Project FZR400/YZF600R Hybrid

[China_Racer_1]

Greetings from Shanghai, China.

I moved here about 6 years ago and found that there are a lot of cool bikes here left over from yester-year. Maybe they come over as junk and then find their way to the road. But I figured I should make use of my idle time and go find some parts and a project bike.

Its about 90% done right now but I wanted to make a thread about it since I have not done a complete build thread to date.

I picked the FZR400 as a frame for its ..well.. Frame design I guess.

I raced one of these before and it was by far the best little handling bike I rode at the time (Circa 1988). So I am partial to it for that reason.

But this bike lacked any balls. Its 400cc margarita blender of an engine was great but not enough umph for me.

So I decided a 600cc FZR engine would work well I started to make plans then read up a bit more and found that a YZF600R (Thundercat) engine is a direct bolt in hmmm

I then found a buddy who donated the engine out of a wrecked YZF600R, he had, to me. The engine had issues but I did not care since I was going to do a total rebuild. Cases were not cracked so good to go!

I found a 1988 FZR4003EN model that I used as a base.



Here she is..Lovely little thing huh?

When I took this pic I had already removed the original swingarm (I had other plans for a swingarm) and sold it off for start up cash for the project. I only wanted the frame from this bike so I parted out everything I could that I did not need.

I stripped her down to the frame and kept the following:
1) The Frame
2) The Engine Cradles (Rails)
3) The fuel tank

Thats about it

I started to get the rolling chasis squared away. I sand blast it and cleaned up a few rough areas.

I then sent it out for powder coating

Sorry a few begining build pics are no longer with us due to a computer crash. RIP



I then bought a 3TJ swing arm out of Japan. The 3TJ model of the FZR-400 was its last I beleive and it had a bunch of trick shit on it much more race like.


This swing arm was braced and wider to accept a wider wheel.


Here she is after clean up and powder coating. Honda F3 wheel in place but not fit up yet.

The original one was like in the 1st pic of this thread - straight not braced and skinny.

I then found a Honda F3 heel and began a freaking journey through hell to get it on there and actually work right.

Here goes the fit up part of this thing.


All parts ready to install.

The Honda F3 will in fact fit in this swingarm. All you have to do is find a talented machinist to give you hour upon hour of his time for free becasue if you had to pay him to figure this out you would go broke. besides you are racer so you are inherantly poor, I know I am. ha ha

I found a machine shop that was willing to sponsor me all my machine work for this project.

I did not even have to beg much.... much Actually what I did was beg him to do some one off work for me (Chinese usually have a 1000 minimum order when you want something done. A one off is a favor not a job)

In return I would pay for the job and material and put a sticker on my bike and his name on my leathers. He had no concept. Chinese have no clue about sponsorship and how it works.


June 2009 Pan Delta Series Zhuhai F1 track (30,000 fans)

But here I am at a race on a bike with his sticker on the side. Its the ZT sticker near my knee. His company name is on my thigh. I have no clue what it says. Somethign like Shanghai Tool and Die company LTD.

I can't read that shit. I can only speak it and not that well really. My Chinese wife says I speak lieka 5 year old.. same vocabulary ha ha. But Iget by Ok here.



I gave him this pic for his office wall.

Then, he understood. He showed clients and friends and anyone who would listen that he was part of this bike and did the machining for it. So it helped set him apart from all the other bazillion machine shops here.

Now he does it all for free. I give him free entry tickets to the race for him and his friends which I get for free anyway from the track manager (My friend) and life is grand. Sometimes you really need to take the first step and show a perspective sponsor how it works to their benifit.

Opps, sorry off on a how to land a sponsor tangent.

So here are a few pics of the work needed to make this thing work.

1st the width of the pivot area was exact so that was cool.

But the pivot bolt hole in the frame was of a different size. So I had a new pivort bolt and a sleeve made to take up the slack.


Old pivot opening


New pivot opening


Original 3TJ bolt and newly machined bolt. I guess drilling out the frame would have worked easier but I did not want to mess with frame integrity and thought this the safer route structurally.

