ketchup and I had more than enough money for a pepsi to wash it down.

...well said Les, well said.

faffi wrote: KraZy, everything else being equal, narrow tyres handle better than wider ones. The wider the tyre, the more you need to lean the bike for any given cornering speed. The wider the tyre, the more leverage bumps have to push you off line and/or upset the bike. The wider the tyre, the heavier the steering becomes. The lesser the diameter of the wheel, the more lean you need for any given cornering speed. The greater the difference in width between front and rear tyre, the greater the difference in trajectory between the two ends of your machine.

So why does modern bikes wear these wide tyres, especially in the rear? For most people it's just for looks, style. For the very limited few it's also about grip. It's a testament to modern bike builders - and tyre designers - that current sport machines still handle amazingly well despite the challenges with their tyres. Take an absolutely stock KZ650 in every way and fit it with 17 in rims and 120/70 front radial and a 190/50 rear radial and you will end up with a bike a lot worse than stock as it wasn't designed for such wheels.

In other words, you have nothing to worry about staying with your stock wheels and good modern rubber in suitable sizes.

...amen Brother, amen! My last name isn't Duhamel and I'll never be able to ride like him. I'm just tryin' to look like him.

:laugh:

Godfrey wrote: Yup Leon, I've seen your underbraced swingarm , and I've been readin and watchin Les's thread too so seen his , both very fine lookin product. I haven't seen what rslingshot builds yet, but given what I've seen from you 2 if you say its good I'd buy it. I'm only a couple yrs younger then KraZyRIDER, more then happy just travelin down the highway, but I love watchin you folks build your dream machines, and I worked in a custom fab shop for 4 yrs about 27 yrs ago so I can appreciate all the work put into what you folks build.

Godfrey

...nice to know there's someone here around my age. This way I won't just be blowin' smoke when I refer to 'the good old days,' Not even sure that many will get my Duhamel reference. Aaah, the good old days.

This one?

most stock rear rims that came on a 70s kawasakis where designed to run a 110 rear tire
a 120 is the biggest they can handle properly
when you start putting bigger tires on these old rims
they become so pinched in the ID that it distorts the intendened tread contact area
on the OD and also makes them prone to sidewash (the sidewall wobbles)
which makes em dangerous
espeically to a new guy with a old bike thats trying to look cool
read up about tire choice before you install
while were at it a streeing damper is imo a must
and a good fork brace never hurt anyone either
modern rubber
(i know they used to be in different numbers for sizes i just cant remember them)

ramtough_63 wrote: This one?

...not that lame ass, this one!

jeffasaki wrote: most stock rear rims that came on a 70s kawasakis where designed to run a 110 rear tire
a 120 is the biggest they can handle properly
when you start putting bigger tires on these old rims
they become so pinched in the ID that it distorts the intendened tread contact area
on the OD and also makes them prone to sidewash (the sidewall wobbles)
which makes em dangerous
espeically to a new guy with a old bike thats trying to look cool
read up about tire choice before you install
while were at it a streeing damper is imo a must
and a good fork brace never hurt anyone either
modern rubber
(i know they used to be in different numbers for sizes i just cant remember them)

...those are words of wisdom you speak, Jeff.

KraZyRIDER wrote:

ramtough_63 wrote: This one?

...not that lame ass, this one!

LMAO :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

...not that lame ass, this one!

[/quote]

LMAO :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:[/quote]

...see, I was right. Most of you guys are too damn young to get my 'good old day' references. That's OK, it'll happen to you, some day.



...Yvon was the man back in the day! Duhamel, Nixon, Smart, Bauman, Wilvert and a host of others thrilled the crowds on those beautifully ugly Team Green machines.

...just imagine being able to do 170 on THAT flimsy swingarm. Look at the perfectly vertical shock absorber. Just imagine having to jump the binders and dive into the Daytona infield! Those guys had moxie!

Moxie noun Slang
1. vigor; verve; pep.
2. courage and aggressiveness; nerve.
3. skill; know-how.

...otherwise known as, a BIG pair of balls!

...and all your KZ's grew out of these 2 stroke wonders. The race for speed.

More than a couple ole timers here. I remember when Nixon was running British bikes. In fact, I bought one of his race engines from him for a street bike. Those really were the good old days! Ed

650ed wrote: More than a couple ole timers here. I remember when Nixon was running British bikes. In fact, I bought one of his race engines from him for a street bike. Those really were the good old days! Ed

...definitely, the competition between Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki was intense! Two strokers were the thing back then. Sounded like millions of angry bees buzzing around the track on race day.