Mercenary Garage - Custom Bike, SciFi & Punk Engineering Blog: CBR

Showing posts with label CBR. Show all posts

Sunday, 13 July 2025

Hashiriya

Image - via hashiriya_pride on Instagram

#Hashiriya #StreetRacer #Mercenary #MercenaryMotorcycles #MercenaryGarage

Sunday, 4 May 2025

May the Fourth

Image - Unknown

#StarWars #ObiWanKenobi #EwenMcGregor #MotorCycleNews #Mercenary #MercenaryMotorcycles #MercenaryGarage

Thursday, 12 December 2024

Garage Day - Extended Swingarm

So a few weeks ago I hauled Big Honda out of the hedge where it's been languishing for the last six years and I'm in the process of recommissioning it for use as my daily driver again. However, I want to make a bit of a statement with it too, so it's going to undergo some changes.

Gone is the complicated and heavy Honda linked brake system. Initially I didn't trust this, fearing that I'd lock up the front wheel by using the rear brake at low speed. However, I soon got used to it and eventually came to trust it. And I did like the way it worked at motorway speed, hauling the bike up very controlably with just the rear brake pedal. However, I never felt it was worth all the weight and space it took up.

So, all that stuff has been removed in favour of the front end off my Ducati and its Brembo calipers biting on the original 320mm discs on the Honda front wheel. The rear three-piston Nissin caliper is staying where it was for the moment as I try to get all three pistons to work off the original rear brake master cylinder (The rear master normally operates only two of the rear pistons, the third being operated by a third master cylinder which works by the action of the front forks diving under braking. Look, I told you it was complicated and I don't want to talk about it...).

So fitting the front end off the Ducati to the CBR involved modifying the Ducati bottom yoke to accept the steering stem off the CBR, and then modifying the top of the stem to fit the top yoke off the Ducati. Not especially difficult, but not for the faint of heart either...

Next up was the fabrication of a pair of swingarm extension inserts. This was interesting and definitely a learning process but went nicely to plan. It did however, take many, many tens of hours to complete. I know that in the future, someone is going to ask me to make them a set of these and Future Me is going to say - "Sure! That'll only take about two hours". Future Me, you're an idiot!

Next up was some lightweight footrest carriers, that locate the pegs about 30mm below the stock location.

So is it a drag racer? Am I going to fit a turbo?

No, it's not a drag racer but if the punk-rock, anything-goes, seat-of-the-pants Drag Race Ireland events ever resume in Bishopscourt, I'll be first in line.

And a turbo? Almost certainly not. Realistically, it's already a fast bike and it's just a daily driver. It doesn't need a turbo.

So watch this space and see how it develops...