This project started just as an attempt to make use of a few track/race spares strewn around my shed: the spare frame, engine, wheels, tank, fairings, clip-ons, radiator/cooler, seat, shock etc. Much of it was sitting on the shelf for pretty obvious reasons, mostly for being somewhere on the spectrum between tatty and nearly rubbish (fairings, frame, tank etc) or too heavy (cast wheels, OEM seat) with just the occasional jewel glittering amongst the dross (Febur swingarm, 749R shock/link).
Oh well, like my dog on the edge of the State forest we back onto, we'll just follow our nose and see where we end up.....and just like my dog, that ended up being a looooong way from where I started out.
But most of those spares and take-off parts have never moved from the shelf, just pushed further and further in back as the thing morphed from being a junkyard dog into...into...I dunno, just something different to what was originally intended.
I think the frame surprised me, and that very first step was a step off the well trodden path with a homebrewed RS-ish conversion (looks similar, but isn't when you look closely at the RS trellis) that came out pretty good (hey, this is me, I'm allowed to set the bar pretty low ok?).
From almost that point on, and with the RS engine, the shit on the shelves mostly looked like exactly that....but I hadn't set out to build a "replica" or "faux" anything either, hence I was happy to experiment with the Kawasaki forks, the initial weird-arse exhaust and, er, "alternative" tank solution etc. I couldn't afford to buy the lovely parts the engine deserved, I couldn't make stuff that looked as good either, but maybe, just maybe, I could compensate for the aesthetics by making stuff fairly light and/or modify alternatives to achieve a similar result.
I'd even found a rashed "Fullsix" carbon Panigale tail for cheap, that I thought would be an easy tidy up and a better fit for the early exhaust versus the big-bum 999 tail. It showed quite some promise, not being a million miles away from fitting the RS carbon seat:
But mocking it up was a rude shock, my eyes physically hurt just looking at it, so it is with great reluctance that I share this photo:
The "muffler" position wasn't quite right against it, an easy fix...but there was no easy fix for the fact the carbon sliver of a tail looked absolutely hideous against the bulbous 749R "tank". (Gawd, I really wish there was some sort of software "curtain" I could apply to this thing: "open at your own optical risk!")
Apologies for the above bullshit, but just explaining why I feel like an Apollo 13 astronaut: completely off the intended path, taking a massive unplanned detour around the moon to slingshot back to where I started.
Lately every problem seems to have the solution of taking me towards a destination I'd turned my back on: "999RS-town". I can't explain it, it wasn't planned, but the universe has spoken.
After the 999RS-ish exhaust turned out acceptably good...or is it acceptably bad?...acceptable anyway, a gentleman offered me a very kind package deal on some parts, amongst which was this:
No it's not RS or remotely Corse, but it's far more conventional than my previous solution. It has a rough-hewn "finish" that will offend many, but I absolutely love it. And it only weighs 2.3kg (inc filler but no pump) so less than half a 749R steel tank.
Speaking of comparisons with OEM:
Who couldn't do a quick trial fit? (albeit sitting a a tad low, with no mounting paraphenalia):
This pic just reminded me: the RS tail is pretty much sorted, properly "dzus" clip secured and the seat “upholstered”, the scary investment of $13 buying enough closed-cell neoprene to cover two seats. I shouldn’t admit I spent more on the latex based foam glue than I did on foam, but the stuff is the dogs bollocks, money well spent:
A small fly in my soup was the frame brace/tank mounting bracket. A lil' "R" related factoid: on the 749R/999R this is removable while on the S and base models it is welded in. The F0/RS bikes have no such brace/bracket, leaving room for a massive airbox, so I'm assuming the thinking was similar for the more track oriented R models.
The fly flapping in my soup? The monoposto (single seat) bikes have the adjustable seat position, 3 positions fore/aft, with the tank bolted to the seat and moving with it. So the front of the tank is supported by a couple of alloy pins that slide in tubes/bushes.....tubes that I'd shortened to fit the carbon tank cover/tank arrangement: bugger. Buy another frame brace/tank bracket? Nup, even though separable it is considered to be an integral frame component and has no separate part number.
I could faff around trying to find a damaged/bent R frame someone was willing to break up, but instead I had a cuppa with my wee mate (lathe) and turned up some HDPE extensions:
Mounted with some Ti bolts:
Note the completely different tank mounting/frame/airbox arrangement on this Factory 999F04, with no brace:
Standby for the next installment of how to get somewhere you never ever intended to go....
