More importantly the thought process that has gone into every decision to build this bike the way it is being built.
I love to write. Not like, but love. I have written a few books never to be published about when I was a mercenary but it was more to get things out of my head and off my soul than anything I would ever want another human to read.
So this will be very descript. I will add pictures of course because it’s all about being able to see another craftsman’s work to get ideas or see how some one fixed an issue your running into. Also I can be told when I am about to EF -Up and maybe I can get some feed back as well on issues I am running into.
I learned so much on the Achieves sight as well as the Custom fighters sight and the TZR sight to name just a few favorites that I wanted to give back a bit of insight on how I made my dream bike - a bad ass little 400/YZF.
I know others dream of Ducatti ‘s or R-1’s but I love this 400 frame and what can be done with it.
Its only obsolete in that it needs a bit of a face lift however the geometry of the frame and its forgiveness in a hard situation makes it in my opinion one of the best frames ever made for its class.
A class which ranges from 400 up to 660cc’s and even a few crazies that have stuffed 750cc and 1000cc engine in it.
So About 2 years ago I finally positioned myself to begin this build. I located two FZR-400 bikes and tore them apart. That was the easy part.
Since it’s been a bit of a struggle to find info and get the straight scoop on what to do since there are so many takes on what works and what does not. Even on the Archives sight where generally there are normal and set responses to technical questions I felt I still needed to use a bit of gut feeling and maybe some past experience in racing to build the bike I wanted and the way I want.
I mean no disrespect here but it’s my bike and I want to do what I feel is what I am looking for out of the project. I have had a few people wonder what the EF I was doing and why I was doing it a certain way.
That has also made me decide to write this all out. Sometimes, especially over here in China, I got people doing a job they have no idea why I would want to modify a perfectly good working part. They just don’t get it sometimes.
I do have a budget but it went over that so long ago I don’t even dare add it up anymore. I made a few mistakes that cost me a bit of money in this build but when you have to import parts you have to take risks and buy sight unseen sometimes.
Generally though I have gotten exactly what I have ordered.
So one last word which is I am in no way an expert on bikes the FZR or racing. I just do it myself and have opinions. If you think what I say makes sense good for you. If you think I am off my rocker, good for you. It’s just my thoughts.
Though I would like to think that since I first stuck my knee out toward the pavement when I was 16 back about 30 years ago to now I hoped I would have learned a few things. But sadly, not as much as I want. I still thirst for knowledge about bikes and what makes them tick.
A few quotes from the site
“ What the f*ck is this China Racer guy doing over there to his FZR-400?” – Unknown author
“..f*ck dude this is the baddest (sic) engine I have ever built to be stuffed in a 400 frame. This thing is going to f*ck fly.” - Spyder
“How much is this costing so far for this build?” – Unknown author
“This thing is out of control… I must be completely insane. And yet, I need to continue I need to complete this project. It’s not a goal, it’s a quest.” - China_Racer_1
A quest I have been chasing since I first got on one of these bikes back in 1988.
I walked into Long Beach Yamaha, Talked to Tom Sera and he pointed it out to me.
There she was. A brand new 1988 FZR-400. I bought her right then right there. I signed the papers literally within minutes of seeing her.
I had no intention of putting her on the road. She was going straight from show room to track.
I did break her in for about 285 miles on the southern California high ways. And took her up to Ortega Highway to see what she could do stock.
I had been racing and FZ-600 (What a tank) but this, this was modern technology. I just knew it was. I was dumb as a box of rocks back then but I knew this bike was what I needed.
My crazy partner Jeff Wells of Seal Beach was excited as well. He and I had become great friends and we pitted together. He was mounted on a RZ-350 and loved his two stroke.
The first time this bike saw the track was at Willow Springs Raceway, Spring of 1988 at a WERA National 6 Hour Endurance race.
We slapped on slicks (The first time I had ever tried them), scrubbed them in for a few hours in practice. Set the bike up and waited for the green flag to drop.
We had absolutely nothing prepped on the bike other than we did manage to safety wire it up in time for inspection.
