FZ-07SS - Racebike Build

[slow06er]

 

Lot's of activity this week. 
The Lithium battery is really light compared to the stock battery.  Man, that thing is heavy, and a pain to take out of the bike when your hands are cold.  The spacers are definitely needed for the new battery so it doesn't rattle around.  It takes about 60% of the space in the battery box.
 
I don't have any pics yet, but they will start to roll-in after next week.

 
"@gogokawi" - what size of lithium ion battery did you get?, did you get a battery that have more power charge than the original battery or less?,
I'm curious about how much of the weight did you save compare to the stock battery?

[gogokawi]

Lot's of activity this week. 
The Lithium battery is really light compared to the stock battery.  Man, that thing is heavy, and a pain to take out of the bike when your hands are cold.  The spacers are definitely needed for the new battery so it doesn't rattle around.  It takes about 60% of the space in the battery box.
 
I don't have any pics yet, but they will start to roll-in after next week.

"@gogokawi " - what size of lithium ion battery did you get?, did you get a battery that have more power charge than the original battery or less?, I'm curious about how much of the weight did you save compare to the stock battery?

I bought the 14ah battery, model number BTL14A240C.  It's supposed to be the direct replacement for the stock Yuasa and shaves a little over 5 lbs. with the swap.

[rowdy]

"@gogokawi " - what size of lithium ion battery did you get?, did you get a battery that have more power charge than the original battery or less?, I'm curious about how much of the weight did you save compare to the stock battery?

I bought the 14ah battery, model number BTL14A240C.  It's supposed to be the direct replacement for the stock Yuasa and shaves a little over 5 lbs. with the swap.

That's a pretty good weight savings.  What did you use to fill the extra space? 

[twf]

Think that one comes with foam pieces like Shorai. You use them to put under and around battery if you want.
I use (and sell) Shorai LFX14. Battery weight is 1.5lbs.

[gogokawi]

Think that one comes with foam pieces like Shorai. You use them to put under and around battery if you want. I use (and sell) Shorai LFX14. Battery weight is 1.5lbs.

 
 
Shorai's foam pieces are more substantial, bigger, and more plentiful. Battery Tender comes with little 2 inch blocks. They do the job, but aren't great.

[babisstinson]

Subscribed to the Thread, really interesting project! I saw the FZ-07R from AP Moto Arts and already dreaming my MT-07 to look like that!
Especially if it is a DIY customization that you can do at home with your tools.

[gogokawi]

Happy days!  I came home from a business trip and saw boxes sitting in my living room.  It's like Christmas in March!
 
From the size of the one box, the fairings have arrived.  Then I looked at the smaller box and it's from APM, bodywork mounting hardware.  Happy Days!
 
As much as I want to, I'm too tired to work on the bike tonight.  Plus, I have to pack for a track day at VIR.  And since I don't have the forks, the FZ can't make it this go round.  I will be on the 300!  But I was able to take a couple of pics.  I don't have a lot of room to spread stuff out.  So I apologize for the lack of close-ups.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

[rowdy]

Happy days!  I came home from a business trip and saw boxes sitting in my living room.  It's like Christmas in March! 
From the size of the one box, the fairings have arrived.  Then I looked at the smaller box and it's from APM, bodywork mounting hardware.  Happy Days!
 
As much as I want to, I'm too tired to work on the bike tonight.  Plus, I have to pack for a track day at VIR.  And since I don't have the forks, the FZ can't make it this go round.  I will be on the 300!  But I was able to take a couple of pics.  I don't have a lot of room to spread stuff out.  So I apologize for the lack of close-ups.
 

Oh, way cool!  I can hardly wait to see this happen!   

[superhawk848]

8-) NICE!

[howlinhoss]

When you put the fairings on can you do the tank first and take a pic of it with the stock seat/tail fairings?

[gogokawi]

When you put the fairings on can you do the tank first and take a pic of it with the stock seat/tail fairings?

I can do it with the stock seat.  But tail fairings have been off for a while.  I plan to take pics along the way, and you can get a sense of what's what based on those.

[babisstinson]

Oh that's really Christmas on March..! Can't wait to see your build up FZ-07!
 
How do you find the quality of the parts?

[gregjet]

RE the Shorai battery. Remember the shorai has no fluid. It doesn't care what it's orientation is. Often I have found with Shorai's that putting them on their side fills the space better though you sometimes have to extend one or both of the leads. They are so light that a rubber strap will hold them solid no trouble.

