Another bike project...

[T99Ford]

Came across a Craigslist deal the other day. The guy didn't really know much about bikes, though he claimed he did, and so he sold me this 1987 Yamaha FZ600 for $340! Got it home and did a little tuning, and it runs like a champ. Very smooth, plenty of power. So I will be ordering some replacement plastics, rolling out the paint equipment again, pllus a few other minor procedures, and should have a pretty sweet little runner. Here it is:









And a video of it running:

http://s717.photobucket.com/albums/ww180/t71ford/superhawk/?action=view&current=100_3059.mp4

Got a little work ahead, but it should come out pretty sweet!

[paulapalooza]

Cool find! I'm interested in seeing another one of your projects. Any ideas on what you're doing for paint?

[natemoen]

You certainly have lots of projects!

[T99Ford]

Whooo, too many projects! This one is to replace my wife's bike, the XS360 "Isadora". She is ready to move to a larger size bike, so I will be building this up, and selling the 360 (I know, I know, it will never be the same after I "ravaged" it)But four bikes for two people is wholly unnecessary, and I was unwilling to part with my 1100. This thing is her new ride. Actually this will be the most "close to stock" bike I plan on doing to date. I actually really like the fairing package, so i will replace all of the plastics, and actually add the lowers, too. The rear end is up for change though. I am going to modernize the rear and lose the chunky look, a la modern sport bike. Turns out she gets really wind fatigued by the normal cafe naked bike, so I wanted to provide her with a fairing for protection. And, the performance of this bike is near that of the XS1100, and handling is greatly improved. The bike is very light as well, so I think will make a good final bike for her, and an occassional ride for me. This is Yamaha's first foray into a dedicated sport bike.

The PO sold it so cheap, claiming a life ending lower end knock. Turned out it was actually carb tune causing a timing chain slap noise, rectified by a carb tune and synch! Needs fork attention and oil leak immediately, along with tires, but beyond that is in pretty good shape with exactly 15K miles. This was a pretty good score, as all the information I can find indicates this bike is fairly rare, but has good bloodlines.

As for plans, I am debating between candy blue over silver base, with black wheels, and a raw metal (clear only) stripe down the tank and Yamaha graphics, or the same theme in Ducati red. She is really hesitant on the dated look of the bike, mostly derived from the awful rear end, so I want to modernize it as much as I can. The remaining mods will be pretty minimal, since it is so user friendly as-is, and we all know that to satisfy most women riders, it has to be intuitive. So the major facelift will be to the plastic and frame of the rear end, but will be incorporating most of the front end, including the seat. Stay tuned, I already have parts inbound, and hope to have this thing streetable within the next two months!

[Elevener]

Cant wait to see it man! Yeah that backend is pretty bad. Other than that nice.

[T99Ford]

Thanks, Elevener! I started with the back end last night, cutting off lots of parts, and incorporating other parts. I lost the chain guard, inner fender, side panels, tail assembly, rear passenger foot pegs and mounts, and a few other odds and ends. Then I set the rear cowl from my VTR on it. Now I can kind of see where I am going. All the electrics will end up under the seat out of view. The battery will remain centralized and in the stock location, though. This will allow the rear subframe rails to be exposed all the way to the rear. Obviously the fit and finish is not done, this is just a rough concept, but you all get the idea where this is going... keep in mind that I will also be adding the lower fairings to what is already there, so most of the engine will be covered. Anyway, here it is!

[natemoen]

That looks way better than it did before!

[T99Ford]

Thanks Nate!!

I was a little hesitant about whether or not I could correct the ugliness at first. But I am starting to feel this build a little, so it should get rolling now!

[paulapalooza]

To be honest i was thinking the same thing you were

But after this first stage i think it has some potential!

[XSive Okie]

$340?! I would say nice find, sir! It will be interesting to see what you do with it.

[roccet]

Dang.. i have been looking for one of those for YEARS!!! 340.00 you stole that thing.

[T99Ford]

I feel pretty good about the price for the beginnings of a project. Of course there is a fair bit to be spent cleaning it up, but that is another issue!

No pics of tonight's work. I finished mocking up the tail, which will incorporate that cowl, and also the rear taillight from the VTR. Got the subframe cut down to match, and got my relocations for all the electrics marked out. Then I removed the tail so I can do all the welding and cleanup. I will post up some pics of the pre complete bike disassembly of my final fit.

Thanks for the props, gents!

[danteinien]

Amazing how much of a difference just removing a few parts makes!

I think it looks killer. Keep it up man

[T99Ford]

Thanks, Dan. Those few parts were pretty major players in the ugliness...

Got my taillight mount welded into the rear end of the tail subframe today, on my lunch break. Tomorrow's lunch break will entail fitting in the electrics mounts and the mounts for the cowl. But here is a pic of the side profile, with the taillight installed. The frame has been detabbed and cleaned up mostly. The junk on the seat is just for ballast to keep it upright for the picture

[T99Ford]

Well, it turns out I am good at destroying perfectly good things:



It is not apart for cleaning and minor repairs. I did however, get the tail/ subframe done, incorporating the VTR bits like I had envisioned: