1984 Katana 7/11

[dorkburger]

Pete, it looks great. I wouldn't have known it wasn't stock if I hadn't been following along.

[nvr2old]

The seat looks really nice, Pete. If it were all red it would probably be too much, but with the color scheme you have in mind, it'll compliment it all nicely. I think red on the foot pegs (unless the whole frame is going to be red) might be a bit "blingy" but that's just one man's opinion.

[pete]

Cheers guys!! Yeah I'm stoked with how it turned out, and extra happy that it still looks stock for sure! I don't want anything I'm doing to take away from those glorious Kat lines.

I get what you mean with the pegs Larry, but yeah the whole frame will be red which is why I can't decide. I'm leaning towards black though.

Not sure if I've mentioned my new thoughts on the paint scheme (and I'm too lazy to go back and look). I need to put some time aside to do a mock up but here's the thoughts...

I love the later '84 and onward two tone paint that came out of the factory, so I'm going to replicate that to a certain extent except the top part will be black instead of red, and there'll be a red pin stripe at the top of the silver section instead of the black pin stripe. That way the side covers can remain silver, the front guard can remain silver and black, and I'll do the tail piece black.

Here's the paint scheme out of the factory, but the red of course will be brighter to work with the seat and the whole frame will be red:

[pete]

I got the footpeg rubbers removed yesterday, and now I see why they were a bit tricky.

Turns out they are folding pegs after all! I thought they were fixed when I got them, so that's a bit of a bonus for me!

So, given how they're set up, it'll definitely be paint not powder coat for these.



I also dismantled the roller again so I can start on things like rebuilding the forks etc.

[steve murdoch]

Good for you on the progress, Pete.
Kats are kool!

[pete]

Cheers Steve, and yep I can only agree

I got some time to start pulling the forks apart yesterday, but not quite enough time to attack the damper rods just yet.

I suspect the rubbers have been missing from the tops of the fork legs for quite some time as the preload adjusters don't move so easily, and the right has some definite corrosion in there which will need cleaning up with the wire wheel. I can't even get it to slide enough to sit in the number 1 position.

Is it normal to lubricate these when they're installed? Thinking just rubbing some fork oil on them will help a bit.

[pete]

Got a chance to get the damper rods out of the forks.

As I'd anticipated, the fork stanchions seem nice and straight and everything inside looks pretty good to me so I've ordered all the O rings, seals, etc. to get them rebuilt.



I also received a set of headers yesterday but haven't unwrapped them yet to check if they fit the 1100. Hopefully I can get that done on the weekend.

[pete]

I got the headers somewhat mounted up yesterday to see how the fit is... hmmmm a little close!

With no base or head gasket the collector *just* touches a couple of the fins on the very right side of the sump cover, so that will be a bit more of an issue once the engine's assembled properly.

At this point I reckon it could work by using a mount for the pipe at the rear that holds it down just enough to clear the sump. Worst case I could trim a couple of mm's off the two right most cooling fins of the sump cover which wouldn't really adversely affect cooling, but is a little drastic of course.

It'd be a shame if I couldn't use these as they're actually in really good shape aside from needing some cosmetic touches. I've squirted a bunch of WD in them to help preserve them for the time being also.

There's also plenty of room to retain the centre stand with this which is a key point for me.







I also gave the swingarm and fork lowers a good scrub with brake cleaner and degreaser. I didn't want to go down the fully polished path but I think I'm going to have to at least break out the sisal rope buffing wheel and cutting compound with a small amount of buffing/polishing to get the 30+ years of wear and tear out of them. I just want them to look neat really.

[Big Rich]

Looking good as always Pete!

How rare are the sump covers? If it were me, I'd shave down the offending fins to clear the exhaust..... but I would make sure a replacement was available first.

[pete]

Cheers Rich! The good thing is they're not that rare (yet anyway) as the GSX1100's share the same cover, so if I need to trim a couple of fins I'm not too concerned about it.

[pete]

I got a start on the anti-dive block off plates yesterday.

Used my dirty finger to imprint the shape onto a piece of paper.



Then cut and drilled a bit of steel as a template.



And started shaping the first one out of some 10mm thick aluminium I got for this. It's not particularly pretty but some filing and dremel work should have it good, then I need to make the other one.



All the fork bits arrived from Mick Hone the other day so as soon as I get the outers cleaned up and anti-dive block off plates made I can get them rebuilt.

[thebrandonbeezy]

I got a start on the anti-dive block off plates yesterday.

Used my dirty finger to imprint the shape onto a piece of paper.



Then cut and drilled a bit of steel as a template.



And started shaping the first one out of some 10mm thick aluminium I got for this. It's not particularly pretty but some filing and dremel work should have it good, then I need to make the other one.



All the fork bits arrived from Mick Hone the other day so as soon as I get the outers cleaned up and anti-dive block off plates made I can get them rebuilt.

I have to ask, what is the purpose of blocking off the anti dive system

[pete]

Basically the anti dive system is renowned for feeling like crap and adding extra complexity to bleeding the brakes. From what I understand the jury's still out as to how much it even helps with front end dive under braking.

The forks I got didn't come with the anti dive units so I'm simply blocking it off as it's not worth the effort locating replacement units.

The catch is you can't just block it off with a solid plate, you need to leave a channel for the fork oil to flow otherwise you end up in the anti dive state permanently.

[pete]

I cut out the second anti-dive block off plate yesterday and pretty much finished the channel on both but lots of filing to go yet. The channel's not quite symmetrical in both so I might do a little tidy up of that yet.



And I definitely want to recess the sides where the bolts go otherwise no matter how neat I make them they're going to look like a chunk of alloy stuck on the front.



I also started tidying up one of the fork legs.

I tried the sisal wheel with cutting compound on the bench grinder but it seems there is some yellowing clear coat on there which didn't want to move, so I ended up with 240 grit wet and dry sandpaper instead.

I had to stop as I only had about half a sheet of the sandpaper left so I need to get some more, but it still ended up much neater and cleaner.



I reckon once that's done on both the cutting compound will do the trick and I'll just give them a quick buff as well, not looking for a full polished finish.

I'll get as close to the same finish as I can on the anti-dive block off plates too.

[pete]

Forgot to post this yesterday but I finished getting the fork legs cleaned up on the weekend as well as mostly cleaning up the anti-dive block off plates.

I did end up having a little paint stripper left which I thought was all gone but that did the trick on the other fork leg.

Then got most of the road rash out with some 240 grit paper again followed by the cutting then buffing compound.

I'll probably give them a quick hand polish but that's about it, I don't want to create myself a nightmare of having to keep them all polished up.





All I've done with the anti-dive block offs is sand them, no point in anything else until I've been to visit a mate so I can end mill some recesses for the bolt heads.