Kawasaki Z II Cafe Racer conversion

[Mumbly]

I asked the question in the Vehicle discussion forum, so decided to bite the bullet, and have a go at building a desktop café racer.

 

I am using the Aoshima ZII kit, more specifically the quite ridiculously named "The Z II of Legend, Shonan Lover's", and despite some dubious box art, the kit looks great value.  There are enough spare parts to make several different versions, from the original kit with 70's styling (4 into 4 exhaust) to the one as depicted on the box art http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235008781-what-carbike-kits-have-you-recently-bought-2/&do=findComment&comment=2571180.   First time making a kit from Aoshima and it looks OK so far, the fit has been good on the engine, but I am surprised by the flash, don't expect that from a Japanese kit.  Also, no chrome anywhere, so that has to be a bonus.

 

So to keep the principals of the café racer this is the plan:

 

 

1. Remove any un-necessary brackets from the frame.  Foot rests will be rear-sets, and who needs a pillion?

 

2. Mono shock conversion to clean the rear of the bike up with a .

 

3. Drop front forks in the triple clamps.

 

4. Anti social exhaust

 

5. OTT paint - I am looking at Chrysler Mango Tango with black centre panel and white pinstripes!  (Q. Is the only way to buy Gravity paints in the UK is through their website and it is then delivered from Spain?)   

 

So I have built the engine, as this is remaining mostly standard, and this will be painted semi-gloss black, carbs will have bell mouths  (again provided in the kit, but need some work) and that will be all.  The bulk of the work will be on the forks, swing arm, a respoke of the wheels and an MFH chain kit (tread carefully young Padawan).  Probably the area that is going to be the hardest will be the seat, mostly as I have not worked out what I am doing with this at the minute, but as time goes on I am sure a plan will form.

 

While this is being built I will endeavour to grow a beard, buy some vintage clothing and hang out at trendy coffee shops drinking Ristretto's out of reclaimed lace makers thimbles while clutching a vinyl record that I can't play as my mum don't like loud music!  Sorry went off topic.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[injidup]

31 minutes ago, Mumbly said:

 

While this is being built I will endeavour to grow a beard, buy some vintage clothing and hang out at trendy coffee shops drinking Ristrettos out of reclaimed lace makers thimbles while clutching a vinyl record that I can't play as my mum don't like loud music!  Sorry went off topic.

 

Love it! I hope those are artisan ristrettos!

[Mumbly]

2 hours ago, injidup said:

 

Love it! I hope those are artisan ristrettos!

 

Naturally, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Aricha blend, enjoyed while sitting on up-cycled distressed terracotta flower pots.

[vontrips]

8 hours ago, Mumbly said:

I asked the question in the Vehicle discussion forum, so decided to bite the bullet, and have a go at building a desktop café racer.

 

I am using the Aoshima ZII kit, more specifically the quite ridiculously named "The Z II of Legend, Shonan Lover's", and despite some dubious box art, the kit looks great value.  There are enough spare parts to make several different versions, from the original kit with 70's styling (4 into 4 exhaust) to the one as depicted on the box art http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235008781-what-carbike-kits-have-you-recently-bought-2/&do=findComment&comment=2571180.   First time making a kit from Aoshima and it looks OK so far, the fit has been good on the engine, but I am surprised by the flash, don't expect that from a Japanese kit.  Also, no chrome anywhere, so that has to be a bonus.

 

So to keep the principals of the café racer this is the plan:

 

 

1. Remove any un-necessary brackets from the frame.  Foot rests will be rear-sets, and who needs a pillion?

 

2. Mono shock conversion to clean the rear of the bike up with a .

 

3. Drop front forks in the triple clamps.

 

4. Anti social exhaust

 

5. OTT paint - I am looking at Chrysler Mango Tango with black centre panel and white pinstripes!  (Q. Is the only way to buy Gravity paints in the UK is through their website and it is then delivered from Spain?)   

 

So I have built the engine, as this is remaining mostly standard, and this will be painted semi-gloss black, carbs will have bell mouths  (again provided in the kit, but need some work) and that will be all.  The bulk of the work will be on the forks, swing arm, a respoke of the wheels and an MFH chain kit (tread carefully young Padawan).  Probably the area that is going to be the hardest will be the seat, mostly as I have not worked out what I am doing with this at the minute, but as time goes on I am sure a plan will form.

