Regarding axles, I will be using OEM GSXR 750 hollow axles and pivot bolt with Ti nuts, cotton reel profile aluminium pivot bolt bearing spacer. Titanium has a lower fatigue cycle than steel or moly and is not suitable for street use axles, track sure, but not street use. And yes you are correct about the cost, very expensive! Aluminium axles - never!
As I mentioned earlier this project has been a few years in the planning and now with all the parts finally in the shed the real headaches start. Cost is also a consideration. To buy Kat side covers, seat and ducktail here in Oz would cost AUD $1,500 if bought new from Suzuki. Even used Kat parts are expensive these days. To buy the fibreglass race seat unit was AUD $360 and lighter, so money and weight saved.
Each original Kat OEM part is weighed. If an original part is to be modified a spare one is used and weighed after the mod. Replacement parts like the GSXR 750 wheels and tyes are weighed. The rear wheel fitted with replacement parts is now 7kg lighter than the OEM Snowflake wheel. How was that done? With these parts:
1985 GSXR 750 wheel 18' x 3.50. This wheel is lighter having three bearings and not the five bearings as fitted to the 1986 GSXR 1100 18' x 4.00 wheel.
Radial tyre, no inner tube fitted which weighs 720 grams.
Hollow axle and Ti nut
Aluminium wheel spacers
Aluminium bearing spacer
Aftermarket brake rotor with Ti bolts
GS500 sprocket carrier with Ti nuts and bolts
Aluminium chain adjusters with Ti bolts
Aluminium 520 sprocket with Ti nuts and bolts
The two best reduction in weight results were the pipes and battery.
OEM 4-2 system = 18kg Ti 4-1 complete system = 4.125 kg
OEM lead acid battery and OEM cradle = 5.1 kg Lithium battery and aluminium cradle = 1.1 kg
Swing arm, sprocket cover, oil filter cover, triple tree, gear and rear brake lever, screen and brackets and the electric panel plate have all been reduced in weight in most cases by 30% for each part.
Current hand grips = 112g each. I found aftermarket grips that weigh only 19 grams each. Oil gallery plugs, there are eight including the sump plug and these weigh 29 grams each. Replaced with aluminium plugs that weigh 5.6 grams each.
At this stage there is close to 43 kg that has been removed so far when comparing OEM parts to the DW180 parts, so far so good.
Cheers
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