500R: zx600 rear wheel project almost done...

[orbital5280]

(The tire in the pic is a 140/70 Kenda on the stock 3.5in rim)

A while ago I posted a thread on this forum telling ya'll about wanting to graft a 4.5in rim with a 150/60 or 160/60 tire on my 2002 Ninja 500R and try to keep the stock look at the same time. I have yet to see anyone with this mod so I decided to bite the bullet and see if it could be done, especially with the tight clearance of the stock swingarm.

Gotta love ebay. I found a complete 1993 zzr/zx600 rear wheel with spacers, cush drive, and sprocket carrier and I got all of that for 24.99! Bonus is that this rim is of the same spoke design as the 500R.

The rear brake rotor is from a 2003 zx1200 and measures up at 230mm, same size as the stock one. All of this will fit (pretty tightly), but I have to move the rear brake assembly out a bit, get the sprocket carrier milled down, and cut some spacers before I move on... Oh and the disc is orange because of oxidation... once the pads grab on to those they should be cleaned up a bit...

I was torn between slippin on a 150/60 or 160/60 on the 4.5in rim.... the moron that I am went with the 160/60 Shinko radial found dirt cheap here:

http://store.azmusa.com/shink-006.html

<== $70 bucks people....

These "Shinko Podium 006 Radials" are ZR rated to 168mph and they are manufactured in a Yokohama tire plant so they can't be to bad...





The project is almost there, I just need to move out the brake caliper and get the sprocket hub put on a lathe so I can get the chain to be aligned right. The last problem and only problem to overcome is that the sprocket hub is to wide in diameter and bumbs against the swingarm, this causes the wheel not to be centered right (by about 1/2inch)



The clearance between the tire and swingarm are pretty close. By about 1/8th of an inch on the right side. This does not take into consideration tire growth at speed. So I may have to shave a bit off of the weld on the inside right side and re-weld, or just get a 108 link chain to move the wheel back a bit (if it is to long I'll just cut the chain to 106links....)

Last about the Shinko tire: Im pretty impressed with the quality, they look promising but I won't be able to see until I get the bike going. I checked to see if the tire is out-of-round but looks very straight when spun.

I'll post again once this mod is done and rideable......
(To the guys that noticed, don't worry I'm getting the matching front tire soon also.)

[Bhavesh]

Wow, that looks awesome.

Are you doing this for drag racing? Or just from tuner/modification spirit?

[orbital5280]

just for kicks really... I've always wanted to switch to radials (usually radials only come in the smallest size of 150/60 from a couple of major manufacturers.) Although some people on this forum have managed to squeeze a 150/60 on their 500r 3.5inch rim and have had no problem whatsoever, I wanted to go the appropriate route and use a 150/60 on a 4.5inch rim which by most manufaturers is the recommended rim size for a tire this size. The moron that I am went one step further and opted for a 160/60 instead at the end....

[pdssoft]

First off, DISCLAIMER: I know nothing about this, but... (it certainly looks cool)

Would it be easier (not cheaper) to replace the rear end with that of another bike that takes a 4.5 inch rim? (i.e. the swingarm, rim, tire, brake, maybe chain too?)

I mean, with eBay, it may not be THAT expensive? But do you think it would work?

[D.C.]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm new on the forum and this is exactly what I want to do with my 06 500. How did it turn out?

Thanks,
Damien

[gatorswamp]

dont think he will answer

orbital5280

Last Activity: 12-05-2005 11:26 AM

[D.C.]

Well, that sux...

[Lawn Masters]

the issue with making another bike's whole rear end fit, is that the width of the swingarms at the frame pivot point are different. there was an older ZX600 setup that would fit, but required a lot of fabrication to fit it in there.

I just did the next best thing, upgrade bikes. but to each his/her own.