 

While this is being built I will endeavour to grow a beard, buy some vintage clothing and hang out at trendy coffee shops drinking Ristretto's out of reclaimed lace makers thimbles while clutching a vinyl record that I can't play as my mum don't like loud music!  Sorry went off topic.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

Remember, seat must be brown and tyres must be knobbly!

[Brandy]

Oooh nice! Not sure about the monoshock rear end, but still nice! I actually preferred the Z1 but still a perfect candidate for a caff racer....maybe one day I'll get around to doing that with my '78 900 GTS Ducati.....one day....maybe....

 

Ian

[Mumbly]

4 hours ago, vontrips said:

Remember, seat must be brown and tyres must be knobbly!

 

Not sure why the brown seats, and those massive oversize tyres too.  From what I can gather, knobbly tyres tend to make it a scrambler, but not exclusively. 

 

1 hour ago, limeypilot said:

Oooh nice! Not sure about the monoshock rear end, but still nice! I actually preferred the Z1 but still a perfect candidate for a caff racer....maybe one day I'll get around to doing that with my '78 900 GTS Ducati.....one day....maybe....

 

Ian

 

Monoshock for the laughs as well as I like the lines with spoked rims (also have a perfect spring from a ballpoint, but only have 1 ).

[Mumbly]

Engine primed - always satisfying and also revealing.  Liberal use of Mr Surfacer where it looked a good fit.  Also not sure what DOHO is on the crank cover (joke), didn't notice that at the start, but I am going to leave it as it is quirky. (Double Over Head Over?)

 

On to the wheels now - and diving head first into a re-spoke, after all "how hard can it be?"

 

1st job, build a jig, so a few drill bits into some plywood did the trick, plus some spacers to keep the hub central to the rim.  I also scanned/printed the wheel halves for spoke alignment.

 

Spoke location holes in the hub drilled, I also have notched the wheels so I know how they match, the blue is some Sharpie as I keep on losing the marks:

 

 

Now the point of no return...

 

 

The spoke locating lugs on the rim are now the guides to drill through.  Now, why is it that after long periods of not snapping drill bits does one task excel in bringing your average down.  So nearly out of 0.5mm bits, and waiting on some to come in the post.

 

The two halves are then glued together, and the lugs are removed to be replaced by ones that I will make from some 0.7mm brass tube - can't wait to do that one!  Currently cleaning the central seam and filling the gap, while also filling some ejector pin marks of which there are many .  Spokes are 0.5mm piano wire, and these will get threaded after the rim and hub get a coat of semi-gloss black.

 

Paint is on the way from Gravity, so while the filler is flying about, the petrol tank halves will be put together and prepared.  Also waiting on some Studio 27 waterslide white pinstripe line, both having to come from Spain so waiting with anticipation.

 

Next update soon.

 

Tony.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Mumbly

[Brandy]

Isn't respoking wheels fun! I did 5 of them for my Airfix Bentley and I can't say I'm looking for projects which will involve doing any more! Good luck!

 

Ian

[Alan R]

Always wanted on of real thing back in the 70's. It was so much cooler than the Honda CB-750!

Rumour had it that if you whanged the throttle a lot, fuel consumption dropped to about 18 MPG! It only had a teeny tank as well.

Now well into my sixties, I still fancy one of these bikes. Maybe I'll get the model and satisfy my lust that way...

[Mumbly]

21 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Isn't respoking wheels fun! I did 5 of them for my Airfix Bentley and I can't say I'm looking for projects which will involve doing any more! Good luck!

 

Ian

 

If I had an infinite amount of drill bits, then I wouldn't mind.  I think it is going to be worth the effort though.

 

12 hours ago, Alan R said:

Always wanted on of real thing back in the 70's. It was so much cooler than the Honda CB-750!

Rumour had it that if you whanged the throttle a lot, fuel consumption dropped to about 18 MPG! It only had a teeny tank as well.

Now well into my sixties, I still fancy one of these bikes. Maybe I'll get the model and satisfy my lust that way...