No steering dampener just a set of slicks, Jeff and Myself. I remember Jeff asked me what compound we should run. I hadn’t a clue he said a soft front hard rear would do good for us on the track at hand.
I said sure and that’s what we ran.
By the end of the race it was like being on the ice.
The bike had a nice controllable slide but it was in nearly every frigin corner.
I had Jeff run the last leg as he was the more experienced rider and we figured our riding order back from there.
We had a few hand signal. Used his girl friend as our firer fighter with her bikini top and a fire extinguisher and we went racing.
With even the small amount of track time we had in the morning practice it was easy to see this was going to be a fun race.
The bike handled well except for the rise over turn 6 which made the whole front end shake uncontrollably for a second but it would always straighten back out and after the first few times I relaxed my grip on that corner and never fail, she would render right as I would pour on the gas just like she should and it was off to the back straight.
End result was a disputed third palace (We thought we had 2nd in the bag but we were using the same lap counter of the team we were disputing and the girl sided with her friends. But no matter we made our mark right then and there.
The next track meet a month later there were five other FZR-400’s on the grid with me and we got a series going and had a blast all summer. By summers end the grid was flooded with the 400’s.
That was 20 years ago.
So with that back ground in mind I took time off to go join humanity and get a family going. Now I have the money and connections to build the bike I started to build but abandoned back in 1990 - A 600cc in a 400 frame.
That’s what I called it for years. Now it’s called a Hybrid 400 / YZF as there are now more options and you need to let people know what frame and engine combo you have.
What a great bike to muck around with huh?
Only this time I build the bike I wanted to do it using the latest technology… Well that I can afford anyway. I tried to do her right and not skim and just wait until I could afford what I needed. Nearing the end of the bike build I will be 3K in debt over budget and then some.
I figure the total cost will be nearly 10K most of this due to shipping charges for imported parts.
Yes I have gone completely mad.
Here are the specs and costs that I know of or will admit to myself ha ha
Note prices include all shipping charges if applicable
FZR-400 OW model complete (Though basket case condition) 300
R-1 complete Front end 600
FZR-400 European model (3TJ Model) 300
Honda F3 Rear Wheel, hub, disc 300
Rear Wheel Wave rotor for the F-3 Wheel 70
Stock FZR brake caliper 50
Suzuki Rear Brake caliper under mount style 62
Kawasaki 636 Radiator with extra Fan 125
Woods Craft Clip ons 135
Extra Set of Levers 60
Fuel Cell made by Mod King (Traded parts but valued about) 250
Rear Shock Cost & Rework (Traded parts but valued about) 300
Brake-tec over sized rotors with sinster race pads 794
Steering dampener 150
Carbon Fiber tank cover (Sponsored by Oya Carbon) 0
Carbon Fiber Seat (Sponsored by Oya Carbon) 0
Machine work to fit up swing arm and R-1 Front end (Sponsored) 0
Swing arm spools (Grand Dragon Gear – Self Sponsored but my cost) 5
Rear Sets (Grand Dragon Gear – Self Sponsored but my raw cost) 150
Fairings – 1994 TZ partially sponsored by local vendor 60
Fairing stay Sponsored by Same guy that does the machine work) 0
YZF Engine Sponsored by B Miller 0
Crank Work – A.P.E. 511
Undercut gears 350
Heads port polish 5 angle valve job 300
Carbs Mikuni Flat Slides 700
Misc. internal new parts pistons rods ect. 1015
Hindle light weight stainless steel 150
Accell Coils 250
Can titanium - (Grand Dragon Gear – Self Sponsored but my cost) 135
Track sport case savers 90
Pro Shift Kit 90
Barnet H/D Clutch Springs plates etc 189
Anti Slosh Foam for fuel cell 30
Doug –Z rear brake master cylinder eliminator 40
Custom dash – made by myself out of scrap aluminum 0
YZF 600 wiring harness – full 125
Steel braided lines 160
Zero gravity double bubble wind screen fasteners and dzus clips 158
Exhaust Wrap 130
Rear Sprocket 80
Powder coating (Sponsored by Marquass Motorcycles) 0
Total to date 7714
Remaining costs
Shipping engine to China 500
More sprockets 160
Chain 60
Tires 300
Safety Gear
New race gloves 133
New race suit 588
New race boots 300
Grand total expected cost for this entire project $9,955.00 USD (If I added it all up right)
Huh? What?????.....what happened… oh shit I just picked myself up off the floor after totaled this up and passed out. KRACKY! 10 f*ck Grand!
