captainchaos

Thanks, but it's probably been way more trouble and money than it's worth, at least for me. It's still not done yet and I've just had the misfortune (partly my fault too for getting involved with them in the first place) of getting involved with several different people not skilled enough to do the job right and not honest enough to admit it. I think next time I'll take the time and money and continue learning to tig weld myself and do it right myself. I hate letting anyone else do anything on my vehicles...

finepooch

very nice work

hawxter996

not by the jerk he is referring to.

but yeah capt. looks real nice!

Tweety

Mine are actually only a fraction of an even 13" at the plate and 20 ½" at the edge of the pegs... So not to different than the 14" / 22" which is stock... and not to different from yours either...

Truckinduc

thanks man, I was just curious. Sorry to make you use non metric terms

Tweety

Re-did the brake side, wasn't happy with the linkage (not finished as I snapped the pic, more polished now)



Linkage done...





All I need now is a new rear sprocket... A VTR sprocket doesn't match a CBR wheel... Stupid me... And also swapping the tire over, but that's a few minutes once I can do the chain...

And I'm contemplating painting it, since the chain goes through the swing I cant really do it later... I'd like bedliner as it's supposed to be tough and not get scratched... unfortunately that's not as widely available here as in the US... Here pickups are only used by farmers and a few contractors... Not as a family car... And trying to explain the concept of a bedliner to a painter I just got a shrug... "Why on earth would I carry something that stupid...I'd sell one once a year... possibly..."

Tweety

No problem... I'm used to it... Most customers from the US is a bit metricly challenged, so I'm used to doing both...

Tweety

I'm also ambivalent... I hate CF exhausts as a concept... And I like the sound of my debaffled stockers... But they are H-E-A-V-Y... And I'm on a budget...

So how to find a pair of aluminum highmount cans? That wont break my budget... The reason I'd like highmount is to get more space around the foot controls...

I'm actually dumb enough to consider making my own... An aluminum sheet and a mallet... And loads of work... sigh...

Truckinduc

How think are your linkage plates?

Tweety

4 mm stainless steel plates... same dimension as stock... dunno what type of steel stock is though...

Tweety

Guess What!

I'm done... Well... Almost... It's on wheels and it's stable as hell in corners... Definite improvement...

Tweety

hawxter996

tweety

looks good !you took my mod and got on the road before me!

so hows it working out?

i may not finish,job loss looks to be on the horizon.

mikstr

looking very good there Tweety Love the rearsets!!

FWIW, you should think about moving your shifter arm over by one or two splines, would have a noticeably positive effect on the shifting action...

lazn

When you do that, you move it back a few to make the arm more vertical right?

mikstr

sort of, you ideally want to get the linkage rod and shifter arm as close to 90 degrees as possible, giving you the best possble leverage (hence a shorter throw). I moved mine two splines.

Tweety

Heh... Don't worry... I'll give you ride reports as soon as possible...

About 20 minutes after those pictures we where hit with one of the worst thunderstorms in a good while... At the time I was still fiddling with the levers (I'm on it mikstr!) and the rideheight...

So I nixed the ride... good thing... torrential downpour that washed away a few roads in the close area over night and very nasty winds...

And now today when it's just as nice... well... guess what... I'm working...

Oh and hawxter... You get full credit for figuring it out...

Bikephreak

Nice looking mods. It looks like it came from the factory that way. Nice work!

Tweety

That's kind of the look I was going for... I want people to look at the bike and think it's mostly stock... There are some obvious small "comfort tweaks" like the mirror extenders and DB screen and Convertibars... And most will be able to spot the aftermarket pipes and the rearsets, but the rest looks like factory parts if you just glance it over...

The black fender might tip some of that I have fiddled with the front end, but for them to know the difference they have to know that VTR's dont come with radial brakes and USD forks... And it could just be an off color used replacement part, which isn't that far from the truth, at first I was to lazy to paint it, now I decided I don't want to...

The Jardines are a compromise on my "looks factory" approach, I needed the space for the swingarm and the rearsets kept hitting the stock midpipe... And since that is welded in there on the stock parts I couldn't adjust it unless I cut it up and welded it... And that's just to damned much work for to little gain... The downside is that now I'll have to fiddle with my jetting... again...

So is the HID... But it's not really noticeable unless you look carefully as it's blacked out... The stock headlight cover makes most people ignore the inside... But it's a very noticeable improvement when driving at night...

The thing is... On it's own most people think it's stock (Or they did before the swingarm at least...) But put it next to a stock VTR most people go... "Woah, that's not stock... You changed this, and this, and what did you do here..." And I like that...

captainchaos

Exactly! That's how it's supposed to look-subtle, then to someone who realizes what they're looking at "WHOA!" Nice job I hope I can get mine all together in the near future.

cliby

very nice, congrats on getting it all the way done. these projects can really get bogged down and very hard to complete. Its amazing the level of modding and enthusiasm for these bikes still. And the skill level to tackle some big jobs. nice work. Do you notice the effect of the longer wheelbase?

hawxter996

Tweety


as i was saying before ,looks great!

please be careful on your test rides.

we dont know how that weld will hold up yet.
i would hate to see anyone injured in any way.

as was asked already how did it feel?
corner entry and exits?

mikstr

I recall Mr. Billet has been running that swingarm mod for some time now. You may want to check with him too

hawxter996

different setup,he didnt change the linkage like Tweety and myself did.

Tweety

From the short trial I managed, yes... Stable in a straight line altough the rear is high compared to stock... Best I can describe it is that it felt like the RC51... stable movement, and it needs a firm input to go into the corner but once leaned over it's very stable and holds the line well... Before it was either twitchy or sluggish, or on a small part in between where it was in balance... Now that part is wider... steers fast but balanced...

I'm careful, I know the score...

Definitely not the same, even though he used the same swingarm as a basis... His was shortened as well...

supermarto

Lordy Gawd but that looks fuggin ****, Tweety...

captainchaos

AHHH yes...Good 'ol Mr. Billet...the builder of the "jig built" copy of his, yet not even close to fitting version 1.0 of my swingarm and the taker of my money...and the reason it's been apart on my garage floor the last two years... Maybe you'd be better off NOT checking with him and benefit from my misfortunes...

hawxter996

chaos pics of the chaos please!!!

i want to see this mess myself.

captainchaos

Hey hawxter sorry just saw your post. Eh not much to see just imagine bolting up your pride and joy and the great expectations and your pushing harder and harder and it won't go on because you're smashing your nice Ohlins shock between the front of the swingarm and the engine and can't get it on far enough to fit. Good times! Well I'll give credit where credit is due it DID fit as long as I didn't mount the shock. Hey but when I got it back from the welder at Thunder Cycle it wouldn't even bolt onto the ******' engine case! He went bye bye too. I'll show you pics when I get it right, you'll like those better. Makin' progress...

captainchaos

I think what made mine more difficult is that my swingarm was originally cut to keep the wheelbase stock. I think (maybe I'm wrong?) others are bolting the swingarm up as is and it's leaving them alot more room but with a longer wheelbase. If I could do it over I'd have left more room and lived with it. It's not a trackbike and not like it would be real noticeable.