[shredG]

Carbon Fender FUN

So, I landed a small windfall from selling some old bike stuff,... decided to burn it vs invest it lol.

Of course, I ordered a carbon fiber front fender....pulled the OE fender off and mounted the carbon version ( stupid light but not flimsy/flexy)

....maybe its just ME,... but what's wrong with this picture :

DOH!

Mmmm yeah... need to bring the whole thing DOWN ffs..... how the hell am I gunna manage tha........

Hmmmmm...!

The front fender has a nice 3/4in. deep divot molded into the side of the carbon with a hole for the mounting bolt.
This attachment point is almost perfect, but it's molded in approx. 1 in. too low, so when its all bolted up properly, the fender sits almost 2 inches above
the tire (!!) and looks kind of like........Ass.

Took me a cpl hours to figure out a way to fix this w/o having to mix up a batch of resin & dig out the 2k twill CF.

So, to "keep it simple" sort of,... kinda,.... not really... I actually ended up with a solid solution, using hardware on hand to make it work, (never throw anything away!)

First, I slotted the rear most fender mount points, 2 holes in the CF on either side to meet the rear fender mount lugs on the fork, slotted vertically to allow the rear of the fender to drop...

Next, I fabricated a set of "drop links" from 1/8 x 1in. alloy bar stock.. approx 1.5 inches long, oval shaped w/holes drilled 1/4 inch from each end,

• sourced some extended - 40mm titanium M6 bolts from my collection,
• fabbed up a set of "stand-off/supports" from 8mm titanium tube to slip over the mounting bolts, tie the back of the fender mount point to the "drop link" with a little bit of proper support and hopefully rigidity.

Custom mounting Hardware...

The black "drop links" bolt directly to the inside of the fender mount lugs on the front side of the fork, using countersink titanium M6 bolts, the hole in the lug goes all the way thru, so a bolt threads in easily from the back side, I countersunk, the hole in the drop links & the Ti. bolt goes in flush to eliminate any profile....


Test fitting:

The 1.25in. long M8 titanium tubes slip over the front mounting bolts & using stupid thin SS washers up against the carbon, they support the fender mount point from the inside, & they terminate at the drop link. When bolted up, the fender is locked into place solidly, about an inch + lower than before..does not move, barely flexes.

You can just make out the bare Ti. stand-off tubes from the low front view here ....

Ti stand off tubes painted, final tweaks & install pics.:

MUCH better ...

BEFORE AFTER

The fender now sits 1.2 +- inches closer to the tire, looks way more "right".
I went conservative, considering potential tire growth at speed, (I knew little to nothing about this, other than it can happen..) I didn't want to go super low...
Now I know that hot tires at speed rarely grow more than a cpl of fractions of an inch apparently .... (likely negligible growth at MY speeds..)...

I'll be dropping the thing another half in. easy... ;-)

Yep,.. I just may have a little too much time on my hands...



Next episode... - Zx14 RR shock swap + custom bracket fab. for "Yuge ass" TPMS display unit..

 

[BurnCycle291]

Great looking bike! That change in angle to the exhaust is soooooo much better! Keep the updates coming.

 

[shredG]

Great looking bike! That change in angle to the exhaust is soooooo much better! Keep the updates coming.

;-) thanks brother, I'm very happy with it... everything has come together very nicely so far, my buddy Scott (PO) came over monday nite to FINALLY! catch the last MotoGP race with me (lol i know..) and:
1 - 3 turns in I said "Fk me Rins is gunna win the LAST SUZUKI MOTOGP RACE !!!" and he damn well did... that was awesome if bittersweet AF i get going out when yr ahead, but killing the program when its producing a winning bike ands take s 2 of the k last 4 races in the season and a cpl others earlier on..just crazy!.
Aprilia should just buy the whole operation and start winning immediately.. ;-)
2 - He couldn't stop checking out the bike (sitting in my living room of course, I call it " Motogp night decor.".) .. Lots of little details on it anymore..he catches something new every time he sees it,.

