1984 Katana 7/11

[pete]

I got to have my very first pretend ride on the Kat last night

And yes, she already has a fan...

[pete]

My wife donated an old gym mat to the cause yesterday so I've been able to quiet down the compressor in the shed quite a lot by removing vibration from the concrete:



And one of the very generous fella's from KA handed me the holy grail of spacers Saturday morning:



Seems to be a pretty spot on fit:



And my excitement level went up a notch when I got to wheel her out of the shed very easily...



I don't think I'll be putting the indicators back in the stock location but that depends what happens with my headlight idea at present... I just put them there for the moment because I could

The only thing I'm missing for a complete roller right now is actually the swingarm bearings which I keep forgetting... they're a standard roller/needle bearing so one of the KA folk will have the numbers for me.

Now it's time for me to pull my finger out and finish some things I've started like the battery tray and tail light!

[pete]

I managed to get out to the shed last night and get a mock up done of an idea I've had floating 'round in my head since seeing Icon's NewJack Katana where they had the oil cooler in place of the headlight.

I found some small projector headlights in the UK that are E marked so good for rego and safety certificate here in Aus.

When I had them mocked up underslung on the front cowl in place of the shark fins, there just wasn't going to be enough clearance. The Kat fork travel is 150mm and while they're shorter than the fins and therefore in theory have more clearance, the fins are out to the sides whereas the lights are much further into the centre, so effectively leaving only about 100mm for fork travel which means the front guard will be hitting them before the forks bottom out. Not good!

So I figured I'd see what they looked like if I had the bottom of the lights in line with the bottom of the cowl. It results in the top of the lights impinging on the stock headlight area, but that's not an issue as I wouldn't run an oil cooler that's full height in there anyway as it would probably be too effective at cooling.

Here's how it ended up looking:



And after a bit of time in the GIMP this morning, here's an idea of what it would look like with the screen and an oil cooler:



While I love the idea of it, I just don't think it will look right... a bit too bug eyed with the lights up on top there I think.

Of course with it all painted a nice glossy black it will change how it looks a bit, but my imagination and skills with the GIMP don't stretch quite that far unfortunately...

So I'm still undecided to a certain extent but leaning towards abandoning it at this point...

No progress on the battery tray as I decided to wait until today or tomorrow when I break out the jigsaw to cut the aluminium.

PS: No front cowls were harmed in the making of this mock up...

[ptegsotic]

I don't think I'll be putting the indicators back in the stock location

yea, tuck 'em in tight, yet still functional / observable (esp @ night) ...
(it's a 'gap' just wanting to be filled!)

[Tim Tom]

Too bug eye'd looking with the indicators on the nose like that... ptegsotic had the right idea, they look awesome there!

Good to see a bike out of the shed. Get to it!

[nvr2old]

I love that look, Pete. If you can blend/mold the headlight surrounds smoothly into the fairing, it'll look really cool. I also really like the look of the oil cooler there, too..I mean, if you're gonna customize the tail section of this bike, I think it needs to be done to the front, also. It ties it all together very nicely that way IMO.

[John Kat]

I personally would attach the radiator to the frame in the conventional manner and recess the elliptic headlights behind a fake number plate.
In any case that's what I'll be doing on my XR 41 replica: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...en-frame/page2

[pete]

Cheers for the feedback guys!

Ptegsotic/Tim Tom... just to be clear these are headlights not the indicators I do have the stock fake oil cooler grill mounted at the moment between the side covers where those indicators are in Ptegsotic's photo. I haven't really thought about indicator location yet as I figure that will partially be determined by what I do with the headlight.

Larry, it's growing on me... although a suggestion has been made by the KA guys to try the headlights on top of the oil cooler which I hadn't thought of so I'll see how that looks. I think the bottom works better but we'll see. And you're spot on, it all depends on how well I could blend it in with the stock cowling. I don't want it to look like a hack!

John, do you have a mock up or something of what you're planning? Had a look through your project (very cool btw) and can see the headlights at the end but that's about it...

[pete]

I did some other mock ups and so forth yesterday and took some photos so I'll play with them in the GIMP and see what I can come up with.

I did however get some good progress on the battery/electrics tray.

Got it cut out on Saturday and after a good suggestion I used a small round file to relieve the corners where the bends were going to happen, and I reckon it made a big difference. In future I'll drill a small hole in the corner before cutting the shape out.



