Hide your Women and Children

[Evill_Ed]

So I've finally seen the elusive bodywork Paul (pgeldz) has been working so hard on...anyone considering bodywork for the FZ-07 should hold off until you see it.  If you were a fan of Version 1 of Paul's FZ-07, wait till you see Version 2!

I've been bugging Paul for months now and he finally gave me a Top Secret Sneak Peek today.

Made my Big Toe Stand Straight up in my Boot! 

Paul has created one Wicked Looking FZ -07.  His design is truly unique.

I've been hinting to Paul that I might like to have this kit for my FZ-07 to see if there is any interest in producing it as a kit. Today he showed me some renderings and seems to be open to the idea of sharing his design. I bet (hope) if response is good, he may consider a PRODUCTION run! This would be a full custom kit.  Imagine a kit with a custom nose fairing with upper stay , a custom belly-pan with mount kit, the tank cover, and the tail section, with Dzus fasteners.

Paul has taken his talents and vision turned them into reality.  

 

Stay Tuned. 

[fzar]

I've seen some of the progression through other social media outlets, and he does go all in. I look forward to getting a sconce.

[cencalmoto]

Did you happen to take some teaser pictures of said bodywork other than what's been posted? Lol

[Evill_Ed]

15 minutes ago, cencalmoto said:

Did you happen to take some teaser pictures of said bodywork other than what's been posted? Lol

Nope, I promised I wouldn’t post any pictures, it’s not my bike or design. I’m sure Paul will show it off soon enough.

[phanomenal07]

I'm 100 percent interested and would purchase a kit from him. 

[pgeldz]

Hey guys!

I'm really trying to make this happen!

Just to give you some background of how this all came about in the first place...

It all started out of necessity to race my FZ-07 instead of my R3.

One of my targets is to race at the Pro level one day in MotoAmerica.  For a guy who was paralyzed and couldn't walk 9 years ago, it's a pretty big target - not only to prove to myself I can reach that level, but to show it's never too late to follow your dreams, no matter what adversity someone as been through.

I was pretty successful with R3 at the club level, but there age limits in MotoAmerica for the Junior Cup class which makes me ineligible.  I already had the FZ-07 so it was a more cost effective way to try and race at that level since I didn't have to buy another bike.

When I set out to transform it into a racing machine, I wanted to partner up with the same companies I used in building my other bikes - The R3, XSR900, and Ducati Monster S4RS, pictured here:

 

I originally wanted my FZ-07 to be naked, but the need to remove the stock plastic intakes to make clearance for clip-ons meant that something custom would have to be done to fill that space.  After looking at what would be involved in making new air intakes that would allow room for clip-ons lock to lock, I decided to go another route.

I figured I could use what's already out there for the tank cover, because that inherently would allow me to use clip ons.

I've always liked the Paolo Tex body pieces for the Ducati Mosters, and since he made me a special one-off ALL CARBON version for my Cafe Replica Koncept above, I wanted a way to thank him.  What a better way to say thanks then to use his race version nose piece and long belly pan.

The race version nose piece looked like it would pair well with FZ-07 race tail section that's readily available, so I did some mock ups and was like, WoW, that works!  However I quickly learned that the sides of the nose piece don't jive well with the angle of the FZ-07's radiator.

I set out to fix it and ended up extending the sides to match the angles of the FZ-07, trimmed the shark fins to a flat finish, and really liked the end result.  

The nose piece overall is very tight, but there is clearance everywhere and the fit looks like a tailored suit when it's all in place.  Since the nose piece has an inside ledge so to speak, we took advantage of that and built the fairing stay to accommodate, so the nose piece actually sits in place on it's ledge and then bolts right up.  

The bellypan however, was NOT going to work...AT ALL.  When put in place approximately where it would sit, the oil drain bolt was in front of the bellypan!

I basically hacked up the Paolo Tex belly pan so I could match the angles and styling, but made one from scratch so it would have that same tailored fit as the reworked nose piece.

With all that fitted up, I realized there was just enough surface area to design a new livery (as opposed to a naked bike with hardly any real estate).

Problem is, for long logos like my Tarmac Faction race team logo, the only place is really on the bellypan.  But even then since it's way longer than it is tall, it kinda runs into the bellypan number plate.

Because the design is very angular to begin with, I exploited that and figured I can extend the bottom of the tail unit to make surface area for my logo.  Originally I was going to actually extend the tail unit and bolt it to where the passenger footrest brackets are, but then quickly realized that's 4 more bolts to remove when taking the tail on and off which holds the exhaust support and rear shock external reservoir mount...no thanks.

