USD Conversion on my 400

[gubbs]

that looks lovely, makes you feel warm and fuzzy to no that poeple still care about older bikes!

excerlent work

Older bikes?

That looks pretty new tbh ..

[Mori Man]

Was that all you did? Nylon pad? No other prep or treatment?

Also re: the paint you used on the wheels, was that rattle can or compressor job? What process did you follow? Prep with fine paper, prime, colour coats then t-cut it? Or just clear coat?

POLISHING:

Will do a photo of the Nylon pad as I need to get a new one. From the original laquered, dirty bottom yolk I used it to remove everything including the casting marks
After that I went over it with 00 grade steel wool with Autosol to give it a semi-polished look - if you like brushed alloy just use the Nylon disc and get a few different grades for your drill for difficult places.
This is a lot easier to maintain as a high polish surface looks pants as soon as something messes or scratches the surface, I used to go that route on earlier bikes I had, but prefer this now as a new brillo pad will make it shine once more.
I would only ever do high polish now for a show bike or sunny day use only (UK) ie. covers about a 1000miles a year.
The high speed of the angle grinder makes it very easy to do but you have to use lite pressure or it will eat the alloy!

PAINTING:

I used Daytona colour matched spray cans for the wheels.

I nitromorsed the paint off from the rim and went over it with 00 grade steel wool with Autosol, I also flattened out scars on the rim with a carborundum stone (spelling??) or sharpening stone (smooth side).
The paint on the front wheel was in good condition so I used it as a base coat (but wish I hadn't) so it got a "keying" with some 320 & 600 grit wet and dry(wet).
I used a 180ml can of Silver primer on the wheel, I used a Scotch 3M superfine sanding sponge to remove dust blobs before applying the colour coat.
I used about 300ml of colour coat and between layers removed any dust blobs with a Scotch 3M extra superfine sanding sponge (Dry). The final coat was left as is for the pearlescent top coat to go on.
I used about 180ml of top coat to finish off.
Don't like using t-cut especially on metalflake paints. As long as you build up thin layers you shouldn't need to use it. The final Primer,Colour and Top coat are a bit heavier to produce a smooth or glossy finish. Air temp' was around 27c so the thin coats took about 20mins to dry fully which is better than applying a heavy coat and waiting an hour for it to dry enough to apply another. When you apply the 3rd, 4th layer that's when you'll start to see an even coverage over the part. Be patient and don't rush it
I gave it 24hrs after the top coat before applying the wax layer on top.

The rear wheel is being stripped back to the alloy - nitromors
It will get a "key" with 320 & 600 then 300ml of primer and the same for colour with at least 180ml of top coat.

Hope that's covered everything

But please feel free to ask more questions - I done the listings very quickly last night to bring the thread up to present time

[Mori Man]

The bike is a 1998 model so nearly a decade already!

[deviant]

but compared to most on here it's a mere spring chicken

[Mori Man]

The weather was fine again today so managed a few coats of colour onto the front muddy

I was a bit nervous as I have been comparing my bike to other Lime Green Kwak's and it has been the palest! So I had put it down to 9yrs of sun-bleaching.

What a pleasant surprise I got when I placed the muddy on the seat to gauge the colour difference - none! My bike is one of the few which is genuine Kawasaki Lime Green




I am not to worried about it getting marked just now as I am waiting for a decal for the very front of the muddy and some new ones for the side-panels. These are just mock-ups for the maker to get an idea of what I want, the font on the blue shield will be the same as the 400RR badge




Managed to get a decent finish despite spraying outside;



The over-all look;








Looking good , if you don't mind me saying so myself :

Rear wheel should be next!!

[masterofinsanity]

certainly does look good that! well done!

[RedexRobB]

Thats a smashing job your doing there! That mudguard has come out perfect! If you wanna get a better finish on the mudguard, i think a bit of wet 'n' dry will finish it off nicely, that should give you a nice glass finish! Then a bit of T cut in a few weeks once the paint has taken properly and a wax.

[gubbs]

Absolutely, utterly gorgeous!

[RedexRobB]

Dont know about anone else but i want one!

[gubbs]

Dont know about anone else but i want one!

Yeah, I could really go for one of those ..

Odd because I hate the 1100 ones.

[Mori Man]

Dont know about anone else but i want one!

Yeah, I could really go for one of those ..

Odd because I hate the 1100 ones.

This is more in keeping with the Z4,5,550 range but the 11/1200's are a completely new shape. There are some stunning mod's you can do to the bigger versions though! ZX-636RR swingarm with ZX9/10-R USD's is just

Rob, the paint isn't a two pac type; but thanks for the top tip with the wet n dry . I'll use the ultrafine sponge on it with a bit of superfine rubbing compond before the clear coat goes on.

Now making plans for fitting these on - they're sitting in my back room screaming for attention!





Get your "L's" out as these clamp straight into the bottom yolk , I noticed on another thread a front end which looked like the wheel had a 25mm hollow axle - is that a 400 or 750? Either way that's the wheel you want to use with them!!

[masterofinsanity]

what are the forks off??

[Mori Man]

what are the forks off??

Oops, a ZX-636RR 2005. If you get your 'H' model bottom yolks opened up by 1mm they'll fit them too - that's my plan with my existing set-up with a couple of inserts for the fork/axle clamps to accept the 21mm spindle

[rene]

my project 400 (when i finaly happens ) will be using the same forks pure sex!

there not the standard 636 forks are they? they off the SP model?

[Mori Man]

They are off this model;





BTW, it was your 750 wheel I saw, does it have a 25mm hollow spindle? If so it will be a very easy swap over