I had a 2008 zx-10r front end in the pipeline until the guy took so damn long that i got tired and gave up but now i got new hope! Just need to find another 9r swingarm though....parting out my poor 9r as long as shes still running strong feels like such a shame unless i find a way to recycle all the other parts first!

 

Very cool!

Sounds awesome,
With these older bikes getting 50lbs is pretty simple to do, as they were built like tanks.
I would love to see some pics of this as your going through it.
So what do you have planned for the subframe?
will it be one person only?
as if thats the case cutting the subframe is some easy weight and pulling all that plastic and using some .8mm aluminum or thin layer CF will free up more.

Why not use a A123 battery or one of the new version batteries from motowheels?
as 2lb total weight? vs your 10lb battery?

 

The plan is to maintain all street legal lighting & OEM bodywork...my wife added the requirement to maintain the rear seat....as the passenger seat on my 636 is crap.

The 9Ah battery was cheap with some Jake Wilson discounts (like $30), and weighs a little over 7# versus 10#. The A123 battery is certainly on the radar when it comes time for a new battery in any of the bikes...I'm hopeful prices on them drop a little in the near future. $'s/pound it probably is the best weight reduction out there.

The use of steel brackets on the ZX7R approaches sinful levels, and everything was certainly built heavy...I'm pretty sure I'll eventually get over 60# off...but don't want to overpromise...

 

Yeah, but the ZX10 swingarm is so sexy!

I have just torn down my L1 to swap over a Gen1 swingarm. Already mocked up the 10R forks. The weight reduction in the wheels is insane!

Josh

 

I agree. the zx10 arm looks very nice. I found a picture of that swap and almost went that route. I'm curious what that arm weighs... The zx9r swingarm (just the arm) was ~12#.

I have a set of Big Piston forks to swap onto my 636...the weight reduction claimed on those is no joke...but the zx7r will keep the forks it has for now.

 

I just weighed my 04/05 swingarm ~11 lbs no pivot bolt, but w/ plastic chain guard.

I went ahead and weighed the rear wheel with cush, sprocket and rotor~ 18 lbs

Josh

 

I've had my hands on a number of wheels over the last couple years....the zx10r rear wheel is 1 full pound lighter than the 9R...the 5.5" zx6r wheel is another pound lighter still. I stuck with a 6" to make life easier lining up both the sprocket and wheel centerlines.

Good info on the ZX10R arm. I'd also bet its even more rigid than the 9R arm given the large section shape it has.

 

Weight of all the eliminated components from a kleen mod and float bowl mod on my '01 is 2.26 lbs....help you nail down your numbers maybe

I'll have my eyes out for a 10R front to put on, I think I'll use the 7's triples if possible to keep it simple since I'm really doing it more for the new brakes than weight reduction.

I can't make myself drop several hundred dollars on Galfer rotors to use on the stock front end when I feel confident I'll eventually find a 10R front for around the same $$.

Looking good so far JB, I'd say the rear wheel/swingarm swap drops enough rotating mass to make a noticeable difference in turn-in.

 

I weighed my L1 rear swingarm at 15.5 pounds, so 4.5 pound weight saving for the 04/05 swingarm swap.

Josh

 

my weight reduction plans...subway diet with jarred and 5....5 dollar...$5 ft long


Other quick hitters
- 9Ah battery instead of 12Ah - 3# pounds
- Carbon Fiber Snorles - 3#
- Fully Muzzy Exhaust (the header/cannister weigh ~17# total)- I'm guessing this wil save ~ 15-20#
- 520 chain...it will save something, maybe a pound.
- Float bowl and KLEEN valve system removal - 2-3#...I don't have all the stock parts to weigh


other than the intakes i have the same thing. all fiberglass bodywork (never had true plastics, so i dont know how significant it is)

kinda cool to think i shaved 50 lbs without ever tallying it all up.

i plan to do something with the headlight housing in the future, maybe some sort of lexan for the lens and just make my own housing with custom projectors then black everything out.

the wheels are soon to be on my list, the 9r wheel seems to be the best bang/buck here...well besides the battery and deleting various emissions garbage.

how are you weighing the bike? i used a truck scale once but that was a couple years ago and i forgot the number i was sitting at

 

great to see this, John! awesome

 

Pair of Fork legs: 20 pounds for 93-95, 15.5 pounds for 2005 ZX10R...

