Nevets Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 I bought an FZ07 in September 2018 with plans to build it into my new race bike, and race it towards the end of the 2019 season. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and my local race club is the EMRA. My wife and I ended up buying a new house, so the build budget disappeared rather suddenly, and my plans got put on hold. But things are looking better now. That, and my 2007 Ninja 650 decided to fire a connecting rod through the crank case on the second last round of the 2019 season, so I don't really have a choice. So yesterday I put the bike up on the "lift" and did an oil change and cleaned and lubed the chain. I spent most of the day today in the garage stripping parts that aren't needed for racing. It was a productive day, and I managed to remove just about everything I won't need. Of all the parts that needed to come off the bike, the OEM airbox was by far the most difficult. This POS, SOB took me WAY too long to remove, and in the end I had to drop the engine and remove the throttle bodies to make room to get this thing out of the frame. I now understand why so many people destroyed the stupid thing cutting it into smaller pieces to remove it. Thankfully I'll never have to do that again. Have any of you ever seen one of these intact, outside of the frame before? If not, here is what it looks like. Before you guys say anything, yes I removed the snorkel when I was removing it. Stay tuned for updates as I make progress. I'm really excited to finally be building this. Also, tips and suggestions are VERY welcome. Please let me know if you see something that I could do better. I'm reasonably handy, but I'm an professional engineer, so I don't get to spend much time wrenching other than basic maintenance. I'm really hoping you guys can teach me a thing or two along the way. I have to give a shout out to MossRider. It was your build thread years ago over on MSNBR that gave me the confidence that there are enough race parts to support the FZ-07 that I could build one myself. We'll see if I'm still praising you come Round 1 in the spring. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossrider Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Well, shut my mouth! Was kinda wondering what your racebike status was. All good things start from a thrown rod, lol. You're gonna have a ball 'playing with it'. There is tonnes of race kit available now to pick from and r&d continues. I look forward to your updates, and maybe a race sometime. Thanks for the kind words, folks are still hitting that thread so I keep it updated. That airbox. Yeah, that airbox. Fricken thing. Seriously, if you trim the wings off the front you can disconnect the throttle bodies from the box, shove the air boots back into the airbox, wiggle the throttle bodies out of the engine side boots, pull the tb's out the left side with cables attached and then the box can move far enough forward to get it out the left side. You'll need a box of Bandaids ready. I can remove the airbox in about 4 minutes now, fricken thing. Gahhh! Airbox. Ai... Meds 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member DewMan Posted December 2, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted December 2, 2019 2 hours ago, mossrider said: That airbox. Yeah, that airbox. Fricken thing. Seriously, if you trim the wings off the front you can disconnect the throttle bodies from the box, shove the air boots back into the airbox, wiggle the throttle bodies out of the engine side boots, pull the tb's out the left side with cables attached and then the box can move far enough forward to get it out the left side. You'll need a box of Bandaids ready. I can remove the airbox in about 4 minutes now, fricken thing. Gahhh! Airbox. Ai... Meds There's no way I personally would deal with that POS factory airbox if I had need to pull the airboxt on any sort of regular basis. I'd be dropping in a horde box or similar. The pain of pulling the airbox kind of reminds me of pulling the Honda CBX V bank of 6 carbs which required dropping the engine. What a pain. There were times I was ready to beat the Japanese designers with a ball bat. Don't get me start on the joys of synching those bad boys. 2 DewMan Just shut up and ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member cornerslider Posted December 2, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted December 2, 2019 4 hours ago, mossrider said: Well, shut my mouth! Was kinda wondering what your racebike status was. All good things start from a thrown rod, lol. You're gonna have a ball 'playing with it'. There is tonnes of race kit available now to pick from and r&d continues. I look forward to your updates, and maybe a race sometime. Thanks for the kind words, folks are still hitting that thread so I keep it updated. That airbox. Yeah, that airbox. Fricken thing. Seriously, if you trim the wings off the front you can disconnect the throttle bodies from the box, shove the air boots back into the airbox, wiggle the throttle bodies out of the engine side boots, pull the tb's out the left side with cables attached and then the box can move far enough forward to get it out the left side. You'll need a box of Bandaids ready. I can remove the airbox in about 4 minutes now, fricken thing. Gahhh! Airbox. Ai... Meds I messed with mine for about 30 minutes..... After that it