trenace
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posted September 14, 2005 06:43 PM
A-Tech report (parts that came in)
I just got in some A-tech parts; here is a report that might or not be helpful to anyone else considering ordering there.
Delivery was pretty fast, I think it was not more than a week from Japan.
I was helped by someone from the ZRXOA board with regard to dealing with A-tech, since I speak no Japanese. The order might be a lot harder without that. As it was, it was extremely easy because of that help. He did give me a "generic order form" with which one can generally order things from Japanese companies, simply by filling in the appropriate blanks and faxing the form, so if anyone needs this form, I can provide it thanks to him.
On the specific parts:
A one-piece tailpiece/seat was ordered in the hope of saving weight.
Compared to stock seat and tailpiece, yes I'm sure it saves a couple of pounds.
However, I'd already saved a couple of pounds by cutting away almost all of the passenger seat and the frame that holds the top rear cowlpiece and supports the passenger seat, leaving only enough to well-support the cowlpiece.
So compared to that, the A-tech seat foam being quite dense material, actually it does not seem substantially lighter than the factory seat, nor does the entire unit seem lighter than the lightened factory tailpiece. So mission failure, little to no weight saved. The part will look good painted I'm sure, but so does the stock tailpiece. In CF, it's fine for a race piece which really is what it's marketed for: the CF is not up to cosmetic standards throughout if one wanted to simply shoot it in clear. It's possible some selected small areas could show through and look good or great, though.
It does seem that one still has access to the tail storage area, via a door at the "backpad" so to speak. But not as handy as stock; a coin or something would be needed to twist the fasteners. Haven't tried doing it. More of an "emergency access" thing than routine every-trip in-and-out useage as a guess.
Second major item, sort of half-lowers that I can use optionally instead of the full factory lower cowl. I made the mistake (I guess it's a mistake) of ordering in CF/Kevlar instead of straight CF. the panels are really stiff and light, so in that sense it was a good decision, but little bits of Kevlar fabric stick out in various places and I am sure that getting it all trimmed out so it can paint perfectly will be a chore. Straight CF would not have resulted in that problem.
Weight saved? Not a whole lot because the factory lowers are pretty light. I didn't weight these, or haven't yet.
Last item, front axle slider... haven't installed yet but seems fundamentally a good idea.
Anyhow, at least one here had had considerable interest in that tailpiece/seat combined unit... while the theory that it might save a lot of weight seemed good, in practice I don't think it does, though I'll do measurements later.
Overall, I did not get a lot of bang for my buck. However most likely when the parts are painted I'll be happier (assuming the Kevlar fabric issue doesn't keep things irrevocably fucked up.)
  
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gunner
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posted September 14, 2005 07:03 PM
Damnit Bill I'm sorry that you're not over joyed with those parts!  In days past I've heard nothing but great things about their stuff.
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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gunner
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posted September 14, 2005 07:06 PM
 Edited By: gunner on 14 Sep 2005 21:58
Ya know all that stuff is fixable, but for the cost of A-tech's stuff it should be like jewelry!
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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trenace
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Posts: 3056
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posted September 14, 2005 07:20 PM
Edited By: trenace on 14 Sep 2005 21:00
At the cost in question one would have thought so.
Very fortunately I like the Kawasaki Spark Black so well that my intent was to paint the parts that anyway, though maybe with some subtle places where the CF shows through. (Probably not possible though with the CF/Kevlar, as the Kevlar isn't confined to the center, but rather even the top has a Scotch plaid sort of appearance to it.)
If I still had the idea I had about two years ago of a translucent candy color that you could see the weave through, I would be an unhappy camper! But fortunately that's not the case!
I can't blame them on the tailpiece/seat weight. They provided no figure. The piece itself, excluding seat, is about as light as you can get. And for the seat to be much lighter, it would not be as comfortable. It does look to be an entirely comfortable seat to sit on, although probably (not sure) as tall as stock, which for me is a disadvantage -- I like the stock seat height but a little shorter, if it is, should be OK too.