It is a race bike and race stress is a concern of mne. (new bolt later machined to have a simular head-not round)


I could have used the original smaller bolt off the bike but Pete (Machinist) did not like the looks of it and made me a new one complete with machined nut.


So now the thing is mounted in place and secure. Rebuilt Fox Twin Clicker rear shock installed right up no issues.

Now the hard part the rear wheel monting set.

Here is what I did in this order

1st found exact centor of the bike. Machinist used about 30 points of refferance to measure adn check adn recheck and find exact center of the frame looking from rear to frontsplitting the biek down teh middle.

2nd Found exact center of teh Honda F3 wheel


3rd Made a spacer for the sprocket side that would set the wheel center and frame center in true alignement.

4th Installed the Honda F3 caliperusing the original honda F3 caliper mount.

5th Made do-hicky (Highly technical term) to make the F3 mount mate with the Yamaha Swingarm stay.

6th Made sure the caliper was dead center of the rear rotor (Bought a wavy rotor for the rear)

7th Made spacer to between the wheel and caliper mounting bracket adn also between teh caliper mounting bracket and the swingarm.

8th Made a spacer for the sprocket side so the wheel was now dead nutz center in the swingarm.

9th looked at where the front sprocket was, the rear sprocket mounting bolts (Sprocket would not fit in the swing arm at this point without hitting the inner side of the swing arm)

10th scratched head and tried to figure out what the hell to do next.


11th machines down the inner hub


12th Machined down the hub part of the wheel that holds the cush drive

13th double checked and machined a bit more so that the rear sprocket was now in perfect alignement with the front sprocket so no of set sprocket is needed.

A stock YZF600R front and a stock Honda F3 in the rear.

Good to go Now I can put a 160 or even a 170 tire in there instead of a 140 which was stock Yamaha FZR400 1988 model configuration. I also now have a 17" rim not a 18" rim, again original FZR400 size.

I raced on a 160 but I think Dunlop makes a 165 slick which I will use at the Shanghai F1 track and see how that works My concern is pinching a 170 on there might not give me the profile I want for cornering. Have to experiment.

Ok so lets stick with Pete and his machining efforts.

I bought a set of case savers. Suppose dto fit. but did not - of course.


I had to machine down the inside a bit to get this piece to fit on snug.

OK Rear sets.

I have no pics of the originals but think 1988 stock foot pegs and you might get the picture of what they looked like.

I used them before and at an AMA National race in Loudon, New Hampshire USA.

I had to actually cut the pegs, 30 minutes before the race, with a saws-all because tech inspection said I had ground them to a point in the corners so much they were dangerous. So I hacked them up and went racing on 3/4 of the original peg length.

I also decided I wanted adjustability.

There is really nothing good out there for a 1988 FZR-400 so I designed my own based off a few features I liked on Vortex and a few other name brands.


I came up with these. Function was primary over form so not beutiful looking but they work well.


Goofy heal guards are right on target.

In this pic you can also see the weak swing arm and thinner tire issue on the stock FZR. (This pic is of me testing them on a pretty stock FZR-400)

Pete machined them on the CNC I just gave him the specs and what I was looking for he did the CAD drawings as well.

Even though he is a sponsor I was able to get these things working quite well and made 30 sets and sold them all to other FZR owners and racer. so he got money for that and I got more money to help fund the project.


Carbon fiber parts -
I have a sponsor called OYA CARBON (www.oyacarbon.com) They make my Carbon fiber body parts for me. So far they have sponsored me 2 sets.

I gave tehm a FZR tank cover which is really jsut a cover as teh tank is a seperate cell sititng low in teh frame.

I covered teh filler hole on teh original and made a few other smal mods and sent it to them for moldign and making a few one offs for me.

I also took the rear section off a TZR-250 3XV model as I had one laying around and modded it up pretyt heavy


Original pieces mocked up... they just did not work for me.

