Post subject: Re: Mickey Krupa Tribute Build Thread
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 6:53 pm
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:13 am Posts: 109 Location: Homewood, Illinois
In the below pic you can see the Koso dash with the mockup, fiberboard dash. I plan to make another dash from aluminum, working on finding the correct size plate to work. Plus you may be able to see some of the dents in the tank from when Mickey crashed (thus prompting the full rebuild). I will be getting tank to very good bodywork shop for them to fix, the right way. I walso was able to graft on the R6 controls into the RZ500 wire harness. Which was a nightmare job. Still have to modify the R6 twistgrip body to accept the RZ cable ends.
In the below pic you see the pipes from underneath. Fantastic work by Brian!! With all the pipes, I wire wheeled them to remove the surface oil and prep them for clearcoat. I did not paint the pipes but only put on a 500 degree clearcoat. Didn't want to cover up Brian's work. Too cool.
In the below pic, you see the compromises brian needed to make to make the YRZ 500 tail section fit. I will be creating a heatshield which will be welded to the subframe to cover the gap, then need to have an auto upholsterer create a "cajones" pad which will also cover more and attach to seat mount.
_________________ Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Mark Twain
In the below pics, you see the stock carbs mounted. While researching the 32mm flatsides suggested by Brian, I realized the outer diameter of the 32mm would be bigger than the stock rubber intake boots. To make the 32mm carbs work I would have to create new, 90 deg angled intake boots. While I am working on this project, I decided to mount the stock carbs, work the jetting kinks out of the stock carbs, then upgrade later.
_________________ Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Mark Twain
Post subject: Re: Mickey Krupa Tribute Build Thread
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 7:04 pm
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:13 am Posts: 109 Location: Homewood, Illinois
So, still plenty of stuff to do, and looking forward to every minute of it!! have to route wires to rear end, have to find LED tail light, turnsignal, license plate mount, have to create and weld up a mount to existing subframe for LED lights, create a heatshield for underneath subframe with intergrated battery box for Li battery and weld it all up, get tank fixed, get bodywork, make all mounts for body work, make dash, and then finally start her up. Can't wait.
Thanks again to everyone and look forward to staying more in touch.
Later, John
_________________ Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Mark Twain
Post subject: Re: Mickey Krupa Tribute Build Thread
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:17 am
Site Admin
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:53 am Posts: 1310 Location: Temecula, CA - USA
In respect to Mickey's memory I have removed the last 2 posts. Guys.... please take your personal matters to PM. Or email... or whatever. No dirty laundry will be allowed here anymore.
John - I am so glad you are taking up the mantra and forging forward to complete your brother's bucket wish. We will be waiting for updates as they come...
Post subject: Re: Mickey Krupa Tribute Build Thread
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:37 am
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:13 am Posts: 109 Location: Homewood, Illinois
Thanks Tom.
Sorry, didnt try or mean to offend.
On to more exciting info, XMas came early this year. Received the new silencers from TZMike. Wow! they are fantastic, as you can see below. The welds on the aluminum are artistic, the workmanship unparalleled and they weigh about as much a full can of beer. I would highly recommend them if anyone else needs silencers. TZMike can be reached at tzmike@mfactorywest.com.
Also, got the material to complete my dashboard for the the aftermarket dash. A friend of mine was able to garbage pick from work an aluminum cover from an apple server. It's a 3/16 inch solid aluminum plate measuring 18x18 inches. More than enough to make the dash with plenty left over if I need to make some other parts.
Also, got some other minor parts to complete the motor (exhaust o-rings, ypvs caps, etc.).
Lastly, still looking for a kickstarter. Looks like Mickey's disappeared prior to us getting the motor back and into Brian's hands. If anyone see one for sale let me know.
Later, John
_________________ Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Mark Twain
Post subject: Re: Mickey Krupa Tribute Build Thread
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 11:52 pm
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:13 am Posts: 109 Location: Homewood, Illinois
Hey All,
Wow, it's been months since I posted. Man doesn't feel like that amount of time. But, guess it really flies when you have kids. Been a busy end of the year. Decided to put a lot of the bike and car projects on the backburner over the winter and get caught up on some house projects and fun stuff with the kids. We decided to do a backyard ice rink this year too.
