1977 XS650 injected turbocharged sportbike build. lots of pictures!

[Yamaha_chop]

So here's the newest build I'm working on, I'll post up what I had on another forum to this point:

Specs and Goals:

1977 XS650 frame/engine the engine will remain mostly stock, just rebuilt.
I'm switching the engine over to fuel injection. It will be run by Megasquirt controlling fuel and spark.
The motor will be turbocharged and intercooled- if my #'s are correctly calculated, I should be getting about 88hp out of the engine, so maybe 75-80 at the rear wheel.
ZX6R front suspension and bars
Buell swingarm and rear shock
Frame will be 70% my own construction
Bike will have all the same specs as a modern sportbike regarding the rake/wheelbase/ect... However, it will be taller than most sportbikes. I've got really long legs and I like taller bikes, plus, I want to keep people from wanting to ride my bike.
Wheels will be f2/f3 style
Full brakes from ZX6R
Custom subframe and tail section of my own design
Buell headlight and windscreen
Suzuki GSXR gas tank
bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.....

Pictures:

Tail section I molded from foam and fiberglassed:







swingarm, tank, and tail section:



Buell swingarm, was initially purchased because the warrior engine is a right side drive. I still wanted to use it, so I'm filling in the right side, and cutting a space for the chain on the left side.

Made some paper templates:





Cut the pieces out and welded them up. This is my first time working with aluminum, it's pretty fun.



smoothed the welds, the piece should be welded in place pretty soon:





Here's the frame I started with:



here's what's left:



quick mockup-



Frame progress:













That's what I've got so far. I know it looks like there's a lot of space around the engine in the frame, but the turbo is going back there, along with the intake manifold. The intercooler will be mounted vertically on the downtubes.

I've got a mockup turbo coming in the mail, also my blow off valve and Buell rear shock.

This  is going to be a really involved build I hope you'll have as much fun following along as I have building it.

I'm sure I've missed a bunch of stuff, so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

thanks
Sky


Just after I wrote this I started thinking about something else on the bike and went down to look at it.

It's funny how the mind works sometimes. I was down looking at the bike thinking about another aspect of it, when I looked at my other bike, and turned the bars.

There's no way I could turn the bars on this bike with the frame the way I made it!!! Haha

So I had to cut the top bars and redo the front section so the forks would have the room needed to turn.

Old version:



New version:



It's a little tough to see what I did from those pictures, but at least now I can turn....

Got my rear shock today, sheesh, this thing is a lot bigger than I expected. Really nice part though.







Not much today, I got my blow off valve in-



Only other thing I did was shape some tabs for the subframe mounting and tacked them in place. These I used some welding rod to simulate a platform to set the tail on so I could get a better idea what it's going to look like. Also, I think I've pretty much got the height set for the swingarm so I'm going to start building the upper mounting point for the shock.







Not much I know, but thanks for looking anyway

Sky

OK, not too much to show you guys lately, been finishing my move to the coast, setting up shop in my Dad's garage 

I got my new rear wheel in the other day, a couple mockup pics:



Got my turbo in the mail too, slight change of plans there. The original 14B I was supposed to get didn't show, the guy refunded me, and it worked out well actually because it made me look around some more. Got an even better setup with my new choice K04 turbo from an Audi TT:



size comparison:



Here's the most likely turbo mounting position:







I also got started on my flanges for the intake manifold I'm making. My dad had some aluminum in his shop so I started drilling:





Think it's thick enough?  :yes:  1/2"



obviously they'll be shaped more eventually, but that's the basic idea.

I should have my front wheel and forks showing up soon, as soon as they get here I can start setting up the ride height of the bike and it'll start looking a little more complete.

