Honda-Tech - Honda Forum Discussion - 1977 XS650 turbocharged fuel injected project

Hey guys, seemed like there was some interest in my newest bike project so I figured I'd post it up. A quick note about this build, it's never been about making a lot of power. I could go down to the dealership today and have a selection of bikes with a lot more power than this thing would ever have. It's just to see if I can do it and to keep me entertained.

that said:

So here's the newest build I'm working on, I'll post up what I had on another forum to this point:

Specs and Goals:

1977 XS650 frame/engine the engine will remain mostly stock, just rebuilt.
I'm switching the engine over to fuel injection. It will be run by Megasquirt controlling fuel and spark.
The motor will be turbocharged and intercooled- if my #'s are correctly calculated, I should be getting about 88hp out of the engine, so maybe 75-80 at the rear wheel.
ZX6R front suspension and bars
Buell swingarm and rear shock
Frame will be 70% my own construction
Bike will have all the same specs as a modern sportbike regarding the rake/wheelbase/ect... However, it will be taller than most sportbikes. I've got really long legs and I like taller bikes, plus, I want to keep people from wanting to ride my bike.
Wheels will be f2/f3 style
Full brakes from ZX6R
Custom subframe and tail section of my own design
Buell headlight and windscreen
Suzuki GSXR gas tank
bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.....

Pictures:

Tail section I molded from foam and fiberglassed:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/100_2146.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/100_2147.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/100_2150.jpg

swingarm, tank, and tail section:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/100_2302.jpg

Buell swingarm, was initially purchased because the warrior engine is a right side drive. I still wanted to use it, so I'm filling in the right side, and cutting a space for the chain on the left side.

Made some paper templates:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/100_2978.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/100_2979.jpg

Cut the pieces out and welded them up. This is my first time working with aluminum, it's pretty fun.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures001.jpg

smoothed the welds, the piece should be welded in place pretty soon:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures005.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures006.jpg

Here's the frame I started with:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures007.jpg

here's what's left:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...project004.jpg

quick mockup-

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...project007.jpg

Frame progress:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures005.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures003.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...amepics001.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...amepics003.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...amepics002.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...amepics001.jpg

That's what I've got so far. I know it looks like there's a lot of space around the engine in the frame, but the turbo is going back there, along with the intake manifold. The intercooler will be mounted vertically on the downtubes.

I've got a mockup turbo coming in the mail, also my blow off valve and Buell rear shock.

This is going to be a really involved build I hope you'll have as much fun following along as I have building it.

I'm sure I've missed a bunch of stuff, so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

thanks
Sky

Just after I wrote this I started thinking about something else on the bike and went down to look at it.

It's funny how the mind works sometimes. I was down looking at the bike thinking about another aspect of it, when I looked at my other bike, and turned the bars.

There's no way I could turn the bars on this bike with the frame the way I made it!!! Haha :)

So I had to cut the top bars and redo the front section so the forks would have the room needed to turn.

Old version:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...amepics003.jpg

New version:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...meshape001.jpg

It's a little tough to see what I did from those pictures, but at least now I can turn....

Got my rear shock today, sheesh, this thing is a lot bigger than I expected. Really nice part though.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures001.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures002.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ictures004.jpg

Not much today, I got my blow off valve in-

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...deshots004.jpg

Only other thing I did was shape some tabs for the subframe mounting and tacked them in place. These I used some welding rod to simulate a platform to set the tail on so I could get a better idea what it's going to look like. Also, I think I've pretty much got the height set for the swingarm so I'm going to start building the upper mounting point for the shock.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...deshots003.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...deshots001.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...deshots002.jpg

Not much I know, but thanks for looking anyway :)

Sky

OK, not too much to show you guys lately, been finishing my move to the coast, setting up shop in my Dad's garage :)

I got my new rear wheel in the other day, a couple mockup pics:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics007.jpg

Got my turbo in the mail too, slight change of plans there. The original 14B I was supposed to get didn't show, the guy refunded me, and it worked out well actually because it made me look around some more. Got an even better setup with my new choice K04 turbo from an Audi TT:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics002.jpg

size comparison:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics003.jpg

Here's the most likely turbo mounting position:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics008.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics009.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics010.jpg

I also got started on my flanges for the intake manifold I'm making. My dad had some aluminum in his shop so I started drilling:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics012.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics011.jpg

Think it's thick enough? :yes: 1/2"

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ikepics013.jpg

obviously they'll be shaped more eventually, but that's the basic idea.

I should have my front wheel and forks showing up soon, as soon as they get here I can start setting up the ride height of the bike and it'll start looking a little more complete.

Thanks for looking guys....
Sky

Got a fair amount of work done on the intake manifold recently:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...anifold001.jpg

here you can see the plenum and the throttle body feeding it, and here's a few shots that show the positioning:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...anifold010.jpg

tight fit, but it'll clear :)

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...anifold003.jpg

In this shot you can see the holes I've cut for the runners, and also you can see my finished intake flanges:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...anifold002.jpg

I don't have the mandrel 90's I need to finish up the runners yet, or the alumnium injector bosses, but I should have those ordered soon. I also cut out the caps for the sides of the plenum, but I'm not going to weld those in place until everything else is welded up.

Also, I'm going to build a short bracket from the Throttle body to the upper motor mount to help support the manifold.

