Franko's FZ1, Before and After

Franko

Franko

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I got my 2008 FZ1 about 7 weeks ago. I've been busy.

Here is what it looked like the weekend after I bought it.

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7 weeks and a butt-load of money later...

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• D2 Moto frame sliders
• Bar Ender helmet lock
• ASV brake and clutch levers (short, gold)
• Graves fender eliminator
• LP Racing rear signal lights
• MRA Vario Touring Screen (smoke)
• Custom Franko muffler bracket and tie-down rings
• Shogun swingarm spool sliders
• Clear Alternatives smoke tail light with integrated signals
• CRG Hindsight LS bar end mirrors
• ProGrip tank protector
• Grab On grip covers
• Targa license light
• Kuryakyn throttle boss
• Yoshimura TRC slip on
• Watson MicroAlloy signals
• Motovation Axle Sliders
 
Most of the Mods were pretty much bolt on. A few were custom fabrications.

To mount the CRG LS mirrors I had to make a couple of shims to space my bar ends out so I could clamp the mirrors on. I also had to fabricate a part on the lathe to allow for the bar end helmet lock on the left side. That's why I mounted the mirrors on the inside of the bar ends. I polished the paint off the bar end weight to match the Helmet lock.

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After a test ride, I rotated the mirror brackets to get them out of the way of my hands.

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Since I don't ever ride with a passenger, I decided to clean up the rear by removing the rear passenger pegs. I fabricated a new muffler bracket and and cargo hook rings to bolt to the passenger peg mounts.

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At this point I'm pretty happy with the way the bike looks. A Corbin Smuggler is on order, and today I applied some black "stealth" wheel stripes that glow gold at night under headlights.

I doubt I'll do much in the way of performance upgrades as I'm in my sixties and have no business going faster than this fine machine is already capable. I don't bounce near as good as I used to.
 
Come on, there are still loads to spend on!! :p

Jolly good job on the exhaust bracket. Can you send the ref details of your "stealth" rim stripes?
 
I like your new windshield most. I put a V-Stream on mine but the contours of yours, at least from the side look a bit better than mine. Mine has great Interstate protection but is a bit wide at the top. I'm a baby at 59, but I normally do betwen 12,000 and 15,000 miles a year so that means I have to get in quite a few highway miles and the stock screen just doesn't cut it for 70-80 MPH. One last question, how's your rearview vision with those close mirrors?
 
Lonerider59 said:
I like your new windshield most. I put a V-Stream on mine but the contours of yours, at least from the side look a bit better than mine. Mine has great Interstate protection but is a bit wide at the top. I'm a baby at 59, but I normally do betwen 12,000 and 15,000 miles a year so that means I have to get in quite a few highway miles and the stock screen just doesn't cut it for 70-80 MPH. One last question, how's your rearview vision with those close mirrors?
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That windshield works pretty well. It doesn't take the wind completely off your face but it smooths it quite a lot. When I saw the MRA Vario Touring Screen online I wasn't that impressed with its looks, but once installed on the bike I was pleasantly surprised. It looks right for me and presents an image similar to how I feel about the FZ1. A modern technical celebration.

Rear vision with the bar end mirrors is superior to the stock mirrors. I can actually see my back seat if I want. Not that you'd want to, but it is nice to be able to see directly behind as well as the passing sides. The down side is that you have to take your eyes further from the road ahead because they are low. CRG makes several models. The "LS" mirrors will fold back out of the way for transport and storage.
 
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DenArnold said:
Nice! Franko, can you provide the measurements for the exhaust bracket? Looks neat!
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Thanks DenArnold. I don't remember the exact dimensions. I don't think I wrote them down, but I think the off-set was about 3.5 inches. The hole locations and positions are the same as the stock passenger foot peg/muffler bracket. I just set it on a flat surface and took the measurements. The piece itself is made with .25" x .75" (inch) aluminum bar stock formed with a small lever and wheel bender and an aluminum-faced vise.

I was lucky with the muffler bracket and got it right the first try. The cargo hooks took several attempts to get right. I think I spoiled about three of them.

I hope that helps.
 
Ok, here she is as of now. Corbin Smuggler got here yesterday. Also new on this pic are the black reflective wheel stripes and I removed the reflectors on the front forks and replaced them with stick-on reflector tape. The wheel stripes are not bright enough to replace a front reflector.

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I like the way the Smuggler looks on this bike. It is a little bit of a nod to the Cart Bike rear cowls back in the day.

I was a little disappointed with the Smuggler's capacity. It's outside dimensions are about the same as the one I put on my FJR, but the interior space is much less. The fit and finish are superb and it is a pretty decent back-rest.
 