So here is the bike in its raw form as I bought it. Nasty huh?
Here it is stripped down Powder coated parts – to help protect it a bit but mostly to get the color scheme I am looking for
Thoguht I had more pics of the powder coated parts. If I find them I will post them
Here is what I hand carried back from Spyder’s on my last trip to the USA
Again I need to dig these pics out bt a list of things brought back in my lluggage Rochester New York to shanghai China:
accel coils
R-1 Front end
F3 rear Wheel R-1 Front wheel
Kawasaki 636 radiator
Carbon Front fender
Steel braided lines
Hindle exhaust
Rear shock
exhaust wrap
misc small parts
Here is the fuel cell made by Mod King along with his expert work on the fox twin clicker shock.
The fuel cell was designed by me but Mod King had a frame in his shop and he used it to make it fit thus coming up with this simple yet practical design
Here is a mock up of the body work rear seat and fuel tank cover
Note: I filled in the original fuel tank fill hole as the fuel cell mod king made for me sits lower and was intentionally made shorter to get the Center of Gravity as low as I could.
The anti slosh foam was added as well to keep the fuel from slamming around in corners.
My local track has 14 turns in 1.2 miles so it’s twisty all the way.
I read a lot about this and articles I researched stated that the fuel sloshing around was equal to a 30 pound weight being slammed against your bike on a hard turn also the lack of sloshing made the Center of Gravity (CG) feel about 6” lower than stock.
Racers take note you may want to try this cheap fix
The race rotors I negotiated a price break if you can believe it with Brake Tech I got a 20% racers discount. Still cost me a fortune for them.
They are over sized for insane braking and with the x-race sinster pads I should be flipping endos like it or not
Why the R-1 front end?
After doing a bunch of research on this I decided to go with a 2003/2003 R-1 Front end for a simple fact. It would fit. I only needed to change out the stem and make a sleeve which my machinist sponsor did in an after noon.
I know I could have gone with and R-6 but I got a good price on the entire front end wheel and all so I grabbed it.
I believe the R-1 Front end capable of handling anything I can toss at it as far as corner stress as well.
If I went with and R-6 I figured its made for an 600cc engine so knowing what I do about manufacturing I know the R-6 front end is good enough. I wanted more than good enough I wanted better then good enough so I sized up a bit with the R-1
Also one for the tracks I have available over her is an F-1 track with corner speeds of about 185MPH (Not sure if this bike will do that) so wanted beefy suspension for high speeds which stop quick for hairpins like this track has.
The Kawasaki 636 radiator was a Spyder suggestion which I took hold of. He has it fit on his FZR-600 street fighter and after looking at it I felt it would do the trick for helping cool things down. A bit of water wetter and I am good to go.
The extra fan should help as well, though after thinking about it I may go constant loss so I will not use the fans and just use air flow. I will monitor this to see if its efficient enough to keep the bastard cool enough.
Rear swing arm and f-3 wheel – I had to make a few sleeves for this to work but being a 3TJ it fit in pretty easy.
Fitting the F3 wheel however has proven to be a bit of a night mare. The hub where the sprocket fits is sticking way out and to fit a sprocket on it will be difficult.
My machinist said no issue - he will design and machine out a new hub if need be. Can’t argue with that but I would dis-swade anyone form trying this unless they have a lot of money for machine work.
Original swing arm condition
The FZR original bolt compared to teh newly machines 3JT bolt
Original opening
Newly sleeved opening
We needed to make a sleeve for this thing to fit up right. Sorry I can not remember just why but it required a sleve to fit in the original opening and we made a bolt to match
There has to be a better way to get a fat tire on there. I know I know I could have done a R-6 or YZF swap but I wanted to maintain the short wheel base so here I am.