I'm having a blast welding this aluminum, it's really interesting material to weld, For my first major project I feel like it's going pretty good:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...anifold011.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...anifold012.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...anifold014.jpg

Also, on my previous project I cut up a handlebar I had lying around because I needed to make some spacers out of it for my calipers. All the time I was thinking I'm going to regret this because I'm going to need this eventually. Yep, sure did :)
So I got a length of 7/8" aluminum round stock and made sure everything was super straight and welded it on:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...anifold015.jpg

Anyone need an ultra long clip-on?

Now I just need to smooth the weld, cut it to factory length and tap the end for a bar end if I so choose.

Thanks for lookings guys, hope to keep updating fairly regularly but you all know how life keeps getting in the way of what we want to be doing!

Sky

Yeah buddy, got my front end in today, 2007 GSXR 600 forks and lower triple.

Looks like my assumptions are correct, the fork size is the same as ZX6r forks, so I can use my Kawi clip-ons, and also I'm going to use a Kawi upper triple.

Some pics, the bike visually is starting to come together, also I get my front wheel tomorrow, so expect to see some pics with that in place tomorrow sometime.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ndshots003.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ndshots008.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ndshots006.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ndshots002.jpg

thanks
Sky

Got my front wheel on today! Mocked up anyway....

I'm really really liking how this bike looks right now. Should be awesome when finished:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...wheelon001.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...wheelon002.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...wheelon003.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...wheelon004.jpg

thanks
Sky

Sorry for the delay, I was off on a trip for a few days.

Meanwhile today I did some more work on the intake manifold. It seems to be shaping up nicely so far, the injector bungs are in the mail and should be here on Thursday, but I'm clean out of argon gas, and don't really have the money for more right now, so updates might be a bit slim for the immediate future :(

Anyway, here's some pictures:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1314.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1315.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1316.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1319.jpg

As you can see the runners are fully welded to the flanges, and are not even tacked to the plenum yet. A bit more work needs to be done to the tops of the runners to make them fit as well as possible.

A quick note about the runners, I was originally going to order some mandrel bent 90 degree elbows, but the thickest I could find them in was 16ga which is a waste of time trying to weld that to 1/2" aluminum. So I went to my local supply place and picked up a length of tubing which had the proper diameter I wanted. The catch? It's sch45 tubing, think that's thick enough ;)
So quite a bit thicker than I needed, but hey, stronger is better right?

Anyway, hopefully things will turn around for me fairly quickly here and you'll get some better updates.

Later
Sky

I was able to get started on the collector for the turbo manifold:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...rshotgs001.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...rshotgs002.jpg

Also I got the injector bungs in the mail, drilled the runners for them and welded one side in place. Not so happy about my aluminum welding right now, I need more practice:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...rshotgs004.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...rshotgs005.jpg

A few new pictures from tonight. Got the other injector bung welded into place, still not great welding, wish I has a chance to do some scrap welding on aluminum to get my skills up to par. Anyway just a few shots of the bike together with the turbo mocked into its final position:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1340.jpg

Everything is a pretty tight fit!

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1341.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1339.jpg

Check out my sweet exhaust :)

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1343.jpg

I just think this picture is cool, when was the last time you saw injectors on an XS650?

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1342.jpg

Here's a couple quick pics of the turbo manifold I'm making:

I determined awhile ago that I would be able to check the oil on this bike, so you'll notice the pipe snakes nicely around the oil dipstick tube :)

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...orsetup001.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...orsetup003.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...orsetup004.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...orsetup005.jpg

Masking tape is an excellent tool for mocking up tubing

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...orsetup006.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...orsetup007.jpg

That's about where I'm at now, that side that still has masking tape in the picture has been tacked into place. Due to how the head ports are placed on these engines it's impossible to build the manifold as one peice, so likely one or both sides will have a flanged section that comes apart for installation or removal.

I've got some more stuff done since these pictures were taken, but I've gotten a bit sidetracked by other things, so I'll get back going on this bike again soon, get some new pictures up. Hope you guys have enjoyed looking at all the pictures, feel free to comment away positive or negative I like feedback.

So, been awhile since I've actually had any updates on this thing. Combination of factors; welder is at work, working on other things, kinda burned out on it for awhile, that sort of thing :)

Anyway, just a quick post to let you know what's new.

Got a few parts in, got my Kawi upper triple:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1366.jpg

Here's my new intercooler. It's a perfect size! It originally came as a side mount intercooler on an Audi S4:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1369.jpg

This probably isn't the final mounting position, but I'm trying out a bunch of different spots. It will be mounted to the downtubes in some fashion though.

Here's a couple of distance shots showing how the bike looks currently. Also you can see my 2005 ZX6R seat:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1365.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1364.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1362.jpg

Got my cush drive in:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1367.jpg

This is what sucks, because of the gearing in these bikes I need to use a 30 tooth sprocket, that's pretty small. So there's going to be lots of milling on this cush drive to make it compatible with the new sprocket. I'll also have to cut an adapter plate:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1368.jpg

My brother owns a 2004 ZX6R and he recently got hit by a car. He's ok, but they totalled the bike out. He bought it back and is parting it out. He's going to give me the complete braking system and rearsets! Whoohoo, stuff like this never happens!

Also, here's what's been keeping the majority of my attention:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...r/DSCF1360.jpg

I've been trying to teach my wife to ride, but she gets really intimidated by bikes. So I tried to find the least intimidating bike EVER

I've spent the last month refurbishing it, it's almost ready to go, just a little bit more work.

It's going to be a surprise for her, don't ruin it!

Anyway, hope to start back up on this soon and get some work done.

thanks for looking
Sky