Kawasaki vs Suzuki frames.

"He dropped the bike and dented the tank and bought a new one along with new handle bars even though they were not hurt..... I still have the bars on my 650 and love the feel and look of em"


Are the bars lead filled on the end?, when I bought my Z1000J in 1982 (in the UK) I wanted lower bars, the dealer I bought it from sold me a set of bars he said were from a GS1000 which were the right height, the lead weights certainly seemed to work in reducing vibration it felt noticeably smoother with those bars fitted.

I'll have to try that. How much lead?
Steve

swest wrote: I'll have to try that. How much lead?
Steve

I don't know how far it went into the bar because you could only see the outside end. I would imangine about 2 1/2 to 3" I've often thought about trying to make some. If you find a way to plug the bar in the appropriate position you could just pour some molten lead into the bar end and let it set. You can of course buy bar end weights, no where near as much fun though I can only assume Suzuki would not have done it were it not effective and as I said it worked on my Z1000J which was an added bonus in addition to having the lower bars which suited me better.

Make sure you put the same amount in each bar or your bike will be leaning on the straights

I just recycled some flat lead sheets. I knew I should have kept them. Lead is hard to come by now.
Steve

redhawk4 wrote: "He dropped the bike and dented the tank and bought a new one along with new handle bars even though they were not hurt..... I still have the bars on my 650 and love the feel and look of em"


Are the bars lead filled on the end?, when I bought my Z1000J in 1982 (in the UK) I wanted lower bars, the dealer I bought it from sold me a set of bars he said were from a GS1000 which were the right height, the lead weights certainly seemed to work in reducing vibration it felt noticeably smoother with those bars fitted.

I don't remember them being but maybe.... I had to cut three slots in the bottom (worked at a machine shop at the time) for the wires to go through...... you could get wheel weights Steve and melt them on the stove or maybe some shot if you know someone who loads shot gun shells....... I'm so into saving weight off the bike I probably would never do it but it might help.

The received wisdom is something like back in the day kawasakis had more poke but suzuki better frames, this might have been true at the beginning but by the later z1000J etc things had improved a lot.

I note the my z1000R and GPz750R1 both have the braced top tube to headstock, wheras the GPz550 is plain. I aways preferred the steering and feel of the 750 and 1100's even though the short wheelbase 550 and lighter twinshock should be the best .

On the steering damper bars, the lead needs to act as a damper, so must be able to move to absorb the energy, so solid metal won't work. lead shot in a net bag is oneway to do it. That primary vibration at double the engine rpm particularly bad at cruising speeds on the 750 and 1100, the 550 much better.

I have a box of wheel weights. Should I slip them in? How much weight? My bars don't seem to vibrate as much as I remembered. The mirrors do though. Been looking for rubber dampers for them. I saw a set on ebay used but they wanted $35 and crazy shipping.
Steve

a tube of silicone in a caulking gun.stick it into one end of the bar and pump until it comes out the other end.
if you have wires n your bars it prolly a nogo,,,
sportbikes used solid bar end wieghts to make the bars less buzzy.

theres always www.barsnake.com/

leon

You could probably use silicone to make a stopper for the lead a few inches into the bar and then pour it in and let it set. Old wheel weights would work, just stay off the church roof, they don't like that. Alternatively find a metal pipe to suit the ID of the bars, cut a couple of lengths of that fill those with lead and then put those into the bars. We used to melt lead and cast things in sand when I was a kid, could make two half rounds with an impression in the sand, put those together an put those in the bars. In this day and age getting a whole lot of lead shot and mixing it with some sort of resin would probably be considered the safe way, no lead fumes, no lead poisoning, no burns, way less fun I might give that a go, create a "stop" in the bar with silicons sealer, then pack the space with lead shot mixed with some epoxy resin.

Silicon. Hmmmmm :whistle:
Steve

swest wrote: Working on my neighbor's Aprilla I didn't like the way the forks were pressed into the axle bosses. Kinda flimsy to me. Also the fact the fork tubes are low to the ground where dirt and rocks can hit them. The wrap around fender is a turn off too. Bulbous and ugly. The forks look great and the brakes are state of the art. The weak link is at the axle.
Steve

Are those the contemporary "reverse-type" forks?

sportbikes used solid bar end wieghts to make the bars less buzzy.

I think it was more about increasing the polar moment of inertia around the steering axle to make them less prone to tankslappers, negating the need for a steering damper.

I got really interested in this secondary vibe buzz for a while and there is a lot of info on the net about it.