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Kat's V7 850 Special - Wannabe Racer

You've got skills (welding and machining) plus a good eye for design! You bike is going to be the Bee's knee's or Cats Pajamas...
Thank you sir! I wouldn't call myself skilled, since I am a stick welding (used stainless rods) using youtube as my teacher. But the welds themselves are pretty solid.

Angle grinders and flap discs are making me look way better than I really am. 😂

I think that the Romanian synonim for Bee's Knees or Cat's Pajamas is Tit of a Cat (Tzâtzã de mâtzã) - roughly translated.
 
Because today was so warm and sunny outside, I said to myself that I should finish the exhaust mounts...and so I did.

Welded some side gussets, they are as rigid as the factory pegs now.

Aaaand...50 grams lighter each compared to the standard pegs. 🤣

They turned out way better than I could have imagined.

Happy new year, friends!

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What are you using to cut the metal ?
Do you work in a metal shop ?
I'd wish! I usually cut it with the angle grinder. There is a laser shop at 20 min drive but it is pretty expensive. The blanks were cut there for about 50 US dollars, but they were heavily modified because the shape of the hangers is a pretty weird one and my design was not that precise.

So, after I had them cut, I've splitted them with my angle grinder and ground some parts to achieve some weird angles to be spot on.
 
Ah !
I also use an angle grinder, doesn’t do a very clean job.
Its been ok for the license plate mounting brackets, but not for a finished piece like that !
(at least not in my hands :) )
 
Ah !
I also use an angle grinder, doesn’t do a very clean job.
Its been ok for the license plate mounting brackets, but not for a finished piece like that !
(at least not in my hands :) )

Same goes for me. Still need to top my skills when it comes to cutting with the angle grinder...or to buy a band saw. 😂
 
Sometimes, function must be above form. In this case, by removing the grab-rail I was having a hard time lifting the bike on the center stand. I could do it without it, but it was so much harder than having the grab rail. Therefore...something must be done.

I've came up with this idea...not fully convinced about the design but it is not finished yet...so there might be some slight changes.

Had some scrap stainless around and made this 1/3rd of a grab bar.

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Had some hex bar and turned it to be round and imitate the standard design of the grab rail bung. The problem was that the diameter was not large enough, so I had to improvise for the flanged part.

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Now it looks like this. I tried to follow the lines of the seat somehow but depends the angle you are looking at it. The position will be slightly different since it needs a second bracket that bolts under the seat to the frame.
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At least I have a nice grip / hand position.
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And this is the top view. More flush than it looks from the side.

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If you guys have a different opinion about this, please share it.
 
Huh !
I wasn't sure what the heck was going on here the first time through the last post - But Now I get it.
Nice tidy option 👍
The only thing I can think of that would be different would be to make a Flat Eyelet at the end of the bar and mount it Behind the shock ?
PS: There is nothing wrong with the way to did it - you were just Asking if we could think of anything :)
( don't know if pushing the shock Outboard 2 - 3 - 4mm would be an issue ? )
 
Huh !
I wasn't sure what the heck was going on here the first time through the last post - But Now I get it.
Nice tidy option 👍
The only thing I can think of that would be different would be to make a Flat Eyelet at the end of the bar and mount it Behind the shock ?
PS: There is nothing wrong with the way to did it - you were just Asking if we could think of anything :)
( don't know if pushing the shock Outboard 2 - 3 - 4mm would be an issue ? )

Hey there! Thanks for joining the convo :D

Well...In pictures it looks worse than it is in reality...probably I am overthinking.
I wouldn't mess with the shock mount geometry, even though I must admit this solution crossed my mind.

Buuut, let's look at the bright side. My design is a tad more beautiful than the one from Hepco & Becker :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 

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Update time:

I've pushed aside the idea of using clip-on bars because of the necessity of buying new clutch / brake / throttle cables...but, I went a different route: installed the Agostini Sport Drop Bars. Ordered them from Italy, arrived in several days, installed in less than 20 minutes, everything is spot on.
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Because I absolutely HATE the standard mirrors, I said to myself that something must be done. Had a look at some quality mirrors...damn, they are so pricey! Chinese mirrors usually suck pretty bad...I was kinda stuck.

While showering, an idea came to my mind: "Why don't you build your own bar end mirrors?"

Well...this was everything I needed. I've remembered that I had a pair of fully adjustable alloy mirrors, but one of the mirrors had a cracked glass.
This was the spark that fueled today's project.
Long story short, I've made some custom bar ends out of stainless steel:

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...and made an internal handlebar locking system out of some wall anchors. Modified them a bit, drilled & threaded the conical part for an M6 allen head bolt.

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For the mirrors stem I remembered that I had in my parts bin some handlebar mounts from a communist era motorcycle (Voskhod). 22 mm clamping diameter. Perfect for my needs.

Mount

On the left you can see the mount, on the right the mirror.

The handlebar end and the clamp / stem, look and lock together like this.

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The threaded portion of the stem must be shortened a bit.
I've also created some adapters to screw over the threaded area and to match the mirror's mounting size. Still need to do some more things:

1. Add a taper on the adapter, to match the look of the stem.
2. Shorten the threaded part so the adapter will fully sit on the base.
3. Cut some new glasses for the mirrors.
4. Powder coat everything in the same nuance as the handlebars. The clamps were chromed...but they are over 50 years old and as you can see, the chrome flaked. I think they will look nice on black vs the stainless mounting hardware.

Everything used when creating these mirrors were from the scrap bin.

To get a (rough) idea about the mirrors...here are some photos. They will look much better once they will be finished.

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Cheers, friends!
 

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Today had some spare time and decided to go forward with the mirrors.

Added a taper on the mirror adapters, shortened the threaded part, cleaned some marks. Pretty happy how the taper turned out and learned some new things.

Next in line is to weld the seam where the handlebar mounts and the adapter are joined, then surface them to be seamless.

...and then powedercoat it and call it done. Saved a pretty decent amount of cash and had some fun. .

I call it a win!

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One thing Soviet Union did for us is made us good scavengers and innovators, yeah, we can build anything from nothing... LOL
Keep it up man!👊
I worked with a pipe line welder and he had a similar phrase “ we’ve done so much for so long with so little, we’re now qualified to do anything with nothing “
 
Slowly I'm getting there.

Welded and filed the mirror's arms. Need to get some sandpaper to get them to a perfect finish before powdercoating.
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Replaced most of the bolts with stainless since I don't like the standard ones, and made these adapter washers for the side covers.

Tiny projects like these are belping me to improve my skills as a home-brewed machinist.

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Before:
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After:
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Cheers!
 
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