Ducati Monster Forum

I've been getting pressured a lot to do a track day, do a track day, do a track day.
Well, now I'll be set for next spring.
In exchange for some junk kicking around the back of my garage, I'm getting a decent woodstove and this bike. It must be some special find you must be saying to yourselves.
This is what it should look like. Following this picture is what it does look like, needless to say it'll be quite the winter project.

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/YamahaFZ600.jpg)





Now the travesty that is my 1986 Yamaha FZ600.  [laugh]

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1918.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1919.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1920.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1921.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1922.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1930.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1935.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1936.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1937.jpg)

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/giacco/IMG_1941.jpg)

Good luck and have fun!!  [thumbsup]

You have more balls than I to undertake such a large project.   [beer]

I'll have Nate redo the current paint scheme on new fairings.  [laugh]

Yeah, that paint job is  [puke]

Just don't let him paint it pink.  ;)

Let me know how that works out for ya.  [cheeky]

Yeah, your right, he might not have the skills.

Well, I also did put this here rather than NMC to find out more about this model.
Anyone know what the options are in terms of what better parts can be swapped on from newer bikes and such.
How well do these work on a track? I'm well aware that it's not going to be a rocketship.

Congrats!

PM mostrobelle and point her to this thread.  She has a 400 as a track bike and may have some info for ya, but I don't think she reads this section of the board,. 

Will do.  [thumbsup]

Do a search for my thread on the FZR400 I almost bought.

TONS of good info there.

Through links there I was able to find an FZR400 with a 600 transplant that had a *totally* worked over motor that made 100hp at the wheel.

My 675 makes about 100 hp at the wheel!

Popular changes are a wider CBR rear wheel to allow the use of a 180-17 (the 400 had an 18" rear, yours looks similar)

GSXR front ends with radial brakes can be had off ebay for less than $500, sometimes with a wheel even.  Also have your search include R1, R6, ZX6/10 fronts as well.  They'll all work.

Flat slide carbs seem to be a rare, but desirable, upgrade to the stock honkers.

Your bike looks like the ass of a sick dog.

But it was a good choice.  Not sure I'd have said no to it either.  You can build something cool with this [thumbsup]

Another fizzer rider... awesome.   [laugh] [thumbsup] 

Fun little bikes.  Makes me wish there were more 400's to choose from in the State that didn't have knobbie tires.   You'll find that you don't have too many folks to play with on the track.  Once in a while a 250 or a 125 comes out and they and I will get to goof off together.  The rest of the time I'm practicing my passing technique on big bikes and seeing how big my cajones are on the brakes.  (they're but wee cajones...)

Let's see...first thing beyond the normal maintenance and suspension stuff was to tackle the cooling system.  Apparently 400's have a tendency to run hot and mine was no exception.  Some bikes have it worse than others.  Mine was a borderline issue, so my husband and I slapped a 600 rad in there.  It required a little bit of tweaking of some parts and a few non-stock things to make it work but I recall it being pretty easy.  Make sure that the bike hasn't been sitting around for ages with water-wetter in it like mine had been.  Took many, many flushes to get the sludge cleaned out of it.   >:(

Next thing we did was put some decent brakes on it.  We put on R6 brakes.  That was a slightly more involved project, but also not bad.  The bike stops on a dime now.   [thumbsup]

The rear wheel conversion was done before I got the bike and I highly recommend that so that you can get decent rubber for it. 

We didn't do a whole lot else to it, but we've been tinkering with it on and off for a few years now.  It used to be 450 Production race legal and I had briefly entertained the idea of racing it myself, but they did away with that class, and I've got no money for a new bike, so I just toodle around the track on it.  That bike is good, cheap fun. 

I have no idea what kind of hp the bike makes, but it ain't much!  Doesn't matter though...still tons of fun.  My husband and I recently did a trackday together and is often the case, I rode his R6 during the last session and he rode the mighty 400.  He was out there tearin' it up on that little bike and had a huge grin on his face when he came back in.  My pegs were all scraped up, too--bastid!   >:(   [laugh]  Here are picts from a couple of weeks ago.  I'm going to repaint over the winter, so she's lookin' a little more haggard than usual.  The bike is really long for such a small bike and I'm on the smaller side myself so it looks kinda weird.  I got your P.M. and will respond further there (or here if you like...)  BTW, I have lots of track plastics and street bits.  Let me know what you need.  I might have something and wouldn't charge except for shipping.   

