1984 Katana 7/11

[pete]

Looks like I'm on a winner!

40mL medicine cup with fork oil ready to roll, two of them per fork is required.



And I now have two fully rebuilt shocks!



I tested the damping adjustment on both and there are obvious differences from 1 to 4 so it looks like I'm good to go with them.

I haven't put the springs on yet as I need to check how high the rear tyre goes when hitting the bump stop and I also haven't decided if I'm getting the springs re-coated.

[Grimly]

Nice progress. I like the rebuild of the Ikons. I have a nice pair of Hagons, but needing an overhaul. The Hagon factory blithely informed me they don't rebuild that type, but they'd happily sell me a new set for 300quid or something. I should cocoa, especially when I know the only parts likely to need replaced will cost about 10 bucks.

[loud et]

For small awkward aluminum bits like those shock flanges I use a Dremel tool with a 1" SS wire wheel. A dab of aluminum polish and it will be very shiny in a minute. Gets in all those awkward cracks and down between the lettering.
Nice shocks, subscribed to this Pete.

[pete]

Cheers guys! I always wanted Koni's, must just be an Aussie thing I guess, they were *the* shocks to have when I was growing up. Since I couldn't get Koni's any more for the 450 I went Ikon and they've been great, so since I got offered the Koni's at such an incredibly cheap price for the Kat I had to grab them, regardless of needing a rebuild. Very happy with the end result!

And good to know on the Dremel tip too, I have a Dremel but my wire wheels are all a little large for it, may have to invest in a smaller one.

I realised last night also that I'm up to making some cosmetic decisions and starting to work out what I'm doing as far as an under seat tray etc. I like making stuff like that so this is a fun bit for sure!

[bikemtn]

This is what I use in my dremel....not sure if you could find them at a place like Hare and Forbes or similar.

[pete]

Cool, I have wheels like that but they're for a full sized drill not a Dremel. Would definitely be easier to work with on a Dremel though!

[loud et]

This is what I use in my dremel....not sure if you could find them at a place like Hare and Forbes or similar.

Did you mean Harbor Freight? Lol
That's the same set I got from Harbor Freight but mine are stainless steel. They're also excellent for polishing carburetors and getting in all the nooks and crannies. Wear safety glasses though because those hare fine wires will shoot out and stick in your skin. They don't hurt but you certainly don't want one in the eye.

[bikemtn]

Yes Harbor Freight for me too and second the safety glasses. My work shirt will have some of those hairs stuck in it after I've worked with these for a while. I don't know where you would find these in Australia?

[cowboyup3371]

Did you mean Harbor Freight? Lol
.

Hare and Forbes is in Australia where Pete lives. Based on their website, they look to be a couple of steps above Harbor Freight

[loud et]

Hare and Forbes is in Australia where Pete lives. Based on their website, they look to be a couple of steps above Harbor Freight

Ohhh, so it's the Sears Craftsman of Australia. Lol

[pete]

Wow we do have a Hare & Forbes, never knew that!

Bit of an inconvenient location for me, but there are a few other alternatives I should be able to get those wheels from if necessary.

[pete]

Started working out the tray for under the seat last night with a view to mounting the electrics under there as well as a small lithium battery in the tail.

Sat the rear wheel up so I can get the shock in pretty much the full travel position to work out how much room I have to play with. Not a huge amount but enough.

I'm working on the top of the tyre being about level with the top of the frame rails but am allowing for the bump stop to compress a bit as well.





If I use the entire stock tail light then I think I'll be struggling to squeeze a battery in the tail:



For the moment I just mocked up some cardboard, just need to work out whether that will bend down in front of the rear tyre or if I'll take it forward to the tank and add something else in front of the tyre.





So far I'm leaning towards bringing that same piece down in front of the tyre and actually making a small battery tray under the front of the seat, leaving the tail for some tools instead.

Another fella on the KA forum is doing something with LED's and the stock tail light lense, so I think I need to see what he's doing first. Might give me the room I need.

I do need to get a hold of some steel or aluminium sheet though to make the tray. 1.6mm should do nicely.

[hampshirehog]

If you do decide to go the led route don't make the same mistake that I did. I bought 2 cheap Chinese led boards that together filled the standard rear lens. One board was twice the size of the other to act as the brake light and the smaller one to act as rear light. Wow, aren't they bright! Definitely not legal as I was lighting up behind me almost as much as in front. I had to mess around soldering a smaller board for each and that took as much time as making up the rest of the thing. In retrospect I should have just bought some smaller replacement boards as they're as cheap as chips but I'm too tight to chuck away stuff I just bought.

[Charlie G]

Health and Safety approved, I'm sure...... It's not winter at your house!

[pete]

HH, yep gotta be careful with those LED's! Especially here where they'll happily pull you over for the slightest of things not "ADR approved"...

Hahahaha yep Charlie they're my safety thongs! Perfect for all sorts of things including welding and grinding... and most definitely not winter! Sweating my a&^e off in the shed at night, really need to get a pedestal fan in there actually...

While there are more details to work out yet, I reckon I've pretty much got the under seat tray sorted and it will form the inner rear mudguard as well. The front may need to go a little lower and I have notched it to clear the chain guard too.





Bit hard to see in the photo but there is plenty of clearance:



And again a bit hard to see but there's still a fair bit of room under the seat above the tray, I just stuck the steel ruler in there as a reference:



Then I mocked up a tray to go in front of that which is likely where the battery will end up. I had a quick look on the Shorai site and they list the thinnest battery with 270CCA as being 66mm wide, so I made the tray 75mm deep.



I'll have to move it forwards of those two mounting points at the rear as it touches on the inner rear guard where it is, and that will also let me use those as mounting points for the tray. I can also likely use the side cover mounts for the front of the tray as well.

Even being 75mm deep once it's painted a suitable colour it shouldn't stick out like a sore thumb either.



Only catch really is I'm not sure when I'll get time to hunt down some suitable steel or aluminium at present.

The two key details to work out yet are the tail light mounting and rear mudguard.

If I use the stock tail light then it's a simple matter of making the tray suit the mounting of it, but then I lose a whole lot of space in the tail. If I can figure out a way to use the stock lense with much shorter internals and LED's then that gives me a whole lot more room, just not sure on the difficulties there with what's available and of course the good ol' ADR crap. I'm really keen to keep it looking stock though.

As for the mudguard, that's a different story. I have a couple of ideas in mind, just have to do some mock ups too see which looks ok and which looks plain stupid.