Thanks for looking guys....
Sky

Got a fair amount of work done on the intake manifold recently:



here you can see the plenum and the throttle body feeding it, and here's a few shots that show the positioning:



tight fit, but it'll clear



In this shot you can see the holes I've cut for the runners, and also you can see my finished intake flanges:



I don't have the mandrel 90's I need to finish up the runners yet, or the alumnium injector bosses, but I should have those ordered soon. I also cut out the caps for the sides of the plenum, but I'm not going to weld those in place until everything else is welded up.

Also, I'm going to build a short bracket from the Throttle body to the upper motor mount to help support the manifold.

I'm having a blast welding this aluminum, it's really interesting material to weld, For my first major project I feel like it's going pretty good:







Also, on my previous project I cut up a handlebar I had lying around because I needed to make some spacers out of it for my calipers. All the time I was thinking I'm going to regret this because I'm going to need this eventually. Yep, sure did
So I got a length of 7/8" aluminum round stock and made sure everything was super straight and welded it on:



Anyone need an ultra long clip-on?

Now I just need to smooth the weld, cut it to factory length and tap the end for a bar end if I so choose.

Thanks for lookings guys, hope to keep updating fairly regularly but you all know how life keeps getting in the way of what we want to be doing!

Sky

Yeah buddy, got my front end in today, 2007 GSXR 600 forks and lower triple.

Looks like my assumptions are correct, the fork size is the same as ZX6r forks, so I can use my Kawi clip-ons, and also I'm going to use a Kawi upper triple.

Some pics, the bike visually is starting to come together, also I get my front wheel tomorrow, so expect to see some pics with that in place tomorrow sometime.









thanks
Sky

Got my front wheel on today! Mocked up anyway....

I'm really really liking how this bike looks right now. Should be awesome when finished:









thanks
Sky

Sorry for the delay, I was off on a trip for a few days.

Meanwhile today I did some more work on the intake manifold. It seems to be shaping up nicely so far, the injector bungs are in the mail and should be here on Thursday, but I'm clean out of argon gas, and don't really have the money for more right now, so updates might be a bit slim for the immediate future

Anyway, here's some pictures:









As you can see the runners are fully welded to the flanges, and are not even tacked to the plenum yet. A bit more work needs to be done to the tops of the runners to make them fit as well as possible.

A quick note about the runners, I was originally going to order some mandrel bent 90 degree elbows, but the thickest I could find them in was 16ga which is a waste of time trying to weld that to 1/2" aluminum. So I went to my local supply place and picked up a length of tubing which had the proper diameter I wanted. The catch? It's sch45 tubing, think that's thick enough
So quite a bit thicker than I needed, but hey, stronger is better right?

Anyway, hopefully things will turn around for me fairly quickly here and you'll get some better updates.

Later
Sky

I was able to get started on the collector for the turbo manifold:





Also I got the injector bungs in the mail, drilled the runners for them and welded one side in place. Not so happy about my aluminum welding right now, I need more practice:





A few new pictures from tonight. Got the other injector bung welded into place, still not great welding, wish I has a chance to do some scrap welding on aluminum to get my skills up to par. Anyway just a few shots of the bike together with the turbo mocked into its final position:



Everything is a pretty tight fit!





Check out my sweet exhaust



I just think this picture is cool, when was the last time you saw injectors on an XS650?



Here's a couple quick pics of the turbo manifold I'm making:

I determined awhile ago that I would be able to check the oil on this bike, so you'll notice the pipe snakes nicely around the oil dipstick tube









Masking tape is an excellent tool for mocking up tubing





That's about where I'm at now, that side that still has masking tape in the picture has been tacked into place. Due to how the head ports are placed on these engines it's impossible to build the manifold as one peice, so likely one or both sides will have a flanged section that comes apart for installation or removal.

I've got some more stuff done since these pictures were taken, but I've gotten a bit sidetracked by other things, so I'll get back going on this bike again soon, get some new pictures up. Hope you guys have enjoyed looking at all the pictures, feel free to comment away positive or negative I like feedback.