Ton of work, but considering we had the third coldest and snowy winter in Chicago ever, guess I picked a good year to do it! Check it out!
Regardless of the fun we were having, I never stopped working on the bikes, even if just planning for future tasks and ordering parts when budget permitted. Plus, things kept pushing me forward; like a friend of ours stumbling across a few photos she had from the way back machine in 1988. Young and fun. It's Mickey at Grattan Raceway in Michigan in 1988, racing his 1988 Honda Hurricane (remember those) LOL!
Anyway, on to the good stuff! I have some very exciting news, but I can't tell you right now because the video is uploading. But you have your hint. Once everything uploaded, I will drop you another note. Stay tuned!!
Later, John
_________________ Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Mark Twain
Post subject: Re: Mickey Krupa Tribute Build Thread
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 2:22 pm
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:24 am Posts: 168 Location: Texas
John Thanks for the update. It has been a long time, Glad to see old pics of you 2 when you were young.
Keep on keeping on.
JT
_________________ http://www.rdsonly.com/ JT 1975 RD350B 1975 RD250B -rough 1979 RD400 Race bike- in process 1985 RZ500 - flame bike 1993 TZ250 4DP2- to be restored
Post subject: Re: Mickey Krupa Tribute Build Thread
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 12:34 am
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:13 am Posts: 109 Location: Homewood, Illinois
Well, I hope I got the video issues sorted. I didn't really want to use youtube bc of their privacy policy (you have none once you post) and so I used archive.org. It's a non-profit project to archive the electronic content of humanity for future reference. Nice to set simple goals, huh! Anyway you can restrict the usage of your images/videos to non-commercial use. So, I hope it works! If it doesn't let me know.
On to the news!
As you have been aware, we have had many difficulties in advancing Mickey's RZ500 project, most of them out of our control. Mickey was never able to see or hear his dream bike run, until now!
Yep, we finally got the bike running!!!! I really didn't think it would happen this soon. Even though I had gotten the bike back last summer with bike in frame, I had very difficult electrical issues in that no matter what I did I could not get a spark. And, I was going to use the stock carbs initially (to hopefully simplify the restoration until I could prototype bigger carbs) but I couldn't keep them from puking gas. After repeated failures, I finally decided I needed to step away from the project for a while to concentrate on other things, and slowly gather parts to try again once the winter ended.
I ultimately secured a new wire harness for an RD500 and made some small, non-invasive modifications to make it work with the RZ500 (I posted my findings in the electrical section), sourced a new aftermarket rectifier, sourced a used stator in case my was bad (it wasn't, but now I have a spare, yeah), sourced new coils and wires, and went through every electrical connection (new and old) to make sure everything worked correctly. I would regularly kick the bike over with one of the top plugs out and grounded to see if I found the issue. Repeated failures, more heavy drinking. I finally reached the part of double-checking my wiring of the Zeel. Every wire on the Zeel checked out correctly, until I noticed one little difference. In the stock wiring diagram, two orange wires go to the coils to provide power and the stock CDI does not distinguish between the coils. In the Zeel diagram it has two different wires with one labeled "front coil" and the other "back coil". My wires were switched. WTF, might as well try it. I switched them, tried it and got spark. One down, now one to the carbs.
