If you cut the can, make sure you use a big chop saw. An angle grinder with a cut off wheel won't get through everything that's in there.

 

Nice, I had the ZR7 a few years back... I liked that bike. Good project

 

I cut my can with a hacksaw, fuckin' oldskool:rock:

 

Yeah, I'll probably go with the hacksaw and a rig to hold it all steady. A buddy already has the rivets and tool on hand for me to seal it all back up with.

Has anybody here done an '06 636 swingarm swap on one of these before? I'm wondering about whether the wheels will be offset with the recommended spacers I've read about. If so, how much is acceptable before it begins to be noticable in the bike's handling?

 

FINALLY!!! I'm back in the states and free to do a little work! I got back about a week ago, and spent most of the time since then riding the bike as is and buying things for the new house.

Today I couldn't resist the urge to get something accomplished any longer and I took a hacksaw to the exhaust. Once that was done, my friend mentioned that he was surprised I hadn't taken a dremel to the obnoxiously larger rear fender (he seems to know how to push the right buttons).

I figured that since the dremel was sitting right next to me it couldn't hurt to chop it up a bit. I spent the time cutting and smoothing and evening everything out, and then realized that the brackets that hold the fender to the bike could also hold the turn signals...off came the fender entirely. I cut the signals down about an inch or so, and remounted them to where the rear reflectors had been.

All in all it looks much more fluid than stock. Tomorrow I'll be high-temp painting the exhaust, rearsets, and passenger pegs. Plus I'll be sure to post pics (since I forgot to bring home the camera)...Sorry bout that

Stay tuned.

 

nice to see another Z on here, and which branch you in and how was your tour? I'm AF, haven't been yet.
sounds like good plans, get that ugly hunk of plastic off the front too though

-Jeff

 

Cool. We didn't get the Z750S over here, just the base Z750. Def get that front fairing off dude!
I'd just like to thank all you guys for your service, even though I'm Australian and you're US. You guys rock :thumbsup: Stay safe whenever you're abroad.....

 

If I can offer some advice. If you want the can to look good, take some tape and figure out where you want it cut and wrap that around the muffler. Make sure it is straight and use that as a guideline. Then use a dremel and cut the outer skin of the of the muffler off. Being thin aluminum a hack saw or shit like that will crush it. this way that doesn't happen but its your choice.

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

VT420...I'm Army, and the last year was my most boring deployment. It was as if they had a three month tour worth of work, but decided to give us a year to do it. Booooooooring (but it kept my family happy) (which of course I would have accomplished anyways by keeping them ignorant of my activities).

Kaos...A bunch of my buddies spent their leave time in Australia. They had a great time. I'll be heading there sometime in the not to distant future. The fairing is a project for the next month or so. I want to remove the side portions, but I need to find a way to support the lower points of the headlight (right now they are held up by the sides. I removed them once on my last Z so that I could get the tank off, and it gave the bike a very mean look. Narrow and very wasp-like.

Crowbar...I accept any and all advice, thanks. That being said, the outer sleeve of the can was actually stainless steel (I think) so it held up pretty well to the hacksaw. My buddy and I attacked it like we were lumberjacks. I did use masking tape for the line though, and that worked great.

 

The pics as promised....

Bike with exhaust removed.

The chop.

With the exhaust chopped and re-installed.

With the fender removed and the signals relocated.

More work and pics to come...

 

that chop and fender removal makes a big difference! good job.



any plans to lose the funky grab handles on the passenger seat?

 

Yeah that cleaned it right the hell up! Lookin good man...

 

Thanks bro.

As of right now I don't plan on getting rid of the handles. I know some guys have removed them and used fly screen/mesh to cover the holes from the inside, but 1, I kinda like them, and B) I'm planning for a cross country roadtrip this month and I may need them for mounting bags.

We'll see though. Maybe after the trip. I will say it makes the bike a bit more sleek looking.

 

Anybody have any advice on getting rid of (and stopping future development of) light corrosion on bolts (engine, mounting, etc.)?

It's nothing excessive, but it seems to jump out at me. It's taunting me...making me crazy...

 

All I can say is try waxing the problem areas regularly.

 

maybe strip and re coat the bolts that are not a huge issue to remove?

 

Yesterday was beautiful here (even before the Blackhawks won), but I still managed to get some work done while I wasn't riding.