 

In my youth I was into the 2 stroke triples, I think I owned all of them, though not all worked, but the KH750 was possibly the most frightening experience of my life, loads of top end (stupid tune and Swarbrick exhausts) coupled with no brakes and a frame made from boiled rhubarb, adding the threat of a centre piston seizure made for changing underwear part of the "fun".

 

The kit is mixture of good, bad and ugly.  Good is the options within it and most of the fit, bad is flash, sink marks and ejector marks which is unusual for a Japanese kit, and Ugly is the tank fit.  If it was easy it would be no fun!  It has not put me off them, and if this goes well, Aoshima do a SR500 "Custom" version which again has loads of added bits.  I am not sure if the standard versions of the kits have the same amount of extra bits, but for the parts bin it is quite useful.

 

No pictures at the moment, but have opened out the trumpets for the carbs, and they both are in paint and will next have the trumpets BMF'ed.  Paint arrived from Gravity which is very impressive, and it does look very good.  I had heard good things about their metallic effects and it looks impressive in the bottle.

 

Cheers all

 

Tony

[Alan R]

In 1974, during the fuel crisis, a friend of mine was riding down the A2 just outside London, at 2 in the morning, when he was stopped by the police. He was clocked at 134 MPH!

At the time there was a blanket 50 MPH limit.

Fortunately for him, the copper was rather lenient.

My friend said that the copper said:

"Well, seeing as it's 2 AM, the road is fully lit and there was no one else around, I have to book you for something. Will 74 MPH do?"

My friend accepted that, thinking a fine and a short ban was likely to be handed down. However, when he got the official letter, they gave him a warning not to do it again... Let off almost scott free!

 

Cheers, Alan.

[Mumbly]

Gentle progress, and arrival of all the excuses for not proceeding.  Not true, have not cleared space since Christmas to set up the spray booth, so will need to tidy a space for that, then warp 1 Mr. Sulu!

 

In the post came this from Spain, along with some Studio 27 pin stripes

 

 

Sorry  - cant seem to rotate this right - anyway you get the gist.

 

Also started on the spokes, now this is an education, but so far I am liking the results.  Rookie error, forgot to apply some semi-gloss clear before the spoke work started and proceeded to scratch a lot of the black off.  Not a massive issue, but mental note for the rear.  FYI the spokes are 0.5mm piano wire, the spoke ferrules (?) are 0.7mm brass tube with 0.5mm internal bore, cut at approx. 1.5mm lengths (only 40) but with a downloaded printable 0.25 mm ruler and the tube stuck down on top with some masking tape, cutting with the Dremel  was easy and no lost cuts or fingers.  Should finish the front wheel this weekend including the disks. 

 

 

Also painted carbs and trumpets with a variety of Alloy's and black wash, they are just balanced on the block until it gets painted, however I have started the mono-shock too (the rear suspension unit is just to establish the rear ride height) but I am very happy with the angles.

 

 

Next tasks are after the front wheel and mono-shock will be the front forks and a bit of colour. 

 

Cheers all

 

Tony

[Col.]

Tidy work there Tony. You're mastering an ambitious project  

[Brandy]

Looking pretty good so far, especially that wheel....

 

Ian

[Mumbly]

15 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Looking pretty good so far, especially that wheel....

 

Ian

Thanks - it is character building and thankfully only 40 spokes per rim, any more and sanity would be stretched

 

T

[AngstROM]

That is just a bit AWESOME! 

[Mumbly]

Evening all.

 

Ok, the front re-spoke has been done, now getting ready to do the rear as well as putting into practice some valuable lessons learnt from the front. 

 

This is a kind of before and after picture using the rear.  I know it is not perfect, but for my 1st attempt I am quite chuffed and the difference is massive compared to the moulded original.  Tyres need the rubber flash removed, anyone got any suggestions on a good method?

 

 

Also have the discs drilled and painted too...

 

 

Waiting on the steel to proper dry.  Using AK True Metal, and patience on the drying is vital.  Will give them a buff tomorrow then possibly a wash to tone the brightness down a bit, as they look too flat all gold and steel. 

 

Also working on the forks now, have opened up the top yoke to take some 3mm brass tube and will show the workings on the bottom triple clamp when I have something worth showing.  I was going to scratch build them, but the kit ones look fine and just need some modification.  The forks though are a bit pants, hence the brass tube.  All in all, progressing nicely.