was VERY satisfying to cut it out with a sawzall!!!!! ""W.O.T. until you see god, then brake" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1tondriver Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 26 minutes ago, cornerslider said: I messed with mine for about 30 minutes..... After that it was VERY satisfying to cut it out with a sawzall!!!!! "> I did the same thing and swept it up in a dust pan. Good riddance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossrider Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 4 hours ago, DewMan said: There's no way I personally would deal with that POS factory airbox if I had need to pull the airboxt on any sort of regular basis. I'd be dropping in a horde box or similar. The pain of pulling the airbox kind of reminds me of pulling the Honda CBX V bank of 6 carbs which required dropping the engine. What a pain. There were times I was ready to beat the Japanese designers with a ball bat. Don't get me start on the joys of synching those bad boys. 2 hours ago, cornerslider said: I messed with mine for about 30 minutes..... After that it was VERY satisfying to cut it out with a sawzall!!!!! "> 2 hours ago, 1tondriver said: I did the same thing and swept it up in a dust pan. Good riddance Good news you mopes, I have extra new ones I can send you! Hahahaha... Meds... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevets Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 No one mentioned it, but some of you may have noticed that I already have aftermarket rearsets on the bike. I had to install them to hold up the bike so that I could remove the rear shock, so that I could drop the engine, so that I could remove the airbox. Man that thing is a hoe. Here is a closer look at my SATO Racing Rear Sets. I built my wife's R3 a couple years ago, and Jesse Norton over at YamahaR3Racing.com had reviewed a wide variety of rearsets at that time for the R3, and SATO were his favourite. In an effort to consolidate spares I decided to buy the same brand for my FZ-07. Plus they're a really nice product. While I was putting the engine back in the bike, I took the opportunity to install my Woodcraft Frame Sliders (with the short pucks). I also installed the ride height link from AP MotoArts. That's it for a while. I have a couple of bigger jobs I need to do before I can do much of anything else, so I'll have to wait until the weekend when I can block out a bigger chunk of time. And then I'm waiting for parts to arrive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevets Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Oh man, posting that last picture, I need to spend some time cleaning. Ugh. What a sight 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fzar Posted December 3, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted December 3, 2019 9 hours ago, mossrider said: Good news you mopes, Where the hell do you know the word MOPES from? @mossrider your killing me, I haven't heard that word being used in a sentence in 15 -17 years, other than my Mom talking about my nephews when we speak on the phone, AHH LMAO. Alright back to the Race Bike Build. Sniggering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fzar Posted December 3, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted December 3, 2019 22 hours ago, Nevets said: I bought an FZ07 in September 2018 with plans to build it into my new race bike, and race it towards the end of the 2019 season. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and my local race club is the EMRA. My wife and I ended up buying a new house, so the build budget disappeared rather suddenly, and my plans got put on hold. But things are looking better now. That, and my 2007 Ninja 650 decided to fire a connecting rod through the crank case on the second last round of the 2019 season, so I don't really have a choice. So yesterday I put the bike up on the "lift" and did an oil change and cleaned and lubed the chain. I spent most of the day today in the garage stripping parts that aren't needed for racing. It was a productive day, and I managed to remove just about everything I won't need. Of all the parts that needed to come off the bike, the OEM airbox was by far the most difficult. This POS, SOB took me WAY too long to remove, and in the end I had to drop the engine and remove the throttle bodies to make room to get this thing out of the frame. I now understand why so many people destroyed the stupid thing cutting it into smaller pieces to remove it. Thankfully I'll never have to do that again. Have any of you ever seen one of these intact, outside of the frame before? If not, here is what it looks like. Before you guys say anything, yes I removed the snorkel when I was removing it. Stay tuned for updates as I make progress. I'm really excited to finally be building this. Also, tips and suggestions are VERY welcome. Please let me know if you see something that I could do better. I'm reasonably handy, but I'm an professional engineer, so I don't get to spend much time wrenching other than basic maintenance. I'm really hoping you guys can teach me a thing or two along the way. I have to give a shout out to MossRider. It was your build thread years ago over on MSNBR that gave me the confidence that there are enough race parts to support the FZ-07 that I could build one myself. We'll see if I'm still praising you come Round 1 in the spring. What