I removed, scuffed, and painted the passenger pegs, rearsets, radiator guards, and exhaust with black high-temp engine paint. They seem to have come out well, I'm just hoping that it holds up. I'm now contemplating doing the same to the side covers so that they match.

Since they're plastic I think I'll be priming them in a plastic primer prior to shooting them in flat black. Anybody have a take on that? Any advice on brands or techniques?

I'll post the pics of the work from yesterday tonight.

 

Yesterday's work...

I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't paint that chrome disk on the exhaust mounting point...I'll have to hit it later when I coat the footpegs. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, so I'll be painting the sidecovers.

If I'm feeling especially ambitious I may look into removing some excess metal on the front sprocket cover. I like the look of the exposed gears. Any downsides to opening it up a bit?

 

Alright, so today I took a ride out to a machinist who happens to be a friend of a friend. I wanted to double check the measurements for a set of spacers that I'll be needing for the Kawa 636 swingarm swap I've been drooling over for the last couple of years. I have all the parts waiting. Now it's just a matter of him turning them out for me.

I'm hoping that I can have them complete and everything installed by the 22th of this month. That way I can have it all dialed in for the Westbound road trip I spent most of my deployment thinking about.

Yesterday I had planned to paint the side covers, but it was way too friggin humid. I'm hoping tomorrow or tuesday is a bit better. If not, maybe I'll get around to cutting open the front sprocket cover. I may have the time to open up the airbox a bit...

 

does that road trip include fighterfest?!


whats that weird blue thing on the front there?

 

Unfortunately I won't be making it to FF this year. I'm hoping for next year though. I highly doubt I'd be able to convince the woman that PA is on the way to San Diego from Chicago...might be worth a try though.

As far as the blue thingy goes, I'm very sensitive about it. I'm trying to find a treatment for that particular malady, but in the meantime it's just so out there and obvious that people only point and laugh. sniff. sniff.

...Actually, I will be addressing the "fairing issue" soonish. I had removed the sides (blue thingies) to get the gas tank off of my last Z, and I thought it looked pretty wicked with just the center (black thingy). It had a much narrower profile, almost wasp-like. The only issue is that the side fairings are also the supports for the headlight. I'll need to solve that in order to get rid of them.

If all else fails (i.e. removal of the sides doesn't look bad-ass enough), then I'll probably wait until after riding season to install either a set of buell lightning headlights or some other suitable light setup. We'll see.

BTW...where are you in MA?

 

you could probably convince her that oklahoma is between chicago and sandy eggo

looking pretty solid so far...

-Jeff

 

Thanks bro. I'm hoping to drop racetech springs and emulators in tomorrow, as well as modding the airbox...and weather permitting PAINTING THE FRIGGIN SIDE COVERS THAT I'VE BEEN WANTING TO PAINT FOR THE LAST THREE RAINY, HUMID, USELESS FOR PAINTING DAYS...

ahem...sorry about that. I'd just really like to get the paint handled

I am actually planning to stop over in Oklahoma. Somewhere near the western border of the state. Is there some sort of FighterFest West going on?

 

shit i don't know.. but i'm stationed at Altus AFB and have a Z750 and a spare room.. and since you're mil you could get on base so i'll offer the room

-jeff

 

Today was a productive day...

It started with me getting up early to prep the bike for installing the new racetech fork springs and emulators. My buddy ended up running late, so I decided to see what else I could get done while I waited.

Front end and tank off, strung up to the rafters...

With the gas tank off, I had easy access to the airfilter, so I opened it up. The stock opening was only about a third of what it is in the pic.

With the swingarm swap coming up I needed to spin the regulator/rectifier around, so while it was off I buffed out a bit of whitish corrosion, primed and painted it (and the gas tank/seat mounting bar doo-dad)(and some points on the frame).

The goodies...

The goodies installed...

Everything went together fairly smoothly (for someone who had no prior experience with suspension setup). The instructions were pretty straightforward and clear (and even had pretty illustrations), and the difference in front end feel was VERY noticeable. Even more so once I removed the handlebar spacers the previous owner had installed.

I also took some time to snap a few pics of what I want to do with the "blue thing" on the front. I could use some feedback on how it looks...

What do you guys (and girls) think? It deals with the overly large fairing while still giving some protection from wind while on the highway. I like the way it slims down the bike. I'd probably need to chop down the fairing support frame and build a bracket for the headlight. Opinions?