Maybe go streetfighter with my FZR?

[hawcer]

I picked up a 97 fzr600 cheap last weekend and it needs work. Before I left to go get it, the previous owner told me it was complete, but apart because he was going to repaint it.

In reality, it was missing both side fairings and the upper fairing was busted in about 5 places(junk). The front sprocket nut had fallen off and damaged the cover, making the clutch inoperative. Luckily he had already purchased a replacement cover.I still need to find the correct nut.
Someone had already put an Airtech R1 type solo tail on it...and did a piss poor job mounting it. I have already figured out what I need to do to correct it. So I'm out of the dark on that one.

So my thoughts when from cleaning it up and repainting it to making a streetfighter out of it.
I can work with fiberglass, so I could repair the upper fairing....but I think it would be much easier to strip all that junk off the front and go naked.

Questions:

Is it possible to remount the original headlights to the tripples and delete the fairing stay without too much trouble? Will the cluster pod have to be relocated?

What is better, using the original clip-ons or replacing them with bars? Where would one find the upper tripple clamp for use with bars?

I'm undecided with the exact route I would like to take. Right now I'm just soaking up different ideas. The cheaper the better

I have a nice GSX-R750 , so this fzr will be something to play around with. I'll try to get a few pics of the nasty beast when I can get a few minutes free.

Thanks!

[hawcer]

A couple pics of the bike before I get to work on it.

[JasonRDfan]

I'm not a huge fan of the street-fighter look, but you are missing so much, and you already have a sportbike. I would say yes build a street-fighter. Check your clutch pushrod, not broken, one piece, don't lose the ball bearing that fall out if you pull it out. (under front sprocket cover) it should be around 9 inches long.

[JasonRDfan]

A lot of people are throwing handlebars on. One of them will have to tell you how they did it. I think it would look sweet if you would stip the paint off the rims and go with a polished aluminum look. I was thinking it might look cool if you went with a single headlight and bought one of those little cowl things that you see on cafe racers. Look for a single headlight mounting bracket. Maybe paint the frame black? It should be easy enough. Just measure before you order anything. Good luck. Nice looking project that will be lots of fun.

[hawcer]

I was just thinking about the bar mounts. I have a set of mounts...the type with a stud on the bottom that attaches through the upper triple clamp. Drill a couple holes and they are on there.

I just have to find them. They were last on a quad I built a few years back that I sold to my brother. He blew it up and parted it out...but the frame and steering is still at his house....so I hope they are still on the steering stem.

I was thinking about painting the frame black. I really didn't want to go too deep into disassembly, engine removal,etc...but I might. I have to do some welding and bracket work on the rear for the tail section, so some paint will need to be applied regardless...more coffee = more paint applied

The rims will definitely be at least repainted...I'm not too sure about stripping and polishing. I did that once on a VFR I had...It looks awesome, but takes alot of elbow grease. I am older and more worn out now then i was then...Pulling an all nighter to disassemble and reassemble a bike probably isn't in the cards anymore.

Thanks for the reply....keep the ideas coming.

[JasonRDfan]

I've never done a street fighter before so I'm just tossing out ideas. How about if you don't want the rims stripped have them powder coated a semi gloss black? I think that would look sweet.

[hawcer]

I just can't see spending almost as much on two side fairing as what I payed for the bike. So I think leaving it naked is the best bet for now.

On the bars...I think I might pull the upper triple off and machine out the two mounting holes for the use of universal high bar mounts with some basic 7/8" bars.

I am thinking of making a bracket to mount the cluster to the triples...maybe the headlights too. I really don't like the look of the aftermarket "streetfighter" headlights all that much. The dominators would be the best bet, but just too costly at this time.

For now, I'll get started on the tail section and work forward. I have some fiberglassing to do as well as some sub frame modifications.

The muffler is a bit beat, has been painted(over stainless or maybe aluminum) and is on the long side. I might look into shortening it up a little, once I figure out what it is and how it comes apart. It kind of looks like the Yosh RS-3 on my Gixxer 750 and is about the same size as well.

so ...things to do:

-- modify, repair and paint tail section.(add turn signals)
-- find a better way to mount the seat to work better with the tail section
-- shorten muffler
-- strip and refinish the wheels and maybe forks
-- refinish the tank cover and front fender
-- either touch up or refinish the frame
-- reposition cluster and headlights and clean up loose wiring
-- front turn signals
-- Replace clip-ons with bar risers and handle bars
-- mirrors
-- and a few mechanical things, like the sprocket nut, make sure I have the clutch rod bearing, I need a new air filter, etc...
-- I also need to repair the cooling fan circuit back to factory design. Someone wired in a direct fan on/off switch. It works...but that type of redneck ingenuity irritates me a little.

Now if the weather would just let up...I have no room in the garage due to other projects taking up space. I need some sunshine!

[Genesis]

Checkout my thread, "book" , for some ideas on fixing that subframe. I went ahead and moded mine by welding brackets on. It worked splendidly. Best of luck. These are fun bikes to mod and ride.
Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

[hawcer]

Checkout my thread, "book" , for some ideas on fixing that subframe. I went ahead and moded mine by welding brackets on. It worked splendidly. Best of luck. These are fun bikes to mod and ride.
Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

I'll have to check it out

I know I need to add 1" risers between the tail piece and frame in the area where the seat sits. I'm just going to weld 1" square tube sections on top of the frame there and drill a center hole though them for bolting the tail to.

The rear area of the subframe is all sorts of screwed up and cobbled already. I'm just going to cut all that mess off and make my own brackets. Maybe looking over your thread will help out in this area.

Here is a couple more pics after removing the cluster, headlights and fairing bracket. I also temporarily installed the sprocket side cover to verify the clutch felt good and I wasn't missing anything else. It rained most of the day, so I didn't have much time to do any more today.

[JasonRDfan]

I can't wait to see how this bike turns out. On another note, it has always supprised me what people do to their bikes, the lack of maintaining and care.

[hawcer]

I can't wait to see how this bike turns out. On another note, it has always supprised me what people do to their bikes, the lack of maintaining and care.

nO kidding about the maintenance and care parts. Both of my bikes are 97's...the Gixxer is perfect, hardly a scratch on it and clean as a whistle. This Fizzer is a different story...

The Fizzer does have over twice the mileage at around 33,000....but that no excuse for for some things. Piss poor previous owners is who I blame

I did get it for a project to mess with....so I guess I got what I payed for

[hawcer]

Question:

Has anyone had any luck getting the "bar" out of the clip-on clamp? It looks like it is held in by a hex head bolt on the inside end and maybe a roll pin to keep it from rotating in the clamp?

If I can get mine out, I might make some custom "Z-bar" style half bars to put back in the place of the straight bars. Basically just raising the height of the bars about 3 inches, but not changing the width,angle or sweep of the bars all that much.

Just a thought....I might try to get one out. The one on the right side I noticed is bent anyway, so why not

[JasonRDfan]

If its bent I would just cut them out carefully. If I ever decided to go back you could get some woodcraft clip-ons. So ya, I would cut or open the end of the bar closest to the clamp and cut a groove to relieve a little pressure and pull them out

[hawcer]

One thing I didn't think of...I'm going to have to lengthen the wiring to the controls for higher bars, probably the brake hose too...maybe even the cables. I might have to hold off on that idea for now.

Looking at the state of dilapidation the Fizzer is in really makes me appreciate the old Gixxer. oh...here's a pic of the Gixxer just to keep the pics/eye candy going.I pulled her out of the garage today and rode it her to work..so I took the pic when I got home.

[JasonRDfan]

She's pretty. It's nice when you have two bikes, you never miss out on nice weather if you're working on one.