1984 Katana 7/11

[tatu]

HH, yep gotta be careful with those LED's! Especially here where they'll happily pull you over for the slightest of things not "ADR approved"...

Hahahaha yep Charlie they're my safety thongs! Perfect for all sorts of things including welding and grinding... and most definitely not winter! Sweating my a&^e off in the shed at night, really need to get a pedestal fan in there actually...

Ha! I know so well what you mean, sometimes its a toss up whether to go barefoot when welding for me because when the hot molten sparks get between your thong (flipflops for us) and foot you cant get them off no matter how much you hop.

[pete]

Hahaha yes indeed!!! I know that feeling... and doing the dance of the angle grinder with the cut off wheel because you managed to cut directly over where you're standing and all those lovely warm toasty bits of metal are now coating your feet...

[dorkburger]

..........Aahhhhhhhhh.... sometimes wrenching barefooted is nice. This from earlier this year during our summer.

[pete]

Haha yep, only way to go!!!

[ged]

Hi Pete love your new build. Been away for awhile, but had a bit of an urge to do some more fine tuning cosmetically on the bikes but hit a hurdle. http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...ferrerid=27247

Keep up the good work...............

[pete]

Cheers mate, good to see you're back! Bugger on that parts mix up, that really sucks! There's gotta be another fella out there with a dual drum set up that hasn't opened his box of bits up yet... when he does he'll likewise be scratching his head...

I picked up some 5mm steel yesterday so I can make the 7/11 adapter engine brackets, still gotta decide on steel or aluminium for the under tray though.

[pete]

I did revisit things last night and I think now this should work out well.

I decided to split the under tray/inner guard into two parts as just getting the cardboard in/out was tricky in one piece, so once it's aluminium I think it would be nigh on impossible. I'll have an overlap of 20mm to allow me to screw the pieces together to prevent rattling/vibration.

I also took a tip on board and made allowance for the battery to stand upright under the seat plate. I think there should be enough room to get a battery in/out without having to remove the seat plate too.

This also allows me to make use of three existing mounting points already on the frame... the two at the rear and one on that rail under the front of the tray. Although I may find a better option for the rear mounts, maybe a couple of loops up and over the rails for support and just use those frame mounts to hold it in position rather than take the weight of all the electrical bits and pieces.







It's not all that visible once everything's in place either.



I think I can bolt on an upright piece of steel or aluminium in here to mount some LED's like another fella is doing and have the stock lens go over the top too.



At this point I'm thinking the fuse box, ignitor, indicator and starter relays, and probably a coil relay will go in the front tray behind the battery box and the rear tray in front of the tail light will be the place for tools. That should allow room to carry a spare clutch cable under the seat.

Seeing as I'll likely be going with a huge SH775 R/R again I'll probably mount it under the front tray so it can get some air flow.

I'll have to dig out all my electrical bits and pieces for a test fit.

And I've traced out a pair of 7/11 engine mounts ready to start cutting.

[ged]

Pete love the fabrication work, but can I ask a silly question. Are you fabricating because you are unable to obtain the original parts around those areas or is it a cheaper option?

[pete]

Cheers mate! The answer is actually neither

Basically this is the "Pete" touch to the Kat... I want it to be a bit cleaner in the centre area rather than having the battery and electrics tray there, and I like to have room to carry some tools and a spare clutch cable as well. I'm also not a huge fan of the stock rear mudguard although that's something I haven't figured out yet as nothing else seems right either...

I have a stock battery box here and the inner guard etc. can still be gotten for reasonable prices second hand, I'm just not keen on them and as this is pretty much a DIY Kat I feel there's lots of freedom to customise bits and pieces while staying true to the lines of the Kat.

Last night I think I figured out the tail light, although to be sure I'll have to get my hands on some LED's first of course.

I traced out the lense shape onto some cardboard and shortened the rear of the tray 10mm so it would fit, with the tray ending up like this:





It seems to still sit in quite nicely but I'll need to have a closer look at someone's Kat to be sure I've got the position right.





And that should leave lots of room for tools and a spare clutch cable:



I have some 2.5mm thick aluminium here and I'll probably use that for mounting the lense and that way I can drill and tap some mounting holes for it. I just need to remember to make it a little larger than the outside of the lense itself so I can put the rubber weather strip under the lense as well to keep any moisture out.

[Fjbj40]

Really enjoying this thread! I look everyday eager to see more progress.

Keep it coming

[pete]

Hahaha cheers mate! Hate to disappoint though... had to work last night so nothing done unfortunately. Getting close to Christmas so I can see less productivity for a bit but I'll keep plodding away as I get time.

I found I have enough 0.8mm thick aluminium sheet to make the battery box and I'm off work next week so should be able to get the rest of the aluminium to make the inner guard and tray as well. I also hope to get a set of steering head bearings which will take me one step closer to being able to fully assemble a roller.

[Weapon]

I second that. love what you are up to here

[pete]

Cheers mate, I see a Kat in our sig... any pic's of it?

[nvr2old]

Yep. I, too, following along on a daily basis, Pete. Really enjoying watching you bring this project along. Lookin' good, man...

[Weapon]

I love all the storage possibilities you are opening up under the seat too. I used the old air filter box and just plugged the bottom hole and opened the top more so I could put insurance gloves, smokes etc, as I was desperate for storage and there is just nothing on these.

I do have some but I haven't started the rebuild thread yet because there really isn't anything to report but here is an old one from when I first got it and painted it, and one after sitting for 12 years. its finally coming home to be redone again.