shock is in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevets Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 (edited) 22 minutes ago, fzar said: What shock is in there? You've got a sharp eye. It is an Ohlins S46DR1. I installed it before I started the build because I did a couple track days on the new toy even though it wasn't race ready. But I absolutely had to swap out the stock shock. I'll take better photos when I put it back in there. But here's an action shot. The high bars, the low rearsets, and the lack of a slipper clutch were really throwing me off, so I was definitely taking it easy. But it was still fun to get the new bike out on the track for the first time. Edited December 3, 2019 by Nevets 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1tondriver Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 11 hours ago, Nevets said: Here is a closer look at my SATO Racing Rear Sets. I built my wife's R3 a couple years ago, and Jesse Norton over at YamahaR3Racing.com had reviewed a wide variety of rearsets at that time for the R3, and SATO were his favourite. In an effort to consolidate spares I decided to buy the same brand for my FZ-07. Plus they're a really nice product. I have the Sato’s as well and they are so well made and sturdy. Replacement parts are also easy to get. Very happy with them even in silver 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member pgeldz Posted December 5, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted December 5, 2019 Awesome to see yet another FZ-07 race bike project!!! I'll be watching this - Paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevets Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 Well I'm about ready to pull my hair out. I was all geared up to replace my fork internals today and start putting my clipons and control on, but I'm pretty much admitting defeat. The damper rod bolt in the bottom of the forks is the biggest pain I've ever come across. When I did this job on my wife's R3, it wasn't even close to this bad. I have googled every possible solution, searched the forum up and down. I have tried ever size of hex head I own to try and stop the thing from turning. I tried loosening the bolt before I took the forks off the bike, but I could feel the damper rod spinning. I took it apart, I put it back together. I had my wife sit on it to compress, the fork. I sat on it to compress it. I think I'm just going to have to buy the stupid tool. I welcome any suggestions from anyone who's done this job before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossrider Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 Just now, Nevets said: Well I'm about ready to pull my hair out. I was all geared up to replace my fork internals today and start putting my clipons and control on, but I'm pretty much admitting defeat. The damper rod bolt in the bottom of the forks is the biggest pain I've ever come across. When I did this job on my wife's R3, it wasn't even close to this bad. I have googled every possible solution, searched the forum up and down. I have tried ever size of hex head I own to try and stop the thing from turning. I tried loosening the bolt before I took the forks off the bike, but I could feel the damper rod spinning. I took it apart, I put it back together. I had my wife sit on it to compress, the fork. I sat on it to compress it. I think I'm just going to have to buy the stupid tool. I welcome any suggestions from anyone who's done this job before. They can be a bear. I use a big drift punch and give em a hell of a sharp rap straight in on the head of the bolt to help break the bond a bit. Then an air impact to spin em out, all while they're still together under a good bind; either in the tripples or I have a special vise setup for this crap. It's not so much that they are too tight as it is they get gall frozen in place or some such witchcraft, hense the impact. Take a break, have a drink and Grr! P.S. as always follow my advice at your own peril. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member cornerslider Posted December 15, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted December 15, 2019 Maybe put some heat on it.... Previous owners, as well as shops- are known to do REALLY stupid stuff when servicing the forks (like putting "Loctite" on the threads). Heating the bolt with a small propane torch (think soldering torch), can loosen the loctite. I've been fortunate, I've never had a problem removing damper rods. I've done 6 sets in the last three years. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out- 1 ""W.O.T. until you see god, then brake" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curio124 Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 fork upgrade is something I'm going to do as well and I thought that I would do something like this - do you think it can work? