XJ600 engine in xj550 frame.

@AndyH64 ...^^ xj550 seca 4vd frame

 

@tobar the gsx S/A mods look like quite a bit of work, way beyond my pay grade. I've been gifted a GS500 S/A so I'll have a look at it when I get chance. I like the GS500 S/A because it is similar in appearance to the stock Radian S/A, albeit a little longer. I think it will look good and will suit the GSX600F (Katana for our American friend) rear wheel and twin shocks.

Cheers Andy

 

My 'pay grade' isnt great..lol but the engineer guy i know well and i think he's bemused at the stuff i dream up..lol
Gs 500 s/a with 600 wheel sounds good...easier to make shock mounts and get them welded on....consider a gs500 cush drive in 600 wheel for chain aligment if you havent already

 

"longer swing arms because they are mainly monoshock and need to be longer to allow space for the shock absorber". Umm, not really, the s/a is longer to help keep the front end down on the mega powered sport bikes and it makes them more stable as well. The front end of the wheelbase is shorter to load the front tire (more weight % on the frt. tire), steers more quickly, and to keep the bike's agility by maintaining the proper W/B.
Cheers, 50gary

 

@AndyH64 ..ive not had the shock mounts welded on yet but someone mentioned aluminium swingarms are probably anodized so use acetone to strip that off prior to getting them tig welded on...looking at the alu tube in the middle section which is bare and comparing to a 40 year old ish swingarm id say thats correct..
obv you wont have that problem with a gs500 arm..
but alloy (sic) me to throw a gsx750w swingarm into the mix...its alu i think with twin shock mounts and you could run a 150/160 wheel/tyre..bound to be cheap on ebay...the inazuma model...
i shoulda looked at that myself but even tho i was aware of it i stubbornly wanted to make the one i had work

 

Since when does acetone remove anodizing? In my 40+ yrs of welding I never heard of that.

 

@50gary

I stand corrected, thank you for your words of wisdom.

@tobar

I got a GS500 sprocket carrier with the s/a so I should be good to go on that front. Apparently the GS500 and earlier GSX600F's share the same rear wheel, I also have a length of 50mm X 25mm rectangular box section for the shock mounts, although I am considering a monoshock set up as the s/a has the dog bones and linkage with it, I would need a shock maybe an SV650 shock would do the trick.

Cheers Andy

 

@tobar Bandit 400 or RF400 rear wheels are a good choice 4x17 not too wide to cause too many chain alignment issues, I would have gone down this road, but I got both front and rear wheels off a GSX600f with tyres for the princely sum of £15 off eBay.

You may find this interesting https://www.customfighters.com/threads/90-yamaha-xj600-well-the-frame-is-at-least.111394/

Cheers Andy

 

@huntchucks

.. if youre aiming that question at me, i dunno cos ive never removed anodising..it was a recommendation from someone on another forum...i think he had 41+ years welding experience..


looking it up acetone doesnt get much of a mention unlike oven and drain cleaners if using household products...i will delve deeper

what do you use?

 

AndyH64... yeah use what you have and get the mounts welded on

 

I have never welded anodized aluminum. Most of my welding was in manufacturing, not repair work. I assume you could sandblast it but if the aluminum is smooth you would also destroy that and have a mat finish.

 

so as Huntchuks states Acetone wont strip anodising....

but if welding mounts on to an alu swingarm, clean down to bare alu beforehand with some chemical that will

 

@tobar the mounts are nearly ready, but my mig throw a wobbler today, the wire feed isn't playing ball-so I need a new on, wire feed that not a new mig.
Would wet and dry paper remove anodising, with the chemical we all have...good old fashioned elbow grease? Just a thought.

I am also preparing a build thread for my Radian/XJ/FJ600 and various Suzuki parts cafe racer/restomod project, more soon.

Cheers Andy

 

Use an angle grinder or die grinder with sandpaper. I think the only thing that can remove an anodize finish is mechanical. Only clean where you will weld.

 

You can take it to a place that does plating/anodising and they can chemically strip it, I had a from rim done on my IT200, took maybe 10-15 minutes

 

@tobar
@50gary
@a100man
@Simmy
@Huntchuks
So as mentioned my project build thread can be found hear
https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/radian-xj-fj600-cafe-racer-resto-mod-build-thread.131661/

I look forward to seeing you all there and hopefully it will become popular thread with plenty of people joining in.

Cheers Andy

 

@AndyH64 ...yep looking forward to it...i should do a thread too

 

@tobar yeah get thread started, I look forward to seeing you on my build thread. The more the merrier

Cheers Andy