And it seems to sit in reasonably nicely:





I do have some tidy up work to do though. While I took into account the width of the aluminium while bending, I didn't take it into account enough when laying it out in the first place. So when the bends were done, the electrics tray sides end up being a little taller than I intended, and the sides of the battery tray are also a little longer than I intended. Nothing a bit of trimming won't fix easily but a good lesson for me to learn for next time.

Once I trim it to size properly I'll attempt to braze it and see how that works out.

[John Kat]

Cheers for the feedback guys!
John, do you have a mock up or something of what you're planning? Had a look through your project (very cool btw) and can see the headlights at the end but that's about it...

I've updated my thread but the holes in the fairing are not done yet...

[Fjbj40]

I did some other mock ups and so forth yesterday and took some photos so I'll play with them in the GIMP and see what I can come up with.

I did however get some good progress on the battery/electrics tray.

Got it cut out on Saturday and after a good suggestion I used a small round file to relieve the corners where the bends were going to happen, and I reckon it made a big difference. In future I'll drill a small hole in the corner before cutting the shape out.



And it seems to sit in reasonably nicely:





I do have some tidy up work to do though. While I took into account the width of the aluminium while bending, I didn't take it into account enough when laying it out in the first place. So when the bends were done, the electrics tray sides end up being a little taller than I intended, and the sides of the battery tray are also a little longer than I intended. Nothing a bit of trimming won't fix easily but a good lesson for me to learn for next time.

Once I trim it to size properly I'll attempt to braze it and see how that works out.

When it comes to getting bent parts to a specific dimension you have to take into account things such as bend allowance and setback. These are calculations we use when forming parts and it is call flat pattern layout. Look here for some basic ways to get the finished dimension to your drawing. http://www.sheetmetalguy.com/bend-allowance.htm

She is really coming along nicely though! A Kat is something I will eventually have, there is one for sale in Quebec right now, completely intact and roadworthy for $3500 CDN. Bathroom reno has consumed that cash though

[pete]

I've updated my thread but the holes in the fairing are not done yet...

Cool thanks John, I think I see what you mean now!

I'll finish those other mock ups this week and see how things look...

When it comes to getting bent parts to a specific dimension you have to take into account things such as bend allowance and setback. These are calculations we use when forming parts and it is call flat pattern layout. Look here for some basic ways to get the finished dimension to your drawing. http://www.sheetmetalguy.com/bend-allowance.htm

She is really coming along nicely though! A Kat is something I will eventually have, there is one for sale in Quebec right now, completely intact and roadworthy for $3500 CDN. Bathroom reno has consumed that cash though

Thanks mate, yes, that's exactly where I went wrong! I've done very little bending that requires accurate dimensions like this, so I don't really have any techniques so that link will help a lot!

That's a dirt cheap Kat... is the bathroom *reallY* that important???

[Weasel]

Coming along nice. Can't go wrong with black & red.

[Fjbj40]

Cool thanks John, I think I see what you mean now!

I'll finish those other mock ups this week and see how things look...



Thanks mate, yes, that's exactly where I went wrong! I've done very little bending that requires accurate dimensions like this, so I don't really have any techniques so that link will help a lot!

That's a dirt cheap Kat... is the bathroom *reallY* that important???

Happy wife, happy life. She already told me I can get another bike if I want . The bathroom is a 30 year old **** hole, no pun intended, lol.

Kats coming along nicely,
cheers

[pete]

Cheers Weasel, feels good to be getting somewhere again!

Fjb... yes indeed!!! Planning out my next bends for the inner guard so that link will come in handy too.

I did also get the other mock up finished this morning with the lights on top of the oil cooler. Not sure... it would be better if they could be a little further apart and higher but the cowl subframe limits them to this position and I'd have to modify it to move them and I'm hoping not to have to modify anything except for the damaged front cowl.

I think I still like them below it at this point... nothing set in stone yet of course.



I'm also working on where to put the front indicators... doing a couple more mock ups with them in the stock position and mounted at the rear of the shark fins. Only catch with the rear of the shark fins is that it requires they be trimmed at the back so the indicators can come forwards enough to clear the fork legs, so I would need to either cut some fins (don't really want to) or make some up... I'll get the mock ups posted when I get them done.

The other option in the back of my mind is surface mount ones mounted on the fins or in place of them... not sure if that will work and especially not sure if it will get passed by the bureaucrats...