After many months of reading and cross reference I had accumulated all the parts needed to perform a USD fork swap. The parts had been sitting on the wall collecting dust for sometime now and so I figured what the heck.
-forks are zx10r
-calipers are gsx1000r
-front wheel is cbr600f3
-rotors are galfer
-front axle stock 20mm superhawk
-triple clamps are 2009 r6-(bottom clamp bored 2mm over to accomodate 54mm tubes-top clamp fit correctly)
-clip ons are danmoto adjustable
-zx10r carbon fiber front fender
-bottom steering head bearing is all ***** tappered needle
-top steering head bearing is from an sv650 racing site and was a couple mm too short so I shimmed the bearing race inside the frame (all ***** no longer had the exact bearing dimensions available)
I had chose the r6 clamps because of the rotor spacing so I could keep the same wheels/chose the zx10r forks because of the 20mm axle diameter and due to recommended rider weight. Everything else just kinda filled in the gaps.
I have yet to tune and adjust them and have only run them around town a little-I have the rear end to do yet-have a jd shock and braced swingarm I'll put on here shortly

 

Nice job putting it together. It seems for all the work you had to do, machining, spacing head bearings, etc, that you could have stuck with some Honda parts that are more compatable and made it a little easier.

How much do you have into your set up? Did you sell off your old parts once you got it together?

 

Thanks! Yes I know there was a bit more involved but I got a smoking deal on the forks which started the whole process-once I had them I worked around it-plus i wanted to keep the front wheel so i had to find a set of clamps that would put the caliper/rotors at close to the same spacing as my f3 wheel. Not having to replace the wheel/rotors/bearings/axle I think im in the neighborhood of about $600 and which is higher than i expected since the forks only cost me $100.

I just placed a couple parts in the classifieds-The fork brace is pretty much sold-I have some calipers as well. pretty much anything left over is up for grabs-stock fender/forks/clamps/calipers/clip ons/etc

 

Nice, I've been piecing my parts together for the RC51 front end. Have pretty much everything on the way except for a wheel and bars. Going to get the Apex adjustable clamps and build my own bars. I think that'll be the cheapest way for those being the clamps are $100 and I'll probably have less than $50 in the rest of the materials.

 

I have been wondering about using ZX-10R or ZX-6R front end bits (rotors are same or almost same as stock in so far as diameter is concerned. I have 900RR forks and they work very well, but must admit I would love to have some (likely lighter and stiffer) USD forks (preferably with DLC-coated tubes) while being able to retain some choice bits I am currently using: PVM magnesium wheel, Braketech Axis Cobra rotors and titanium axle. This may be just what the doctor ordered.... did you have to do any special shimming or machining to line the rotors up with the calipers?

cheers

 

Yes I had to shim the rotors when I used my galfers-I had first ordered a set of blackbird rotors because of the dimensions and must have overlooked the bolt pattern because they did not fit the wheel. I have yet to find my notebook with all the specs I had written down. I think somebody here at work thought it was just another scratch pad and might have tossed it. The kawi forums were some help but not near as much information as there is here. Might have something to do with these bikes being around for so long. I had thought about switching over to the zx6/zx10 spoke wheels hearing they were some of the lightest stock wheels out there but I figured Id just get the thing sprung and worry about that later.

 

Thanks!

BTW, you do realize this is now on my "eventual to do" list.... *sigh*

 

Those lists are never ending. Sometimes the stuff on them is just prohibitively expensive and even if you do get most of it done there is always something else that pops up that gets added.

 

It's just that mikstr has been very happy lately, as he has crossed of most big ticket items from his list concering his bike... So adding another high cost one kind of smarts a little I believe...

Don't worry mikstr... I just added one to my list as well... (Figure out how to mount rotary SC to VTR... )

 

Now that'd be sweet! You thinking centrifrugal or roots/whipple style? Or a turbo? I guess all three are technically SC's. LOL!

 

Well, I wouldn't really lump the Turbo in with the others, but that defenition is a bit fluid really...

I was thinking a centrifugal one, also named "rotary"... I have a couple of friends that have tried that on different bikes, SP-2's, Mille's and last but not least an 1198... It's a very easy installation really, more or less open up a shaft, shim the top end to lower compression, and cram it in there... Might mean I have to finally tackle making a FI system for an VTR, but then again, I have been itching to do that anyway...

And note, this is on the distant furture, possibly list, so don't expect it to happen anytime soon...

 

Yeah the definitions can be somewhat interchanged depending on the circles you travel in, hence why I tried to kind of clairify. Honestly if you wanted to do a centrifugal I'd just do a turbo. They are more efficient. I can't stand centrifugal chargers. They take all the bad parts of a turbo and couple them with the bad parts of a belt driven charger. They won't build max boost down low like a turbo and they pull power directly from the crank like a supercharger. They are probably easier to install than a roots or whipple, but either would be a LOT more fun having a ton of power right off the bottom. Though you'd never keep the front wheel down in probably about the first 3 gears! LOL!

 

Which is kind of the point of choosing one... It makes a for a nice linear powerband that you can control, with plenty of power right where you need it... I have ridden an SP2 with one, and a Mille with one... And I have put a lot of miles on a TC'd Busa, with more power than you will ever need, in any of the gears... My money is on the rotary... It makes it so friggin easy to leave other bikes behind, as you pull a 2 mile long wheelie going throught the box...

 

So why do you take it over the turbo? The turbo is more efficient, will still give the same characteristics of the rotary, be easier to install and get going, and the boost is easier to tune with the wastegate etc.

 

Well... Matter of opinion... It's not easier to tune, since a wastegate isn't tuning the way I look at it... And it's a "feeling" thing... I just prefer it... Dunno why...

 

Well by "tune" I mean the charger system. If you want more or less boost you just adjust the gate. If you want it to come on quicker or slower replace the housing. But if you get it set up right you can have it detuned slightly for the street, then if you go to the strip and want to turn it up you just tweek the gate. Vs on a belt driven charger you're replacing pullies to make adjustments. So it's the difference of having several pullies to vary the amount of boost or just turning a screw. And you're not pulling power straight from the crank so they are more efficient.

But I do know what you mean on the "feeling" I think the rotary charger would probably give a little more boost off the bottom as it's spinning already as the engine is.

How much boost you thinking of running? Are you planning on better rods etc? What point does the crank and rods need to be upgraded?

 

Wow what a thread jack!

 

Yeah, sorry Fletch.