Street Fighter Katana beginning - big pics

[89katana750]

One of my main goals before I rode this year was to CLEAN my bike. I did 20,000km last season and my bike looked terrible, all the gunk from the chain, rusty exhaust, road grime, etc. I didnt really clean it much last year but I finally did now! Im up to 73,000km hopefully lots more left.

The thing is that when I took it all apart, I really liked the naked look. One of my fairings is cracked at the turn signal and I could fix it but I think I prefer this look better. I would have to get other mirrors and LED turn signals in the front. I wan't to take the instrument frame off and get something from lets say a bandit and use those instruments that attach to the forks.

Now, has anyone ever fabricated their own fairing out of aluminum or fiber glass? I just want to cover the electrical stuff showing in the rear and under the seat and bit around the tank. I can design it but I can't cut it. What does everyone think about the look that can be achieved?

And I don't mind the shovel right now

[paperairplane]

Ask Waltari where this line of thought can get you...

[89katana750]

I will do a rough design now and post it as soon as its done.

updated:

Here is the pic, very rough, still deciding on the look. But have a little imagination.

[WildKat]

A little mini fairing, just to cover the headlight assembly would probably look really sweet too ! Whatever floats ur boat, if u like the street fighter look, go for it !!

[Waltari]

Ask Waltari where this line of thought can get you...

Ha Ha very funny I'm pretty much finished with my kat at this point after years of modding and a couple different transitions and I have a few pieces of advice.

1st off, decide what you really want in a bike and consider the most effective way to get there. Do you want a streetfighter in the sense of having an unfaired bike or do you want a stripped down all out performance machine (of which the later is more of a true streetfighter)

2nd, when you've decided what you want, add up the cost to get there and decide whether another bike make be more of what your looking for or if you purpose is solely to build something unique. The last rendering you posted looked vaguely similar to a bandit.

3rd, if you go the route of modding your ride to create something unique, make a list of absolutely everything you think you'll need and pick it up before you start. While modding one thing can lead to another, it is good to start with most components.

And finally, when it comes to the katana (or more correcty the GSXF) It is full of mid range performance components. Not that they're bad because the were designed to function exactly within their intended limits.

On the gsxf the suspension is setup slightly softer for touring, the engine is a good midramge performer with a broad power band and the chassis was meant to be pourposeful, not pretty.

Not alot of people have done many extreme mods to a gsxf chassis simply because if you really want to go the extreme route there truely is a number of better chassis to start with. You will find, making different components fit will make you a bit of a engineer and frontiersman and you should be willing to partake in a fair amount of trial and error.

Above anything else, what ever you do, have fun, and be safe.

[Waltari]

[tylerc]

Is this your bike right now?

I am going for a nakid bike/streetfighter look and have had a lot of fun so far fabricating things. i will try sometime to get some pictures and input on what i am doing.

is the front fairing simply a stock piece cut? I was planning on cutting the stock rear side fairings quite a bit, however i like the look of that bike.

I am also going to do a fiberglass bikini fairing for the front and i will document my progress (for better or worse ) so you guys can see what i come up with

[Waltari]

No those are just some images from a couple different bike forums. I used to ride without fairings but now I'm running custom fairings along with lots of other mods.

[il_ragazzo]

nice... really nice

[catfish]

No those are just some images from a couple different bike forums. I used to ride without fairings but now I'm running custom fairings along with lots of other mods.

you didn't sell that monster you made? i thought i read that you did? if you didn't i will HAVE to check it out in person sometime- that is if it made the trip to Portland

[Black_peter]

Zombie thread..
3 years old.. Come on you guys...