FZS600 Project. A Bike Called Polly

[Ruby Racing]

You have any pics of your £20 paint job?

There ya go.



CLICK HERE

[apage16]

Great work!


Did you dilute and roller on the primer too?

[Ruby Racing]

Thank you. Was trying to get it to display on the forum, but can't get my code right.


I just rubbed down the panels to key them and applied about 4/5 coats of paint. No primer. It's a race bike, so didn't need to be perfect as it would go down the road at some point! That said I was very happy with the result. Only downside is the colour choices are very limited.

[apage16]

Headlights.


I'm not realising anything new here. They're crap and we all know it.


When I bought my bike, it got dark on the way home. As the sun disappeared over the horizon I went from having the most fun since I discovered girls, to abject terror at not being able to see ANYTHING! I calmly assumed something was wrong. Easy fix, I thought. But then I discovered FOC-U and the crushing reality that the headlights were designed that way. Maybe Japan is 100% energy efficient LED streetlit?


Anyway. I very quickly did the Headlight mod thanks to the forum and the improvement was vast. But considerably better than awful was still bad.


First thought was to modify the nearside reflector to take an H4 bulb so that I could have twin dip, twin main beams. But that plan relied very heavily on the reflector working with a different bulb setup. Not to mention the fact that the silver in the reflector, as is common, is flaking off. NOT very reflective! And I'm dead against anything that might cast light in a wayward fashion because I hate it when I'm dazzled by badly adjusted/wrongly fitted lights.


So I jumped on the Bay of E and ordered a set of these from China.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171093207271?s...1439.l2649


For £30 I was happy to take a punt.


So the lights arrived and the 'fun' began.


First off was the very unnatural feeling act of putting my headlight in the oven.


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20 minutes at 80 degrees did the trick I think. Then a couple of flathead screwdrivers worked around the edge and the front was off.


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Finally I got to have a closer look at the infamously troublesome left hand reflector. As expected, the reflective material was in a rubbish state. And you can see where the silver shroud has worn away the top and bottom of the bulb slot.


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On the right hand H4 reflector, fitting was pretty straightforward. At first. The lamp fitted through the hole and an adapter plate fills the space where the H4 base would be. BUT the reflector interfered with the solenoid mechanism of the lamp. So out came the Dremel, a little earlier than expected.


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Which gave the space to fit the projector in without interference.


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Sadly the modification wasn't over. My assumption that "will work with any H1 bulb" meant I could use ANY H1 bulb (I din't want to go to HID just yet). Sadly I was wrong. The hole in the back of the unit was made for HID H1 bulbs. But a little filing to extend the slot northwards...


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And the standard H1 Halogen bulb fitted like it grew there!


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The other side, the H1 bulb reflector, neede a LOT more work. I had to Dremel out the whole H1 mounting surface to make a hole big enough to fit the projector into. (no pic unfortunately. Seems I neglected to photograph this stage. Must have been getting pissed off with the continuing cutting!). The hole ended up being much bigger than expected as the left hand reflector is much more shallow than the H4 one. So the projector actually touched the front of the headlight unit lens. Until I chopped away even MORE of the reflector. The kit also came with Chromed plastic shrouds which quite simply didn't fit into the cramped space. SO after a bit of chopping and shoe-horning (unsuccessfully) the shrouds found the bin.


Due to the size of the hole, I had to brace the fixing nut with a couple a of big rubber washers.


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After all the cutting, I had to blow approximately a metric ton of dust out of the light before refitting the front lens, with the help of a heat gun.


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With the light unit back together, now I had to get power into the bulbs.


On the left I used the existing H1 bulb connector so that I could keep the existing wiring. But the lugs had to go as there was no longer any room for them.


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I also had to cut off the ends of the connectors so that the wiring was out of the way of the forks.


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On the right hand side I piggy backed a positive feed from the left hand loom. Then I ran the main beam live into the projector solenoids (both linked). The negatives from both the solenoids and the right hand bulb ran back into the right hand lighting loom. (all the negatives lead to the same place anyway!) Sadly the right hand wiring interfered with the forks and looked pretty scruffy too. So I chopped off the original plug and replaced it with an AMP 3-way waterproof connector.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350823770535?s...1439.l2649


So thats the headlights improved. And what an improvement! I can see where I'm going. I think a large part of that is due to the Osram Nightbreaker Plus bulbs. They're quite fantastic. The only shortcoming is that my pass button (to flash the main beam) operates the solenoids only. So if the bulbs aren't already illuminated, I just get a click and no light. Not sure if this is an MOT issue. If so, I'll be getting the relays out...