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twf Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 Take piece of 3/4 square tube long enough to push against damper rod and stick out of the fork tube few inches. Clamp square tube in vise, push fork against tube and use impact gun. This gives you 4 sharp corners to hold damper rod. It will come off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avg_fz07 Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 Looking forward to this build. I'm from Calgary and plan on taking my fz up the Edmonton next summer for a track day or two. Debating on picking up an r6 as more of a track bike and keeping the Fz for the street or just sticking with the fz only and using it for the occasional track day 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevets Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 1 hour ago, avg_fz07 said: Looking forward to this build. I'm from Calgary and plan on taking my fz up the Edmonton next summer for a track day or two. Debating on picking up an r6 as more of a track bike and keeping the Fz for the street or just sticking with the fz only and using it for the occasional track day Let me know when you come up to Edmonton for the track day. I'm on the EMRA executive, so I'm there every single track day either riding, or actually putting on the event. I'd love to talk FZ07s, and anything motorcycle in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevets Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 5 hours ago, curio124 said: do you think it can work? In my research, a number of guys were able to get this to work for them. I didn't have any luck. Hopefully it goes better for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevets Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 6 hours ago, cornerslider said: Maybe put some heat on it.... Previous owners, as well as shops- are known to do REALLY stupid stuff when servicing the forks (like putting "Loctite" on the threads). Heating the bolt with a small propane torch (think soldering torch), can loosen the loctite. I've been fortunate, I've never had a problem removing damper rods. I've done 6 sets in the last three years. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out- I always get nervous applying heat with my propane torch. I worry I'm going to overheat something and ruin something expensive. I ordered the holder tool, it should be here in a week. One of the perks of working on this in the winter is that I'm not short on time. Here is what my neighborhood looks like right now: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossrider Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 Just now, Nevets said: I always get nervous applying heat with my propane torch. I worry I'm going to overheat something and ruin something expensive. I ordered the holder tool, it should be here in a week. One of the perks of working on this in the winter is that I'm not short on time. Here is what my neighborhood looks like right now: Haha! I too have nothing but time especially this time of year. It's patience I find I'm short of. I get all sweaty palmed and shakey over the 'buy it now', 'add to cart' & 'check out' buttons while huddled under the covers in the dark. The Warden just got done with her congressional inquiry into my deficit spending, lol. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1tondriver Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 1 minute ago, mossrider said: Haha! I too have nothing but time especially this time of year. It's patience I find I'm short of. I get all sweaty palmed and shakey over the 'buy it now', 'add to cart' & 'check out' buttons while huddled under the covers in the dark. The Warden just got done with her congressional inquiry into my deficit spending, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevets Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 (edited) Okay, today was much more productive than yesterday. I gave up on the damping rod and ordered the tool. It should arrive in a week. So instead I decided to drill all (I hope I didn't forget any) my hardware for safety wire, and install my Yoyodyne slipper clutch. I was very tempted to order some of the pre-drilled fasteners from Pro Bolt, but once I got going, it really wasn't that bad. I only broke a couple of bits, and only one got stuck inside the bolt. Fortunately it was one of the front caliper bolts, and I wasn't too deep into the bolt yet, so I was able to rotate one flat and drill a new hole without any trouble. For anyone wondering, here is a list of all the bolts that I found so far that needed to be drilled for safety wire: Front brake caliper mounting bolts (x4) Front axle (I chose to put 3 holes in the bolt head so I can easily wire the axle to the pinch bolt and don't have to worry about the orientation of the axle) Front pinch bolt Rear brake caliper mounting bolts (x2) they aren't the same FYI Rear axle (because of the shape of the adjustment plates, I ended up drilling a hole through the threaded portion of the axle, just outside of where the nut gets installed; I'm not a huge fan of this solution, but I couldn't figure a better way of doing it that wouldn't be a major pain to safety wire every time) Oil drain bolt Hose clamp installed on the oil filter Oil filler cap Timing mark access bolt (this is on the stator cover just below the oil filler cap Coolant drain bolt Coolant bolt that holds the hard pipes into the water pump (I probably didn't need to do this one, but it is a convenient places to wire the coolant drain bolt to, and it just seemed prudent) I didn't have to drill the radiator cap, because I can remove the little OEM set screw, and just wire that to the frame. Kind of handy. If anyone knows of any other hardware that needs safety wire, please let me know. Edited December 16, 2019 by Nevets 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now