[drewnabobber]

I have used stick-on velcro with my lightweight batteries with great success. Get industrial stuff, will hold a shorai or a ballistic battery no problem.

[gogokawi]

Oh that's really Christmas on March..! Can't wait to see your build up FZ-07! 
How do you find the quality of the parts?

By look and feel, the quality is really good.  The rearset brackets are powder coated.  The bodywork mounts feel solid.  And the bodywork looks and feels like Armour Bodies.  I'm really pleased.

[gogokawi]

Update time!  First, I'll apologize in advance for any ramblings, misspellings, and just utter nonsense I may spew.  I missed a track day weekend due to not feeling well and my brain hasn't accepted that it's not sealed in a helmet doing 120+ mph.  I swear this track thing is a new form of drug.
 
So what's been done?  A WHOLE HELLUVA LOT!  With the time going up, I have some extra time after work to work on the bike.  Pretty much, I've been doing something to the bike everyday, even if it's just measuring.  Plus, I couldn't have all of those parts scattered all over the house.  They needed to get on the bike.
 
Before I go into specifics on what's been done, I'm just going to run through the things I've learned or stuff I knew and still screwed up.
 
[ul type=disc][*]Have the tools that you need when you need them.[*]Don't put off tightening a bolt.  Do it right at that time.[*]If you feel a screw/bolt becoming harder to tighten and you still have 3/4 to go, stop![*]Wear goggles and gloves when appropriate.[*]Have a good light source so you can see all of the nooks and crannies.[*]Clean up after yourself when you are done for the day[*]Label where you pulled the bolts and parts from.[*]Do one section of the bike at a time.[*]Drink plenty of water, and don't forget to eat.  Or you will get headaches and miss track days that you were looking forward to for weeks.[*]Feel free to rub one out during a break.  You will feel calmer afterwards.[*]Take before and after pictures.[*]Something WILL go wrong.  There's nothing you can do about that.  Just be flexible about it and find a plan B.
[*]Keep bandaids and peroxide near when you rip a gash in your hand.[*]Whatever you budgeted for a bike build, you will go over.[*]Get a service manual!  It's your bible.[*]Whatever time you allocate to your project, add in some cushion.  You WILL need it.[/ul]
I'm tired, still having headaches, and hungry.  So I'll be back to post pics of the build throughout the weekend.  There's quite a few.

[rowdy]

Great tips @gogokawi !
 

[sorkyah]

Loving the reference to Murphys law and of self pleasure
Though there are other ways too

[gogokawi]

Bikes are hard!  Building race bikes from street bikes is harder.  And building race bikes when you are not the most mechanically savvy individual is satisfying, in a masochistic kind of way.  Apparently, I like to see myself suffer.  Who knew!
 
The last 2 weeks have been full of highs and lows with the bike.  I'll go into as much detail as I can with the build, and I'll include pics for you all to drool and laugh at.
 
First, let's talk about stripping the bike down.  This is fairly easy.  You take some tools and remove some bolts, metal fittings, and plastic pieces.  Not to hard.  But the number of bolts on this bike is amazing for it to be a naked bike.  I'm in the 60s right now, and I there are still dozens of bolts left on the bike.
 
For this build, you have to take damn near everything off the bike, except the engine.  And that's no exaggeration.  You also have to grind and dremel a bit.  Honestly, it's not too bad.  It's about 30 minutes worth of work.  So let's get to it.
 
 

 
Unfortunately, I don't have a before pic.  I thought I did.  But stock, it above pic is almost straight across the top.  For the rear fairing to fit, you have to cut a piece off of each side at about 90 degrees.  I used a Dremel to do this.  It was too bad.  You will just have to make sure you have some spare cutting wheels.  I went through 2 of them.  I painted over the cut part with some high temp black paint.  It's not a perfect match, but it will protect the frame against rusting.
 
 

 
Next, rearsets.  I got the rearset bracket.  Honestly, I'm not sure if I needed them.  I'm going to play around with them to see how they feel.  But a couple of things to note.  To install the bracket, you will have to remove your swingarm pivot bolt.  Now I'm not a fan of this design at all.  But I get why Yamaha did it.  Still, it's a pain in the ass.  Also, your kick stand is attached to the brack that holds your left rearset.  Again, I get why Yamaha did it.  it's just weird when you are used to bikes having the rearsets and kickstand attached to the frame.  Installing it was easy.  However, there's always a gotcha with the easy stuff.  See the chain and how it's above the two bolts behind the rearset?  I didn't I had the chain dangling below them.  So when I went to put the rear wheel back on, which was the biggest pain in the ass I have ever known, the chain wouldn't fit.  I had to remove the bracket and align the chain.  That was another 40 minutes of work.  I had a lot of these moments...
 
