When I bought the 749R I'd also inherited a spare 749R frame, supposedly slightly bent, and just pretty ratty looking. The "spare" frame is actually the original frame for the bike, since replaced by an un-numbered race frame.
I can't even remember why now, but for some reason I had to pull the front end of the 749R apart and I remembered the spare frame: it would be really interesting to compare the two.
So while I could access the head-stock of the 749R I carefully set up the spare alongside the bike:
Using a digital angle gauge I replicated the angle of the main frame rails then measured the head-stock angle: the spare frame measured +0.5degrees vs the 749R (checked and rechecked).
Hmmmm, not ideal....but not terrible either.....given it was slightly more rake rather than less, making it more stable rather than less, I judged it as "acceptable". Back in the day some racers, without access to the funds/parts to adjust the trail as they would like (only the 749R had adjustable offset) would turn up a parallel steering insert to give them 24deg rake, half-way between the agile but twitchy 23.5deg steering setting and the lazy but stable 24.5deg alternative. True, there is nothing to say the frame in use is perfect either, but it handled great so I was comfortable giving the spare the tick of approval, there was no World Championship at stake.
....and another project is born.
Hey, I had a spare 999RS engine, spare (rough!) fairings/tank, spare subframes, spare wheels, spare Nemesis ECU, a Nemesis TCS system I could never quite bring myself to fit, the 1098+Jetprime TB's, a swag of take off parts like axles, engine bolts, radiator etc etc. There was most of another bike sitting on the shelves gathering dust, why not put it together?
I've condensed this a tad, I measured up the frame and sat on it for a few months before pushing the "Go!" button, but really it was an inevitability, and having the shits with the 851 I was glad to have a distraction.
First up was strip the (crappy) old paint:
Oh yeah, that's the 749R repaired after that lil' low side, my first effort with 2K paint. Sorry, not the best pic but maybe it's for the best, lol.
I didn't really have a path forward with how I wanted it to look but I had two "pretty" red bikes (ignoring the 749/999 polarisation) so I was thinking something completely different, a little "anti-glam", would be refreshing. The 999RS engine begged for a 999RS replica....but I didn't really want a "replica" of anything, I just had a vague idea of building something I liked, something understated, that went like the clappers.
Having said that I thought a 999RS style frame would be suitable for the RS engine, and something a bit different, especially Downunder. There are a number of well known artisans in Europe who will faithfully replicate the RS frame with it's extra removable frame rail, but again, I wasn't after a perfect replica I just wanted to build a cool (to me) bike. And do as much as I possibly could myself rather than engage those farking "professionals"!
So this is a 999RS frame, note the extra removable frame rail:
Some riders preferred a little more flex at times so occassionally they removed the rail, as seen here with Nori Haga's 999RS:
So that's what I worked towards. You need some inserts to allow the rails to bolt together, but given I didn't have a milling machine, hand-filing 4 sets of these bloody things had me wondering what the hell I'd signed up for:
No point carrying unnecessary steel around, hence drilled to reduce weight:
Note, they are going to be tidied up once the rails are made so they are only roughed out here.
Here we go, with some thin-wall tube and Ti bolts, set in place prior to welding:
The real deal RS frame is done slightly differently, but here I'm just comparing the positioning against photo's in an RS workshop manual:
My welding isn't the best, I spend as much time grinding as I do welding, and I only have a stick welder (no MIG/TIG) but it hasn't come out too bad. My painting isn't any better, but here you go (satin black = anti-glam):
