R6 forks and Powdercoating done

[mstewar1]

Before I get into the work that I just did, I've got to give a major shout-out to Brad (dako81) for the very nicely machined fender brackets and spacers. If you're considering doing the R6 fork thing, and you've got an '06 or older, you need to contact him for a set of his goods. Great stuff!

I just got my bike put back together yesterday. Checked all the fittings one more time today with the torque wrench and went out for a quick ride.

I installed:
- r6 forks and brakes
- fz1 bars
- ASV (long) adjustable levers
And I had a bunch of stuff powder coated: pegs (front and rear), rearsets, bars, and top crown.
I had the header ceramic coated black, too.

I like the look of the blacked-out bits. And from the short ride that I did today, it seems like the ceramic coating is going to help with the ambient temps on the bike -- maybe it's a placebo effect, but the bike felt a little cooler at stops.

While I had the bike torn down I also went ahead and did the service to the swingarm bearings. They appeared fine, plenty of grease, but I re-packed them just the same.

The bike feels pretty good. I set the forks up according to an article that I found on SBN (I think...), I found it somewhere in the midst of an R6 fork mod discussion. I'll have to give it a ride or two before I make an tweaks to the current settings.

The fz1 bars feel a little different. (duh, I know) All that I'm saying is that I will have to ride with them for a little while to see if I'll keep them or go back. I'm not knockin' 'em, just going to wait to see if they suit me.

I've got rizoma bar ends on order to replace the stockers.

I like the ASV levers because of the ability to adjust the reach on both sides. I had the stock brake lever adjusted all the way in but was always frustrated that the clutch couldn't be adjusted. Problem solved. Granted, expensive answer to the question, but I do like how adjustable they are.

Here she is...
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Here's a stock '06 for comparison. And the article on set-up that I mentioned.

 

[Hellgate]

Looks GREAT Michael. Your bike has a very clean, uniform look to it.

 

[mstewar1]

Unfortunately I wasn't able to use the trick top clamp that I bought from you. And I even had it powder coated to match... Hopefully, someone else who's running clip-ons will want it.

 

[Hellgate]

Oh well...such is life.

 

[gearheadstu]

Very nice!

I like how well-finished the bike looks with the black bits. Very tidy, very professional.

 

[SovietRobot]

Looks awesome!

Where did you get the headers done? I would like to ceramic coat mine too.

 

[mstewar1]

I'm staying up in Sacramento these days (so it's not a bay area shop). It's a place called Powder Coat It. Very original name, eh? Careful when/if you click on the link, they've got some pretty annoying sound on their site. I think it was about $100.

If this were something you'd like to do, I would be more than willing to pick up your header/drop it off. I drive back and forth to Berkeley on a weekly basis, so it'd be no problem to meet you. He's really close to where I'm staying.

The interesting thing about the ceramic coating is that it's really soft initially. Which means you've gotta be a whole lot more graceful than I am while putting the header back on! Apparently, as you run it through heat cycles it gets harder and harder.

 

[jtarkany]

Wow , that looks sharp.

 

[hardway]

Very Nice!

 

[sm00thpapa]

Looks good, Looks like a brand new bike!

 

[Doorag]

I'm staying up in Sacramento these days (so it's not a bay area shop). It's a place called Powder Coat It. Very original name, eh? Careful when/if you click on the link, they've got some pretty annoying sound on their site. I think it was about $100.

If this were something you'd like to do, I would be more than willing to pick up your header/drop it off. I drive back and forth to Berkeley on a weekly basis, so it'd be no problem to meet you. He's really close to where I'm staying.

The interesting thing about the ceramic coating is that it's really soft initially. Which means you've gotta be a whole lot more graceful than I am while putting the header back on! Apparently, as you run it through heat cycles it gets harder and harder.

Dood - that ceramic coating looks excellent. How well will it hold up? I would think it could get a lot of chips and scratches from stuff off the road. Is it strong stuff?

 

[mstewar1]

Yeah, I like the way it turned out. Like I mentioned above, it's super soft when it's fresh from the oven. But the guy who shot it assured me that once it gets heat cycled it will get harder and harder. He and a number of his buds use it on their sprint car headers and says they're always getting smacked by wrenches and crap, not to mention that they drive the piss out of the cars, and they hold up really well. I'll keep y'all posted...

When I first brought it home I started to install it and the flanges weren't secured in any way, so they slid down the tubes. That scratched the piss out of it. Fortunately, I noticed that he'd missed a spot on the collector. So I took it back to him and he re-shot it. I was much more careful the second time.