Also, here is my solution to signal cancellation. I mounted a couple of SuperBright LEDs on my inside cowling. They work like a charm. I haven't forgotten more than 5 or 10 seconds before canceling signals since I installed them. They are bright enough to be seen in bright sunlight, but not so bright as to be a distraction at night.

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OK, so you just about covered every aspect that is visual.....when are ya going to modding the performance side....?

Very nice work Franko! (sometimes wish I had the ability to fabricate [more like facilities])
 
BroHay said:
OK, so you just about covered every aspect that is visual.....when are ya going to modding the performance side....?

Very nice work Franko! (sometimes wish I had the ability to fabricate [more like facilities])
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BroHay, it is a fairly recognized fact that the FZ1's performance right off the showroom exceeds most biker's abilities who will ever ride it. I fall into that category. Because of my age and level of experience riding sport bikes, I chose the FZ1 because of its relatively sedate handling personality in the lower rpm ranges. It won't get me in trouble unless I deliberately push it there.

For 99% of my riding, which is big crowded city riding, it has more speed and agility than I can utilize even if I were a more experienced rider with track experience. In first gear, it is going near 60mph by the time it reaches 6k rpm. I live hundreds of miles from the nearest track, and although I'd love to get some track experience, odds are that probably isn't going to happen.

Many of the upgrades I've done are for appearance, but an equal amount are to make it more useful for how I ride it. If I get into performance upgrades, they'll be things that make the bike smoother and safer. Maybe a steering damper or if it can be demonstrated to me that is would help my style of riding, some re-mapping technology.
 
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I spent the day at the lathe with a bar of delrin and made some front axle sliders for my Fizzo.

The .71" diameter aluminum bar, drilled and threaded on both ends, goes through the axle and the sliders screw into the ends of the bar with 5/8" - 18 stainless hex cap bolts. I wanted to use 8mm metric, but couldn't get any long enough locally.

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The sliders are 1.75" diameter by 1.5" long (not counting the stem that fits in the hex hole on the right side). Insides of the sliders are milled to fit the contours of the lower axles so they seat securely.

Don't ask me to fabricate any of these. You can't (or wouldn't want to) afford them. They took me all day to make. Delrin is a cool material to machine. It mills beautifully and was a pleasure to work with.
 
it is like waving an ice cream cone in front of a kid and then beating them when they come over to get it....:(

Nice Work! What other goodies you got in the mix??
 
Really nice job Franko. You are quite the fabricator. All the fabbed parts look beautiful in terms of fit and finish. Do you do all the work at home, or do you have a shop? The bike looks great. Keep up the good work. Billy.
 
FZ1riderNY said:
Really nice job Franko. You are quite the fabricator. All the fabbed parts look beautiful in terms of fit and finish. Do you do all the work at home, or do you have a shop? The bike looks great. Keep up the good work. Billy.
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BroHay said:
it is like waving an ice cream cone in front of a kid and then beating them when they come over to get it....
Nice Work! What other goodies you got in the mix??
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Thanks. I have a shop in what is loosely called my detached garage, though it has never had a vehicle parked in it. Part of what I do for food is build things. I just accumulated enough scoot to afford some machine tools 3 years ago, so that kind of work is fairly new to me — hence my inordinate pride in what is really a pretty simple bit of machining.

The problem with the sliders is that I need to make at least a couple hundred bucks a day for shop work. I don't have computerized milling equipment so I figure the minimum I could produce is a couple a day and that is with a lot of tool changing and setting up. I'm pretty sure no one would want to afford a set of $100-$200 sliders when you can get them for around $70 on the web. Material cost was about $15-$20.

I have another on-going project to produce some block-off plates to cover the holes where my stock mirrors were. I want the plates to follow the contours of the fairing, so I fashioned a set with clay. The plan from there is to cast them in a mold with casting silicone and then cast them in fiberglass polyester resin and paint them. Getting the contours and lines perfect has turned out much more difficult than I anticipated.

I have a couple of bucks ready to make the molds, but they do have a few flaws. I had hoped that they'd be good enough to market. I'm going to cast them anyway to test the process and see what kind of reaction they get. Maybe I'm just being too much of a perfectionist. If these work out, since they are castings, it would be feasible to make a few to sell.
 
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just having the ability to fabricate something for yourself is more inline with the "ice cream" comment. I can completely understand with your time being worth $$$. I'm a General Contractor who happens to deal in some woodworking.

Friend wants a head board made, no problem, it'll cost you "X" + materials. "But I thought you could just whip something out for me... I thought we could work together on it"

In that case, my price for "X" just tripled...

Keep up the good work Franko...

BroHay
 
Yeah, same story here. People come in and downplay everything by saying "oh it's just a simple piece I need, just a cut or two." We tell them that if it were that simple, you'd be doing it yourself. Now pay up! They all think that the saw runs on solar energy and that the guy cutting it is just a volunteer. Your right on Adam.
 
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