Mickey's stock carbs were in pretty good shape, I had thoroughly cleaned them by full disassembly and soaking in solvent. I also installed new float needles and seats. When done, carbs looked and felt great, smooth action, no binding; however, whenever I put gas in them the at least two or more carbs would overflow and puke gas everywhere. I would take the carbs apart, check all the parts again, check for debris, everything good. And, most distressingly, the puking would switch carbs. One time one carb would work, the next time it would puke. I was ready to sell the possessed items to some sucker on ebay, but the question of why would have haunted me. I kept checking and rechecking, and then stumbled across something. I once has the floatbowl cover off one of the carbs and accidentally bumped the carb body while reaching for a screw, scratching my butt, whatever. Well that little bump caused the float to extend just enough to misalign the float needle in its seat and the float jammed in a slightly overextended position. A little experimenting resulted in relieving the jam by some very light tapping to get the float to move around. Hmmm. Since the carbs are a SOB to install, I figured I must have been jamming open random floats during install. Since I had a spark, time to improvise. I installed the carbs, hooked up my temp gas tank (with filter) and turned on the gas. Sure enough three of the four carbs started puking. With my trusty soft rubber mallet, I whacked on the carbs a few times and viola!! the puking stopped. Once the floats were unjammed and not in an overextended position, everything worked!!
Now the big test. Pulled the choke. Fourth kick it started!! I screamed a primal yell for joy, which my kids heard in the house over the sound of the bike and ran outside to see if I had done something dumb they could laugh at, but since I wasn't beeding or dancing around trying to work off some painful mistake, they immediately lost interest and went back inside.
I on-the-other-hand, having been on cloud nine since. I have posted two videos for you. I may not look my best, but that comes from the bonfire we had the previous night were I exorcised the demons of the past, probably had my neighbors wondering whose house was on fire, and should have stayed away from the Viking Blöd (Norwegian Mead, look it up, it's good). The first is a startup and the second was a thank you to every on the forum for you help, patience, and understanding. Without the combined knowledge, wisdom, and experience of the members who have worked out innumerable problems on their own bikes, I never would have been able to get Mickey's bike running. I have not thanked many of you, even though I should have, I lurked and stole many of your ideas, but I appreciate and understand your passion for these bikes. Hopefully, I will be able to contribute a little to help the next person solve a problem they may have.
I know Mickey would be excited for the milestone we have reached and would probably want to ride it even though it doesn't have a headlight, or brakelight, or gastank or seat, you know the optional items. And, I looked forward to getting these options installed so I can ride the bike for real at the MotoGP at Indy this year. Anyway, I've bored you enough, watch, enjoy, and thank you, everyone, for your help.
_________________ Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Mark Twain
Post subject: Re: Mickey Krupa Tribute Build Thread
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:12 pm
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:24 am Posts: 168 Location: Texas
Right on Mickey would be proud of you....
Thanks for the update, it lives!!!!
JT
_________________ http://www.rdsonly.com/ JT 1975 RD350B 1975 RD250B -rough 1979 RD400 Race bike- in process 1985 RZ500 - flame bike 1993 TZ250 4DP2- to be restored
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Received the new silencers from TZMike. Wow! they are fantastic, as you can see below. The welds on the aluminum are artistic, the workmanship unparalleled and they weigh about as much a full can of beer. I would highly recommend them if anyone else needs silencers. TZMike can be reached at 
Check it out!
and my youngest katie went from "learn to play hockey" to gold level hockey in one season!! 
But you have your hint. Once everything uploaded, I will drop you another note. Stay tuned!!
I really didn't think it would happen this soon. Even though I had gotten the bike back last summer with bike in frame, I had very difficult electrical issues in that no matter what I did I could not get a spark. 
And, I was going to use the stock carbs initially (to hopefully simplify the restoration until I could prototype bigger carbs) but I couldn't keep them from puking gas. 
After repeated failures, I finally decided I needed to step away from the project for a while to concentrate on other things, and slowly gather parts to try again once the winter ended. 
I finally reached the part of double-checking my wiring of the Zeel. Every wire on the Zeel checked out correctly, until I noticed one little difference. In the stock wiring diagram, two orange wires go to the coils to provide power and the stock CDI does not distinguish between the coils. In the Zeel diagram it has two different wires with one labeled "front coil" and the other "back coil". My wires were switched. WTF, might as well try it. I switched them, tried it and got spark. One down, now one to the carbs.
I screamed a primal yell for joy, which my kids heard in the house over the sound of the bike and ran outside to see if I had done something dumb they could laugh at, but since I wasn't beeding or dancing around trying to work off some painful mistake, they immediately lost interest and went back inside. 