OK, Shock Time. with a side dish of TPMS

Straight forward swap, 3 bolts in and out... used the Little giant gantry ladder to lift the rear with straps, and a scissor jack to lift the swing arm and align the linkage bolt.
( scuse the janky rr stand i'm still trying to snag a deal on a used Pit bull ;-) ( hey dimwits sellign shit on CL..I can't give you my money if you NEVER RESPOND TO MSGS!... mini-rant over.)

I set it up at w/ no preload to speak of,.. about 15mm of threads showing above the ring. to start, I went with adjuster settings based on info I read here from others and my weight (so, half a turn + more than most of you ;-) felt pretty good on my 1st ride definitely better than OEM, and my OEM shock is only like 800 miles from new if that, its almost a crime they put that thing on these bikes.

Took the oppty to pop the rr wheel off, replace the OG rotor with a super light option repl. rotor and rear sprocket bolts with titanium., & super cleaned the swingarm..

One thing I thot was a good idea and now they are pretty affordable, is a TPMS.. looked at several and this one had the best reviews..reliable, solid, and affordable:
Steel Mate Universal MC TPMS on Amazon.

The display is semi freekin Yuge lol...a solid 3.5 inches across and prob 1.5 deep.. I'd prefer something more liek 2 -2.5 max...but it is what it is
Mounting this was a trick, no good place to put it on the fairing dash panel on either side. or anywhere else really..it fit on the triple but looked funky its so huge...i preferred it RIGHt in front of the left side of the triple clamp and JUST below its top edge... so I used the gap remaining in the left handlebar clamp whne its fully tightened,to hold a custom made bracket made from 2in. x 1/8 in. alloy bar stock..

Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18

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Sanded the tab down to the right thickness to be clamped firmly but not keep the clamp from locking onto the fork leg properly and torqueing to spec. ...

Used 3m Dual lock to attach the display to the bracket... its big ass is nicely tucked out of the way doesn't interfere with anything, always in view....

Everything works great, its nice to know by the time the bike is warm and rolled out of the garage what your tire pressures are and what to do...;-)





Merry Christmas Everyone!!

 

[BurnCycle291]

used the Little giant gantry ladder to lift the rear with straps, and a scissor jack to lift the swing arm and align the linkage bolt.
( scuse the janky rr stand i'm still trying to snag a deal on a used Pit bull ;-)

That's actually quite inventive and much more stable than what I did when working on the front end last year. I have a little giant ladder too, looks like I'll be using it in new ways! lol

 

[Geo Smith]

I'm enjoying following along Shred. I love fabricating things out of aluminum. Nice work on the TPMS gauge. Sounds like you're suffering a case of paddock stand envy. Don't sweat it. I'm perfectly happy with my Harbor Freight janky stand, inherited from the PO. Pit Bull bling is a thing.

 

[Soulspinner]

Also enjoying, thanks for sharing!

 

[shredG]

Hey thanks gang..and Merry Christmas hope all had a great Christmas Eve and Santa was good to you last nite ..I spent most of it sitting in my dead ass truck at the mall waiting on AAA..lol careful with those pesky blue tooth adaptors...
The harbor freight jankstand is def. 100% Jank and not a lil sketchy.. Mine didn't come with spindle yokes, I had to hack the flats to make tiny hooks and get smaller spindles it works barely, but the hacked down yokes don't lift the rear off the ground more than 1.5 inches and using the flats, lifting just in front of the spool bung, the bike slides backwards eventually resting the tire on the ground from the swingarm angle..... if I lift behind the spool bung, the flats are sitting under the adjuster brackets and make for a PITa rear wheel removal....It F'in Sucks, good thing it only cost $28..