The headlights re-fitted, with an extra bit of childish decoration. Though I've since removed the autobots decal. This bike is DEFINITELY a Deceptacon


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[Ruby Racing]

Excellent job and great write up. Do you reckon you could squeeze two of those lights in one side if you junked the silver reflector?


If you want any OE connectors then I can highly recommend this guy: [size=78%]http://kojaycat.co.uk[/size][size=78%] [/size]

[apage16]

Thanks RubyRacing. There were several moments when I thought I'd ruined my headlights. But turned out well in the end.

These ones are a bit big I think. They're a lot deeper than they are wide.  I got them because I thought that a standard H1 halogen would fit. But it didn't. (Without persuasion!) So there are smaller 'bi-xenon' projectors avaliable. As long as you go down the HID route. Though I'm sure,  like mine,  that they could be modded to take whatever bulbs you want!  :lol

[darrsi]

Won't halogen lights be too hot for the lens?

[apage16]

Won't halogen lights be too hot for the lens?

I thought that might be the case. But they're Metal reflectors and glass lenses. If it gets hot hot enough in there to melt them,  I won't be needing heated grips this winter!  :b

[Fuzzy]

Good work on the headlights apage16. Great project in general too

[apage16]

So, let's see em in action then!

I tried to take some pics tonight, but the phone camera really doesn't show it. It's almost as if the phone has an 'Original FZS600 headlight' filter on it!


I'll take the proper camera out soon and get some accurate shots.

[apage16]

Good work on the headlights apage16. Great project in general too

Thank you kindly Fuzzy. I'd originally planned for all of it to take a lot longer. But I'm just too impatient!

[apage16]

And so the bike now has a name.


Me and the lady friend had a running joke about a fictional 'other woman' called Polly.


Then I got a new bike and started spending an inordinate amount of time fiddling with her and riding her... ahem...


So now the bike IS the fictional other woman. The bike is called Polly.


For example:




Her: "What are you doing tonight Dear?"


Me: "I'm going to fiddle with Polly's headlights and then ride her like Seabiscuit until the sun goes down. Dear"


...

[nick crisp]

red98 has a "fictional" ( ) name for his - she's called Dolly apparently.......she's a b-a-a-a-a-a-d girl!  :lol

Sorry Paul 

[Chris]

Hahaha! love this thread, keep up the good work.  :rollin

Chris

[apage16]

Today I took delivery of a nice shiny set of Renthal 755 handlebars, purchased from the Bay of E.


At least I thought I did. I thought that they seemed a lot higher than the stock bars, but after seeing a couple of other bikes with them, cracked on with fitting.


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But I later found out that the eBay seller had misread the stamp. These were 'Road High' 756 bars! So i was potentially marching into unknown territory. For me at least!


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But anyway, first off I had to remove the old bars. A thin screwdriver around the inside of the old grip to loosen it, 3 different allen keys, an 8mm socket and a philips screwdriver later (why so many different fittings Mr Yamaha!?), and the bars were off.


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As many of you probably already know, the switchgear on both sides has a little tab that fits into the drilled holes on the OEM bars.


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Now you can drill your Renthal bars if you like. Some even come pre-drilled. But I found a Bandit forum thread in which somebody phoned up Renthal and was told that if you drill your own bars, the warranty is voided due to the potential weakening and subsequent potential stress fatigue.


http://www.banditforum.co.uk/forum/index...28.35;wap2


SO I decided to get rid of the tabs. You can file them, sand them, even use a tiny saw to get them off if you like. I used some little wire cutters and snipped all but a mm or two off. I left the little bit so it would bite into the large bit of heatshrink that I put around the bar. I used heatshrink because I know that Electrical tape can sometimes go a bit gooey (I work a lot with electrics and outdoor lighting, so I've seen tape thats left outside in the wet go weird and slimy many times!) and I didn't fancy this happening under my switchgear!


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The 756 bars are 20mm taller than the 755's I was expecting, so fitting wasn't all plain sailing.