Also, you should sign up for the FZR400 yahoo list.  Lots of knowledge and parts on there.

(http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o131/etoile_polaire/091408%20Thunderhill/belleinfront.jpg)

(http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o131/etoile_polaire/091408%20Thunderhill/anotherturn.jpg)

(http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o131/etoile_polaire/091408%20Thunderhill/someturn.jpg)

Lol as I was scrolling down, I first saw the ball on the front fender and thought "isn't that a pokemon ball?" and then realized farther down that pikachu was the scheme on the bike.  I nearly fell out of my seat laughing!   [laugh]

OK...back up a second. The FZ600 is only VAGUELY related to the FZR400/FZR600. It's on track capabilities are going to leave you seriously wanting. Not to mention the lack o interchangability between it's parts and more modern options (FZR400 GSXR rear wheel swap, R6 brakes on FZR600 91 and newer forks are just a couple that come to mind).

But don't fool yourself. You will spend more money on that thing getting it trackable than you would if you bought an FZR400 track pregnant dog and ran it mostly stock.

Sorry, that's the reality of it. The FZ600 can be tracked and it can be a great learning tool. But personally, I would have dug deeper and found an FZR400 or even an FZR600 to start with. There is SO much you can do to make those bikes competitive and fun. The FZ600...well that would be like me taking my old ZX900A3 drag bike to Road America and hoping for good lap times.

Unless of course, the bike was given to you or was purchased for a few hundred dollars...then it may be what the Dr. ordered.

 [bang] [popcorn] [beer]
Any way you slice it, good luck and have fun.

I essentially got it for free so no matter what there's no downside.
I don't have the bike in my possession but by comparing pictures of it to pictures of the FZRs that replaced the FZ, the most notable change is the "modern" style frame of the FZR. However, the forks, where the brake calipers mount on the forks and the swingarm looks identical. That would lead me to believe that many if not all of the same swaps can still be performed. Maybe by reinforcing areas of the frame the same rigidity can be found as the better frame of the later ones and the same handling capabilites can be achieved. No matter what it'll be fun to experiment.

The forks are the same as the 89 FZR400 and 89/90 FZR600 forks. But the R6 brakes are only a direct bolt on for 91 and newer FZR600 forks.

The swingarm is too narrow to accomodate anything larger (safely without pinching) than a 140 rear tire which limits wheel swaps you can do.

The frame brings to mind the flexi-flyer superbikes of the late 70s/early 80s.

I have owned and raced FZR400s and 600s and have owned 2 FZ600s. For basically free, you are out just what you put in to get it running.

Don't get me wrong. It is definitely trackable. But when you start getting guys on EX500s blowing by you down the straights, the fun factor will wain.

Like I said above have fun. And you won't be broken hearted if you wad it like I was when my Jason Clay built FZR560 LW SBK passed me doing cartwheels through the grass in the Carousel at RA... [moto] ;D

Post it on eBay in the cartoon section  ;)....

"That's a surfboard all right! Looks like a '57 Chevy I used to have."


 [cheeky]

good luck and have fun.   [thumbsup]

You never rode an early 70s Kawi 2 smoker...

did you?   [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Hehe before my time but the late 70s/early 80s GS/KZ/CBs were a dime a dozen when I was still kickin the piss out of my KX80.

But I did get the opportunity to ride a TZ750 once...yeah...only bike that ever almost made me pee myself.

I rode an air cooled 350 Yami race bike. It was stupid fast for the time. The TZ 125 was fun too.

If you think about it...

most of our street bikes have more power than the race bikes of the 70s..

with tires and suspension that makes mere mortals somewhat capable of riding them.

I'm even more pysched knowing that this thing won't handle optimally, anything good it does will be all me.
At the very least, I'm the right build to get the most out of this sort of thing.

What's wrong with pink?  *sniff sniff*  I'll have you know, people were reporting pink paint in 14 at VIR North months after my oh-poop-my-throttle-is-locked-w-f-o incident!

Anyway, it looks like it's going to be a barrel of laughs.  There's nothing wrong with getting really intimate with a bike before you ride it.

Making a piece of crap bike move decently around the track has got to be one of the most satisfying parts of owning a piece of crap bike.  Of course, then the 15 y.o. on the single cylinder 125 usually smokes me about the time I'm feeling pretty good about myself.   [laugh]  Everyone should own a sh*t bike at least once.  It's so liberating!  I've crashed the track bike once and you can't even tell.   ;D