FZ1-FZ750 Retro-Mod

[Jeremy Atkins]

I bought my '04 FZS1000 as a project bike, it has the dreaded coolant leak (but haven't got around to sorting that yet!) and was missing its fairing, it had a strange streetfighter conversion where the clocks stayed fixed to the bike and it had massive cow-horn handlebars.






I used to work in a petrol Station In Royston, Herts, and sometimes on a Sunday morning you'd hear an almighty racket and Steve Parrish would appear over the hill on his Loctite FZ750 race bike (he lived just up the road) and call in for petrol before roaring off again (having bump started it down the forecourt)

So this got me to thinking.... would an FZ750 fairing fit an FZ1??

After a bit of dimension googlage I decided that it would be close enough so found some replica race fairing, sides and screen on ebay and ordered them....

I also took the flat bars I had on my XJ550 with nicer mirrors which made the seating position and feel of the bike much better.

Using a lot of sticky tape I played around with the positioning until it looked right, interestingly the line of the tank matches perfectly with the line of the fairing (better than the original FZ750!)



A lot of the original mounting points had been butchered so went to Wickes where they have a great selection of different metal brackets and timber framing joints, etc, starting from 79p so just bought a selection to get me started.

At this point someone on the FZ1 UK Facebook page pointed out that it had been done before and featured in Sept 2021's Practical Sportsbike magazine, so I ordered a copy off ebay



It was interesting to read what someone else had done and they had taken the same approach to mounting - just keep adjusting until it looks 'right' interestingly in the same magazine was a picture of Eddie Lawson's FZ750 race bike:



I wanted to retain the race bike feel so decided on a small LED headlight and mounted it up to test:



To be continued....

 

[Jeremy Atkins]

I liked the Angel eye effect but it wasn't bright enough so I also bought a 1.5" LED H4 upgrade which is about 4x brighter but required a bit of engineering to mount as it has to be adjustable in a couple of directions:


Last weekend I relocated the horn so it doesn't foul the fairing and did yet another test fit of the fairing to make sure the light mounts don't foul on any of the fairing mounts, I also wheeled it outsdie to have a proper look to make sure the tank and fairing lines align and it looks OK





I am pretty pleased with teh results so far, it looks exactly how I had imagined it!

Last night I took the Fairing off (again) and re-did the wiring as it was a bit of a mess, too long and a bit intermittent - which is not something I need from my headlights!

I have also ordered the same tiny but remarkably bright indicators that I used on my XT125 restoration and have just got a rubber grommet the same size as the top light hole which I will use to try and make that installation look a bit neater.

My plan is to paint it in the same Deep Purplish Blue as the rest of the bike initially and may put a yellow Racing number oval/square on the front, and then decide on a scheme for the whole bike to re-do next summer

Then I just need to relocate the heated grips controller and refit the fairing properly to take it for its first test run....

 

[Isleoman]

Great progress. Love the look of those racing FZ750s.

 

[jimco]

I like it. Very cool project.

 

[Jeremy Atkins]

Just before new year managed to get out on my old (now my son's) XJ550 then give the FZ1 its first road test!
Really pleased with how it went, I just need to make sure I put rubber washers in all of the mounts before final assembly as there was a bit of vibe and I have a rubber surround for the upper light that I will glue in place after its painted, but other than that it was all stable, gave some protection and sent some warm air over my legs!
Just trying to decide whether to open up the rear vents in the side pieces






I did have a little issue with the headlight wiring as the top one only moves the solenoid on high beam and the lamp goes out, so I ran some wiring to the bulb from the high beam but with a diode to stop the solenoid switching on low beam, also found 2 H4 connectors in the loom so seperated the wiring for the 2 lamps to make it simpler to troubleshoot and manage



Next I need to order the parts to do the water pump fix and a full service and whilst I am doing that I will take the fairing and mountings off to finish up and paint

 

[Isleoman]

I like your progress.

Relative to your future paint scheme …..In the US there is /was a trend to de-badge sports cars. Remove all the corporate logos, model names and anything else that makes it easily identifiable. Have the vehicle's body design stand on it’s own. I find it gets my attention a lot more than knowing what I’m looking at.

 

[Jeremy Atkins]

Thanks! Yes, I have the same thought, at the moment the only insignia she sports are the Yamaha Tuning forks on the tank which I will remove when I paint it.

Having previously owned a Pilot's Clothing Company called Aero-ist I have thought of using the same branding to create a new logo for my custom Motorbikes and Guitars called Aero-ist Custom Engineering and printing off some Tank badges something like this:

 

[Jeremy Atkins]

After another test ride last week



I decided that now's the time to start the tear-down to finish the fairing, fix the water pump, do a service and sort out the MoT advisory (Rear Brake Pads)

I took loads of pictures of the fairing brackets and the light mounts so I stood half a chance of getting it all back together, I will be tidying up and painting all of the brackets to try and make it look a little less Heath-Robinson!



Ended up with quite a pile of bits!



Once the fairing was off and the side panels separated I opened up the side-vents - I am hoping that this will give a nice flow of warm air over the legs - as well as taking heat from the radiator



I have sanded down all of the mould marks from the pieces, the next job is to do a bit of filling to sort out a few nicks and chips before final paint prep.

I have decided to just go with the Deep Purplish Blue rattle cans for the fairing for now, but will decide on a full new colour scheme in the summer when I can get my compressor out

 

[Jeremy Atkins]

So, as I have almost (hopefully!) finished sorting the water pump on my bike (see thread: https://www.998cc.org/threads/coolant-leak-and-sludge-at-bottom-of-engine.24797/)

I can turn my attention back to the modifications, firstly the tyres, whilst having loads of tread are over 6 years old and squarer than a car tyre on the rear so new boots have arrived, I went for the Michelin Road 4s as they were a good Price-Performance ratio and on special offer at Demontweeks for £240 the pair delivered next day:


I will drop them into Motoduo in Kettering to get them fitted tomorrow
I also set up a spray booth to get the fairing parts painted



I am just finishing off the lacquer coats now, so the next job will be to rebuild the headlight mounts (luckily I took loads of phots!)

In the meantime I have fitted the old Indicators and an LED headlight to the bike, so that I can roadtest and prove the mechanical work before I start refitting the fairing:

 

[Jeremy Atkins]

The bike is still fighting me in terms of the cooling system and at this rate I might have the fairing finished before I cure its incontinence!
Making progress in getting the lights fitted, first one is in and wired:

I will polish it up once the Lacquer has properly hardened, but looks a reasonable colour match for the bike

 

[Jeremy Atkins]

The cooling system finally gave in and decided to stay full of coolant during a test ride!



I decided now was a good time to get the fairing fitted back on the bike





I am particularly pleased with how the crease line on the fairing matches that on the tank



I then did a 90 mile round trip to Cambridge with my son which was a great ride and it behaved impeccably, the new tyres (Michelin Road 4s) were an absolute revelation


I've fitted my Daughter's private plate on it as she lives in Dubai now, and is kind of apt as this thing really does fly!


Really pleased with how this bike is turning out, effortless, comfortable, fun, freaking quick and (i think) it looks good too

 

[Isleoman]

Coming along nicely. Do you grab on to something like the rear foot rest when trying to get it up on center stand? I think I would struggle without the passenger grab bars.

 

[jimco]

Looks good.

 

[Jeremy Atkins]

Coming along nicely. Do you grab on to something like the rear foot rest when trying to get it up on center stand? I think I would struggle without the passenger grab bars.

Thanks! There is a handle built in to the left hand pillion peg just for this purpose (Between the peg mount and the seat lock):