Speaking of rear wheel, it took me hours to put that thing back on.  No exaggeration.  The axle would not go through, no matter how I positioned the wheel or moved it or aligned it.  The axle would go through the rear brake bracket and only enter the wheel about 10% of the way.  After messing around with it, I finally figured out what it was.  It has a floating bearing spacer, and it moves a lot.  Just a mm will prevent the axle from going through.  After almost 2 hours, which included me taking a walk, kicking the wheel, and other activities born out of frustration, I finally go the thing on.  The front tire is similar, but I knew what to expect.
 
I already talked about the Woodcraft rearsets.  I won't go on that rant again.  But installing them was simple.  Here's the right side.
 
 

[gogokawi]

The next phase is the front of the bike: hand controls and fairing stay.  Of everything so far, this took (and is taking) the most time to finish.
There are concerns that I am still working through, but should be able to resolve.  Here's what the stock bar and clip-ons look like when both installed.  Not that big of a difference!
 

 
Welp, yeah it's a big difference.  Almost a foot below stock.  The bracket and the bar are pretty heave too.  I'm guessing it's about 4 to 5 pounds coming off the bike.
 
Cable length is a pain now.  You have a LOT of slack that you didn't have before.  Zip ties are your friend.  And finding the best way to tie them down has been a real challenge thus far. 
 

 
For the clip-ons,  You have to drill a couple of holes for the throttle tube, engine start/stop switch, and left hand switches.  I always put the throttle tube on first to see where it should be.  I kept some room towards the end of the bar for a lever guard.
 

 
The unicorn horn that you see protruding from the bike is the fairing stay.  To get it to fit, you have to grind off the cable holder that's welded on the neck of the frame.  I took the Dremel to it and sprayed it with Rustoleum afterwards.  Word of caution...  The fairing stay is not your friend while working on the front of the bike.  I stabbed my head at least 3 times.  
 

 
 
 

[twf]

Did you get 10mm spacer between fork clamp and bar clamp on those clipons? That is what I used to clear pinch bolt.
And why are your forks so high up, sticking out of the triple?

[twf]

For throttle you can switch to MP quick turn. I have set up with custom cable length.
Clutch cable is fine, I just rerouted it out of the clip on the frame.

[howlinhoss]

This thread is awesome. More pics!
 
I don't think many people including my self knew that converting to the fz07r requires many permanent modifications. There is no going back to stock.

[sorkyah]

Did you get 10mm spacer between fork clamp and bar clamp on those clipons? That is what I used to clear pinch bolt. And why are your forks so high up, sticking out of the triple?

I was wondering the same thing
 
 
 

[gogokawi]

Did you get 10mm spacer between fork clamp and bar clamp on those clipons? That is what I used to clear pinch bolt. And why are your forks so high up, sticking out of the triple?

I didn't get the spacers.  Because the way the fairing is designed, having the bars clear the triple still won't allow you to raise them much higher than they are now.  So I'm just going to try to work with them the way they are.  Hopefully, it's not going to be uncomfortable for my shoulder.  If so, I have some ideas about how to get the rise that I want. 
And the fork height is what was recommended by AP.  It's 20mm above the triple.  It's setup similarly to the SV I had before this.  Seating position feels like it too.  The seating position is more aggressive than my ZX6.
 

For throttle you can switch to MP quick turn. I have set up with custom cable length. Clutch cable is fine, I just rerouted it out of the clip on the frame.

I've been a zip tying fool.  It was just really messy at first.  I've got everything lined up with how I think it should be, except for the brake lines.  I really thought about the motion pro throttle.  But I'm going to keep what I got.  I'm tired of spending money on the bike.  Paint and tires are my next money sink.  Did you paint your's yet?
 

This thread is awesome. More pics! 
I don't think many people including my self knew that converting to the fz07r requires many permanent modifications. There is no going back to stock.

You can absolutely go back to a stock bike, minus the three pieces you had to grind off.  It's just going to be a pain putting all of those parts back together.  But if I decide I don't want to race this anymore, I'll put the stock clothes back on, with some minor alterations of course.