Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
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Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
I posted a few pictures at the start of this build - it`s had to be done in an odd hour here and there `cos I`ve been so busy but it`s finally pretty much finished...
My general aim was to make a light, functional, updated version of the KR1 - brief specs below...
Frame - KR1 with KR1S swingarm, ZXR400H yokes on taper roller bearings, frame and yokes powder coated, swingarm stripped and anodised. GSX-R1000 handlebars, modified FXCNC footrest kit.
Suspension - Nitron R2 rear shock with BDK jackup links, ZX-6R forks with modified springs & damping.
Brakes - ZX-6R 4-pad Tokico radial front calipers, stock KR1 rear, GSX-R1000 front master cylinder, NC30 rear, EBC HH pads and HEL braided lines all round. Wavy discs.
Wheels - Suzuki VJ22 17" rear, Hornet front, Bridgestone S20 tyres.
Engine - Cases vapour blasted then rebuilt with new crank, pistons, clutch etc. Barrels mildly ported, F3 KIPS valves, lightened flywheel.
Carbs - 34mm powerjets with modified airbox and Pipercross filter.
Exhaust - JL stainless expansion chambers, rear flanges reshaped to take Tyga alloy mufflers.
Cooling - YFZ450 radiator on custom brackets, slightly modified Samco KR1 hose kit.
Ignition - Ignitech programmable CDI.
Bodywork - Race GRP seat & fairing, stock steel tank. ZX-10R front mudguard. Seat pads reupholstered in `mock suede` vinyl. Colour scheme based on one of Toni Mang`s old GP bikes.
Lights/instruments - TZR125 headlight behind moulded polycarbonate fairing window, stock rear light, pattern stock replica front indicators, universal rears on custom bracket, Koso temperature gauge and analogue/digital speedo/tach unit.
Rick
My general aim was to make a light, functional, updated version of the KR1 - brief specs below...
Frame - KR1 with KR1S swingarm, ZXR400H yokes on taper roller bearings, frame and yokes powder coated, swingarm stripped and anodised. GSX-R1000 handlebars, modified FXCNC footrest kit.
Suspension - Nitron R2 rear shock with BDK jackup links, ZX-6R forks with modified springs & damping.
Brakes - ZX-6R 4-pad Tokico radial front calipers, stock KR1 rear, GSX-R1000 front master cylinder, NC30 rear, EBC HH pads and HEL braided lines all round. Wavy discs.
Wheels - Suzuki VJ22 17" rear, Hornet front, Bridgestone S20 tyres.
Engine - Cases vapour blasted then rebuilt with new crank, pistons, clutch etc. Barrels mildly ported, F3 KIPS valves, lightened flywheel.
Carbs - 34mm powerjets with modified airbox and Pipercross filter.
Exhaust - JL stainless expansion chambers, rear flanges reshaped to take Tyga alloy mufflers.
Cooling - YFZ450 radiator on custom brackets, slightly modified Samco KR1 hose kit.
Ignition - Ignitech programmable CDI.
Bodywork - Race GRP seat & fairing, stock steel tank. ZX-10R front mudguard. Seat pads reupholstered in `mock suede` vinyl. Colour scheme based on one of Toni Mang`s old GP bikes.
Lights/instruments - TZR125 headlight behind moulded polycarbonate fairing window, stock rear light, pattern stock replica front indicators, universal rears on custom bracket, Koso temperature gauge and analogue/digital speedo/tach unit.
Rick
Last edited by RickNC30 on Sat Aug 29, 2020 12:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
- Garry
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
You've put a lot of effort in to that. Should be very happy. Looks great.
- Binetta Steve
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
Thats a unique bike that you have built. It clearly embodies the best that you feel for the job.
Great result , looking fwd to a video or ride review.
Steve
Great result , looking fwd to a video or ride review.
Steve
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
You may yet see a professional review - Jim Moore from Practical Sportsbikes saw the bike half built when he was here on a V-4 related visit and said they might like to do some kind of a piece on it...
Last edited by RickNC30 on Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
Congratulations, it's a very nice build you made there! Should be a hell of a bike to ride.
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
Thanks for all the positive comments...
I had half intended to post a build thread - I never actually got around to it but I do have plenty of pictures so I could put a kind of `edited highlights` on here if anyone is interested.
I had half intended to post a build thread - I never actually got around to it but I do have plenty of pictures so I could put a kind of `edited highlights` on here if anyone is interested.
- Garry
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
I am - Site is pretty quiet these days.
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
I'm interested too!
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"Indeed it is", said Alice, looking at the mouse's tail.
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
Indeed, me too of course. Rebuilt pics can't hurt when we are at this level
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
Everyone loves photos of a rebuild thread
- 500bernie
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
Well done Rick,
They don't need to be an "anorak" nut and bolt back to standard rebuild to be s great bike.
I was expecting the NC30 forks conversion, but the modern upgrade looks great.
I would love to see some of the "work in progress photos" and definitely an onboard video.
Cheers
Bernie
They don't need to be an "anorak" nut and bolt back to standard rebuild to be s great bike.
I was expecting the NC30 forks conversion, but the modern upgrade looks great.