The brake line from the front master cylinder was originally routed behind my fork stanchion. I'm not entirely sure if this is normal, or a cock-up on my part when I changed the fork seals! But in any case, I had to jack up the front of the bike, loosen the triple clamps and slide the forks and front wheel out of the top clamp just enough to move the brake line in front of the stanchion. (I had to detach the brake calipers because the brake lines are just long enough so had no more give, but the speedo cable was slack enough to allow an inch or so of downwards movement.)


At the same time, I had to move the cabling to the right hand switches. It originally passed through the forks and around the front of the yoke. now it goes straight to the switches. Of course I secured it to the brake line with a cable tie to prevent any chafing or trapping of the cabling.


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Also, due to the extra height, the bars had to be raked back quite far to avoid the throttle unit fouling the fairing on full left lock. Luckily, this position seems to be far more comfortable than the stock bars!


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Also, the extra height eats into the grip real estate meaning that there is quite literally only just enough space for the grips, switches and levers. I'm even tempted to trim the grips down by about 10mm to get the levers a bit more onto the straight end section of the bar.


Also, when positioning the throttle grip and the front brake lever, I had to make sure that the throttle cabling was rotated such that the lever could go through it's full motion. If you're not careful here, the throttle housing can actually foul the lever. Glad I realised this in the garage rather than while storming towards a red light!


Next up was the issue of bar end weights. The Yamaha OEM ones won't work straight off as there is no nut welded into the bars. After watching this great video:


  Delboy's Garage, Renthal Bars, Bar End Weights Ghetto fix.


I took a visit to Screwfix and picked up a 5 pack of Rawl Bolts for just under £4.


I also took a further step and sleeved the bolts in a small length of silicon tubing to give them a bit more grip, and prevent them marking the bars on the inside.


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And they work fantastically! I could have spent more money on specific bar ends, the Renthal ones would have cost more than the Bars cost me! Instead I just used what I already had! I did need to use longer bolts though.


After a test ride down to London and back, I'm pleased to report that the bike feels MUCH better. Far more comfortable. Almost like it was made for me!


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[Chris]

Another nice job and good write up  8)

Haha, delboy's garage has saved me loads of time and frustration. I actually found some of those at one of my local builders yesterday and bored my girlfriend with what they can be used for when I get my new bars. haha!

Chris

[apage16]

I almost forgot, while I had the bars off I took the clocks off and replaced the bulbs with blue LEDS.


Pretty happy with how it turned out!


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You can't really read a great deal on the LCD display, but to be honest, you couldn't before either!


If you try this yourself (and it is VERY easy, see here: http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,1719.0.html )


Top Tip!!


I'm probably not alone in thinking that the main beam light on the dash is a bit bright and dazzly at night (which, let's face it, is when you'll use main beam the most!). I tried putting an LED in the place of the main beam tell-tale, but it looked foccin awful. Made an off centre spot in the lens. Not the look I was after.


So my top tip is this. Theres a good chance that the glass of the bulbs you removed when you put in the LED's is darkened from use. Just stick one of these in where the main beam tell-tale is and the light will be much dimmer!

[apage16]

Another nice job and good write up  8)

Haha, delboy's garage has saved me loads of time and frustration. I actually found some of those at one of my local builders yesterday and bored my girlfriend with what they can be used for when I get my new bars. haha!

Chris

Thanks Chris!


Yeah, they're pretty useful. Apparently they can be used to anchor things into masonry too. But that seems pretty far fetched to me...

[Chris]

[quote author=Chris link=topic=10338.msg111681#msg111681 date=1383700924]
Another nice job and good write up  8)

Haha, delboy's garage has saved me loads of time and frustration. I actually found some of those at one of my local builders yesterday and bored my girlfriend with what they can be used for when I get my new bars. haha!

Chris

Thanks Chris!


Yeah, they're pretty useful. Apparently they can be used to anchor things into masonry too. But that seems pretty far fetched to me...
[/quote]

No worries man, good work deserves a comment.

haha, some people eh... Masonry indeed.... foccin stupid idea...

Chris

[noggythenog]

This is some serious fettling youve been up to here, what made you start it all & whats the plan when youget it  finished???, have you got any more projects kicking about?..


I was forced into fettling my bike after a crash but given the choice im a bit lazy to put in the hours needed & my work is totally amateur but id love to some day buy a fully modded to death project bike from a serious fettler that always changes their bike.