Yamaha thunder cat?

That is a nice looking one, one of my good friends had one in college

 

oh damn close dude, you can have 5 points for that yeah it's the thunderace, one of the superbikes made obsolete from the get go when it couldn't compete with the blade, basically a fzr1000 engine in a yzf750r derived delta box frame with some tasty r1 bits. quite an interesting background me thinks although its more of a sports tourer by todays standards. love the tail on it.

 

Hmm, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure we ever got the big one stateside. I think we always called it an yfz 600r instead of yzf r6 over here. It was a nice bike, although it did have 15,000 fairing bolts....

I'll always remember I gave him (my friend who had one) my "motogp slip on" which essentially was an exhaust tip for your headers. We came out of the house for a ride after a rain storm, and his bike gurgled upon start up. When it finally hit, water shot out of that pipe like a cannon onto some girl's car... funny stuff.

What tail is that? I didn't have a clue, one-off?

 

i couldn't make comment about them being stateside, i know you got the fzr1000 in the us, the cat and definitely the r6 etc. after the fzr's there was the yzf 750r which wasn't tied to either the earlier fzr or thunder cat/ace names in between the fzr's and thunders i don't think. and obviously the r6/r1 afterwards. it was apparently quite common in the fighter world to put the fzr1000 motor in that 750 frame which is basically just the thunderace. anyway as far as I'm aware in terms of the 600 it jumped from fzr6 to the thundercat, but there was the 750 that ran in-between such times.

and its just the normal thunderace tail I've got, quite a chunky looking bike though, love that about it. ahhhh no way! thats the kind of thing you wish was caught on camera hahaha bet that cat sounded mean though P=

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I've got a question for anyone reading this though, i'll post it up in the actual forum as well.

I'm looking to keep the dual stage ram air but I'm changing the speedo clocks. obviously the speedo plays a part in telling the ecu/air solenoid to switch to the main intake, thusly changing where the vacuum to its 2nd stage. going to be using a db01plus and a hall effect sensor using magnets on the front wheel rather than the front sprocket sensor that the original clocks use. now i may land lucky and just be able to tap into the new sensor wire but i'm aware that theres likely going to be changes in resistance and whatnot that will change what the ecu/solenoid reads thusly the solenoids operation. i see either two things happening, 1. the solenoid won't function. or 2. it will change the speed at which the 2nd stage comes in at. i'm not going to know until play about with it but id much rather keep the dual stage ram air. does anyone have experience in these matters or have any idea as to the tolerances of the hardware?

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got some pics coming your way soon as well.

 

been talking to someone about circuits and whatnot and thinking about the air solenoid valve, I've got a much better understanding in terms of the terminology of what i need to achieve. basically the speed pickup generates a current which increases with speed, once a certain current is reached (at 12mph) the inducter in the relay switches and opens up the other vent which gives the 2nd stage of ram air. fairly simple. i'm going to need to measure the current at which the inducter switches on the current setup and when i switch my gauge i'll likely have to find or make up an appropriate capacitor and build a relay to accommodate for any variance in when the correct current is produced. the solenoid would still function on the new gauges but theres no saying as to which speed would generate the correct currency to open it. pretty sure i can figure it out.

 

clearance issue time.



as far as the bars will turn left without fowling the clocks/fairing.



and as far as they will turn right, needless to say its not really an option to keep it like this so the fairings are going.



bottom of ignition only just clears the top of the headlight fairing bracket.



steering lock needed ground back a bit to clear the ignition switch, ignition switch needs lowered in order to retain the use of the steering lock as well. not the cleanest at the moment but it still needs a bit of tweaking.

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looks pretty damn chunky, i like, shame to see the fairing go but an executive decision has been made. i could cut into the fairings etc but they are in far too good a condition for that malarky. still gutted the old tail got destroyed though, would have made a decent bit of money selling the lot as a complete.



would love to run it just like this but it's quite handy being able to tell what speed you're going and being able to see at night as well.



plenty of clearance for the ignition wires now.



may or may not nip off the bracket for the headlight fairing cage.



not immediately but I'm going to get rid of this 1-2 brake line setup, so that i can run a set of renthal mx fat bars & have some braided lines.

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progress has been slow at this end, lack of funds & time being the issue but i have a koso db01plus speedo on it's way and a headlight bracket 50mm to fit those enormous USD's coming as well

 

to do list.

just focussing on returning her to a road worthy state for the time being however

on the way:
- koso DB01plus speedo
- 50mm headlight bracket

to get:
- tail tidy
- a slightly smaller but still legal number plate
- braided lines
- fat bar clamps
- fat bars
- Tygon 2375 tubing (reservoir delete)

to do:
- replicate current for air solenoid or delete it
- tuck wiring & ram air hoses inside frame if possible
- cut, bend, raise, brace and extent the subframe to accommodate the r1 tail
- fabricate a tray to relocate all the electrics up under the seat
- install crash bungs
- run wiring for heated gloves
- paint engine casings black
- stainless bolts
- rejet
- radiator guard
- couple of bits to sandblast and powder coat as well, frame maybe
- paint subframe black
- get that front tyre on the right way
- repaint that front wheel
- oil change & treat with zx1
- valve/tappet clearances
- do some wheelies
- start projects 2 & 3

still a long way to go!

 

no working on the bike for me today then... =P

which is a bit of a shame because look what turned up



so with some luck my headlight brackets are going to turn up by the time the weeks out and that should be her back to a roadworthy state =] going to be using a round 7 or 9'' lamp from my gs500.

 

headlight bracket arrived today! got it fitted with the round headlight on now, too dark this now but i'll grab some pictures tomorrow. bracket was a tad longer than i had anticipated but its not a big deal, i just prefer headlights to be mounted as close to the frame as possible.

also got 2 wee strips of steel bolted under the ignition switch to hold the new speedo in place.

going to pinch the bar end mirror from the thunderace for the time being.

 

Me too. Its always an issue, and it gets even worse if you use projectors!

Can't wait to see how its coming along