and this is what you'll look like riding it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwjpc8I-0kw

Ruttly wrote on 01/15/17 at 14:01:53:

Gary , Is that a stock DRZ fork or has it been lowered ?

Forks have been lowered 100mm. Rear remains stock.

The Suzuki looks way better than that Kawasaki brat tracker. Had my tracker out doing some tuning blasting round town when I was heading out of town was trying to hold throttle steady at 80 mph this Camaro was along side like he wanted to race when I realized he was just checking the bike out. It's so hard to keep a steady rpm in the up right position gonna have to try the flat track tuck position next time out !

Dave,

What I don't like about bikes without rear fenders and the seat stuck up in the air is that it reminds me of the snobs when I was a kid.

All the good kids had Schwinn or Columbia bikes and the snobs had English bikes with skinny tires. The Raleigh was most popular among the rich kids and they always had the seat up as high as it would go. We called them "Ass-High Riders". We hated them....

Kenny G  

I agree with you guys, the tail piece is an important design element of this bike. I also agree that a fender/tail piece gives a bike a finished look.

Ellaspede’s DRZ Street Tracker has a very unique tail section. It flows well with the body line with no hump in the back. Being flush with seat top it does not create additional lines for the eye to follow. Further, it includes an enclosed seat pan where the bikes electronics and battery are housed. It’s very neat and tidy. I’ve done some research to see if I could find a similar seat pan. So far – no good. So in the event I can’t source (or afford) the tail piece from Ellaspede I’ve been looking for alternatives. I kind of like this one:

http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/vintage/images/seats/dts6contact.jpg

It does have a street tracker hump but its small size makes it a good fit. It can be purchased with an accessory undertray so I could create a battery box and electronics bay. At $104 for the seat pan and $45 for the seat pan it’s economical too. I’m 99.99% sure that I could easily make an undertray on my small tabletop brake too – it’s just some simple bends and some AN426 flush rivits. But the DTS6 is not the same as the unit designed by Leo Yip. The Ellaspede design is nice and flat which doesn’t disturb the continuous line of the bike from front to back. A traditional Tracker seat pan has an upward flair/turn at the tail end – and I think it would disturb and detract from the look of the bike.

I contacted Leo in late December to see if Ellaspede had developed a kit for the DRZ. The parts of primary interest to me are the tail section, fork brace and the radiator relocation brackets. I also asked if he’d be willing to share any details of the build.

He got back to me and advised that they are developing some kit parts for the DRZ, but hadn’t released any yet. Parts would include the tail and fork brace.  We have had subsequent email exchanges where we discussed custom fabrication of these parts, but I agreed to be patient and wait for the kit parts. He was also kind enough to share some details on the suspension modifications which I will detail when I modify the suspension.  So far Leo has been forthcoming with info and if he keeps his schedule, I should have a tail section for this build by early summer.

Otherwise I’ll have to cobble something together from Airtech-Streamlining.  I hate fiberglass work, but if I have too I could modify that DTS6 seat pan to eliminate the rearward upturn and flatten out the seating area. Or, just come to accept it.

Another idea that I’ve thought about is improvising a tail piece from something else. For example, a quick look on eBay pointed me to a seat cowl from a CBR600. This cover actually has nice lines, and with a little fabrication work I think I could make side panels for it to integrate it into a metal undertray. Best of all, it’s only $25.



The other way to create a tail section/seat cowl would be to render a design in a 3D CAD file and have it printed. The more I think about it, the more I like this option…but a bolt-on kit sure would be easy.

I like some of these.

http://www.legendary-motorcycles.com/index.html

So I reached this stage of the project:











I need to get this all under the pressure washer and take a good look at everything, but on initial review this bike is in excellent condition. Don't let the dirt fool you, this bike was well cared for. Everything on this on this bike was properly torqued, greased and the previous owner went through the trouble to install grease zerks on the swingarm and steering head.

If I can get everything cleaned up in its current state, I probably will not tear down the frame any further. I really don't see the need to unpack the wiring harness and risk making more of a project than necessary.

I need to disasseble the wheels, clean up the hubs and relace the wheels for 18" rims. I'm going to simply move the rear 18x2.15 to the front and purchase an 18x3.50 for the rear. The rear hub looks like it may not respond to cleaning...I'll know more once I get it all apart.

Here's something funny; the box of parts to sell/not use:



Is larger/fuller than the box of parts to clean and reuse: