[Shane Liberty]

I am revising this build as I am not going for ridiculous or radical. The RC36 deserves a little more respect and I intend to make this a nice looking machine. I now have my goals set. 2004 GSXR 1000 front swap including controls and electronics. I will be using a head winds Carbon Fiber 5-3/4" bucket with a standard lens and H4 bulb. The unit comes with a black bezel and bracket for $211:

I will have a business acquaintance TIG weld an aluminum mount on the lower triple for me.


I plan to use a set of Motogadget gauges at some point once i can afford the $500+ price tag.


The Subframe,exhaust, tail fairing, taillight, and seat will all be from the current 848/1198 Ducati components. I already have the stock blacked out cans, the Y-Pipe (Thank you to GP motorcycles and Spectrum for the hookup) and will soon have the Subframe. I will need some heat shielding and the tail plastics and seat.

Here are the parts I have waiting for fitment:
Cans

Front end:

I wanted to remove the stock cast iron header and found a smoking deal tonight on Ebay. The lower header pipe has a dent in it but i have have that replaced. I bought he complete header for $95 with free shipping, saving me $500 for a newer stainless replacement:

The main reason I am going clean and cool for this build is that I took the bike in the canyons today on a whim and realized I really want to keep it a great handling machine. The V-4 is a very cool platform for a build and i want a nice 'Fighter.

I will pick the subframe up a little to keep the fighter style, but it won't be a radical job like i did with Kit's bike. I still have to finish her build as well, so this will be an ongoing project for some time. I won't be posting in the other topic any longer, so keep your eyes peeled to this post. Sorry for the duplicate, but the project name had to change.


Here is the current photo of the bike as it sits. For those who haven't seen it yet, I only fab'ed up the look of the bike in this manor as it was a complete salvaged wreck and I had little to work with. I want to ride it while I am wrenching so this helped to keep it running. The R1 seat, Night Hawk headlight, and triumph brake master got her on the road. The painted wheel is just for fun.

I will start the GSXR front end conversion this week.

 

[n0regret5]

you've already hit radical on the head whether you wanted to or not.

i've always loved VFR's but never had an opportunity to ride anything bigger than a 400. with the amount of torque and outrageous power they produce in such a tiny package (honda had to have special sparkplugs made up for them) i expect anything over 700cc would be a fucking beast. i'm gonna keep a very close eye on this one as these bikes have always held a special place in my pants.

 

[campbell45]

looks like its gonna be awesome. hope all goes well

 

[Fight Everything]

you've already hit radical on the head whether you wanted to or not.

i've always loved VFR's but never had an opportunity to ride anything bigger than a 400. with the amount of torque and outrageous power they produce in such a tiny package (honda had to have special sparkplugs made up for them) i expect anything over 700cc would be a fucking beast. i'm gonna keep a very close eye on this one as these bikes have always held a special place in my pants.

You should go for a ride on an older 750cc V4...they weren't no slouch

 

[SEBSPEED]

VERY nice score on the header, that's a 2 Bros left exit - pretty rare, and usually goes for $200-300, depending on condition.

Personally, I prefer the right exit, as the left exit has to wrap around the swingarm instead of tucking in neatly on the right - esp when doing underseat cans.

 

[SEBSPEED]

ps - you should sign up over at vfrdiscussion.com, anything you need to know about the bike is there, and the people there will like to see what you come up with too.

 

[MX42499]

Sweet project, I will be watching this Build, as I also have a VFR thats going to get fightered this winter

 

[Shane Liberty]

VERY nice score on the header, that's a 2 Bros left exit - pretty rare, and usually goes for $200-300, depending on condition.

Personally, I prefer the right exit, as the left exit has to wrap around the swingarm instead of tucking in neatly on the right - esp when doing underseat cans.

Yeah, not digging the left exit. Will most likely have my fab guy redirect the exit. Just needed a header that wasn't cast. I like the collector on this one. I will be using the 848 cans and have the fab work figured out to run from the lower section of the Y-Pipe to the aftermarket header. The collector section looks like it still comes out center.

