xtz project

[Jenna]

I have touched on this in a few other threads but as they are more honda related thought it may be better to stick a thread here that not going to move others off topic.

ok a long time ago i joined this site to research the possibilities of building a Dakar rep bike, the first choice was the NXR, next up was a YZE then the goood ole elephant... well the NXR is just way too much of a one off build, the cost of a good donor bike to expensive and parts ridiculously dear so that was that. The elephant is a favourite of mine and is a stonking bike but lets be honest its also a white elephant as no body has really heard of it (for give all the puns!).. so Yamaha won.

after a lot of hunting around we found a somewhat neglected donor bike up in Wales for £300 which although needing a lot of work would suit the plan well.

So back in workshop she has been now been stripped and we have started to 'up grade' as much of the bike as possible in the direction of competent rally raid entry...

There has much been written about the pro's and cons of fork swaps, its sometimes complex and its always an issue with insurance companies, but as we will end having to insure as a modified i don't look at this as a problem merely just another 'item' to list on the bike spec paperwork. After a bit of research it turns out those nice people at Yamaha have stuck with the sane headstock dimensions for a long time and that means we can use the yokes and forks from a WR450 with minor changes. these monster USD units are built like a brick **** house and offer a massive 300mm travel. Like an idiot i have decided that the XTZ twin disk front wheel must stay as like on an AT it is really iconic of the bikes design. WR front disk has both a different offset and diameter so that means loads of extra work making up new calliper mount in ally, cutting off the old one and then welding the mew mount on using a jig... which we also need to make!!!

Other work in progress is the moulds for the rear tanks or hecktanks as they are normally known, these are a modification of the exsisting bikes panels that extend back behind the shortened seat to a filler, plan is to have these made in a resin/kevlar composite. estimations are that each side will hold around 5 lts of fuel and water.

One nightmare is to sort the dash, its amazing what has to be fitted in on the bike to do a rally raid.. roadbook, GPSr, UHF radio, safety beacon, and then either a stock dash or as we have opted a IMO digital dash. After a lot of mucking around its obvious that all that wont fit in a stock faring so another current project is to increase the space in the top of the faring... I should also say that i'm not keen to fix anything to the handlebars as its prone to damage....

more to follow!

[atgreg]

woohoo, piccies,piccies,piccies

[atgreg]

Here's one done in Oz, not a rallye rep but certainly modified for its intent, bit rough though. it has a TRX850 engine.

[anton88]

Sounds great - looking forward to some pics

i'm not sure if people are aware of the amount of time it can take to build a dakar bike - even a replica - up to a year in some cases - and thats by pros working full time (but this includes testing and development).

I can appreciate what you say about the dash and all the extra equipment you need to install - i had enough headaches fitting back all the standard stuff let alone extra rally computers.

Good luck.

Ant.

[Jenna]

quite a few guys on the UK XTZ forum have gone the WR front wheel and single disc route and report that the breaking is weak due to the extra weight, others have then done the sport bikes big disc mod and they say that that is to harsh off road but great on tarmac... but that surely is a contradiction if you go to all the work of swapping out the forks in the first place... if I wanted a tarmac monster then I would buy a ducati lol !!!

lmao I have not given toooo many details of the build as I didn’t want to give it away but what the hell,

yep final engine will be the TRX850 with the 27' crank, yet again Yamaha have made a bike that excepts all the goodies from other models with a simple swap.. This engine is the dogs dangles!

Other mods are:
rear linkage, going to rework the link to allow ride height to be raised 2-3".
rear end, full WR mx style back end. small tail pouch for spares, LED light pod.
rear mount for both UHF radio aerial and GPSr power amp ariel.
rear wheel, rebuilt with stainless spoke, both hub and rim shot piened and black powder coated, new rear tyre (Michelin 'desert' with bib mouse).
rear renthal sprocket -1 tooth (45), stock 16 renthal front and new 520 DID gold ert 'X' ring chain.
front wheel, XTZ with twin 245mm discs, stainless spokes, both hub and rim shot piened and black powder coated, new front tyre (Michelin 'desert' with bib mouse).
front dual calipers with ebc kevlar compound pads, single rear calliper using ebc kevlar pads.(all disc's zinc plated)
dual stainless front brake hoses, single rear stainless hose, all fitting stainless not plated.
Large capacity resin/kevlar front fairing, larger dash area and increased air dam to accommodate larger rad & oil cooler (uses stock mounting points)
4 row alloy rad with additional 18% volume (custom fabricated by Pace products)
2 row alloy oil cooler (custom fabricated by Pace products)
Raidxtreme ally dash sub frame, mounting dash/fairing/lights and first aid kit.
Renthal dual wall handlebars with risers, brace, medium compound grips and pad.
Touratech Sport100r IMO dash and logger. Remote operation kit.
Touratech RB-TTi electric roadbook c/w led illumination and remote operation kit.
Yaesu VX1 UFH radio with remote mount antenna.
Garmin eMap GPSr with remote power antenna.
Raidxtreme VX tracker and distress beacon.
Polisport hand guards
Polisport WR front fender (high fitting).
Polisport YZ rear fender.
SR Racing fork brace.
Raidxtreme seat, dual layer foam with a suede/vinyl cover.
exhaust, stainless steel Laser enduro pro with ceramic uht black coating.
frame, shot piened and strengthened on engine mounts and sub frame connections. zinc primed and 2 pack pained.
ally bash guard with integral water tank, may end up in resin/kevlar and ally skin.