I'm not too picky, if the guys I've hit up locally about the ubiquitous black venom/trackside/vortex...
rear stand would answer messages I'd be dialed..assume it's the holidays.
I bought a venom/ trackside? front head stand online, and a day later found an older pit bull head lift stand for $20 less locally ($80) dusty but complete in perfect shape.....as soon as I saw the old pitbull worked on th SV, was so easy and stable, the venom went back....it would be nice to have a matching set...but who ever responds first gets my 💰

Before I had the front stand I used the little giant to lift the front and pull the fork caps, wheel etc... it works perfectly fine but does lack a bit of stability as basically the front half of the bike is hanging from straps and can sway a bit....it def. won't fall but it'll move..esp if yr not using a rear stand at the time..( not technically necessary but a good idea it turns out....
But these lil Giants are soo over built compared to yr average Werner step ladder.. it feels like it'll hold up the front of a small car...

Took a ride today..short one and damn... still getting used to the brakes.......just ridiculously better....
Hell I'm still getting used to riding again...I think I've only been out maybe 10 rides since I bought it.. Not nearly at home on the bike yet,..still thinking about what I'm doing and what not....taking it real easy..

Ok..
Question
..just saw article on 2023 SV's.. one color scheme will be grey or black w dk. grey frame red wheels
I've been thinking ...hmmm paint the wheels.?? I had planned on it prob find a spare set...
If so.... what color btwn red and probably blue....duh...
...open to suggestions but not going too crazy,.. no neon lol

I think red would pop...dep. on the shade especially... The right blue could work also...I like the metallic blue these bike came in or something like that Subaru WRX blue ....




Feliz Navidad a Todos!

 

[BurnCycle291]

Question...
I think red would pop...dep. on the shade especially... The right blue could work also...I like the metallic blue these bike came in or something like that Subaru WRX blue ....

Red would pop but yeah, it needs to be the right red. I think with the accents you already have on the bike a set of blue wheels would really stand out.

 

[shredG]

Happy New Year People!

Finally broke down and just popped for one of those composite looking ebay multi piece rear stands...( 19pieces!!) lol wtf..

$90 shipped, looks good, works great! Bye Bye baby spools & Jankstand!!!

My Renthal alloy superlight rr sprocket has arrived, so I decided to throw a lil color back there ...

I like my nuts in Titanium please

Oh yeah......

also noticed a small but growing crack in the left headlamp lens plus the usual light pitting on a 12 year old commuter so i dug out my OG ( like 15 years old ) THIICK 1.5 mil 3m clear bra headlamp lens protection sheets and got to work...

Unfort. the film had a reaction to the slip solution I mixed up with this crazy hazing and cloudy patches between the film and the lens, but its clearing up S L O W L Y...usually goes away faster when the lens is in sunlight and getting UV, but its been raining or cloudy for about 2 weeks...

Peace brothers!

 

[Geo Smith]

Shred and his titanium nuts. Looks badass bud. Love following your work. You just casually rip shit apart and put it back together. My normal nuts don't allow such frivolity.

 

[BurnCycle291]

Every time I go hunting for Ti bits for the ZX7R my wallet jumps out of my pocket, crawls up my arm and punches me in the face. So jelly.

 

[shredG]

Every time I go hunting for Ti bits for the ZX7R my wallet jumps out of my pocket, crawls up my arm and punches me in the face. So jelly.

It's not inexpensive, but not horrible if you don't need something custom fabbed up out of a tiny shop in the UK or Germany.

I've been using titanium bolts from a variety of sources on ebay for all my mountain bikes and car projects for years..ive got a list of the regular Ti hardware sellers with better prices/small volume discounts.

 

[shredG]

Clutch lever fun

I didn't plan on this but, as my hands battle with arthritis & thick gloves I remembered the newfangled levers have adjustments (!) so I flipped the chip and pulled the lever back to the bar a touch, ..much better,.......wait, why won't the bike start. 15 min of frustration, a jumped clutch switch, and a few miles later I remembered the lever tweak DOH!... that eve. put back, she fired rite up.

