A GSXR is Born

Another cool video, this time it’s the birth of a GSXR. From forging the crank, to the finished product. Enjoy!

Yamaha FZR600R – Alloy Swinging Arm

 Some fairly significant changes were recently made to the FZR. The most noticeable probably being the swinging arm from a Yamaha Fazer 600. The rear caliper is from a Yamaha Fazer 1000, which required some minor modification to the 600 hanger in order to fit.

A Thundercat shock absorber has been fitted to replace the broken Nitron unit. Unfortunately it’s nowhere near as good, but at least it makes the bike road worthy until the Nitron can be repaired.

The bars have been relocated so that they sit underneath the top yoke. This gives a better body position for fast riding.

Now for Something Different: W800 Gentlemen Cup 2012

Here’s a new feature I’ve been meaning to start for a while.

Whilst browsing Youtube for awesome bike videos, I stumbled across this little gem. The description reads “Video vom ersten Rennen des Kawasaki W800-Cup. Der Film zeigt eine gekürzte Fassung des 2. Laufes in Bürglen TG.” Which is German, and translates to; “Video from the first race of the Kawasaki W800 Cup. The film shows a shortened version of the 2nd Run in Bürglen TG.”

Yamaha FZR600R – Cartridge Forks

The final year for production of Yamahas’ FZR600R was 1996 for Europe. In that final year the FZR was given cartridge forks, and a much improved rear shock absorber featuring a remote reservoir and adjustable rebound and compression dampening.

After waiting for quite some time I finally found a set of those final year forks on eBay. I rebuilt them with fresh seals, oil, and new Yacugar fork springs, and they are now installed in my bike.

All of this actually happened in the middle of March.

The install took about three hours including the time taken to rebuild the forks, and was done in the course of an afternoon.

So how do they work on the road? The new forks are awesome! They are so much better than the old set-up. Less violent diving under braking, far more responsive to changes in road surface, and with much better feedback. I now know exactly what the front end is doing and I like it.