Weight reduction thread

[chemomche]

The cold days had come, my bike is to running very well, so i have planty of time to think about stupid things.
So i got the weight reduction idea stuck in my head, moreover i tried to weght my bike and the result was 99kg front and 105kg rear, or 204kg. for the whole bike. My measunrig may not been pretty accurate as i used only one scale, but still i do not liked the result.
My bike has PAIR removed, stainless still headers, carbon cans, gsxr750 front end, cbr 929 front fairings with one spotlight(so no big, heavy front light) and HRC style brake reserviors and it had little fuel at the time i weighted it , about 5l.
So why is it still so heavy, i thought it must be about 190 with the lighter cans, and no head light.

However, i read pretty big number of weight reduction threads ant i think we can make one with all the tips you know how to make our bikes lighter. And what are the parts that are heavy and can be made lighter.

For now i am thinking:
-removing key lock - 200gr, may be?
-lighter gas cap - 100gr?
-removing pilion pegs and mounting aluminium can holders
-aluminium engine bolts - the alu is 3 times lighter, so 1kg iron bolts is 350gr alu
-stripping wiring harness- most trackbikes loos 1-2kg from wires, my bike is road legal bu i think i can get rid of some things
-lighter rearsets - i have an idea of fabricating adjustable alu rear sets
-lightening rear disc and caliper carrier - drilling some holes in them
-relocating the battery - i got no money for those fancy lightweight batteries, so at least i can move the weight lower, maj be near the front sprocket is good plase,any ideas ?
- one very wanted thing is tank dummy and plastic tank under it, 10l of fuel is enough for me
- alu sub frame is another good think

Just to add, this weght reduction is "poor man's" so no carbon, titanium or NASA stuff in it...just things that can be removed, drilled, remade lighter with no or little money

[seb421]

just go on a diet

big weight reducers are 954 front end, everything is significantly lighter

and exhausts

[thumperslaw]

Small race battery or get one from r1 where you can lay flat
Rearsets,clip ones,cut the sub frame right down for one seat (race seat unit)

[VTRDark]

just go on a diet

+1 as removing a few grams or couple of kilos here and there on your bike is not going to make any difference to you at all unless your name is Guy Martin or Valentino Rossi and are racing professionally.

(:-})

[Wicky]

Sell a kidney and spend what you get for it on lashings of titanium and carbon fibre goodies. Win - Win

Have a slash before going for a ride. Give up takeaways and start to enjoy porridge oats.

Remove non-essential items like mirrors, lights, indicators + blinker relay, starter motor + starter relay. Okay you'll only be able to ride in daylight and need to live at the top of hill.

Remove fairing or sand it from the inside paper thin.

Learn to weld aluminium and make your own tank and get drilling on all the bodywork, hangers and things that at a minimum don't hold vital fluids or gases. >>

[chemomche]

Diet...well i lost 10 kilos, if i loss more i will be to weak to handle the bike
As i said no money for expensive mods, so 954 front end is not an option.
As i said the bike is road legal so solo seat and removing the starter and battery is not an option too.

R1 battery?how is it different? i can put my ytx-14bs anyhow i want

just go on a diet

+1 as removing a few grams or couple of kilos here and there on your bike is not going to make any difference to you at all unless your name is Guy Martin or Valentino Rossi and are racing professionally.

(:-})

few grams will be no difference, but 10-15kilos will make it different on the corners, stopping and accelerating, and still i think 10-15 kilo loss is achievable

here is inspiration sait
http://durbahn.de/index1.html

they make 140kg 1000cc bikes, still having battery and starter motor


Wicky, do you know how much the bike from the picture weights?

[lloydie]

light weight wheels £lots
2-1 exhaust £cheap
other than that sell the storm and buy a 125

[Wicky]

Looking at the website - Their motto is NO COMPROMISE - and they utilise (expensive) carbon fibre so yup they use cheque book weight loss method like rich people going to a health farm, rather than the cheaper African famine/leprosy methodology...

On that note you can do it yourself and buy sheets of carbon fibre and lay it up from moulds you take from your own parts - though wouldn't want to do anything structural for safety sake.

