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RC36 'Lilith' Build Log


DRAWS

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Hello hello! I recently purchased a 1993 VFR 750 that is in rough shape to say the least. Given my starting point I decided to go with a street fighter build. I'm making this build log to share my experience with everyone, spread/gain knowledge, and mostly to keep myself motivated. It's going to be a long road!

 

Current Tasks

  1. Subframe Swap (2016 CB500)
  2. Wire M-Unit Blue
  3. New Handlebars/Controls/Switches (lsl street bar, domino mx2 throttle, m-switch buttons, apollo heated grips)
  4. Turn Signals (m-blaze bar end signals)
  5. Mirrors (katur oval bar end mirror)
  6. New Headlight (mt-03)
  7. New Gauge (koso rx1n)
  8. Make Her Purr...again

 

Future Tasks

  • Custom Seat/Tank Grips
  • Fork Swap
  • Custom Side Fairings
  • Paint Engine/Frame
  • Paint Tank/Fairings
  • Exhaust
  • Coolant Reservoir Tank

 

Let the fun begin!

lilith1_start.jpg

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The biggest challenge with streetfighting an RC36-I is making the frame spars look right.  Much easier to start with an RC36-II!

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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paint the coolant bottle black, only leaving a thin vertical line "clear" to allow a quick inspection.

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16 hours ago, JZH said:

The biggest challenge with streetfighting an RC36-I is making the frame spars look right.  Much easier to start with an RC36-II!

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

I agree that the frame spars present a rather unique challenge. I'm currently planning on doing some fiberglass work and making them look like the Honda wings. Once I get a bit further into the build and have the subframe on and seat fairings I'm going to do some fiddling in photoshop to come up with a decent design.

10 hours ago, Dutchy said:

paint the coolant bottle black, only leaving a thin vertical line "clear" to allow a quick inspection.

I was considering that as a quick and dirty solution. I'm probably going to hunt around and find a nice container that suits the aesthetics of the build a bit better.

 

I made some progress. I got the subframe mocked up and prepped for welding. I'm not 100% happy with it. I'm thinking about bringing it forward a bit more.

 

I've completely removed the old wiring harness and drawn up a wiring diagram for the M Unit. It should be here tomorrow, so hopefully I can get the subframe welded and the wiring done in the next couple days. Wiring diagram attached and is hiding below the pic.

 

The only thing I'm struggling with for the wiring is the fuel level sensor. I'm not sure how to wire this one up to a single wire that runs off resistance. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

lilith2_subfram_mockup.jpg

lilith munit wiring v1.0.pdf

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I'd bring the seat up and forward so the tail light finishes at or before, the back tyre. The wheel base should be longer than the seat IMO.

If you match the curve of the seat to the curve of the tank, how does it sit?

 

My 2000vfr has a 2008 ninja 250 seat and subframe. We just slid the seat along the tank until the curves lined up, and it all looked good.

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On 9/24/2018 at 4:42 AM, DRAWS said:

I agree that the frame spars present a rather unique challenge. I'm currently planning on doing some fiberglass work and making them look like the Honda wings. Once I get a bit further into the build and have the subframe on and seat fairings I'm going to do some fiddling in photoshop to come up with a decent design.

I was considering that as a quick and dirty solution. I'm probably going to hunt around and find a nice container that suits the aesthetics of the build a bit better.

 

I made some progress. I got the subframe mocked up and prepped for welding. I'm not 100% happy with it. I'm thinking about bringing it forward a bit more.

 

I've completely removed the old wiring harness and drawn up a wiring diagram for the M Unit. It should be here tomorrow, so hopefully I can get the subframe welded and the wiring done in the next couple days. Wiring diagram attached and is hiding below the pic.

 

The only thing I'm struggling with for the wiring is the fuel level sensor. I'm not sure how to wire this one up to a single wire that runs off resistance. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

lilith2_subfram_mockup.jpg

lilith munit wiring v1.0.pdf

 

Isn't it just the grey/black wire from the level sensor unit?  On the non-US models (which had no low fuel light) they use just two wires on the fuel level sensor (rather than three), one being grey/black and the other being green/black (the ground wire). 

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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On 9/25/2018 at 12:57 AM, JZH said:

 

Isn't it just the grey/black wire from the level sensor unit?  On the non-US models (which had no low fuel light) they use just two wires on the fuel level sensor (rather than three), one being grey/black and the other being green/black (the ground wire).

I'll have to do some testing once I get to that point. I'm still a ways away from wiring though.

 

On 9/25/2018 at 9:06 AM, gll429 said:

make your own res bottle..

I'm definitely going to go that route, I'm just biding my time for the perfect bottle for this build.

 

I finally had a day off where I could work on the bike some more. I feel like I made a lot of progress.
I'm finally happy with where I have the subframe and got everything prepped and ready to be welded. I'm just starting with the top mounting points first, then I'll play around with the angle of the seat until I'm happy with where it is. Oddly enough the stock seat pops right onto the new subframe and fits almost perfectly. I'm thinking of hacking the 2 seats apart and fusing the front of the stock seat and the back of the new seat together. That or I'm going to use the old seat to fit around the tank and have the new one fit into the back of it. We shall see, I'm going to play around in photoshop and see what both ideas look like. The tail light is the furthest thing back and it ends a few inches before the rear of the tire. I'm rather pleased with the length and look of it now.