Thanks again for looking in....
Sky

[Yamaha_chop]

So, been awhile since I've actually had any updates on this thing. Combination of factors; welder is at work, working on other things, kinda burned out on it for awhile, that sort of thing

Anyway, just a quick post to let you know what's new.

Got a few parts in, got my Kawi upper triple:



Here's my new intercooler. It's a perfect size! It originally came as a side mount intercooler on an Audi S4:



This probably isn't the final mounting position, but I'm trying out a bunch of different spots. It will be mounted to the downtubes in some fashion though.

Here's a couple of distance shots showing how the bike looks currently. Also you can see my 2005 ZX6R seat:







Got my cush drive in:



This is what sucks, because of the gearing in these bikes I need to use a 30 tooth sprocket, that's pretty small. So there's going to be lots of milling on this cush drive to make it compatible with the new sprocket. I'll also have to cut an adapter plate:



My brother owns a 2004 ZX6R and he recently got hit by a car. He's ok, but they totalled the bike out. He bought it back and is parting it out. He's going to give me the complete braking system and rearsets! Whoohoo, stuff like this never happens!

Also, here's what's been keeping the majority of my attention:



I've been trying to teach my wife to ride, but she gets really intimidated by bikes. So I tried to find the least intimidating bike EVER

I've spent the last month refurbishing it, it's almost ready to go, just a little bit more work.

It's going to be a surprise for her, don't ruin it!

Anyway, hope to start back up on this soon and get some work done.

thanks for looking
Sky

[vossperformance]

Very nice build. This thing is going to look awesome with all the fabed tubing.

[vossperformance]

Hey Sky,
Any updates on this thing. I was looking back over the pictures and noticed you started this build before you had finished your other bike.
Thats what I do. hahaha

[Yamaha_chop]

Hey Sky,
Any updates on this thing. I was looking back over the pictures and noticed you started this build before you had finished your other bike.
Thats what I do. hahaha

I'm personally surprised the first bike got done! I have a tendancy to get bored with stuff when it's about 90% finished and sell it off to finance the new builds.

I wish I did have some updates, the only thing I've done is make a list of what needs to be done and to prioritize it so the most pertinent stuff gets done first. I should be getting my welder back to my house in about a week, should be able to make a bunch of progress at that point.

thanks for the interest man, it always helps keep me motivated knowing others want to see progress

[vossperformance]

I'm personally surprised the first bike got done! I have a tendancy to get bored with stuff when it's about 90% finished and sell it off to finance the new builds.

That is me too a T. There has got to be some kind of diagnosis for that. For me I think its not about having the finished project that moves me. Its about the challange of seeing if I can create said project. Once it is 90% done, I have proven to my self I can, and start to lose interest. I have future things I want to build lined up in my head, and on paper. This forum may turn into more then a fabrication forum, it may end up being a support group.   A bike project has always been somthing I wanted to do (Yamaha Chop Style) but its a little out of my comfort zone. Keep up the great work, and I wont have to build my own.

[Yamaha_chop]

Got the tail section fully mocked up. It needs to be finish welded and smoothed, Then I'll skin it with sheetmetal, should look pretty cool.

As you can see I pulled inspiration from not only the RC8 but also from Rossi's current tail section. It's a little hard to see all the framing in the pics, but the tail doesn't come to a direct point, more like a duckbill that's about 3" wide.

Let me know whatcha think....






I feel this is the best shot to show the end result



thanks for looking
Sky

[TheFabForums]

Its going to be nasty.
Where do you get your doner bikes, or parts from?

[TheFabForums]

Any updates on this thing?

[CustomTanks]

Looks great cant wait to see it done

[Yamaha_chop]

Whew! About time for an update wouldn't you say?

I worked more on the tail section. It wasn't quite straight before, so I had to cut some of it apart to straighten it. I'm much happier now. I also made some tabs to mount the tail-light and the seat. The seat is going to take some more work to finalize the mounting, but at least it stays in place now.

