We’ve hit that season where things don’t move along as smoothly as we’d like. Pre-Golden Week and pollen season hitting at the same time! Let’s take it easy and not get flustered.
Discacciati (Discacciati) rear master. A rear master with a refreshingly no-frills design after a long time. Plus it’s compact—perfect. The rod doesn’t slip out either, which is great.
It seems very flexible and adaptable, which is nice.
I’ve prepared a reinforcement-style plate. I only apply it to the outside.
Why? One reason is that reinforcement-style looks good aesthetically. If you make it a sandwich, you can’t paint the inside—which means it rusts from the inside. After welding, with all that heat, it rusts even more easily.
I made the boss while debating whether to fix the master to the boss or to the plate. With the right tools, it’s done in a flash. The key is to carve it out so it fits the frame as snugly as possible.
If you just leave it round and build up material on it, it looks rough.
I’m gluing it with hot bond just to get an idea of how it looks. If I get tired of the master, I might swap it out—thinking that way, a boss-to-support setup gives me more flexibility.
I think it’s better not to rush into anything.
I ordered FOX rear suspension. It’s really convenient these days. Online translation is quite good, and if you’re dealing with someone who accepts PayPal and similar payment methods, things move quickly.
*I don’t think anyone would ask, but I don’t do proxy purchasing, so please handle this part yourself.
It’s starting to look the part. Since I extended the swingarm, there’s no laydown this time.
Being able to extend it forward, lay it down, and use a higher spring rate has advantages in many ways. I think if I can match the spring and damping to the current setup, that’s good enough for me.
Titanium round bar. This is the part that attaches to the frame side for the titanium sidestand I’m making.
Since this is my first titanium sidestand, I’m making the inset part longer for safety. Titanium is expensive, so I don’t keep it on hand—I buy it as needed. SUS304 I use often, so comparing cutting and machining, it’s way easier! That’s the impression I get.
Milling is done and rough machining is complete. I was thinking of going basically Bimota-style with the same structure, but… I think domestic stepped bolts plus threaded stand side and lock nut might be the strongest approach? I’m still undecided.
The bottom case will be machined in a carved style, so it’s going to the machine shop. It came back looking like a zebra! Personally I think it’s cool, but if I overdo it, I’ll end up going full weirdo mode, so I’m torn between silver or black.
Maybe the fun part is worrying about it like this? I think that’s one of the enjoyable aspects of bikes.
I probably won’t buy another bike (won’t add to the collection) after this, so this Z is supposed to be the last one.
Before I started, I was thinking maybe KB1, KB2, TESI, DB1—or maybe something like that. Or I really love the 916-series design too. Buy a 916, drop in a 1000DS engine, and be okay even in summer? A detuned, laid-back version might be nice too…
Decoboco doesn’t normally do custom work, but personally I don’t dislike it. However, when it’s your job, efficiency and equipment limitations make it difficult, and since we can’t do it halfway, we don’t accept it.
But with my own bike, there’s no deadline pressure, and I can build it slowly however I like. From experience, custom bikes end up with everything except the frame and engine (or sometimes just the frame) being non-original—which is why starting from the frame is faster. That way you can do so much more.
From experience, customization honestly has way more bad points than good ones. Depending on the year, if you swap in tires you like the feel of, brake pads, mesh hoses, a radial master and rear suspension, adjust the standard fork with springs and damping to your preference, and customize the pegs and seat to your taste, you end up with a pretty tasty machine.
If the final flavor balance doesn’t work out, it becomes very finicky, and you might end up getting tired of it.
There’s “it’s all about riding it,” but I don’t deny “it’s all about looking at it” either.
But I think everyone is happiest when they can “look at it and ride it at the highest level.”
