A different direction

[weewazza17]

After quite a bit of thought I've decided that I am going to add a CBR600RR 05 tail section and exhaust unit to the rear of my bike. There is just something about it that I love. With it I am planning on adding a VFR400 Single-sided swingarm to completely change the look of the bike. What I am worried about is the fitting of the suspension and what if any adjustments I am going to have to make. Has anyone ever attempted something like this in the past? And if so have you got any pearls of wisdom?

[a_morti]

After quite a bit of thought I've decided that I am going to add a CBR600RR 05 tail section and exhaust unit to the rear of my bike. There is just something about it that I love. With it I am planning on adding a VFR400 Single-sided swingarm to completely change the look of the bike. What I am worried about is the fitting of the suspension and what if any adjustments I am going to have to make. Has anyone ever attempted something like this in the past? And if so have you got any pearls of wisdom?

First tip: forget the VFR swingarm  as it won't fit for of a load of reasons, the biggest one being the shock is mounted off-centre. You will have much more luck with a Bros swingarm. Stussels did this swap, and noted that it was quite a lot of work, so attempt it at your own risk. You can't fit the VFR400 wheel to this that I know of, you might have more luck with a VFR750 wheel though? Best to ask on a Bros/Hawk forum what wheel swaps they are doing. I say VFR750 as that lets you use 160 rear tyre, 180 is going to be pointless and kill off part of the CB-1's flickable handling.

Once you have got a SSSA on, you will at least have a space to run the exhaust linkpipe up behind the right footrest. At that point anything is possible but do have a look at pictures of the two bikes side by side, using the 17" wheels to scale them the same. You will note how very much lower the CB-1's tail is, and this means there is normally no room for an exhaust there. You will have to raise the tail as in the Hindle bike linked to in your other thread (did this idea really warrant a new thread?). Although the bike looks good, there is a real mess under the seat, because everything was clearly just thrown in that area however it fit. So anyway you will need to make up a whole new custom subframe from tube and weld it on, and you should probably forget the rear seat if you were ever thinking about keeping it.

All the best to you, but be aware that those are BIG jobs, and this comes from one who is not afraid of a few mods himself. As with all projects, estimate a price then double it and £50 for luck, then add a lot of swearing.

[weewazza17]

sweet, cheers for the advice. Having spent many hours already on this bike, I'm used to swearing quite a lot by now. I may re-evaluate the swing arm and I am happy with the fact that I will need to do a bit of reshaping for the CBR seat to fit on properly. I've got a bit of OCD when it comes to things looking right so hopefully everything will end up tidy. Yeah I guess this didn't really need a new thread. Sorry

[a_morti]

sweet, cheers for the advice. Having spent many hours already on this bike, I'm used to swearing quite a lot by now. I may re-evaluate the swing arm and I am happy with the fact that I will need to do a bit of reshaping for the CBR seat to fit on properly. I've got a bit of OCD when it comes to things looking right so hopefully everything will end up tidy. Yeah I guess this didn't really need a new thread. Sorry

Sorry if I came across as "forum police" - I am not even a mod.

If / when you come to that point feel free to ask for tips on updating the front end of the bike, as that is the bit which IMHO can best be upgraded for performance rather than just looks.

[JX]

HAHA! FOUND IT!! 
I KNEW I HAD SEEN A SINGLE SIDED SWINGARM CONVERTED CB-1 ON YOUTUBE BEFORE.
i couldn't find it at first but spent the last 3 hours searching and here it is  :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpRVqTwr_xg

so there is your template!lol
he deffo used  a vfr rear wheel and perhaps  vfr400 swingarm? not sure.
and he's done exhaust,tail section and upside down forks too but seems he had the
exhaust on the other side first ,then somehow changed his mind.
this vid gives you a rough idea how much work went into it.

[weewazza17]

Good work on sourcing the vid. I think it looks awesome with the SSSA though the colour scheme isn't to my tastes. But each to their own hey. Thanks again guys. Can't wait to get cracking on this.

