[The game]

I noticed in one of the links I posted earlier in the thread that the r1 seat/rear fairing was mod defied to fit and work with the stock sub frame and seat .

In a few member profile picks I noticed they had chopped the two side rails that look to be coming from the swing arm pivot "area" and connect in an angle to the rest of the tail further down where the passenger pegs would be.

Chopping these to accommodate the wider swing arms is inevitable but how would you relocate those sub rails? Unless you were to re weld them in a much more aggressive upward angle.

But I cant see in any of the other members profile picks if thats exactly what they did, instead it looks like it was chopped and left alone.

[kwebbel]

Chopping these to accommodate the wider swing arms is inevitable but how would you relocate those sub rails? Unless you were to re weld them in a much more aggressive upward angle.

You've got it, chop those rails, determine the new connecting point using the new swingarm at max inbound springtravel shorten the rails and reweld them.

But I cant see in any of the other members profile picks if thats exactly what they did, instead it looks like it was chopped and left alone.

Exactly what I did, BUT you will find yourself redesigning the subframe, just chopping off and leaving the rest alone will eventually put you in a world off pain...

[The game]

Chopping these to accommodate the wider swing arms is inevitable but how would you relocate those sub rails? Unless you were to re weld them in a much more aggressive upward angle.

You've got it, chop those rails, determine the new connecting point using the new swingarm at max inbound springtravel shorten the rails and reweld them.

But I cant see in any of the other members profile picks if thats exactly what they did, instead it looks like it was chopped and left alone.

Exactly what I did, BUT you will find yourself redesigning the subframe, just chopping off and leaving the rest alone will eventually put you in a world off pain...

I'm starting to visualize what a project the rear sub frame is going to be. Even after the lower sub was chopped and re-welded, the fact that the angle will inadvertently be so sharp and ext ream only leaves doubt in my mind as to whether or not it can hold two people during say stop and go traffic.

Adopting a new sub frame from whatever rear set you'de be using dependent on the year of the bike would also make sense, but as you previously mentioned the location of the electrical as in the battery and wiring would all be changed.

Yet by using a rear sub frame from another bike already built to accommodate two up and the swing arm width might be an easier alternative?

What are your thoughts? The integrity of the sub frame really is important to me, so if modeling the electrical and a new frame is the answer then I surmise this project will indeed take most of the winter to accomplish, but at least all the avenues would have been thoroughly looked at and all that would have been left is the proper method for my build.

[BlackKatnWV]

Using an existing subframe is your best bet. Now how to mount it to the frame is a different story. You are going to want to make sure its going to be able to handle the stress at the points its been mounted

[The game]

Using an existing subframe is your best bet. Now how to mount it to the frame is a different story. You are going to want to make sure its going to be able to handle the stress at the points its been mounted

Ive been contemplating that too.

Since the beginning of this thread Ive been patiently attempting to win auctions via e-bay but alas I've been outbid for every damn r1 seat with fairing or any r1 pieces period.

Since this is a winter project I'm sticking to my budget for these parts since most of the money will be spent on actual man hours.

After many frustrating auctions, I've decided to just purchase gixxer 1000 parts out right from ebay sellers. This has turned out to be better and cheaper then the r1 route I was initially taking.

I have since purchased the gsxr 1000 swing arm and am in the process of buying the rim/w/tire as well.

After much deliberation I think it would be safer to swap out the existing sub frame for the gsxr 1000 sub frame.

Since I'm currently going to be using the swing arm I realized that by using the sub frame I wouldn't have to worry about custom making any suspension parts , yet bolting/welding this sub frame to the main frame would still be cheaper via labor wages then custom working suspension links.

As it stands I'm very glad that I was able to voice my concerns and receive valuable info from experienced members on how to go about this project.

So it seems I should be changing the name of this thread to gsxr 1000 rear swap now.

[kwebbel]

What are your thoughts? The integrity of the sub frame really is important to me, so if modeling the electrical and a new frame is the answer then I surmise this project will indeed take most of the winter to accomplish, but at least all the avenues would have been thoroughly looked at and all that would have been left is the proper method for my build.

Using a donor alloy subframe will make you modding the steel F-frame itself to accomodate the new subframe (welding is no option in this case, it's got to be bolted)
Like I said before, I've been tampering around with this issue and eventually I did choose to redesign and weld a complete custom subframe and you may believe me it's stronger lighter and stiffer than stock!

