FZ Top Clamp GROUP BUY - Heads Up

[Hellgate]

Hey Everyone - I stopped by the machine shop today that is making a new top clamp for me and it is beyond my wildest dreams! It is stunning. It was still in the CNC machine and looks amazing. The machining should be done today or tomorrow and then it is off to the anodizers.

I spoke with the owner of the shop and he is willing to do a group buy for us. The price is still TBD but we'll work that in a bit. The Duc top clamps are $389, so I think it would be in that price range.

When we first discussed the project we were planning on using a simple steel tab to mount the ignition switch, well they've gone whole hog and have machined in, in the stock position, a hole for the switch. It looks great!

In about 1 to 2 weeks the piece will be back from the anodizers and I'll post up photos.

This is a great mod for those of you who have gone naked and/or are using clip-ons. This eliminates the empty handlebar clamps look back at you.

Attached are photos of a Duc top clamp and their dual eccentric rear sets, they hold a patent on the rear sets.

This shop produces aerospace and semi-conductor equipment parts to the machining and the finish is well beyond pretty much any aftermarket motorcycle supplier.

If you are considering this let me know and I'll begin building the list.

For some reason I am unable to load photos, I'll try later today.

Here's the url to their site: triple_clamps

Stay tuned!

 

[madmanmaigret]

For some reason I am unable to load photos, I'll try later today.

did it say invalid file or something like that?

 

[Hellgate]

did it say invalid file or something like that?

Yes it did, they are jpgs? I'm not sure what is wrong. Any ideas?

 

[Kilbane83]

What's the purpose? Aesthic/weight reduction or is there some kind of performance increase?

 

[madmanmaigret]

Yes it did, they are jpgs? I'm not sure what is wrong. Any ideas?

must be a bug or something it did the same to me?






Dennis!

 

[madmanmaigret]

What's the purpose? Aesthic/weight reduction or is there some kind of performance increase?

If you find his post, he put clip-on's on instead of the stock bar and it has that funny clamp for the bar that he does not need so a new triple will eliminate that for a "cleaner" look..... let me see if I can find his post it would be good to link it here anyway.:thumbup:

 

[Hellgate]

What's the purpose? Aesthic/weight reduction or is there some kind of performance increase?

Aesthetics mainly. I have ConvertiBars on my bike, no stock bar. So as a result I have an empty top clamp sitting there, looks bad. If you look in the Mods section you'll see my post on the ConvertiBars.

If sure it will be lighter, not by much. I don't see any performance increase, maybe the triple clamp will be a bit stiffer, but with our crappy headset bearings it won't make much difference. Tapered roller bearing will fix that issue, and then maybe the stiff top clamp will help.

I did notice that with the Converti Bars I have more feel over the front end, less flex from a normal handle bar.

Cheers!

 

[oso2k]

Are there going to be provisions for gauge cluster mounting? That would be great for us naked people. What about the difference in 04-06 vs 07+ clusters?

 

[Hellgate]

Are there going to be provisions for gauge cluster mounting? That would be great for us naked people. What about the difference in 04-06 vs 07+ clusters?

Man that is a great question. As it stands right now the new clamp mimics the old one but without the risers, and the pinch bolts are much closer to the inside of the clamp, you'll see what I mean soon.

I would think that they could machine in a genaric provision to mount the gauges for a naked. I'm envisioning two 6mm holes to which a simple steel band could be bolted to, then a guage cluster to the steel bands.

Maybe a naked provision could be a Phase 2 enhancement? I'll ask them.

For 04 to 06 are the gauges mounted from the top clamp??? For 07 and up they are part of the fairing.

 

[oso2k]

Man that is a great question. As it stands right now the new clamp mimics the old one but without the risers, and the pinch bolts are much closer to the inside of the clamp, you'll see what I mean soon.

I would think that they could machine in a genaric provision to mount the gauges for a naked. I'm envisioning two 6mm holes to which a simple steel band could be bolted to, then a guage cluster to the steel bands.

Maybe a naked provision could be a Phase 2 enhancement? I'll ask them.

For 04 to 06 are the gauges mounted from the top clamp??? For 07 and up they are part of the fairing.

Both generations mount the cluster to the fairing stay. However, the 07+ have different hole positions.

 

[DefyInertia]

Man! This is going to be very tempting!

 

[Hellgate]

Man! This is going to be very tempting!

It will be very trick, I promise you!

 

[oso2k]

It will be very trick, I promise you!

How about a "Cluster Stay"? Something that just holds up the cluster and can be mounted on top of this triple. I'm thinking something (top and bottom plates) that just "bolts onto" the triple.

 

[Nelly]

It will be very trick, I promise you!

Hi Pete,
Just playing devils advocate, The fabricators work looks top notch. If it was me considering the purchase then it is wayout of my reach and I would have to put the money towards cans or the mortguage payment lol. Tere are no moving parts, I know its a one off. How come its so expensive? Does that price include tax?

Nel

 

[Hellgate]

Hi Pete,
Just playing devils advocate, The fabricators work looks top notch. If it was me considering the purchase then it is wayout of my reach and I would have to put the money towards cans or the mortguage payment lol. Tere are no moving parts, I know its a one off. How come its so expensive? Does that price include tax?

Nel

Nope, tax not included! LOL. The reason it is so expensive is the amount of time required to machine the part. The ignition mount is the hard part. Because it extends BELOW the bottom of the clamp for about an inch, about 4 pounds of billet have to be machined off. As a result Mark, the engineer is going to develop a space/shim if you will. With that change we now begin with a 5 pound block, instead of 10 pound block of billet. Some of this billet can be very expensive, but the majority of the cost is the time on the machine. Some of these machines are $100,000 plus dollars.

As you mentioned the quality is first rate. Compare a set of Pazzo levers to Mark's work, night and day. The Pazzo a covered with tooling marks and which surprised me. The back side of this peice will look as nice as the top part.

Mark's main audience is Duc, Aprillia and MV Agusta owners, they demand the best. So with Mark's work it is as close to perfect as you can get. Do you need that level? No. he has a lot of pride in his work and he wants it to be the best he can do.

The Yamaha part is cast and for mass production that method is much cheaper.

 

[Nelly]

Thanks for the clarification Pete. So essentially we are giving our FZ's that MV touch of class. I am not in any way dissing the mod or the cost. Unfortunately it is beyond my current means. For the naked guys though I can see how this will really add a touch of class.
If by any chance there are any Pazo type quality ones knocking around; please give me a bell lol. Kudos to for the time and effort spent on sorting the mod. I hope that those who have shown interest are able to comit to it fully.

Nelly.

 

[Hellgate]

Re: FZ Top Clamp GROUP BUY - Update 4/9/08

So the machining on the top clamp is complete! And will go to be anodized today. They are waiting on other items so they can run one big batch over there.

Of course I forgot my camera, Dooh!

The Top clamp is amazing! The underside is as nice as the top. The backside is machined to accept the stock ignition with NO mods and the stock cable guide. To install this is a simple 10 minute plug and play opertion.

They have made THREE total so far. If you want one let me know. Don't know a firm price Again I'd guess $375 to $400. For you euro dudes this is a deal.

If there is enough demand we can have more made.

 

[Hellgate]

Top clamp is due in tomorrow! I went by the machine shop and they called the anodizers and it is ready to go, so hopefully we can get it mounted tomorrow. I'll bring my camera for lots of shots of the clamp off of the bike.

 

[thatguyx]

bump for pictures

 

[pchbreeze]

bump for pictures

+1..........