[Kai Ju]

Here is another one and might be easier to get info from.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=664388

[Daveontheedge]

Here is another one and might be easier to get info from.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=664388

The -1 does look good with a SSSA, as does almost any bike IMO. Not a fan of that tail section though, just looks too big.

[weewazza17]

I've had others say they're not really a fan either but for some reason it does it for me. Hopefully with a bit of jiggery pokery it'll fit on nicely.

[Drewski]

What I am worried about is the fitting of the suspension and what if any adjustments I am going to have to make. Has anyone ever attempted something like this in the past? And if so have you got any pearls of wisdom?

Yes - find someone who has done a similar project before and copy their set-up Perhaps even improve on it slightly. That's what I did last time I did something like this and it went quite well. I'm doing it again now but have nothing to copy and for a novice like me, it's a real headache getting everything, esp rising rate set up right I hope you have a mate that can do the machine work for you, the profesionals charge a fortune.

[Hairypothead]

this is sounding pretty sweet, i am also plannin on doing this with my tail too. bought all the bits the other month but havent had time to doing it. will be looking forward to how it goes n will be asking for tips when i eventually get round to it

[weewazza17]

Yeah thankfully I have a few friends that should hopefully be able to do the welding of the tail section for me which was my main concern bar the suspension. Parts are inbound so hopefully I'll be able to start cracking on relatively soon. I've been looking around the forums and apparently the NC30 rear wheel will fit on. Has anyone on here done this yet and if so have you had any major problems or was it pretty straightforward?

[a_morti]

Yeah thankfully I have a few friends that should hopefully be able to do the welding of the tail section for me which was my main concern bar the suspension. Parts are inbound so hopefully I'll be able to start cracking on relatively soon. I've been looking around the forums and apparently the NC30 rear wheel will fit on. Has anyone on here done this yet and if so have you had any major problems or was it pretty straightforward?

Worth noting nc30 rear wheels are 18". Not a big problem but will limit your choice of tyres a little bit. nc35 rear wheels are 17", but they cost a bundle if you ever buy one as all the nc30 lads want them.

I would consider a VFR750 wheel myself, if it would fit. It's a 4-bolt wheel so you'd need to look into how to modify the hub.

[stussels]

amorti gives sound advice here.  with a bros swingarm it would simplify your build vs. a vfr piece.  you could use the stock wheel to start, and later adapt the hub to accept the 4 studs that the vfr wheel uses for that style wheel.  it would be the most affordable way to achieve what youre after.  easier to find the parts too.  at least over here.

thats what i was going to do till i lucked out and found the honda rs250 wheel that i used.  i preferred the single nut mounting of the stock bros. swingarm so i went for it.  the hub of the wheel had to be redrilled to accept the bros. hubs drive pins.  also the wheel is mounted in reverse as the rs250 swingarm is opposite the bros.  or look for an rs250 wheel, you might luck out too.

[ultimatecb1]

amorti gives sound advice here.  with a bros swingarm it would simplify your build vs. a vfr piece.  you could use the stock wheel to start, and later adapt the hub to accept the 4 studs that the vfr wheel uses for that style wheel.  it would be the most affordable way to achieve what youre after.  easier to find the parts too.  at least over here.

thats what i was going to do till i lucked out and found the honda rs250 wheel that i used.  i preferred the single nut mounting of the stock bros. swingarm so i went for it.  the hub of the wheel had to be redrilled to accept the bros. hubs drive pins.  also the wheel is mounted in reverse as the rs250 swingarm is opposite the bros.  or look for an rs250 wheel, you might luck out too.

I agree with Stussels.  I have a couple of bros' as well as the Cb-1 and a rear wheel mod is very common.  The usual mod is a vfr750 rear wheel with a modified hub to fit.  On one of mine i have another alternative, whihch is a re-machined nc35 (rvf400) rear wheel.  This requires the original mounting lug receiving holes to be welded up (in the wheel) and then re-drilled to match the pcd of the bros hub.  In  addition you also need to shave some material off the rear brake caliper so the wheel webs clear it.