 

I finally got everything I needed for the handlebars and swapped out the flat bar and old controls for a much needed upgrade. I'm going to have to get new brake lines and throttle cables. They both reach but are very tight and it's making me uncomfortable to think about it and the bikes not even on the road yet!

I'm a bit torn on the speedometer placement. From the riders perspective it looks much nicer sitting in front of the handlebars and it lines up nicely with the master cylinder. However from the front it looks goofy and unfinished. With it below, as shown in the pic, it looks much cleaner from off the bike and not too bad from a riders perspective. It is rather low and  out of the way. But that's kind of how I like it! I  enjoy having a nice unhindered view of the road!

As far as the mirrors go, I'm very happy with how well they disappear in their current placement. You can barely even tell they are there when looking at the bike. I'll have to see what the visibility is like once the subframe is finished. I may end up putting them on the end of the bars.

 

I ordered a zx14r rear shock yesterday. After reading this thread, I was persuaded into doing the swap now before I finish the subframe. That way if I need to change the angle of the seat if I need to. I'm going to run it on the stock dogbone for now and see how it is. I've heard it lowers the rear end quite a bit, but that may be a good thing for me only being 5'8".


I'm still dreaming about an R1 front end swap. We'll see though, it's a pretty pricey endeavor. I'll probably run it with the stock forks for a while and see how I feel about it.

 

lilith3_subframe_top_pre_weld.jpg

lilith4_subframe_top_pre_weld_stock_seat.jpg

lilith6_tail_light_distance.jpg

lilith7_subframe_top_pre_weld_front_view.jpg

lilith8_new_controls.jpg

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Just a quick update. Wiring is going... This is my first time taking on such an endeavor, it was a little terrifying going past the point of no return, but I'm making slow but steady progress towards completion. I just have the gauge, auxiliary, and ground wires to run then to wrap it all up in some fancy split loom I got from revival cycles.

 

lilith09_out_w_old_in_w_new.thumb.jpg.3831b958177f57f2a9d05e8d301f92a8.jpglilith10_wiring_progress.thumb.jpg.b22cc9db4a67a4c0639e6da75cfa08c8.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Progress has be slow due to a new job and  upcoming move. I've gotten the wiring basically all sorted out and started the looming. I ordered a new antigravity battery and reg/rec that will work with the new battery. I got the 8 cell battery and I was a little nervous it wouldn't be enough to turn over the engine. I'm happy to say that it has more than enough power to crank the engine.

 

The zx14r shock I ordered came in and that was easy enough to install. I left it on the stock dogbone for now. It does feel a little low but I'm on the shorter side so it works for me. I did test the clearance and I shouldn't have any issues with it lowered and the new subframe. I'm definitely loosing ground clearance, but I can actually flat foot the bike now. Which this will end up being my dd so that's a huge bonus when sitting in city traffic everyday.

 

I got in a new coolant tank. I haven't put it on yet as I need to make a bracket and haven't had the time to get to it yet. It does seem like a quality product and I'm not worried about it getting damaged.

 

I also purchased a Denali SoundBomb. Holy hell are those things loud. It's an incredible improvement over the stock road runner sounding pos. There's no doubt in my mind that this will get peoples attention even at highway speeds. I didn't grab a picture of it but I put the compressor on the left side off of the bracket for the forward most ignition coil. It nestles into the gap in the frame very nicely. The horn part of it was just stuck in where the stock horn was. I might end up moving it later depending on how it looks. But this thing is loud enough you could stick it under the seat and still give people heart attacks.

 

I finally got around to getting the fairings for the subframe, they are just sitting on there for now. I won't bolt everything on until after they get some new paint. Unfortunately with it being off of a 2016 bike there wasn't really anything on ebay so I ended up just ordering them new. Yeah, I don't like money...🔥💵 On the plus side I was actually able to sit on the bike with the new subframe for the first time, which I finally got around to getting welded. I just had the tops done and I'm just going to drill through the pipe for the bottoms. I'm still fiddling with the angle. I think it's a bit to high in the pics. Regardless, it finally feels like I'm making progress on this thing.

 

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about the exhaust. I really like the look (and sound) of it as is with nothing on there. But it's so loud it's giving my neighbors corvette an inferiority complex. I'm not complaining about it, but I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood will after a couple days of leaving for work at 5:30am. Does anyone have any experience with those cheap ebay shorty slip ons? My goal is to leave that rear wheel exposed to really show off that single sided swing arm, and have it sound angry as hell.

 

Next I'm going to finish up the looming on all the wiring, relocate the oil rad, make the bracket for the new coolant reservoir, trim the headlight brackets and respray them, sort out why it won't run (she fires up with starter fluid but dies after 10-15secs, 99.9% sure it's bad fuel as the bike was sitting for a long time before I got it), find a happy angle for the subframe and solidify that, sit on it and make vroom sounds as I pretend to rip through the twisties.

lilith11_wiring_subframe_progress.jpg

lilith12_wiring_subframe_progress.jpg

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