Here are a few pics of what I did


The seat - I had to cut off the seat front tabs, change them from one side to the other and flip them over 180 degree to make the TZR seat conform to the frame of the FZR.



I also added an F1 type vent on the seat top-back. I had one of these left over from a vespa scooterhorn cover projevct I made for a USA client.

So I grafted it in the mock up for molding. Reason being that I wanted the air flow to go over my body and through the vent to get air in there to cool the electronics. I have a vent hole in the tail rear to allow for flow and not cause drag.


The tank cover I just filled in everything including the filler hole and made it smooth.

I planned to cut and lower the fuel cell so the filer hole was no longer needed. I would make the cover quick release for filling purposes

End result when I got them and stickered them up (Of Course)




Oya also provided me with a front fender for the R-6 2007S model I used for the project.

Fuell cell cut open blasted welded and then sealed with a JB weld type material. No leakes passed the test 100%

I cut this down for a few reasons.

Loose weight? No not really but actually I have less capacity now so less fuel to fill it. I geenrally only do 12 lap sprint races here.

I have a lower center of gravity I guess but I also wanted a smooth top for sliding around side to side when I race.

I added anti slosh foam which seemed to help a bit also.

[Roger Explosion]

Very nice. I will follow this with great interest.

[China_Racer_1]

So lets talk engine.

I had the engine built to my specs in the USA.

It was built by Joe Doty in Rochester New York.

He is young but very good.


I got the crank off to race cranks in california and had the lighten and balance the crank


ahhhhhhh... balanced and certified to do a sustained 17,000 RPM woo hoo!


I got some Accel coils

FCR Keihin flat slides.


Stock pictons, rings and rods. (Since the engien build I have been sponsored 2 sets of 2mm overbore pistons, rings and a set of barrels that have been bored and honed to accept the larger pistons by Wiseco USA. They go in this winter. That now makes the bike a 638cc bike if I did the math right.

Formula = Take your piston diameter(64mm) divide by 2 to get the radius (32mm).
square 32 and multiply it by Pi(3.1415) and that is the cross sectional area of 1 cylinder.
Multiply that by your stroke to get the volume of 1 cylinder and then by 4 and you have your total volume.
To get that in Cubic Centimeters divide by 1000


All internals were bought new - bearings valve springs etc.



Did a port / Polish


5 angle valve job new end bearing.


I got rid of the exhaust wrap

Opened up the exhaust by adding a Hindle ultra lightweight stainless steel header. This pic also shows the Kawasaki 636 radiator I used.

I decided NOT to use this front end (Shown) off a R-1 and went with the radial braking system of the R-6 instead. 51mm tubes on both so I opted for the adjsutability the system had.



I added a Pro shift kit old in hand new installed much better for shifting a positive shift.


Undercut the gears



I installed a Barnett clutch system with larger springs


also all new plates

Maybe a few other things but my ultra top secret security clearance prohibts me from mentioning more he he he.


I am using Woddscaraft clipons


Engine installed Note: this is not the swing arm I went with its off another FZR model. I used it while the other one was out for powder coating.


I made a light weight aluminum subframe made as well


Body work was adapted off a Kawasaki ZX600RRRRRRRRRR

So to date I got the bike all running and ran it in a race. But it is still not finished.

The engien is hardly broke in really with only about 1 hour on the engine.

I had major electronic issues and needed to send to the USA for another set of servos, relays CDI what ever I changed it all and never did find teh root cause.

I finished teh bike up wel lenough to go to the track about 1:00 on Fridays practice. Qualified on Saturday adn raced o nSunday.

I went slow to break in teh engien adn got mid pack but I was nto out there to race rally. Just do a shaledown run and make sure everythign worked.

I got a few good laps in toward the end.. passed a bunch of people and had fun-no stress.

I will say this -When I opened her up she pulled my arms out of socket and went like a bat out of hell. The track though is small. I need to get to the F1 track where I can get up to 300 KMH if the biek will do it. I think she might.

