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With aluminium being roughly 60% lighter than steel, and titanium being 40-50% lighter, by halving the total weight in this tub I can get a pretty good idea of how much I have saved.
The tub weighs 1.7kg, meaning I have saved around 850 grams or 1.8 lbs from the bike by using aluminium and Ti fittings.
This does not include the weight saved from the Yoshimura pipe, FatBike front inner tube, triple clamp/brake carrier/engine mount modifications, crank breather mod and NEXT component levers.
Obviously swapping to the Showa A Kit spring fork will have added around 2.5lbs (ish? I haven't compared them) over stock. And I know the rear wheel as it sits is a little heavier than stock. But overall I would like to think I am under the stock weight, while greatly improving the performance. If I find a scale I can use I will get a total bike weight and find out!
And as you know you will save about 8-900 grams once you get the guts seat, and your riding style will improve, because you won't want to sit down on that thing. Rock hard!
Had to put this photo up here Russ
Russ, I just across this RMZ build and what a nice one it is.
A nice follow up to your RM250 smoker. Clamps look super factory after the polish!
It's a great bike. Other than some clutch modifications, I've not had to touch the bike since the rebuild. It's been great!
Massively missing the RM though. Will definitely be bringing it out to play again soon
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
However I came across these little mods on TT to improve the stock clutch...
I first removed the 2 judder springs at the base of the clutch pack - This greatly reduced clutch drag and also made for a shorter engagement window, which I prefer. The clutch now feels less mushy and more precise as a result.
I then went and had some spring seating washers made that centralize the clutch spring on the clutch spring bolt. This eliminates the chance of the spring moving out of line, rubbing on the pressure plate and causing an uneven disengagement combined with a heavier clutch pull.
The images above show the washers and the difference they make. You can see in the last image how the upper clutch spring is dead central, while the stock lower clutch spring is off centered and clearly contacting the pressure plate.
This is a fantastic mod and only cost me £12 to get the washers professionally machined. I will be doing this mod to all my bikes and if you are looking for improved clutch action I highly recommend giving this a go!
You can instantly feel the difference at the lever, it pulls with a much more 'fluid' feel.
Just pop the cover off and pull a spring out, measure the inner diameter of the spring and then -0.2/0.3mm for clearance and use that figure for the step on the shoulder.
I made the washers with a 3.5mm overall length. Making the shoulder 1.5mm deep and the washer 2mm to match the existing ones. This will make the bolts sit 1.5mm further out but this isn't an issue as there is plenty of room in the cover to work with.
I went with stainless steel but I think you could get away with Ally or even Ti if you're feeling exotic!
I wonder why OEMs don't do it either. It would cost so little to have them mass produced. Rekluse actually do something similar in the Torq Drive kits so its nothing new, but its definitely a mod more people should be doing
This might be a stupid question. Bit the judder springs you removed, what are those I really want to do this to my rmz but I'm not really sure what the judder springs are. Can you post a pic of them or explain more about where they are?
https://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-rm-z450-2014-l4-usa-e03-rmz450-rm-z450_mod…
See part 11
I also gave up looking for the factory replica plate and now I have my graphics done I've kinda lost interest in one haha. But i will let you know if they do become available.
I could get the washers for you, however I'm in the UK so there would be a postage charge on top. Although I wouldn't have though it would be silly money. I'd be more than happy to send you a set if you want to go ahead with this. You will need to source your own bolts however, as the stock RMZ ones have captive washers so cannot be re used. You need 6 M6 x 1.0 x 30mm with a fairly shallow head for clearance.
Pit Row
This video explains everything quite well
I can vouch for this as I did a whole weekends racing on this set up with not one slip related issue. That's on a completely stock clutch with stock springs.
But as you said, it could be easily remedied in a number of ways. All of which are fairly straight forward. I will mention the idea of the getting the washers counter bored for the hub posts when I get some more made.
My stock clutch was so bad originally that I went ahead and bought a full Hinson set up to go in it. However I did the judder spring and clutch washer mod and have been so happy with the result that I haven't even put the Hinson kit in yet!
Honestly I haven't ridden the RMZ all that much lately, its sits with only 50 hours on the clock at the moment, but plan on increasing that number this year!
The bike remains largely the same since the build. I've been keeping up on the maintenance and playing around with suspension settings. There is definitely room for improvement, so I'm currently experimenting with minor spring rate changes and clicker adjustments to get the feel I'm looking for.
Picked up some sweet parts for the bike recently!
Zeta carbon chain guide and a selection of titanium pieces that I was previously missing, which include: Lower engine mount bolt and nut, upper sub frame bolt and nut, rear brake pivot bolt, rear mud flap bolts and 2 M6 x 65mm bolts by the sprocket. This virtually completes the titanium package now leaving just the axles, swingarm bolt and linkage bolts and a few misc engine bolts as the only remaining OEM bolts.
I'm excited about your topic! Definitely will do same clutch mode for mine rmz.
I'm not sure about what OEM clutch discs&plates should i use. Do you have exactly stock sequence? Should i run Num7 disc in front and Num9 plate in back if remove jutter springs?
Thank you!
Keep the clutch exactly the same as stock when removing the judder springs, and re assemble as shown in the exploded diagram. You will experience less drag and a more precise engagement with the judder springs removed.
Cheers
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