[youtube][/youtube]

here is inspiration sait
http://durbahn.de/index1.html

they make 140kg 1000cc bikes, still having battery and starter motor

[chemomche]

On that note you can do it yourself and buy sheets of carbon fibre and lay it up from moulds you take from your own parts - though wouldn't want to do anything structural for safety sake.

carbon...may be not, too expenscive and harder to work with, but i am thingking ot fiberglass
fiberglas air bog i good weight saving, as it is pretty heavy

[Wicky]

"air bog i" Is you Welsh??

fiberglas air bog i good weight saving, as it is pretty heavy

[mik_str]

I have been weighing the parts I have removed and replaced over time and here is what I have so far:

Weighed or reliable data:
Rear rotor 1,0 lb
Exhaust 15,8 lb (Akrapovic claim)
Battery (Mavyrik) 6,0 lb
Rider footpegs 0,5 lb
Inner fairing panels 0,5 lb
Alum. fairing bolts 0,2 lb
Front fender 0,5 lb
PAIR system 1,0 lb
Plate bracket and light 0,5 lb
Chain & sprockets 2,0 lb (Web info)
Flywheel 5,4 lb
Sidestand switch 0,2 lb
Rear brake reservoir 0,2 lb
Pass. bracket bolts 0,1 lb
Stick coils 0,8 lb
Exhaust hangers 1.4 lb
Crankshaft, rods,… 0,8 lb
RC51 cluster 0,5 lb
Rad grills 0,3 lb
Hyperplates 1,2 lb
Sidestand 0,15 lb
Ti front axle 0,2 lb
OEM lower fairing 0.7 lb/50.15 lb

Estimated:
SPAL fan 1,0 lb
Triple clamps 1,0 lb
Rear fender ass’y 1,5
Turn signals 1,0
Mirrors, bar ends 1,0
Tool kit 1,5
Gas cap bolts 0,1
Rear wheel 11
Front wheel 1.2/19.3 lb

Ti and Al nuts and bolts definitely add up (have old bolts in a bag and it's getting heavy) but I don't have hard data about specific weight loss.

Not sure about CBR900RR forks: loss or gain? (compared to stock front end)

Anyhow, based on the data above, I think my bike is hovering right around 400 lb wet.... I need to get it on a scale to confirm this of course......

I believe there is a further 3-4 lb to be lost with an aluminum subframe too (future project?) and another 1 lb or so with an aluminum fairing stay.....

[chemomche]

I have been weighing the parts I have removed and replaced over time and here is what I have so far:

.....

that was exactly what i was looking for

Just to clear it out, this are the weights of the parts, ot the weight you took from each part
because the numbers total about 70lbs and you say the bike now is about 400lbs(480 - 70 = 410lbs)

[mik_str]

The numbers listed refer to: i) the WEIGHT DIFFERENCE between the stock parts and the ones that replace them (in the case of replaced parts) or ii) the weight of the removed parts (when parts have simply been removed and not replaced).

FWIW, I am quite confident that the weight loss from the replacement of fasteners with Ti and Al units exceeds 10 lb, hence my stipulation that the bike now weighs around 400 lb wet (wet weights I have seen in magazines for the VTR ranging from 477-480 lb).

Also, another important point to consider is that a significant portion of the weight loss (in my bike's case) is rotating weight. This means that the engine spools up significantly more quickly and changes direction more easily and with less effort (BTW, don't let yourself be fooled with the old "1 lb of rotating weight is equal to XX lb static weight" as there is no such rule/law/relationship for the simple reason that the weight's location away from the center of rotation is just as, if not more, critical than the actual amount of weight. ie. it's possible to have a lighter wheel with an greater IOM (in other words, "act heavier") than a heavier one if the lighter wheel's weight is further away from the axle).

cheers

[BigVeeGrin]

i reckon it's all a bit 'in the 'ead' like. Enjoy it for what it is. If you set out to lose a kg you'll wonder always what a kg and a bit was going to be like etc etc. That would fry me noddle and distract me from the enjoyment of what I have already.

[AMCQ46]

It's also worth having a good sh1t before you go for a ride