Oh yeah, no damn wings with the half-lowers though they're shown in the pic! Guess I can buy some off of eBay or somewhere though.
Anybody know a source of nice CF wings?
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trenace
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Posts: 3056
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posted September 14, 2005 07:35 PM
Edited By: trenace on 14 Sep 2005 20:37
OK, got the weight comparison
Stock tailpiece and modified passenger seat/topcowl: 3 lb 2 oz
Stock seat: 3 lb 7 oz
Total: 6 lb 9 oz
A-Tech combined tailpiece/seat base: 2 lb 7 oz
A-Tech seat: 1 lb 7 oz
A-Tech total: 3 lb 14 oz
Saved weight: 2 lb 11 oz
Good, I was wrong! Actually did save something significant though not quite as much as hoped. (I had wrongly assumed when ordering that the seat pad probably weighed very little. However, it's a more quality, comfier-seeming cushion than I ever expected, too.)
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gunner
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Posts: 5778
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posted September 14, 2005 08:04 PM
Yea!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipppeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what I'm talkin bout 
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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gunner
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posted September 14, 2005 08:05 PM
Just think if you had a corbin you would save like 50 pounds 
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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trenace
Needs a job
Posts: 3056
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posted September 14, 2005 09:13 PM
Edited By: trenace on 14 Sep 2005 22:14
Do have a Corbin! Forget what exactly, but it's about 3 lb heavier than stock.
So, if instead of making the comparison to my modded tailpiece, instead the comparison was to stock tailpiece (about another 2 lb) and Corbin seat (about another 3 lb), then the total savings would be about 7 3/4 lb, not bad at all!
BTW I did get a couple of "freebies," further weight reductions than I expected. I learned that there's a kilo (it is said) to be saved in the rear brake hanger, which I was having a replacement machined for, plus I just found out that the stock upper fairing and headlight is heavier than I thought, saving another 2 lb there. So that's 4 lb I didn't expect was going to happen!
Also have a cool idea (or stupid, depending) on the gas tank. Brock Davidson says ya gotta have I think he said 2 gallons in there to prevent intermittent loss of flow on high acceleration. I believe it, I have noticed momentary fuel starvation many times when gas was fairly low. Full throttle in first gear with only one bar can result in the engine flat dying sometimes for a second or two.
Now this is damn stupid. That's 12 lb of gas that's serving as deadweight if always having to stay above that (if using the 2 gallon figure.)
I think I can make a rig where there's a surround around the fuel pump, it can be within a somewhat tight upside down anti-slosh can so to speak, and further if I can find an appropriate foam or other really light filler -- and such certainly does exist -- I can have the fuel pump sitting well at the bottom of a well so to speak, so aside from the bottom at most quart of gas, all the rest of the gas is well above it. This is especially the case given that the CF tank has an extra gallon of capacity, so I can afford to have the bottom gallon (but for the fuel pump) "filled in."
Any ideas on suitable stuff for filling in (preferably reversibly) the bottom of the fuel tank, super light weight?
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gunner
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posted September 14, 2005 09:21 PM
I'm not sure I understand the question,but most all racecar fuel cells have foam inside to hold down the sloshing. Check at Jeg's for that stuff. They're online as well.
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gunner
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posted September 14, 2005 09:23 PM
And yes I recently got a Corbin for those long rides. The damn thing is heavy as hell and DAMN HARD!!!!! shaped nice but hard!
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trenace
Needs a job
Posts: 3056
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posted September 14, 2005 09:30 PM
Edited By: trenace on 14 Sep 2005 23:01
Thanks, Gunner. I'll check it out.
Does the fuel cell foam soak up gas (like a sponge) or is it a closed-cell foam that stays dry internally?
EDIT: Internet search shows at least some of it is open-cell, sponge-like. That could be OK too, but to "fill in" the areas that are not significantly higher than the inlet would require closed-cell, as gasoline not significantly above that level really is deadweight.
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