I estimate the HP at between 110 adn 120. No clue really - Dyno coming in the early spring.


curently looking like this a bit


Now all I need to do is finish the dash, relocate my voltage regulator. Go through and rewire the entire bike as the original harness is a Fargin mess.

Then out for a new paint job to my new sponsors specs.

To sum it up for now I had a blast on this beast. She handles so good and now I know she has the umph I want to do well in a race.


The first lap around the track I came int a fun corner and laid her over on my knee and laughed the entire corner with a huge smile praising godm nature, Karma, and anyone else who would listen.. I was filled with joy..I did it.

I built me my dream bike. Still a few quirks but it worked. Damned near two years of my life finally came to be on the track. Life's good :-)

Now if I can roll back the clock from age 47 to age 21 I just might have something here ha ha I was ranked forth in East Central China (there are only three areas really that race or have tracks here Norhtin Beijing. Here in Shanghai and south in the Guangzhuo/Zhuhai area)

Race day pics below enjoy

Qualifying




Last minute check - focusing


The dreaded F3 wheel in place and working now. Carbon end can is a local manufacturer.


Not me! Not my fault!


Ready to head out and do battle on race day

8000 fans watching the action
Taking the inside line... yeah theres rom for me there.. I think


This guy on the #6 white bike was on my ass the whole race start to fnish I beat him by about half this distance in the end.


She corners really well. In this corner you go a bit deep and drop her on her side. Its the entry to the "S" turns. Here I have just got the knee to the ground and about to countersteer hard into the turn.


Crossing the line on the way to turn one a sharp left hander hairpin. foot is low under the shifter getitng ready to shift up (Down a few gears) I use reverse/GP shifting.


Hanging with some fans on the starting grid.
I have no idea who they are.

[Roger Explosion]

Baby: the other chinese currency.........

[Xuaxace]

Very nice read

[chee]

good thread.

[China_Racer_1]

Baby: the other chinese currency.........

Yeah No lie. My wife lost her cousin that way

[lunar_c]

Really great thread man, thanks for sharing! You've gone to great lengths with that bike. Very impressive, good luck with your racing!

[chief wiggum]

awesome. i wanna do that now.

[Lorenz]

Good stuff - great read and the bike looks nice.

[WIGARUS]

very impressed

[kale]

Top stuff mate! Thanks for taking the time to post up.

[shan]

You are a bussy man it seams, thanks for shareing with us in this forum.
way cool

[ROWDY]

awesome thread mate,
bikes missing one thing though.
the PSB +10hp sticker

[rod]

Great read. Nice one with the sponsor!

[debaser]

Love the attention to detail. Reminds me of back yard lunatics stuffing 1100's into 750 frames (gsxr's) nothing is cooler than a little nimble LIGHT bike with a bigger motor, like yamaha should have done in the first place.

Very nice project, jealous of your machining contacts.

[China_Racer_1]

Thanks for teh kind comments.

Right now I am taking the engne out adn getting it ready to go to my buddies shop.

He is a German engineer and he will be installing the Wiseco sponsored 2mm overbor kit.

Wiseco and he have an agreement and will be co-operating on a 2 bike 150cc team over here next year .

I Know the bike is in good hands. He is way more anal than I am if thats even possible ha ha

The kit includes honed out barrels and 2 sets of pistons and rings.
The pistons are race pistons and are only single ring.

The barrels were bought off ebay in the USA and machined out to Wiseco's specs for the pistons provided at the Wiseco facility in the USA.

Man ... oh Man.. this beast will fly when I get that installed. a 638cc bike, instantly.

Woo hooooo!!!!!!

[browncow]

Make sure you put up dyno pics....

Build looks insane!

[China_Racer_1]

Make sure you put up dyno pics....

Build looks insane!

Yeah I need to get a tachometer for this thing. I tried a few I had but they just bounced all over. maybe need to try again now that I sorted out the electronics.

Dyno should be in the next few month. I need to run the engine in first after the Piston kit goes in.

View My Video
a link to a sound bite me in fornt my race partner Fred right behind.

[thugsfatboy464]

Awesome project and a great read Thankyou