Then, to get an idea of what the tail is going to look like skinned up, I covered it with painters' tape



Definitely achieved my goal of replicating the KTM RC8 tail!









I also worked some more on the turbo manifold. Because of the way it mounts, there's no way to make the manifold in one piece, so I made a sleeve. This sleeve will have tabs welded at the ends where it joins on the top and bottom with a spring between the tabs, just for extra insurance.

I also made the flanges where the tubes insert into the head:

Here you can see both the sleeve and the flanges:



Pretty happy with my stainless welding right now



Now that these items are done, all I have to do is get the turbo in its final mounting position, then I can tack the remainder of the manifold together, hooray!

Also, I finally got some of my pieces cut at a friends who has a CNC plasma cutter.

I designed these parts in autocad and he cut them out. The plasma cutter is only precise to a point, these have definitely been cleaned up after cutting, but however it still can make some really cool parts. It's quite the cool feeling to design something on a computer then watch it being cut out. It's fabrication in another capacity.



The part on the bottom right is the baseplate for the sprocket adapter I'm building, this will be welded to the studs that screw into the factory holes. Obviously this will make the adapter non-removable. This is not optimal, but necessary for space reasons.

The part on the bottom left is the outer adapter ring that will be welded to the base ring. It will have studs welded in place for the actual sprocket.

All this work is necessary to run the extremely small 30t sprocket on the factory CBR F3 cush drive.

Also, because the sprocket adapter will take up space, the cush drive needed to be milled down, here's a shot of it after I milled it down:





The final part on the top is the turbine exhaust outlet flange.



Again, as soon as the turbo is mounted I'll be able to finish out the exhaust.

Stay tuned, lots of good stuff to come.
thanks
Sky

[Yamaha_chop]

got to finish tacking together the turbo manifold today! Here's some pics:



On this side you can see the sleeve I made so the manifold can be removed in two pieces:



And I got the turbo mounting tabs in place, so the weight of the turbo is not hanging on the manifold. The manifold will have a couple extra mounting points as well.

With the turbo mounted I was able to work on the exhaust as well, 2.5" baby With a turbo, the less exhuast the better, and that's the mantra I'm following:







The end will be slash cut a couple inches after it exits the subrame, just haven't cut it off yet.

I didn't like the swingarm pivot I made, so I decided to use a stock XS650 swingarm pivot, here's the piece:



It'll be all chopped up here shortly and I can start building the new swinger.

Here's a few shots of the bike mocked up again:







I think it looks cool with all the tubing running everywhere and there'll be even more after I mount the intercooler and make the piping for that.

Also, I got a new tool the other day, check it out:



Little 3/8" drive impact. Supposed to be able to go all the way up to 85ft/lbs which is way more than I ever use. I bolt and unbolt a lot of stuff on this bike, and doing it with wrenches is soooo slow, decided to speed things up a bit! working awesome so far.

Thanks again for checking out my build, hope to have a new update soon.
Sky

[TheFabForums]

Did you build your tubing bender?

[CustomTanks]

It is really coming together great job

[Yamaha_chop]

Did you build your tubing bender?

I did, got the plans from www.gottrikes.com great guy, e-mails the plans to you very quickly and they're very detailed.

[TheFabForums]

Did you build your tubing bender?

I did, got the plans from www.gottrikes.com great guy, e-mails the plans to you very quickly and they're very detailed.

Where do you get the dies from?

[Yamaha_chop]

Where do you get the dies from?

www.pro-tools.com

[TheFabForums]

Have you been able to make any progress on this project???

[DaCajun]

Holly shit!!! I'm not into bikes but damn this is some crazy fab work going on here. Not just metal but a bit of everything. I'm going to keep an eye out on this build. Sky keep up the good work and thanks for sharing your project.

-Dave

[TheFabForums]

Hey Sky,
Have not heard from you lately, you have any updates?