Building an ST1300 from the ground up.

Thanks guys!

Jim- I was thinking that on the way home. Honda needs to build this bike.

Baker- Oh yes, I love the torque. It's not as punchy as my RC51, but there's just something about the delivery that is so fluid and smooth, almost like a turbine or electric motor. I love twins because of their torque, linearity and predictability. This is just a whole other animal. I'm going to high temp powder coat them chrome, or as bright a silver as I can get. As mentioned before, heat isn't an issue, so I'm not worried about ceramic coating them.

Yeah, heat won't be an issue. For looks, some wrap 'streetfighter' pipes, but I wonder what a high-temp ceramic coating, blackish, would look like against the aluminum engine.

:yes:

Any videos of the bike in action? No, not a "standing still" video ... along the lines of a friend with a cam following along?

Did about 200 miles today. I could easily do another 200. I tell you what guys, this thing really totes my goats. Not a bike to ride if you don't want to explain what the hell it is to everyone every time you stop, though.













Uncanny how the tank and tail work so well together, eh?

Oh yeah, and video, too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeSiKeslBGY

Pretty badass! :tup:

Thanks! I would like to point out that this is not a final copy. Consider this a rough draft, or a proof of concept, if you will. There's a lot of fine details I've glossed over for the sake of getting it on the road as soon as possible. I can't wait to show you all what it'll look like next spring.

Too cool. Can't wait to see her with her prom dress on.
I can't find the steering damper. Is it my eye, or is it being nice without it?

It's not bad without it. The steering is definitely on the verge of being too light, and I've gotten a bit more accustom to it, or rather, the leverage I have with those bars. If it had clip ons, it wouldn't be an issue. The time I put into researching front end geometry paid off. I still want a steering damper on there, mainly because when I get off the bike, the wider bars cause me to make some very small, yet undesirable inputs. A damper would smooth this out. Maybe I'll just have to ride it more to get used to it. I'm taking it out to the track on the 29th, so we'll see how it does out there without one.

Well done! You sound like Joey at the bottom of Bray Hill!!!!

Mandrake said:

I'm taking it out to the track on the 29th, so we'll see how it does out there without one.

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Have fun, can't wait to hear how that goes.

Love the whole build. Where is the weight savings coming from? Besides the rear sub-frame, does all the plastic weigh that much?

With your mapping is it making a lot more power than stock?

Sounds awesome!

Thanks guys! New spring goes in tomorrow. I'll let you know how it works.

Superzuki- clipons would hit the tank and reduce the steering angle to something resembling useless. If they were to work, I'd also have to raise the rearsets up a couple inches to make the ergos work for being leaned forward. Because of how the shift lever mechanisms work on these bikes, there'd be some major chicanery involved with a peg in anything other than the stock location (which is why I left the pegs where they were). After all that, it would be cool indeed, but it would defeat the purpose of this bike. Stay tuned for my next build if you want to see clip ons. I already picked up the donor bike, but it's staying in the back of the garage 'till the spring.

Pete- Figure there's no plastics and their associated support structures, no steel subframe or engine guards, no huge rearsets, no panniers, no enormous seat and bracketry, no 18" front wheel, no ABS, no LBS, no heavy 45mm right side up fork, no heavy analog gauge cluster, no 2.2 gallon sub tank under the seat, no heavy mufflers/ catalytic converters, no power windscreen, about half the wiring of a stock bike, carbon fiber bars instead of heavy cast aluminum risers, a single headlight instead of dual headlights with leveling motors, a 2 lb. lipo battery instead of a 12 lb. lead acid battery, LED tail light instead of a huge multi- incandescent bulb light, ect ect ect... you get the idea. The only things that are ST on my bike are the upper tank, frame, swing arm, headers, radiator, rear shock, rear wheel, rear brake, engine, airbox, ECU, some of the wiring, and the switches on the handlebars. That's all that your bike and mine have in common.

I put the lighter (15.2kg) spring in today, but Race Tech failed to mention that I was also going to need a spacer because the spring is shorter. Seriously, what the hell? Anyway, despite lacking about 1.25" of spring length, it still rides much nicer than the stock spring. The spacer will be here Friday and I'll sort the suspension over the weekend.

Looks great, sounds amazing! Much like a VFR800
Re. weight savings; the mufflers alone weigh over 12 lbs. Each!

Mandrake said:

This winter, it'll get taken all back apart for paint and powder coat.

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Fantastic job. If I squint my eyes I can see it all murdered out, gold fork tubes & chromed exhausts. Your bike is only slightly related to our beloved ST1300's, but I really like what you've done with it. Even though I'm a little long in the tooth for rattling window panes, I love the sound of the Tyga Moto Maggots when you are rowing through the gears in your video. Great piece of workmanship -- kudos to the builder.
Regards,
Terry

I like everything except the angle of the mufflers. I think they should follow the line of the bottom edge of the tail piece. Just my opinion.

Bike sounds great under load... Hope to see it in person some day.

Thanks, Terry!

George- the midpipes were just to get the exhaust on there as quickly as possible so that I can ride it. I plan on fixing the exhaust over the winter. What you see is a rough draft/ proof of concept/ running prototype.

Next time you're on your way through northern Utah, hit me up. Actually, that goes for any of you guys.

Mandrake said:

...Next time you're on your way through northern Utah, hit me up. Actually, that goes for any of you guys.

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What part of Utah are you in? I get up there once in a while, since I have a son living in Roy.

I'm in Ogden.