tank, errr... plan is to build a new one that will accept a hi-level K&N air filter in resin/kevlar, with increased capacity as the air filter box is not required. Estimated fuel capacity is around 30lts. Two new hecktanks in resin/kevlar rear mounted will provide an additional max 10 lts of fuel.

paintwork, main bodywork in Porsche sea blue, frame Porsche tundra met grey, engine as original. Forks and swing arm in silver zinc plate. new ally heat shields’, chain guards and infil as required.
graphics, high definition vinyl print to include all sponsors logos.

so there you have it a few hours in the workshop and she'l be sorted

[Jenna]

oh.. and forgot.

Raidxtreme sealed loom (c/w paddock battery connector, self trip fuses, and soild state relays)
Xenon HID twin lights.
YB14L-A2 gel battery (190cca).
'tour de france' air horns.
variable length side stand, option on centre stand.
clear screen.

omg it goes on.. and on... and on!!!

hopefully the bike should be finished by the end of the year (with exception of the trx lump) as most the bits are just straight swaps....

[boboneleg]

and who is going to ride this mean machine

[Xander]

Jenna (if only you an kymmy were not married)

Sounds great. I will be watching this very closely, as i want to make my xtz (back in oz), in to a competitive rally bike when i get back.. so please please keep the details coming..

The mods sound great.. as you know I am particularity interested in the hecktanks (rear tanks.. literal translation from vaderspeak), so if you would be sooo soo kind as to keep a detail diary of how that goes. I'll give you my first born child.. .. I am also VERY interested in the " variable length side stand".. I was just talking to MRS.X about making one but have not come up with a design that i feel would hold the bike with the vastly different loads that we can put on, it.. (the WP rear has been a god send, except for the angle that the bike can lean on some times... and then i have the heave back to up-right..)

In other questions are you coming to the national... it would be great to meet you both? I talk about you two all the time and it would be great to know who I am talkng about.

[Jenna]

Originally Posted by boboneleg

and who is going to ride this mean machine

well short arse Kymmy cant even get her feet on the floor before i raised up the suspension so that rules her out.. oh well for the time being looks like it will have to be me...hu hum.

Xander had a few clear days to take a look at the bike and do a few measurements, also started the bodykit.

front fairing has been re worked so the screen is now at 80 degrees as apposed to the 45 degree its normally at ,plus i have moved the base of the screen forward by 4" so now the dash area is twice the size, i also managed to convert the fairing so that the top will take the clear screen as apposed to being solid and fixed. This means that you can fit a high screen or a low one depending on what use you have, it also means that the fairing can be made in two halves so its easier (and cheaper) to make with an additional bonus that the panel will be way easier to store and transport.

The lower half of the firing is going to get the jenna treatment, from the mock up it looks like i can gain 2" each side with a larger air duct this means that if the rad is off set to one side i then have space to fit a 4"oil cooler too! I have also made the air duct wider and lower this means that there is now room to fit the air horns under the fairing as well (compressor fits next to the catch tank under the seat).

Mocked up one of the hecktanks also, looks like it will a nightmare to mould though!... so far all the panels fit on the existing mounting holes.. only exception is lower fairing clip but this will be replaced as this new section will locate on the new bash guard anyway.

After 2 years i might be able to get to the lathe this week as we have moved all the cars and spares out of the workshop and into a new rented barn and i will then make up the side stand mod. the idea is a copy of a suspension leg adjuster on a Subaru rally car so it should be strong enough!!
It is made up of a stepped collar that fits in the side stand tube, it has a centre thread (m14x1.25) which accept another collar that will fit in the other half of the tube. This collar has a threaded section that allows you to lengthen or shorten the section, spacers are then fitted over the thread to the correct length and then the whole thing tightened up.. hay presto a variable length side stand....

hopefully will post a few pic's of the bits and pieces today, just about to collect a spare tank this morning that is going to be 'modified', so it wont be till later.

No idea about the national as we just cant work that far ahead as the work we do is very much week to week at best (like we had planed to be HU but ended up 2 days before organising a meeting at Goodwood with Bowler and Desertrose...) plus i am in hospital next month a few days and I am adamant that we get out to morocco asap ready for next year.....

[Xander]

t is made up of a stepped collar that fits in the side stand tube, it has a centre thread (m14x1.25) which accept another collar that will fit in the other half of the tube. This collar has a threaded section that allows you to lengthen or shorten the section, spacers are then fitted over the thread to the correct length and then the whole thing tightened up.. hay presto a variable length side stand....

That was the basic idea i was thinking about.. my only concern was the vibration factor and if it may vibrate lose and fall off, so i started to think some kind of lock system (beyond nylocks) Then I started to think how great it would be not to need spacers so that i could adjust on the fly with out extra parts... then it got complicated.. and well that is just bad. (must use K>I>S>S>!!!).. so i put it into "to be though about later box".. I reckon you could sell that if you made em by they..

side question... what are you using to do the working sub-molds.. I have i the past used a fine metal mesh that bent and stays where you put it.. but cant find anything like that here..