Topic: Drive Shaft Conversion

[phrige]

Hi Guys,

  I'm working on planning this conversion. I'm looking to buy a Honda Hurricana, Yamaha Seca II or a Kawasaki Katana, cheaper 90's sport bikes. And I am looking to convert it to a drive shaft.

  My idea was to match one of these bike up before I buy it to the rear specs of a MotoGuzzi or other production shaft driven bike and then straight swap it in.

 Has anyone here tried this type of conversion before or have ideas on safely and properly converting one of these types of sport bikes?

Thanks!
PEter Charuza

[Danno]

buy a bike with shaft drive if you want shaft drive you do realize that the output shaft on chain drive bikes goes the wrong way for shaft drive don't you ?

it would take a shaft drive gear box to accomplish what you are intending

[phrige]

Thats true, it would be a whole lot easier finding a shaft drive bike. but I havn't been able to find one in that sport bike style..
 That would save a lot of time and trouble.

At the same time I'm looking to swap out the motor for an electric build. So the output shaft direction wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks Danno,
Pete

[Retro Rocket]

Not many sport bikes with shafts. Moto Guzzi have them, Kawasaki had a couple in the 80's, the 1000ST is fairly sporty, and Yamaha had the 750, 850 and 1100 XS bikes, the 1100 is a good bike with a very strong engine.....
Google should help you out a bit.....

[phrige]

Yea Ive been searching, The guzzi's are great but kinda pricey. 80's has some fairly good ones, but they're all more cruiser style.

That's why I figured if I line up the sizes on bike bandit or one of the other sites, get the measurements of the rear wheel, hopefully I can find a early 90's bike that would match the rear of a guzzi even one of these XS or 1000St. Swap it right in.

I'm curious as to what I'd have to look out for in this kinda swap. Possible problems are the shaft being too short. Coming from a more compact bike.

Not sure what other problems I should be aware of.

[Retro Rocket]

Its not impossible to convert a bike to shaft but unless you are a mechanical engineer it will cost much more than the bike is actually worth. Why a shaft anyway.? Ever ridden one.? They have a completely different feel than a chain{torque reaction goes in the opposite direction, meaning that the rear rises under acceleration} and are basically preferred on touring style bikes, not sport bikes, Guzzi being the main exception...

[Retro Rocket]

First link Z1000ST specs.
http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/kawasaki/kawasaki_z1000st%2079.htm

Picture shows their potential...



Yes, this one is chain drive but apart from that its the same bike....

[phrige]

well the ultimate goal is to do an electric conversion on the bike, so i led myself to believe it'd be a little easier. Being that I can angle and position the elctric motor anyway that I please, vs. the gasoline motor being pretty much unchange-able or requiring being a mechanical engineer.

The whole point of shaft drive is a certain sleek look i'm after.
I'd use a hub Motor if There was one big enough for a motorbike.


--- That is a pretty sweet Z1000St.

[Greggo]

CX500's were shaft driven.  Check out member Little Horse's project.. 

[phrige]

OOh thats right, forgot about the CX's.

 The last post i did got me searching for hub motors. And apparently some do exist.

http://kellycontroller.com/hub-motor-60v-3kwdisc-brake-p-151.html
Check that out, not too Shabby!
Throw one of them on the back of the CX and light up.. well hopefully. lol.

Unfortunately for this project plastics are king. My buddy and I who are collaborating on it, definitely want that sport bike look. The Honda Hurricane is incredible in that respect as its one of the few bikes that i've seen that seems to be mummified in its plastics. Completely covering the engine compartment.
I'm barkin up the wrong tree as this forum reallly goes for the naked, cafe styles.
 Making this bike look almost magic, moved by an unseen force is really the primary theme. shaft drive is obtuse to most people. while hub drive is a whole 'nother can of beans.
Getting full plastics with small cracks really raises the mystery of whats under there. hows this thing running?

[phrige]

Gosh I love that CX

[Retro Rocket]

There is a guy here doing an electric conversion on a 750/4 at the moment, i think Sheik Yerbouti is his handle.....

Here it is....

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=79962.0

[phrige]

oh yea, i know of him thats for the link.

He's goin for standard chain drive. He's got some great CAD drawings, and design skill

[Danno]

if you want to go electric bag the drive shaft idea it will screw with the thrust angles of the bike if you mount the motor in the straight on instead of sideways some of the motors used for this kind of conversion have so much torque and mass that it twists the frame under accelleration stick with mounting the motor with the shaft the same as the output shaft on a chain drive so the frame will want to rise not twist Dont ask how I know lets just say there is one less yamaha magna shaft drive left out there

[Retro Rocket]

oh yea, i know of him thats for the link.

He's goin for standard chain drive. He's got some great CAD drawings, and design skill

Near the end of the thread  there is info on hub drive motors.....

[phil71]

what IS this thread? Is this april 1st again?

[coldwave007]

Some of the 1980s Honda Nighthawks had shaft drives.  I rode a 1984 Nighthawk 700 this summer - fast, fun, shaft driven bike!

[grcamna2]

Have you considered buying the shaft drive bike of your choice & looking for a very similar model that is a sport bike & swapping the plastics from that model onto the shaft drive model you choose.I was wondering how it would work if at that point of the build you removed the engine from the frame & left as much of the drive mechanism in the frame as possible(& maybe swapped some more drive parts from the engine/ trans.assm. that you could) & then custom installed your electric motor
into the frame w/ as much of the original shaft drive parts you could from that model.
I think the Guzzi type drive set up is a good idea.

[phrige]

Thats an interesting concept.

I briefly thought of that but was put off by sport plastics not fitting on the drive shaft bike being a large setback.
Though yesterday i actually searched for aftermarket full fairing kits. They are reasonably priced, and available in all shapes and sizes. Its actually a great thing you brought this idea into the spotlight.
What would i need, a rolling chasis moto guzzi or the like. Probably can be had, with luck for a reasonable price. that or sell off the parts from a full bike that I wouldn't need. whatever would be most efficient.

I'm ganna look into this slightly more detailed.
I was concerned about finding a fairing set that would match a bike of a different make and model. but with some minor custom mounting, i'm sure something could be created.

Thanks Gr!

[Eydugstr]

Might consider putting a Kawasaki Concours shaft drive unit on a older ZX ninja or possibly a ZRX1200.  There's a guy (Dan Bergman) on the COG (Concours Owners Group) forum that put a ZRX1200 motor in his Concours, and fitting the shaft drive to it.  So I assume that it's possible to do it the other way around, by putting the shaft drive unit onto the ZRX.

[MidnightLamp]

I'm just going to put this out there....but fitting racier plastics to a non-sporty bike is a LOT easier than adapting shaft drives. You will gain nothing for an EV conversion by going shaft drive, as it would just be significantly easier to run something like an AGNI 95r or a PERM through a single speed chain, using the stock chain line. Then a 630 chain can be fitted to deal with the torque. With the shaft drive, so such option exists.