Forgot to weigh the front wheels before I swapped the front tire.

Josh

 

Goddamit got my new nissin brake rotors today, I never saw any model specific pictures but heard that they were pretty good and was hoping to have a 100% nissin braking system.....Then I saw how MASSIVE they are! They look even more filled in with even more steel than the stock rotors!

Goodbye zx-9r front wheel and nissin caliper weight reduction gains

 

Hey does anyone know if zx-12r wheels can be made to fit the zx-7r with custom spacers? Rear rotor and rear sprocket don't worry me as long as the front rotors are compatible (since the first gen zx-12r had the same calipers i'm guessing it should work), not that i'm going to try to fit zx-12r wheels but i found a supplyer who has bst carbon fibre wheels but in his list closest thing i could find were zx-12r wheels, the rest are all more recent models (zx10, 636, 2010 z1000 etc) which all use the newer types of wheels that use the new types of discs (no offset).

 

Just need spacers and make sure the bearings are the same size as you axle or use conversion bearings. Not sure what size ZX12R is for front bearings though.

Josh

 

Checked Ron Ayers and ZX12R and ZX7R use the same from bearing i.e. 6005UU

So, it's a matter of spacers and caliper spacing.

Josh

 

zx12r rotors are 3/8" wider spacing (going from memory)...

if the bst wheels have a bolt on hub, surely this could be modified...

 

Well wheel bearings and the internal spacer are the same as zx-9r so i can re-use my old axle spacers if the bst wheel bolts-on using the stock axle and spacers. As for the rear the only thing really different is the sprocket carrier but since the bst wheel comes with one i guess that just means adapting the rear brake. I would just need to measure the distance betweent the two disc mounting surfaces....

Checked the weight yesterday, stock rear wheel with a lightened stock diameter and thickness rear disc without sprocket carrier....almost 7.5 kg and front wheel tips the balance at over 5kg without the discs only the speedo unit!

Oh yeah plus I measured my box of bits i've removed since starting the track bike build. almost 20 kg of lights, antipollution, dash, steel rear subframe, passenger footrest hangers etc etc.

Weighed the bike too using two bathroom scales Sofar wet weight without battery is around 200kg or 440 lbs.

Planning on using a 2.2kg ytz7s battery but i'm hesistant to try and scour a small lithium battery online. Also looking into lightening the rear subframe a bit more, trimming off more useless bits and ,maybe drilling it...
Also contemplating lightening the triple clamps, removing the ignition switch and replacing it with a few big switches and a 100 ohm resistor? Dunno if i risk making the front flex too much...

 

if something is already aluminum...I'd leave it alone.

I would leave the triples alone...as far as weight reduction anyway.

 

Guess I'll stick to removing just the ring part and the supports for the ignition switch and horn

 

Good info.

Reviving an old thread, for it is an important part of updating this bike. The stock motor is more than up to the job, for it has a beautiful spread of power between 3000 - 10,000 rpm. Top end is a little lacking compared to the gsxr750, but not by much. A lot of that can be captured with a full exhaust and good jetting. But the weight has to come down.

The heavy headlights need to be replaced with something much lighter. The trick is to retain the look of the bike. Maybe clear lexan fabricated to replace the openings?

Many brackets can be fabricated out of aluminum or even carbon fibre.

Aluminum bolts to replace non-stress bolts.

Rad fan out, thermostat out (believe me, your bike will run cooler and maybe even too cool), horn off to name a few off the top of my head.

Lithium batteries appear to be one of the greatest weight savings per peso spent.

If you can drop 50 lbs off this bike, than it is on par with the new 1000s, which are now in the 470 lb range, if you can believe it.

