Retro sportbike project?!!

[Cole]

So I picked up this old FZ600 for my girlfriend to learn on. They were great little bikes. 54hp, narrow,low seat, practically turn themselves.

This was Yamaha's first racer replica that hit the streets.
What I have discovered owning it is that there are so many people out there that were in love with these things. They drempt of owning one when they were in high school etc. We have had guys come over and rant and rave about how cool it is and totally ignore my 2007 R1.

So here is my thoughts on it.

I think with a few tweaks we can make this a really cool retro bike with modern handling. I want to make it handle better and "enhance" the looks but keep most of the classic style.

Here were my thoughts.

-Update the front forks to GSXR adjustable upside down sliders. Actually want to update the whole front end. (switches, brakes etc). Want gold forks since currently the brakes are gold on this thing.

-Wider wheels. Something lighter and wide enough to run radials. I would paint them the factory red so they keep the classic look. I have already figured out that you can run a 150ish in the rear.

-Powdercoat the frame factory red. Repaint the motor to look original and clean, etc

-I want to repaint all the plastics to a bright metalic white and put fresh decals on it. (it would look just like it does now, just fresh and crisp).




Thoughts? Would you do it? Cool enough?



Almost as it sits now. (has new tires)

http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/photos/photo27/78/9f/2b26d2d93bc5.jpg

[BZ]

wow... nyce old sckool square back.

[MistressOfMayhem]

I'd do it. It will be unique when you get done with it and its such a cool bike. When I was shopping around for my first bike I would have loved to find one of those. Looked for a while for something around that era of bike and had no luck.

[Cole]

I think the max it would all cost me is $1,000 to do EVERYTHING right. So my total in the bike would be pretty low. I paid $550 for it and have thrown a few hundred at it for tires, and misc parts now.

Its a 25year old classic. Its the first ever racer replica. Rare in clean form. 99% of them were trashed so this will stand out as even more rare.

Ultimately I just want it to be a fun cool rider for my girl friend.

[TopGun]

should be a pretty cool ride when you are done ith it, hell it is pretty cool as is. love originals though.

[itgirl25]

that's a cool bike! i say do the work if ya wanna, just know that you won't recoup that cost when you sell it though. it's only worth so much, regardless of what you do to it.

[Cutty72]

I'd do it... but if it's a learner for your gf, have her ride it a season first, before you do all the painting. Odds are it's gonna be dropped, it would suck if she's just starting on a bike and drops it right away after you put all that time/effort/money into it.

[Cole]

A couple of thoughts.

First. I just put new tires on it and have no plans on diving into the project until she has some more miles on it.


Secondly, I think the MOST I could get into this project would be $1,000 based on the parts I have sourced out already. So my total cost in the bike would be about $1,700. At that cost I would not even worry about getting money back out of it. Hell, my TV cost twice that.

[PlayfulGod]

I never liked those, but if you want to fix er up go for it. :good:

[Cole]

Here are some of the bikes that inspired the idea.

Some are manufacturers concepts of retro sportbikes, some in production, some actuall retro sportbikes.

http://world.honda.com/news/2007/2070920Motorcycle-Exhibition-Tokyo-Motor-Show-2007/photo/images/07.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/devaclis/Hawk/IMG_0598.jpg

http://sp-retro.com/rzr350.jpg

There are a ton of old 2 stokes done this way. I will post more if I find the link later

http://rd500lc.free.fr/images/tuning/rz_tom1.jpg


http://www.isantillan.com/RD350P_L01.jpg

http://pdftown.com/image/1469-MH900.jpg

[Cole]

Here is a pretty good example.

This is an 84ish RZ350. The original tires/wheels/forks were SUPER skinny.

This bike has modern wheels (wider and 17"), FZ600 swingarm, modern controls and brakes, upside down forks (reduces unsprung weight).
Yet the bike still looks pretty classic.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1420/1382473714_633f854f40.jpg