Okay... So Brian Thompson out of San Antonio, TX approached us with his request for a custom hard tail for his KZ100 Police Special.
Now, granted the fact that we LOVE singles and twins, we're not about to pass up a learning experience. And let me say... After tons of XS650, Suzuki Savage, CB, and Triumph builds... The KZ1000 seems like a freakin' MONSTER sitting in the jig! Damn!
We started with your basic (but very clean - thank you Brian!) KZ100p in the cradle...
Next stop was our HIGH-TECH alignment system...
Let the chopping begin! Here are the locations of the cuts required to remove the rear loop in one piece.
After a lot of though... We didn't bother removing the stock neck gusset. There's a ton of support structure hidden under there and I didn't want to open a can-o-worms if it wasn't necessary. Our thoughts are this: It's going to "blend" in to the lines of the tank regardless if it's replaced with a custom gusset.
A couple well placed cuts and CHAZAM! Just got an ass reduction!
Lower rails were cut 6-1/2" from the rear of the lower control mounts...
After everything was removed, we provided Brian with a computer Mock Up of his intended build for his approval...
And... Just to make Brian crap his pants... I sent this photo showing another weld-on hard tail design of ours!!! The dude almost called my bluff and went with it!
Shortly after, I sent him the photo of his ACTUAL hard tail mocked in place.
Guess what!... It didn't meet his request! Brian specifically wants to mount his rear caliper BETWEEN the upper and lower struts directly forward of the axle. That's what I get for NOT READING MY NOTES!!!
Soooo..... We re-designed the rear axle plates to accommodate enough room so the stock caliper has travel from the rear to the foremost position of the axle slot and threw a couple ideas his way. The only way to provide enough space for the caliper and retain all the entry angles was to lose a couple inches of stretch...
And then it hit me... WTF am I thinking??? Just "span" the axle plate you freakin' retarded bastard!!!
So... After some trial and error... We've cut and cleaned the axle plates and are ready to start bending and notching our tubes...
We'll post some more as we go until we've reached a full roller and hopefully Brian will assume this thread for future reference??
Oh... Anybody want to purchase a nice KZ1000p weld on hard tail for $250? Ha ha ha!!!! Seriously though... Anyone?
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