 

Wet weight of a zx10r is 435 pounds... With aftermarket exhaust it's easy to get under 400...

The 10r conversion plus an a123 battery will get around 40 pounds of reduction.

Shed the subframe and re-fab the forward brackets will net a few more But not 10r or 6r territory

Josh

 

I think you are referring to the weight of the first gen zx10, which had too much motor for the chassis.

2007-11 GSX-Rs 1000 and R1s range from about 460 to 470 lbs wet.

Gen. II and III ZX-10r are in this heavy weight group as well.

 

who gives a flying fuck about gsxr...+1, we're in a KAWI forum, are we not?

im sick of suzuki, true it may be a good bike/great bike...but the shits so damn played out its like the mustang of the bike world, everyone and their grandma has one of some sort. ill never buy one for that single fact...i love being different, and it doesnt get much different than a 7r, or even kawasaki in general these days. i barely see anything other than 6r, and sport cruisers and the very occasional 14's anymore. and i blame the gsxr as part of it.

 

ZX10r wet weights, full tank... STOCK

04/05 408pounds
06/07 437
08/10 456
11+ 434

Gen1 is simple to go below 400 and Gen 2 as well by ditching the dual exhaust... See how easy that was?

A far cry from 473+ pounds... And use actual numbers that guys are posting and not garbage numbers from mediocre magazines and pretend cycling websites.

Even real world Gixxers dispute magazine claims of wet weight.

As for Gixxers... I don't care and never will. I love Team Green, or if I want to have a blowhard tell me Gixxers are better ill go to Speedzilla or somewhere else.

So.... GTFO! Damn 10r talk is ruining the 7 forum dammit!

Josh

 

I was just looking at this bike...all covered up in the corner...I gotta get that thing done. I moved the coils up by the head where they belong, and need to finish up that mod...then I can actually put the tank on. I planned on going with COP...but the zx6r coils I bought were a long way from fitting.

indeed the use of steel brackets on this bike is sinful. I've got lots of places I plan to cut weight...but I gotta pause new efforts so I can ride it this decade. As I mention in my initial post...the bike will remain 100% streetable...DOT legal lighting, stock bodywork with everything 100% operational (horn, fan etc)...its part of the point.

now...you two can get back to seeing who pisses a bigger stream.

 

I was just looking at this bike...all covered up in the corner...I gotta get that thing done. I moved the coils up by the head where they belong, and need to finish up that mod...then I can actually put the tank on. I planned on going with COP...but the zx6r coils I bought were a long way from fitting.

indeed the use of steel brackets on this bike is sinful. I've got lots of places I plan to cut weight...but I gotta pause new efforts so I can ride it this decade. As I mention in my initial post...the bike will remain 100% streetable...DOT legal lighting, stock bodywork with everything 100% operational (horn, fan etc)...its part of the point.

now...you two can get back to seeing who pisses a bigger stream.

Post some pics!!!

I am pretty bummed about the COP ZX6r ordeal. It's a neat mod, but it seems maybe 1 in 6 actually get them to function correctly.

Josh

 

This bike actually moved under its own power this week.

The report this time: Shorai Lithium Iron battery...$116 shipped. Way back when this thread started I chose to avoid lithium ion batteries for durability reasons....the lithium iron seem to be bettery this way, and are cheaper to boot. Since it needed a battery anyway, the "upgrade" was really just $50. It is stupid light...almost unbelievable....under 2# and you can mount it in any orientation (which will come in handy when the subframe area gets reworked). Comes with a bunch of foam pads so it can be a proper fit in the oem battery box.

Some of the things I wanted to do are gonna wait till winter....its gonna have a lot of color mismatch for now.

Hopefully it will be street worthy in 2 weeks.

EDIT: actual battery weight on my postal scale - 1.57 pounds. In the box with all the foam pads it was 1.98 pounds. I used just a fraction of the included foam pad assortment to take up space in the oem battery box. It started the bike easily without charging (mfr date was May 2012). The 12Ah equivalent battery I purchased is rated 155 cca.