The rear brake system is all out of whack as well and I need a lot of work on it.
Originally I bought a FZR 600 rear brake caliper but it did not work on top or under the swinger as I hoped to mount it.
I got a Suzuki as I was told it will work. And yes it fits the 3JT but it’s out of line with the F-3 wheel as well.
I might just have to go get a local cheap ass piece of shit caliper to fit that’s small enough. I never use the damned thing anyway when I race but it’s required. For safety reasons so as long as it stops me that one time I need it most then I am cool with that.
NOTE: not recommended for street use.
The body work is actually off my TZR-250 which I adapted from a TZ-250 GP bike. I have done a quick check and I am sure it will fit but it will take a bit of doing.
I had a vendor that made carbon parts for me in the past and after a lot, and I mean a frigin lot of talking. I persuaded them to sponsor me two each tank covers and two each rear seat made of carbon fiber.
They had to open up mold specifically for these parts and they really kicked and screamed about that since they can not sell any of these parts to the general public so a lot of talking about how sponsorship worked and ‘yes they are one off but think of the marketing value with pics and taking the bike to trade shows etc.’.
It was a rough battle but I got them going with the flow now. I should have them in my hands in a few weeks. Probably the hardest I ever had to talk to get a sponsor on board but really worth it as they make an insane product and they know it.
Rear sets – well what can I say I manufacture these and think they are the bomb for track use. I have beefed up a few areas and made a few changes on this new order I am making per post member suggestions so they should work better than before.
However if I may boast – the last race of last season I had them on my FZR-400 and I needed a change of position on the grid as they just did not feel right and I was having a hard time clicking into gear.
My mechanic jumped the wall ran over and made the mod right there on the grid and I was good to go before the flag dropped. 5 minute warning was already out so it was a tight fix time wise. After the 3 minute warning no one is allowed on the grid.
As far as the engine and what we did and why we did it
I lightened and balanced the crank for some obvious reasons but mostly because at the time I had read a lot of the benefits of a balanced crank. Lightening it cost the project another 4 month waiting for it to finish up. but with less gyroscopic effects and a slew of other benifits I can't even remember, and most likely will never feel, I figured what the heck.
I wanted to build not just a 600cc engine I wanted a fire breathing engine.
We lightened the crank, balanced it, did a 5 angle valve job, ported, polished did some other crap to the head I have no idea about. (SPYDER FILL US IN) Something with the valve springs maybe? I forgot its been so long since it was done.
All the pistons connecting rods bearing everything was bought new and replaced.
here are a bunch of pics from assembly
Cleaned up pan
We did not over bore for the simple fact I am in the 600cc class and they have a machine that checks and will flag a cheater engine in a heart beat. (Frigin modern technology Arghhhh!!! Ha ha )
We (Spyder and I) also knew we needed to do some other work to the insides particularly the gears. So they were under cut and we added a pro shift kit to it as well.
Feeling the need for lots of fire to make her truely fire breathing we got an accel kit fro the coils to amp her up a bit
Look for more pictures being posted through out this thread. its taken 3 hours to get al this posted so I need a break I got to teach a class at the track in the AM
Once I get this engine over here I should have a fire breathing FZR hybrid that can carve corners like no ones business.
The status of the bike right now is this.
I have all the parts here except the carbon bits and the engine.
The engine was sent UPS to me in Dallas last week over night….however some guy in a Starbucks in Seattle got it and called spyder asking WTF?
So I got on the plane back to China with out it. My only chance to hand carry it back with me as cargo.
Now I have to wait for Spyder to receive it. Assemble it (If all the parts are there) and then send it to Hong Kong to friend who will literally have to smuggle it across the border into the PRC (Peoples Republic of China). I hope it makes it.
Once I have the engine I can install it and line up the swing arm, wheel etc and finish that whole mess up.
Then I can add the rest of the bits and get her going. I got about a month or so of work ahead of me before it’s finished Once the engine arrives.
That’s up to UPS and Spyder at this point
Very inspiring to say the least. By the way, Spyder actually isn't a member here (yet).