I came up with a different approach, and made panels that bolt to those supports, but just tuck underneath the tail.  Much simpler way to do it and everything can stay in place when you take the tail off now.

So with everything ironed out, here is where I'm at...

1) Tank cover - readily available thru Altus Motorsports or Sharkskins

2) Tail Unit - readily available thru Altus Motorsports or Sharkskins

3) Tarmac Faction reworked Paolo Tex race nose piece - 2 complete units finished.  One is on my bike, and the other is a spare.

4) Tarmac Faction bellypan - 2 complete units.  One is on my bike, and the other is a spare.  It's a repeatable part since the mold is made, and can make more on demand.

5) Tarmac Faction fairing stay, with provision for factory gauge cluster and AIM Solo 2 lap timer - One is made and on my bike, and material for 2 others to be made.

6) Tarmac Faction side extension panels - One set made, and easily repeatable.

 

I still need to take my spare nose piece and have a mold made so it can be repeatable.  I also have to take off the fairing stay that's on my bike, and have 2 more made with the material I have (one for a spare and the other to send off and have mass produced).

Once that's done, I think making a kit would be a no brainer.  I need to do this stuff ANYWAY for ME, so I have spares in case of a crash, so it WILL happen.

The only thing is, how many people are interested in this sorta kit?  For me, it started as me wanting clip ons and also wanting to thank Paolo, in addition to wanting control over availability of parts (racers HATE waiting on parts).  From there it took on another concept in my head...can I make a custom racing prototype with unique styling and actually race it at the Pro Level?

We are gonna find out!

- Paul

 

 

 

[1tondriver]

Kudos to you Paul in your life victory’s and those on the track and fabrication

I wish you all the best following your aspirations, you are on the right track (no pun intended)

[pgeldz]

7 minutes ago, 1tondriver said:

Kudos to you Paul in your life victory’s and those on the track and fabrication

I wish you all the best following your aspirations, you are on the right track (no pun intended)

Thanks man!

[DewMan]

Stop teasing us already and give us some pictures!!! 

[pgeldz]

35 minutes ago, DewMan said:

Stop teasing us already and give us some pictures!!! 

Soon, soon!

[pgeldz]

[1tondriver]

Alright Paul stop posting your grainy Area 51 photos and let’s see the real deal

[pgeldz]

Got the mechanicals all done yesterday with the spare set of bodywork...

Should be able to finish it soon!!!

[DewMan]

39 minutes ago, pgeldz said:

Got the mechanicals all done yesterday with the spare set of bodywork...

Should be able to finish it soon!!!

Your significant other must really like the way you tease. 

[mjh937]

6 hours ago, 1tondriver said:

Alright Paul stop posting your grainy Area 51 photos and let’s see the real deal

Here is a photo I took in of Area 51.  I think I can just make out @pgeldz's bike starting a speed run up the runway   .

[Evill_Ed]

9 hours ago, pgeldz said:

Got the mechanicals all done yesterday with the spare set of bodywork...

Should be able to finish it soon!!!

You’re killin’ me Geldz

[pgeldz]

On 1/28/2020 at 4:54 AM, 1tondriver said:

Alright Paul stop posting your grainy Area 51 photos and let’s see the real deal ">

Ok...

 

[1tondriver]

37 minutes ago, pgeldz said:

Ok...

 

Touché

[DewMan]

1 hour ago, pgeldz said:

Ok...

 

You have no idea how hard it was to not down vote this, you tease! 

[sorkyah]

i will downvote, because BOOOOOOO
COVERED BIKES DONT COUNT..... BOOOOOOOOO

 

[pgeldz]

Ok ok, here ya go...this better?

 

[1tondriver]

 

Looks great! Nice job. Looking forward to action shots.

[DewMan]

1 hour ago, pgeldz said:

Ok ok, here ya go...this better?

 

About dang time! 

Wait a minute... where's the cassette player? 

 

All kidding aside that ride is bangin! 

[Evill_Ed]

OUTSTANDING !! Great Job Paul.  I love how tight and angled the front end looks. I love the exposed engine too. Definitely different, definitely cool!

Ed

[fzar]

Fantastic Paulie, Jeez the attention to detail on her is crazy. I couldn't attach my eyes to 1 thing exactly at first, so I went to the belly pan as that was well documented as being a pain. It's beautifully incorporated starting at the headers and tucked nicely under the case savers. Its visually mind blowing, I'll have to change to another device to get a close up. Man that's a lot to take in at once, in a good way. It'll definitely is one of a kind. 

Well Done Paul, Well Done.