I would love to see some of the "work in progress photos" and definitely an onboard video.
Cheers
Bernie
Firecracker Red and Grey C3 300
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
Thanks, Bernie -
Sorry I haven`t been back to this but life is busy and editing/uploading all those photos will take time...
I sorted out MoT, insurance and tax a couple of weeks ago so I have been able to give the KR a couple of shake down runs now. The first ride was pretty good for the maiden voyage of a new build but showed up a few areas in need of attention.
The riding position is good and comfortable so that handlebar/footrest combination works well but the steering felt a little slow, verging on slight understeer (this despite the back end being higher than stock with the BDK linkage) so I have knocked around 8mm off the front ride height which has brought it to just on the quick side of neutral and now it turns in and holds a line much better.
The KRs famous twitchy front end on bumpy roads was well in evidence on that first ride. I had left everything on middle settings after I rebuilt the forks so I have now reduced the compression damping by 3 or 4 clicks to try and stop it kicking off the bumps and fitted a steering damper - happily I had an Ohlins side mount one in my `that`ll come in useful one day` stash so it was a cost-free fix.
Those small tweaks have pretty much sorted the chassis - I deliberately headed for the bumpy, bendy `B` roads on today`s test ride and it handled them with absolute ease. The KR frame/swingarm is sound to begin with and the addition of modern suspension, brakes and grippy radial tyres has worked like a dream. Am I sounding too enthusiastic? It really works! I came back grinning like a fool...
The engine sounds tight and crisp with no mechanical issues - I had initially set the carbs up on the safe (rich) side but it seems I had slightly overdone it as it was almost 4-stroking in the midrange on a neutral throttle, though the top end pulled nice and cleanly. I have now dropped the needles a notch which has improved matters and while I was in there I swapped out the over-strong slide springs that the PWK34s came with for a softer pair to give my right wrist an easier time (those muscles aren`t quite so toned as they were when I was a teenager...).
I`ve got some dyno time booked next week to get the fuelling dead right - not sure quite how much improvement to expect from that. At the moment it runs acceptably up to the KIPS transition point then really takes off in earnest. Maybe that`s all I should expect, it`s only a 250 after all and its natural peakiness is likely to be enhanced by the big carbs and race pipes so I probably need to adjust my (4-sroke V-4) frame of reference and relearn the art of playing Michael Flatley on the gear pedal (Revverdance...?).
The other problem area has been the instruments - you may have spotted in the picture that the speedo/revcounter unit is actually a Chinese Koso ripoff and though most of the functions work well, the speedo performance is very flaky. Those units cost under £30 so it was worth a try but rather than compromise a nice build I have just blown the thick end of £250 on some genuine Koso gear, a 16000rpm white face tach/temp gauge and a separate digital speedo & warning light unit. It`s another bracket and wiring loom to make but I think it`s worth the time and expense.
Rick
Sorry I haven`t been back to this but life is busy and editing/uploading all those photos will take time...
I sorted out MoT, insurance and tax a couple of weeks ago so I have been able to give the KR a couple of shake down runs now. The first ride was pretty good for the maiden voyage of a new build but showed up a few areas in need of attention.
The riding position is good and comfortable so that handlebar/footrest combination works well but the steering felt a little slow, verging on slight understeer (this despite the back end being higher than stock with the BDK linkage) so I have knocked around 8mm off the front ride height which has brought it to just on the quick side of neutral and now it turns in and holds a line much better.
The KRs famous twitchy front end on bumpy roads was well in evidence on that first ride. I had left everything on middle settings after I rebuilt the forks so I have now reduced the compression damping by 3 or 4 clicks to try and stop it kicking off the bumps and fitted a steering damper - happily I had an Ohlins side mount one in my `that`ll come in useful one day` stash so it was a cost-free fix.
Those small tweaks have pretty much sorted the chassis - I deliberately headed for the bumpy, bendy `B` roads on today`s test ride and it handled them with absolute ease. The KR frame/swingarm is sound to begin with and the addition of modern suspension, brakes and grippy radial tyres has worked like a dream. Am I sounding too enthusiastic? It really works! I came back grinning like a fool...
The engine sounds tight and crisp with no mechanical issues - I had initially set the carbs up on the safe (rich) side but it seems I had slightly overdone it as it was almost 4-stroking in the midrange on a neutral throttle, though the top end pulled nice and cleanly. I have now dropped the needles a notch which has improved matters and while I was in there I swapped out the over-strong slide springs that the PWK34s came with for a softer pair to give my right wrist an easier time (those muscles aren`t quite so toned as they were when I was a teenager...).
I`ve got some dyno time booked next week to get the fuelling dead right - not sure quite how much improvement to expect from that. At the moment it runs acceptably up to the KIPS transition point then really takes off in earnest. Maybe that`s all I should expect, it`s only a 250 after all and its natural peakiness is likely to be enhanced by the big carbs and race pipes so I probably need to adjust my (4-sroke V-4) frame of reference and relearn the art of playing Michael Flatley on the gear pedal (Revverdance...?).
