[Der Kampfer]

Official Buildoff Thread!

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ALL DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS BUILD SHOULD BE IN : Der Kampfers-zx7r Buildoff Discussion Thread



Here is where it begins. Picture of my bike from the craigslist add last summer before the tear down. The subtle faded yellow paint earned my bike the nickname "the big banana" by my friends. So needless to say the paint is going to change with a few other things.....

 

[Der Kampfer]

So once it became too cold to ride I decided to take my bike apart and move the pieces to my 2nd floor apartment. First thing I did was to remove all that heinous yellow paint of parts I was going to reuse.

The main part of the part for the project I want to concentrate on was the tail since that is a major visual part to a streetfighter's personality. I decided I would attempt the "lost foam" method to create a custom composite tail section. Basically I went to the Depot and bought a bunch of pink insulation board and laminated it into a solid 2'x2'x3' block. Then hacked it up with a wood saw, utility knife and sand paper to get the shape. I used wood putty to fine tune the shape. btw Ive been fine tuning this shape since january. Once I get the foam mold I will lay fiberglass and carbon fiber to create the tail and then melt the foam out with acetone when im done.

Here are 3 pics of the foam tail: one of it very very rough cut and 2 of it semi finished.

 

[Der Kampfer]

Here is a pic of the subframe I chopped. I hacked ,ground, bondo'd and painted(phantom gray metalic for a 93 honda civic which matches the kawasaki color perfectly). I chopped the lower supports and made adjustable lower links with some heim joints. I used aluminum tube stock that I wrapped with carbon fiber. I just need to clear coat them and the buff em nice n shiny.

 

[Der Kampfer]

Here is what happens when you have your old college buddy do cnc work for a sixpack.

 

[Der Kampfer]

Here is the start to my coolant over flow tank. Its a camping fuel bottle that I repainted and added a Coors OG can to it. Just because I was watching smokey and the bandit when I was working on it. I made a carbon fiber clamp for it(still needs finishing). Now I just need to figure out the fittings.

I got this exhaust directly from Muzzy. They were cool enough just to sell the midpipe and header without the can. So most likely Im gonna do a moto gp style muffler on it probably from an R6. Trouble is finding one that I like that wont make it ear bleedingly loud.

This is a pic a took a couple weeks ago of the bike mocked up. mmmm pazzo levers and spiegler brake lines and crg mirror.

more pics and progress to come...

 

[Der Kampfer]

Forgot cable for the camera at work so here is what I accomplished this weekend. I got the foam shaped to the way I want. I mocked it up on the bike to give an idea what the finished tail will look like. Next weekend Im going to tackle the fiber layup.

Also a pic of my stock front fender that I chopped. I painted it with duplicolor hot rod black primer. Thats a gas tank in the backround Im thinking of using. Im feeling a rat rod/german fighter at the moment.

 

[Der Kampfer]

Hit another major milestone this weekend. I sucessfully laid-up the first layer of fiber glass on the tail section.

Also made these trick brackets outa carbon fiber for my headlight. Orginally I had stainless steel bands that went around the fork legs, that held the light. I had the prefect mold for them, turns out that a touch-up spray paint can is the exact diameter of the fork leg. So I just wraped the fiber around the can, with some clamps and some creative use of cardboard and tape. Cook it in the oven and good to go.

 

[Der Kampfer]

Finished mounting up the headlight last night. Excuse the dust all over it. Its impossible to keep my kitchen clean with all the fiberglass/carbon work im doing.

 

[Der Kampfer]

pic of my finished headlight assembly. Tucked all the wiring into that 1 loom.

I made a trick plate holder/rear blinker mount out of cf but its not quite ready for pics yet. Finished up laying the fiberglass on the tail. So I just need to clean it up and paint it.

 

[Der Kampfer]

Well I had a set back this past week. Got an opurtunity to go rock climbing in Kentucky that I couldnt pass up. When I got back I had some cnc candy waiting for me.

The rearsets are going to take a little fabrication to make them work for street riding.

 

[Der Kampfer]

Before i left on my vaca I got the tail fiber pretty much all laid up. Last night I decided to start triming it up and remove the foam. I started with a dremel tool with a cut off wheel and trimmed the excess fiber off.

Once the tail had its trimmed shape I began to rip out the foam/spackle. The foam came out pretty easy with a screw driver and a little elbow grease. The main part of the tail would take forever to rip out the foam so I decided to use an alt method...

Acetone melts foam like magic. So I first took a scrap piece of fiberglass to test and make sure the acetone wouldnt melt it. I would hate to lose monthes of work doing something dum. I accidently spilled some on my utility knife and it melted as well so its always a good idea to check what it will eat. Then came the moment of truth, I dumped a bunch of the acetone into the mold. Within a minute or so my hard mold became a pile of pink sticky goo. Since I used packing tape for my mold release, it made for simple clean removal of the pink goo.

Now Im in the process of using the DA to smooth the outer surface. I have to patch a few thin areas, add the tail light inset and add mounting tabs.

 

[Der Kampfer]

I mocked up the bike this weekend for a little insperation. Everything is ready for finally assembly except the tail. Im in the bondo/sand/prime repeat stage untill it looks smooth. Then just need to mount it up.

 

[Der Kampfer]

on the home stretch. Doesn't look like much but the fact that its not in my kitchen is quite monumental for me. Friday night 10ish..plenty I can do inside. Had the flood light going outside but the bugs were eating me alive.

 

[Der Kampfer]

..one more before final pics. taken @ 12pm. T-minus 8hrs till sun goes down and bike needs to be done. tic toc tic toc.