Ok, enough with this confounded slider clutch switch, brand new mind you as I replaced the original 4 mo ago.
Yamaha YZF R6 to the rescue again, a matching vintage R6 clutch perch ($25 ebay) is ordered to pair with my restored R6 brake MC -

It's here!,

much easier restoration, knocked it out in an afternoon, li'l cleaning, prep, paint, no lever, didnt want a lever, I'd already purchased another set of the same type adj. cnc levers for an R6 to get the lever for the R6 MC upgrade,..that matched the ones I've had on the SV...so the proper and matching cnc clutch lever was here in the box waiting.

The doggone screw for the (yeay!) plunger clutch switch stripped as usual so it would not come off, thank goodness it tested good, I masked and shot around it.

SNAG,.... forgot to take a pic but the CNC clutch lever for the R6 perch has like, an M10 hole for an M6 pivot bolt so a specific M6/M10 bushing is needed for the lever pivot to work with a simple M6 bolt. The OE R6 MC lever used a similar design w/a large bushing/pivot sleeve for the pivot bolt...yeah,........I don't have that bushing/pivot sleeve...

after a lil fruitless digging thru my parts boxes, I end up with my mini lathe and a plastic spacer from I think an TV wall mount arm hardware pack....

I 1st tried to grind this spacer down mounting it in a power drill & used a set of files then sanding blocks etc...taking way too long, when I remembered I bought this micro lathe a year ago with some wood carving tools, to make custom guitar three way toggle switch tips:

Worked a charm, not sure how long the plastic/urethane/nylon part will last in there but it doesn't have much to do, given the amount of actual rotation, pressure, and my expected usage,..it'll likely outlast me..

Success!

Very happy, cleaned up reeeel goood, lever pulls smooth, it is fully adjustable & the clutch switch now works regardless of the lever reach setting.
The alloy adjuster barrel is MUCH beefier and being 1 piece vs 2 is much more solid and cleaner without a rubber cover.

Looking forward to a cpl of dry sunny days in a row... ;-)

 

[shredG]

On my bike, the wire lead from the harness to the plug for the blade terminals is barely long enough for the plug to reach, not stretched tight, def. stretched out.

I looked for something like a 'u-turn' / 180deg blade type plug that might work I could try eventually, to clean that up a little.. nothing came up maybe youse guyz know a better source than "google"..?

Popped on my phony rizoma alloy reservoir while I've been down....it looks like it maybe came with real mounting hardware ?lol

So,.I took a pretty bad header down a cliff last sun in Gendora, about a 10 foot drop, before a 30 foot drop I gladly stopped before taking as well. Beat the shit out of my old ass, from my face down, everything fuckin hurts, popped out or cracked 3 ribs ffs, one of my worst stacks yet and I've been doing this shite for 30+ years. On top of everything else,... I'm super annoyed I'm probably 2-3 weeks away from riding safely, & this thing is begging to go out and get some fresh air.

+ I'm jonesin' to test out my brake light mods.. I installed the Vizi-Tec Supa-brake programmable brake light actuator + an ST2 brake light module/deceleration activator...I hope they play well together. The Supabrake works gr8, can't test the ST2 in my living room.. i stuck it here for now it may end up under the seat we'll see..

Stay careful my friends....

 

[Geo Smith]

Looking good Shred. Sorry to hear about your accident. We old farts can't be doing shit like that.

 

[shredG]

I live a life of denial Geo, it's worked pretty good for me so far, .. maybe a sign of the end of my lucky run,..

or a pretty solid Karma Slap,..I just can't figger out where I might have earned that sorta payback...yeesh.

 

[Soulspinner]

You mind if I ask how your accident went down StredG?

 

[shredG]

Sure,
(sry for the book, been analyzing this daily since it happened, i've had a bit of down time..).

Up above Glendora, the GMR trail about 6 miles of downhill trail we usually shuttle, get 2-3 runs in. Nothing crazy, super gnarly or technical. Your basic fun dbl/single track down hill trail, no big jumps, drops, or gnar exposure,(Ha!) we did a 1st run no problemo had a blast, went back up.