 

Catch you later

 

Tony

[Hewy]

Great job on the wheels, some medium sand paper will get rid of the rubber flash on the tyres

[Mumbly]

1 hour ago, Hewy said:

Great job on the wheels, some medium sand paper will get rid of the rubber flash on the tyres

 

Thanks, and I have probably used to fine a grade on the rubber up to now - get out the 80 grit

 

[Rob G]

Great work Tony. Inspiration for me to get going on my Dukes.

 

You may already know of this site, but if not... enjoy.

 

http://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/

[Mumbly]

32 minutes ago, Rob G said:

Great work Tony. Inspiration for me to get going on my Dukes.

 

You may already know of this site, but if not... enjoy.

 

http://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/

 

 I found the site recently through Pinterest and then realised that the kit has a 19" front wheel and that an 18" looks way better, but I can't do anything about that now as I am not aware of aftermarket wheels and tyres for bikes in 1/12th.  If they exist then happy days for the next project

 

[Mumbly]

Evening all.

 

Front wheel shot, discs on!

 

 

Still need to sort out the rubber flash, still on the to do list.

 

Also, this is me being lazy on the photo side, as I normally get annoyed with Photobucket hanging.  So this is a wrap up photo which I will expand on....

 

 

Ok, the engine has been painted with semi-gloss black which has a cote of flat clear over it as it was way too glossy for what I wanted.  Carbs are attached, and the plugs and HT leads are on as well.  Just need to add the front sprocket which is part of the MFH Bike Chain Set for the Ducati Desmo / RC211V / YZR-M1.  The kit unit is a 1 piece moulded chain and sprocket which firstly looks a bit meh and secondly would need cutting to get through the mono-shock mod on the swing arm. 

 

On the swing arm, the brackets for the mono-shock are in place, and the frame ones are going on the bracing above the carbs.  In the foreground, I have started the mono-shock itself.  4mm brass tube, 3mm plastic rode, the top eye from one of the kit springs and some 1mm copper wire from some twin & earth which was wound around a self trapping screw to make the coil (a trick I read elsewhere on this forum, apologies for not remembering who had the bright idea to do that).  This is on going, but soon should be done.  This needs to be co-ordinated with all of the brackets as it doesn't move so needs to be the correct height.

 

The front forks are now getting the treatment.  Head stock original holes were opened out to 4mm, and have been strengthened up a bit as the material left was a bit scant, and looked flimsy at best.  This is on going, but I have also added a clip-on at the top too, again opened out to 4mm.  The fork has been separated at the lower stanchion and drilled out to accept the brass tube.  Next step is to remove the headlamp bracket and drill that out too.  Then repeat for the other side.

 

Once all of this is done, I can fit the forks and then work out the lines for the front mudguard.  The great thing with this kit is that I have 2 sets of front forks, 2 head stocks and a variety of handle bars to choose, as well as 2 front mudguards.  Makes it easier to attack the bits knowing I have spares a plenty.

 

Coming along nicely, and counting down to painting the tank, front guard and tail unit soon .  Frame de-tagging and first assembly also getting near too.

 

Check in again soon.

 

Tony

[Mumbly]

A long while on any updates on this one, apologies as I have been drifting in and out of this.  So, to recap....

 

Frame has been de-tagged and some weld seams have been added.  These are the areas that have been removed.

 

 

I have also added the mono-shock bracket, and painted the frame, tank and seat hump....

 

 

And from above

 

 

I need to shoot some clear over the tank and seat hump, along with the headlamp.  I am also very impressed with the effect that Gravity have managed to achieve with their metallic, it looks to scale as some metallic flakes looks too chunky .  Frame was painted with some Tamiya TS7, as I needed to break up the black somehow, and a gloss black frame would have been too much in my opinion.

 

I have the front end to complete next, and I am waiting on a Molotow pen to get the fork sliders chromed.  I also am pondering the front mudguard, as I am not liking my first attempt.

 

Next update won't be in 6 months  and should see the forks attached.  Afterwards it is a re-spoke of the rear wheel and then we are left with the exhaust and seat to figure out what to do.

 

BTW, I have seen the effect of the Molotow on plastic, does anyone know if it works on brass or will it need priming?

 

Cheers

 

Tony