 

[SEBSPEED]

Yeah, not digging the left exit. Will most likely have my fab guy redirect the exit. Just needed a header that wasn't cast. I like the collector on this one. I will be using the 848 cans and have the fab work figured out to run from the lower section of the Y-Pipe to the aftermarket header. The collector section looks like it still comes out center.

That's gonna take some work, it actually comes out just under the chain.

 

[Shane Liberty]

Spent some time yesterday during dry times from the FZR bodywork build to pull the VFR front end off and check the fit for the GSXR setup. While the bottom bearings are the same, the top race and bearings are smaller on the VFR than the GSXR. The info on the sticky is wrong regarding the similar top bearing sizes. The top of the GSXR yoke is fatter and requires a larger race and bearing. The stock bearing has a plastic ring that holds the ball bearings, and I took my dremel and tried to widen the bearing ring to make it sleeve in. This proved impossible even if I just wanted to do it for mock up as I found the ball bearings would be right against the yoke and would not be able to move.



Resolution: I noticed that the neck of the frame has 2 recesses to make the stock race work. There is a larger diameter opening initially in the neck of the frame, then the diameter of the opening "Steps" in and is reduced to hold the tiny stock Race. I am going to pick up a set of th e ALL BALLS roller bearings for the GSXR triple tree and fit the bottom section in the neck. I am then going to see if a machinist can widen the bearing seat to allow for the larger race and roller bearings. I believe this will work as the tolerances are very close from one yoke to the other. The stock Yoke for the VFR is welded into the bottom cast triple and I prefer not to remove it. Grinding it out will only weaken the bottom of the yoke and it may not sit properly in the new tree or it make not even sleeve in with the bottom ground out to remove it from the tree.



Gotta talk to my guru and I will get back to you guys. I will post pics soon.

 

[Nailhead]

i am sooooooo glad you are going to do that up right, i really really didnt like that can.

subscribed.

 

[Shane Liberty]

Ah man, I said from day one it was a temp fix. I will post pics very soon showing the current state and the parts.

 

[Shane Liberty]

Lots of Parts waiting to go on. Have the entire exhaust (minus the fab piece I will need to make to connect the Duc cans to the VFR header)

I picked up the 848 Subframe. It will need a little adjustment as it's tweaked, but not badly

And here is a shot of the reason why it's not on the bike yet. The front end is at Racer's Machine getting the Yokes swapped.

 

[Shane Liberty]

I took the Ebay exhaust out of the box the moment it arrived. It was a little rough and rusty so I went to work. I cleaned off most the road grime with brake cleaner and wiped the pipes down to start. I then used 320 grit and then 400 grit sandpaper to smooth out the rough spots and went over everything for adhesion of the new paint. I used Dupli-Color High Heat Aluminum paint to spray the old header in a fresh new skin of paint. Here are the results:

I will not install them until I have a front end back on the bike. I am hoping this paint will stay beautiful for awhile after it's on. The aluminum color came out metallic and the thing looks like it was jet coated. Very nice. I was thinking of going black first, but i am glad I switched my choice at the last minute. I will not be heat wrapping these pipes as the wrap is heavy and I really don't want to try to wrap up this octopus of plumbing.

 

[n0regret5]

this excites me so frikkin much

 

[polecat]

subscribed

 

[fatrat]

Sweet build! Looking forward to watching your progress.

 

[ROBBO]

:thumbsup:Im in Shane...Lookin real interestin mate!

 

[Shane Liberty]

UPdate:


I have purchased the Carbon Fiber Headlight bucket in 5-3/4" size and a new Trillient Tri-Bar bulb. Should be in soon.

 

[Christ]

I know a guy that uses VHT header paint on his pipes, and it stays nice and silver for a pretty long time. He's got straight pipes packed with a couple bits of steel wool and capped off with a slide-hammer fitted washer. I don't see his bike often, but if I see it again, I'll get a pic.