2nd run down, a bit over a mile in, after a small climb, you drop down to a shallow draw, & slight uphill,..in the draw, rain runoff eroded the trail bed pretty good, half of the trail was eaten away, a nice 6 foot bite taken out of it on the right side.. 1st time down it was obvious, we all zoomed past it & didn't think 2x about it.

Between our 1st run and 2nd run, some one piled up dead brush in front of the hole on the uphill side of the trail...

I was definitely NOT paying close enough attn. to the trail in the seconds before I got to that point again.
I don't know WTF I was lookin' at, probably down at the bike? no idea, but I obv. did not see the freekin hole again until I was falling into it. I'm assuming the rest as I was KO'd for maybe 7-10 seconds? lost at least 30 seconds I think.. don't remember ever seeing the brush, the hole, swerving, panicking, tryin' to avoid it, falling....nothin'..

I'm assuming I was probably cruising on the right side of the trail as I hit the draw, swerved past the brush at the last second, probably going maybe 8-10 mph.. I figure I saw the hole, swerved, panicked, grabbed a handful of brake?? the bike didn't follow me down, but I went straight in head first, my face and left shoulder pretty much slammed the opposite wall of the hole about a foot below the edge, and I dropped like a sack o' rocks abt. 5-6 feet to the bottom.

There was a maybe 4ft pile of loose dirt forming a small base of the hole where I landed & stopped, 15-20 more inches, & it's another 35+ feet of steep brushy hillside, if I'd have rolled down that shit, I'd prob. have been on the news.

I remember starting the 2nd run down and riding the trail up to about 100 yards before the hole,.. the next thing I remember is being face down in the dirt trying to catch my breath & struggling to pull my arms up to try and get up with out slipping farther down the scree pile & over the edge....

Thank goodness we were maybe 1.4 mi. down the trail & the adrenaline spike had me able to slowly ride back up to the truck... Definitely a no good very very bad day......but, could have been worse.

It's taken me forever it seems, but as the years keep flyin' by and I keep tryin' to do the same fun/semi-dangerous shit I've done for 30-40+ years with out thinking about it at all, I've long since been disabused of the notion that i'm invincible lol, I have slowed down, taken more care, started actually working on strength, conditioning, health and skillsets vs "Just Doin it"... the 1 thing I'm finally learning is, I personally just can't take anything for granted any more, @ 50+ most of us don't heal like we're 30 & below, lets not even get into the reaction times, vision, strength, stamina deterioration etc... Real Shit, unless yr. in complete denial you gotta be adjusting as needed for your new reality, I know I have, apparently not enough, fk me.

The mortality factor is something I never bothered with before. growin' up sux.

Still, not givin' up,.. I'll fight the inevitable as best as... for at least a few years yet, I'm convinced I can manage some of these life long activities relatively safely, I have to adjust my approach and remind myself to FFS already, keep payin' attn. to the little things man, stay safe, & take nothin' for granted.

Only takes a second....

Thank you for asking.👊

 

[Soulspinner]

I had my suspicions "Shred"
I"m also a mtber, downhill and enduro. Still riding at age 64 here in CA and OR in the summer month. I've had my share of crashes, I believe all my major injuries over the years were all from mtbing. Like you I've turned it down some for the same reasons, just dont heal the same.
I'm doing more cross country, being more cautious downhilling, seeking smooth flowing single track like in the video below.
Appreciate you sharing ShredG!

Ice everywhere, we avoided most of the jumps.

 

[shredG]

Nice! My brother...

Not gunna lie,... I had about 2 min of sad sack reflection about an hour after stacking it..."maybe I should just quit this shit whaaaaaa".

Then the thought of actually quitting what's literally been a part of me and something I've been so committed to & loved doing for 50+ years now,.. riding a bike on dirt, as much as anything I have ever done, for so long....made me feel worse.

So F. that... just gotta be smarter,...reign it in a bit more, take nothing for granted & keep adjusting as needed for the diminishing capability and capacities.... 🤞


Let's keep the rubber side down my friend.