Norman1950
XS400 Addict
Liking the direction you are going with all the parts you are ordering.
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My Cafe Racer Build (and Re-Build)
- Thread starter Wolfe_11B
- Start date
I need to get them on the scale at work on monday to find out the exact number, but I can confirm that the 2.5 is slightly lighter in my hand than the stock 1.85 steel rim.
I weighed a 1.85 steel rim and got right around 5lbs. I would imagine a 1.85 aluminum would weigh about half or so as it would have to be thicker than the steel to be as strong. I know not all aluminum rims are made the same but would just an idea. All my bikes have a 1.60 front rim and would think that would be around 4-4.5lbs.
I weighed the stock 1.85 rims at work today and got 6 lbs 2 oz. Didn't have the new ones on me so can't compare yet.
Got the old spokes off and blasted the hubs, ready for the spray booth. I'm totally going to miss having access to the media blaster when I leave this job :/
Got the old spokes off and blasted the hubs, ready for the spray booth. I'm totally going to miss having access to the media blaster when I leave this job :/
Could be that my works scale is off as well. Wouldn't put it past them.
Well thanks to Chris, my work has a freshly calibrated scale lol. I told them it sounded off, so the quality analysis folks came back and fixed it.
I'd say thats a pretty nice weight savings on a rotating mass.
I'd say thats a pretty nice weight savings on a rotating mass.
$180 for the rims, $200 for spokes/nipples. True/balance will be on me. Still debating whether or not to go with the Buchanan spokes though... I just can't find the Asian eBay spokes long enough to work with the disk front hub.
That's why I don't have them on my bike
I don't true/balance wheels either so that would be another $100+ for my local shop to do. I figured it would be about $500 to do it last year. Now knowing what weight saving really are it's not going to happen. I would rather buy another xs400
I don't true/balance wheels either so that would be another $100+ for my local shop to do. I figured it would be about $500 to do it last year. Now knowing what weight saving really are it's not going to happen. I would rather buy another xs400
Sorry for the lack of updates, but my new job with the railroad has taken up all of my free time. Was in Georgia for a month of training, now I'm on the road. I only work about 4 days a week, but 2 of my free days are spent at a hotel at the turn-around terminal, and then my remaining time at home is spent sleeping. So it's tough to get any time to work on the hog. But the nice days are here and it's getting me in gear to do a bit of progress.
I'm currently at the point where I have to assemble the bike almost completely, so I can work out the fairing mounting, steering stop, exhaust routing, frame strengthening, swing arm bracing, gauge mount, etc etc. Then it will all come back apart for welding and painting/finishing.
Here is a quick mock up I did just to make my brain think that some progress is being made. The fairing will need the belly pan cut out to be able to get it into the proper position.
Got the rims laced for my prebuild purposes. After getting them done, I've now decided to leave the hubs unpainted instead of making them black, as the dull unfinished aluminum look actual contrasts pretty nicely with the rims and the black swing arm (and soon to be black frame). Leaving them as-is will probably attract a lot of visible dirt and grime, and probably some oxidation, but this bike is meant to be ridden hard and beat up, not be a show bike. On that same note, I've decided to reuse the stock spokes that came with the 360 rims. The biggest reason for this is that Buchanan's was giving me the run around and not returning my phone calls, and then the few times I did talk to a human, they said they had the spoke profiles already, but then a week later wanted measurements from me, then wouldn't return the calls, blah blah blah. The stock spokes were rusted to all hell and looked like there was no saving them. A day soaked in Metal Rescue, then a day soaked in a long-term corrosion inhibitor bath, and they are good to go! All threads on the nipples and spokes are smooth, and no more rust. They have a 'vintage' look to them as well, some are darker than others, some have black spots, etc. This is from the metal rescue turning the deep rust areas into black oxide. You probably can't see it in the photos, but they look pretty damn cool-
I'm currently at the point where I have to assemble the bike almost completely, so I can work out the fairing mounting, steering stop, exhaust routing, frame strengthening, swing arm bracing, gauge mount, etc etc. Then it will all come back apart for welding and painting/finishing.
Here is a quick mock up I did just to make my brain think that some progress is being made. The fairing will need the belly pan cut out to be able to get it into the proper position.
Got the rims laced for my prebuild purposes. After getting them done, I've now decided to leave the hubs unpainted instead of making them black, as the dull unfinished aluminum look actual contrasts pretty nicely with the rims and the black swing arm (and soon to be black frame). Leaving them as-is will probably attract a lot of visible dirt and grime, and probably some oxidation, but this bike is meant to be ridden hard and beat up, not be a show bike. On that same note, I've decided to reuse the stock spokes that came with the 360 rims. The biggest reason for this is that Buchanan's was giving me the run around and not returning my phone calls, and then the few times I did talk to a human, they said they had the spoke profiles already, but then a week later wanted measurements from me, then wouldn't return the calls, blah blah blah. The stock spokes were rusted to all hell and looked like there was no saving them. A day soaked in Metal Rescue, then a day soaked in a long-term corrosion inhibitor bath, and they are good to go! All threads on the nipples and spokes are smooth, and no more rust. They have a 'vintage' look to them as well, some are darker than others, some have black spots, etc. This is from the metal rescue turning the deep rust areas into black oxide. You probably can't see it in the photos, but they look pretty damn cool-
Re-post photos of what the rims looked like when I bought them for comparison-
LuckyEight
Head-scratcher
hm hmm...My plan was to paint the rims and hubs black with chrome spokes...But yours look pretty good...hesitation again!
Doing this pretty much sold me on it-
Using them oem spokes saved you a lot of money alsoNo need for new is the old still works.
Exactly what I'm thinking!
Got around to doing my anodizing today. Came out perfect on the first run. My only gripe is in the type of gold I went with. It's a dark gold, almost getting into brass territory. Think GSX-R fork color. Well, I wanted more of the 'Ohlins' gold, which is a bit lighter in saturation. I think next time I'll use the yellow dye, which I believe will give the look I wanted. But they will do fine, can't really complain.
Sitting in the bath-
After dying and sealing-
And my longer side stand came in. Perfect length for those that are raising the ass end a little. No need to carry around the hipster 2x4 chunk any longer. For those that are interested, the stand is from an XS850 and uses the same bolt and mount. Just need to use the 850 spring and it all works out great-
Sitting in the bath-
After dying and sealing-
And my longer side stand came in. Perfect length for those that are raising the ass end a little. No need to carry around the hipster 2x4 chunk any longer. For those that are interested, the stand is from an XS850 and uses the same bolt and mount. Just need to use the 850 spring and it all works out great-
LuckyEight
Head-scratcher
yea more gixxer gold...but i like it! I will go back to black
Was an ordeal, but tires are mounted and are holding air. Tubeless spoked rims-