The other problem area has been the instruments - you may have spotted in the picture that the speedo/revcounter unit is actually a Chinese Koso ripoff and though most of the functions work well, the speedo performance is very flaky. Those units cost under £30 so it was worth a try but rather than compromise a nice build I have just blown the thick end of £250 on some genuine Koso gear, a 16000rpm white face tach/temp gauge and a separate digital speedo & warning light unit. It`s another bracket and wiring loom to make but I think it`s worth the time and expense.
Rick
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
This is turning into more of a blog than a build thread (I will get to that) but here`s the latest update...
Firstly the issues with the instruments - as well as the wildly inaccurate speedo, the indicator warning lights were also coming and going (no, not the way they`re meant to...) after a week`s use, but here I will take back my earlier criticism of the Chinese Koso replica dash - turns out the speedo problem was just a faulty wheel sensor and the warning light issue down to a bad flasher unit. Everything now works absolutely fine so those clocks will be staying for the time being.
This last weekend was a busy one for the KR with dyno time booked for Friday and the guys from Practical Sportsbikes coming over to do a road test feature on Monday - imagine my delight at coming back from a ride on Wednesday to find coolant from the header tank all over the rear of the bike because it had blown a head gasket...
This was actually quite fortuitous as taking the head off revealed a bit of detonation damage to one piston -
I had been running stock KR1 ignition timing which i thought was tame enough but evidently not, so having replaced the dead piston we put everything back together with a new head gasket and backed the timing off by four degrees in the interests of mechanical safety.
The dyno tests showed near perfect mid range fuelling but a little bit of weakness at the top end - I was away over the weekend with no time to rejet it (that`s today`s job) but dyno man deemed it safe enough for road riding so Monday`s test was still on. We didn`t do any flat out, full power runs but saw 56bhp at 9,500 with the curve still rising so it looks promising.
I`ll be back to the dyno in two weeks time for a half day set up session - I will post the results here.
The other thing I have done this week is weighed the bike - results/comparisons for dry weight, kerb weight and front/rear distribution are -
KR-1 - 123kg dry, 146kg wet, weight (%) 48F/52R
KR-1S - 131kg dry, 154kg wet, weight (%) 50F/50R
My KR - 114kg dry, 137kg wet, weight (%) 51F/49R
Monday gave us 30 degrees, sunshine and dry roads and the bike was bedded in enough not to require careful treatment so Jim Moore and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon hooning around the local bendy `B` roads (me on my NC30) where he could enjoy the KR to the full in its natural habitat - Jim`s assessment plus plenty of high quality pics will be in Practical Sportsbikes some time in the New Year...
Rick
Firstly the issues with the instruments - as well as the wildly inaccurate speedo, the indicator warning lights were also coming and going (no, not the way they`re meant to...) after a week`s use, but here I will take back my earlier criticism of the Chinese Koso replica dash - turns out the speedo problem was just a faulty wheel sensor and the warning light issue down to a bad flasher unit. Everything now works absolutely fine so those clocks will be staying for the time being.
This last weekend was a busy one for the KR with dyno time booked for Friday and the guys from Practical Sportsbikes coming over to do a road test feature on Monday - imagine my delight at coming back from a ride on Wednesday to find coolant from the header tank all over the rear of the bike because it had blown a head gasket...
This was actually quite fortuitous as taking the head off revealed a bit of detonation damage to one piston -
I had been running stock KR1 ignition timing which i thought was tame enough but evidently not, so having replaced the dead piston we put everything back together with a new head gasket and backed the timing off by four degrees in the interests of mechanical safety.
The dyno tests showed near perfect mid range fuelling but a little bit of weakness at the top end - I was away over the weekend with no time to rejet it (that`s today`s job) but dyno man deemed it safe enough for road riding so Monday`s test was still on. We didn`t do any flat out, full power runs but saw 56bhp at 9,500 with the curve still rising so it looks promising.
I`ll be back to the dyno in two weeks time for a half day set up session - I will post the results here.
The other thing I have done this week is weighed the bike - results/comparisons for dry weight, kerb weight and front/rear distribution are -
KR-1 - 123kg dry, 146kg wet, weight (%) 48F/52R
KR-1S - 131kg dry, 154kg wet, weight (%) 50F/50R
My KR - 114kg dry, 137kg wet, weight (%) 51F/49R
Monday gave us 30 degrees, sunshine and dry roads and the bike was bedded in enough not to require careful treatment so Jim Moore and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon hooning around the local bendy `B` roads (me on my NC30) where he could enjoy the KR to the full in its natural habitat - Jim`s assessment plus plenty of high quality pics will be in Practical Sportsbikes some time in the New Year...
Rick
Last edited by RickNC30 on Sat Oct 24, 2020 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Spare time KR1 project finally finished...
114 kg dry is pretty good, taking into account it still has all the road gear. Your bike still has the sidestand, kickstarter, mirrors, lights, aluminium wheels etc so I should be able to get my project well below 110 kg dry.
"Mine is a long and sad tale", said the mouse.
"Indeed it is", said Alice, looking at the mouse's tail.
"Indeed it is", said Alice, looking at the mouse's tail.