bike modding...

[match417]

I'll put pics up..leave me alone....i just got back to my house 10 minutes ago..didn't have time to work on the bike today..and tried to plug my memory stick into the computer to pull the pics off of it..it won't let me..i leave my comp on too long and it stops reading memory sticks until i reboot..i'd do it now but i just wanna go to bed..long day. i have pics..will put them up later

actually i was thinking of doing that with the rad cap..but i had a different plan in mind. that is good too. i might just buy a radiator with a cap on top(note...just so you guys know..you don't have to order the $40 rad cap from online to replace your stock one..the generic ones from most of your cars work fine, $10 at the parts store)

as far as the airbox, i priced some universal radiator hose that is 1.5 inch diameter at napa..20 inches long. and i went to the hardware store and got two pvc elbows so I can lay down my individual air filters inside the airbox. Then i'm chopping the top, fiberglassing over it, sealing it, and cutting two holes in it for my new air tubes, maybe buying plastic piping fromthe hardware store to put in the airbox so i can clamp on the hoses to them, then the last step...put the hoses in the holes in the front fairing.

[Genesis]

as far as the airbox, i priced some universal radiator hose that is 1.5 inch diameter at napa..20 inches long. and i went to the hardware store and got two pvc elbows so I can lay down my individual air filters inside the airbox. Then i'm chopping the top, fiberglassing over it, sealing it, and cutting two holes in it for my new air tubes, maybe buying plastic piping fromthe hardware store to put in the airbox so i can clamp on the hoses to them, then the last step...put the hoses in the holes in the front fairing.

Just to let you know the fzr400 airbox fits under the yzf tank, I'm not sure if it will fit under a r6 tank, but it might. I have pictures in my rebuild thread

[the_finch]

as far as the airbox, i priced some universal radiator hose that is 1.5 inch diameter at napa..20 inches long. and i went to the hardware store and got two pvc elbows so I can lay down my individual air filters inside the airbox. Then i'm chopping the top, fiberglassing over it, sealing it, and cutting two holes in it for my new air tubes, maybe buying plastic piping fromthe hardware store to put in the airbox so i can clamp on the hoses to them, then the last step...put the hoses in the holes in the front fairing.

I wonder this every time someone talks about fiberglassing little stuff like that, but have you ever considered plastic welding? It's pretty cheap and easy enough; I've done it before to a side fairing after I dropped my bike the second day I owned it. All you really need is some scrap ABS plastic (if you have some beat up original body work, you're good to go), a 25-30 amp soldering iron, and some ABS plastic welding rods, whic you can get pretty cheap in a bulk pack from http://www.harborfreight.com. You basically put the plastic where you want it, melt a little groove in the plastic where the weld will be, then heat up the original plastic while melting the welding rod into the plastic. Let cool, sand/cut/trim, and repeat as needed. Just don't inhale the fumes.

(I plan on doing a write-up on this shortly, as I have a side rear panel that needs a mounting tab put back on.

[match417]

as far as using the FZR400 airbox..eh..that's just something else to buy..i can modify mine and save $$

yeah, i've thought about teaching myself to plastic weld, if i can do a halfway decent job at arcwelding, i'm sure plastic would be cake, actually i could probably eat cake while doing it..haha..and i accidentally melted through my toolbox with my cheap radio shack crap soldering iron a few weeks ago after i set it down and it fell over..ugh. I didn't think the soldering iron would work well for plastic welding though, i thought i'd actually have to buy a kit. If it's that easy though, i'll get some abs welding rods and see if my iron will do the trick. I've smoothed out road rash before with a propane torch and a putty knife though.

i still don't have much time to finish the R6 tail, i'll get to it when I get to it..but here's some pics so far....

after metal was grinded away...


my friend sticking his hand in the way of the camera for a shaka..


rad cap bracket that needed to be removed and lowered before i took it off


the R6 bracket mounted on the frame after grinding away some of it


AIRBOX MODDING...i have more time for this because i can do it inside my house when i have light...can't do the bike inside the house...sigh

after I took it apart and bought some 90 degree elbows


shortened the plastic stacks to fit the elbow inside


closed the airbox, oh, and between this step and the previous step, i had to remove two of the screw stubs inside the airbox between filters 1/2 and 3/4


I'm trying to find a good diameter hose to run out of the airbox..and i might just run more hose out of the stock air inlet of the airbox..i'm thinking of curving the hoses around to the front left and front right of the bike and making another ram air inlet beside the fairing..then i would have 4 air tubes.