[The game]

So it seems I will find myself the proud owner of a gsxr1000 rear sub frame in the next day or so.

I have concerns about properly mounting the sub frame on the katana in an angle similar to the one on the stock gsxr while taking into consideration the suspension travel and swing arm placement.

I do believe that by swapping out the old frame for the much lighter one it would indeed make the bike feel more aggressive due to the loss of weight.

Ascetically having a more sport oriented rear would do the katana justice especially having a 190 in the back to offset the wide mid section of the bike.


I have since decided on changes to the front fairing to make the bike look much more aggressive, this I have decided to keep secret till the job is done, but wow after seeing the results Im sure it'll become a to do mod.


Anyways back to would be issues with the mounting of the sub frame, the fact their is a difference in width within the frames looks like the real trouble starter. Maybe some grinding will have to take place or shim's. I wont know for sure until the entire rear end is off but that doesn't mean I shouldn't begin to prepare for it thought.


Again thanks to all the wonderful comments from the experienced members, if not for you guys I don't think I would have been able to embark on this project confidently.
Cheers.

[BlackKatnWV]

Its better for the subframe to be a little more narrow than way to wide. Anything can be fixed though with a little creativity. There is a member on here that did a gsxr tail swap but he built his own subframe (nighthawk)

04 750

[grumpyoldgit]

Man that is one slick looking Kat

[The game]

Smooth way of keeping the stock pegs.

[The game]

For some reason that bike looks like a flat black 2007 gs 500f.

It could just be me though ??

So it's official, I now have a 2005-06 sub frame and swing arm. Next is the fairings and such.

[guy2600]

You better SERIOUSLY think long and hard about a gsxr 1000 swingarm swap!!! I'm neck deep in the same conversion, it's FAR from easy and takes a far amount of technical skill. Are you a machinist? If not I'd be taking a different approach. To be honest, you'll be much happier with the 90-92 gsxr 1100 swingarm, lightly used fox twin clicker shock and a oil cooled gsxr 1100 5.5" rear wheel. That swap will still be involved, but you can use your stock mounts and not have to worry about your suspension geometry. Convert over to stainless brake line, HH pads and the rear brake will be plenty good. What year bike are you building? To give you some insight into the 1000 arm mod, you will need to do the following:

Cut off you upper AND lower shock mounts, fab new ones (the 1000 shock/suspension geometry is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, there's not a lot of room for error either. If you don't know the in's and out's of what it needs to be and more importantly, how to set your pivot/upper shock bracket mounting points to those locations, you will screw your bike up big time. You need to be able to verify it's in the correct location after the fact).

You will have to machine up a set of eccentric bushings for the swingarm axle tube. Not only is the swingarm axle tube the wrong width and diameter, the centerline is wrong. If you put the katana bearings on the same centerline, the axle tube will hit the motor, it will not even bolt in. Here's my generation 3 eccentric bushings (in the midst of making gen 4, gen 3 does work thou), this will give you a visual to what I'm talking about:

[guy2600]

Here it is installed into a 04 1000 arm (making the 06 1000 now)

[guy2600]

Here's a pick of the 1000's proper geometry configuration. Notice the lower pivot mounting point is to the LEFT of the swingarm pivot point. The shock gets mounted much higher than the katana shock. You can't use the katana shock or linkage either, not even close to compatible. As a side note this pic is priceless and hard to find:

[guy2600]

The bushing O.D. needed to be turned with +/- .0002" that's 2 ten thousandths of an inch to achieve a proper press fit. The same goes for the needle bearing bushing counter bores. If you do not turn those diameters within spec, the bushings will work loose over time and being eccentric, put you in a world of hurt. This is saying nothing of installing both sides of the bushings so they are offset along centerline and correctly oriented to each other. Basically this isn't for the casual machinist, you need to be skilled. Keep in mind you don't need to fab shock mounts OR needle bearing bushings for the oil cooled gsxr mod swap, this will still give you a 5.5" rear wheel and a 180 tire. The r1 uses the same axle bearing as the katana too, not to mention the r1 front end is MUCH easier to swap in if you decide to do so in the future. Essentially your choosing the most difficult swingarm to swap into a katana. There's a lot of other stuff too that you will run into with the conversion. If you still decide to go down this path I'll share with you some more specific details and helpful tips but acknowledge it's going to be a mother load of work and $$$$$, no way around it.