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The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:47 am
by Maelstrom
The cosmetics board is a bit quiet so here goes.

A progress report on the R4 project. My plan was to build the FZR400 into the R4, based on the R7 of course. As in, make it look like an R7 not just write R4 on the seat in red crayon. I think the R7 is stunning and the perfect big brother for this concept. However, living in Thailand means I hit brick walls at every turn. Add to that the pathetic state of my finances, and it is all going at a snail's pace. Also I may be shifting myself and my family back to Australia in the future and that will put an even larger dent in my plans for progress. Why even try? Well I will try not to be sacrilegious here, but not to put to fine a point on it, the 400s are sadly lacking in the aesthetic department (just my opinion, of course). The slant four engine from Yamaha, beginning with the FZ750, was a revelation. Since then it has been copied by almost every manufacturer. With its new (at that time ) aluminium frame and its reputation for excellent handling the FZR400s deserve to be more than a poor forgotten cousin to the V-4 Hondas. Enter my bold plan to give the little 400 the face lift it needs, and make sure it still looks like a proud member of the Yamaha family. (cue Rocky theme)

I have been working on the seat for a 1WG. The plan is to make a sub frame and shock support to go with this of course. I actually got a fair way into making the shock supports from steel, before I discovered that the local steel is complete rubbish. When this seat is finished I will try modifying it and see how it looks on the 3TJ models. Here is the franken seat thus far. Showing a few pics as it progressed. The shape is finished and it is ready to be prepped for a mould. It was originally an R7 seat that I bought from Sebimoto and I have shrunk it, by cutting it into a zillion pieces as you can see, to fit the 400.

I am sorry but there is no way this seat will fit a standard sub-frame. Of course I will sell a just the seat anyone who wants to make their own sub frame or modify their standard one. Apart from the sub-frame I have to make the seat base and solve the taillight problem before I can consider it a finished unit. Given that there is almost no difference between the cost of carbon fibre and fibreglass here, I will be using carbon for finished items. All comments and expresions of interest most welcome and I need them. If everyone thinks this stinks then then it would be good to know.

Re: The Great Unwashed R4 Project

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:49 am
by Maelstrom
Two more views.

Re: The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:15 am
by Maelstrom
Okay those pics are a bit small. Try this one.

Re: The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:22 pm
by Kayla850
Nice work! :grin:

You could consider offering a 'race' version of the seat unit without any light holes. I think they'd sell quite well to owners of other Yams, not just FZRs.

Re: The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:29 pm
by Maelstrom
For those that do not know what the R7 looks like, (is that possible?) here is one. I would like to see that in Yamaha blue, it might look good.

Re: The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:35 pm
by Maelstrom
Yes good idea Kayla! I will do that, but I have no idea what other Yams it would fit. The taillight is causing me pain at the moment as I want to find something that I can embed in the rear rather than a bolt on unit like the original R7. The genuine item has what appears to be a large reflective sticker on the back of the seat, see image, and something about the same shape or maybe a pair of twin lights (wishful thinking) that would make that outline, would be perfect.

Re: The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:15 pm
by Kayla850
maelstrom wrote:Yes good idea Kayla! I will do that, but I have no idea what other Yams it would fit.
It doesn't matter- people will make stuff fit their bikes, you don't have to cater for every possible model. I think a scaled down version of the R7 seat could sell well to people building specials based on TZR or FZR sized bikes.

Re: The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 4:05 pm
by KennonNC29
any updates on this project?

Kennon

Re: The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 11:51 am
by Maelstrom
No sorry, it is dead in the water since I bought a 3TJ1. Said bike had carbs that were completely rotten. Now I am on the way to finishing the carb kit for these and a lot of other Yamahas. I did carb kits for the Honda V4s first after Rick Oliver showed genuine interest, you can see the NC30 kit at http://litetek.co/Carb_Kit_Honda_NC30.html. Now it looks like I might be moving back to Australia sooner rather than later so the whole Yam project will go onto the shelf and I will sell the 3TJ1.
cheers
Blair

Re: The Great, I hope, R4 Project

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:21 pm
by Maelstrom
And now, at a pace that can only be described as glacial, the tiniest piece of progress. This project is being done on the 3TJ now. Wait till you see the framectomy pics :o

Actually there are quite a few pieces of progress but none worth reporting yet. Just thought I would throw this one up to keep the FZR400 section percolating along at its usual brisk pace. :grin:
http://litetek.co/R4/Guide_R4_InstrumentCluster.html
Image