[sweekster]

I'm digging that airbox mod. Nice work.

[match417]

i just got the other 3 filters off of the bike and put them in the airbox..i'm also going to line the inside of the airbox with aluminum foil. I looked at the frame again too..i'm going to enlarge the hole in it to probably 1.5 inches..my friend gave me the idea to weld a short metal pipe in it to keep the frame integrity

[the_finch]

i just got the other 3 filters off of the bike and put them in the airbox..i'm also going to line the inside of the airbox with aluminum foil. I looked at the frame again too..i'm going to enlarge the hole in it to probably 1.5 inches..my friend gave me the idea to weld a short metal pipe in it to keep the frame integrity

you probably know this already, but make sure that when you use the pipe to widen the holes that you don't use regular plumbing pipe. It's pretty brittle and insanely tough to weld, so you'd be looking at a nightmare to be able to use it. Use a mild steel EW (electro-welded) pipe from your local steel supplier. For the 1-2 foot max you should need, it shouldn't cost that much, unless they're just and have a minimum charge for their metal, then you might as well pick up a couple of other supplies while you're at it.

[match417]

i'm going to get the metal from the exhaust shop a couple of miles away it's easy to weld..thanks tho, and I won't need more than a foot. The metal is just going in the frame, then i'll make an air induction tube from some hose.

oh..and the whole airbox setup didn't cost more than $70. $60 after shipping for the filters and $4 for the 1 1/4 elbows.

[match417]

and hey..you're from midland city? My parents live a few hours west of you in brewton. That's where my 89 FZR is..of course it's in pieces..but it's there.

[the_finch]

I've never actually been to Brewton, but yeah, I'm from Midland City, less than 5 min from the enormously sprawling metropolis of Dothan, AL. (populaton 60k)

I know you're in Hawaii, but if you ever (for some ungodly reason) decide to leave that awesome place and come to the boring area of the world known as Alabama, swing on by and we'll go for a ride.

Or, in the case of your '89 we may just tinker on it.

[match417]

I've never actually been to Brewton, but yeah, I'm from Midland City, less than 5 min from the enormously sprawling metropolis of Dothan, AL. (populaton 60k)

I know you're in Hawaii, but if you ever (for some ungodly reason) decide to leave that awesome place and come to the boring area of the world known as Alabama, swing on by and we'll go for a ride.

Or, in the case of your '89 we may just tinker on it.

hahaha.."enormous sprawling metropolis", i've never been over that way either..i grew up around brewton..hated it, left as early as i could....been here for almost 5 years. I visit my parents once a year around christmas for a couple weeks..thats about it. Then once a few years ago I visited during the hot sticky summer..seasons suck there man..ugh

yeah, the 89 needs some tinkering, it was my parts bike here and I shipped it there, so it needs a few things.

[the_finch]

hahaha.."enormous sprawling metropolis", i've never been over that way either..i grew up around brewton..hated it, left as early as i could....been here for almost 5 years. I visit my parents once a year around christmas for a couple weeks..thats about it. Then once a few years ago I visited during the hot sticky summer..seasons suck there man..ugh

yeah, the 89 needs some tinkering, it was my parts bike here and I shipped it there, so it needs a few things.

Hot sticky summer? Which one are you referring to; the sorta hot sticky summer around April, the really hot sticky summer in July/August, or the still pretty hot sticky summer in September/October right before the December cold snap?

I've grown up here for the better part of 24 years, and I could go on and on about it, but let's just say it sucks really bad and I'm doing everything I can to get out of here myself.

The only good things that have happened around here lately is that they finally started repaving the really rough parts of the road and have a new movie theater opening next weekend.

[match417]

haha..well, at least you have a theater..they tore down this abandoned one and for the longest time there was an empty lot, but they later built a fake theater front and sign with no actual theater, just a little 10 X 10 building that looks like the front of an old style theater and has a scrolling marquee with town information, it's supposed to be some kind of landmark..i still don't understand the logic behind that, it's a waste of space. me and my friends would always go to pensacola to the theaters there..

[match417]

so i only have a few hours a week to put into this, and my friend said i could bring the bike to his house so we could use his welder over there, and he has tripods with lights to set up, so that eliminates the "no daylight" situation. anyway, i thought i'd post up some pics

tank bracket is on and welded..


grinding off the stock weld seam


seat support

[shredex]

love it, match!
Im still working on my inner fairing job.
I wish I had the time to do stuff like this on my bike, but its hard being transportationless.

anyways, looks like everything is turning out great!
keep us updated with lots of pics, maybe a vid or two.