[John Harris]

I now have hand drawings of the axles now. Soon I will try to make CAD drawings of them. Interesting the rear spacers are aluminum but the front are steel, so I will probably have a set of titanium spacers made for the front.
Tonight I took some time to put the Luimoto seat cover on and the gold gel pad. So here is a pic of my toy.

 

[oldmansan]

I now have hand drawings of the axles now. Soon I will try to make CAD drawings of them. Interesting the rear spacers are aluminum but the front are steel, so I will probably have a set of titanium spacers made for the front.
Tonight I took some time to put the Luimoto seat cover on and the gold gel pad. So here is a pic of my toy.
View attachment 261325

Looks good.

San

 

[jdgun]

Love the seat cover! it was top of my list, but lot of people have it, and the stitching across the contact area just killed it for my OCD. Interesting to hear the front spacers are steel.. Have yet to have the front wheel off, waiting on my driven captive spacers at the moment.

 

[Old&Tired]

I now have hand drawings of the axles now. Soon I will try to make CAD drawings of them. Interesting the rear spacers are aluminum but the front are steel, so I will probably have a set of titanium spacers made for the front.
Tonight I took some time to put the Luimoto seat cover on and the gold gel pad. So here is a pic of my toy.
View attachment 261325

What brand is the front fender?

 

[John Harris]

The fender is made by Bestem. I got it from a seller cruiserbackrest on eBay. Fit well, had to move the metal brake line anchors for the stock fender to this one but quick and easy. The weight is in a post above.

 

[John Harris]

I have looked at the properties of mild steel and titanium Grade 5. Depending on the state of the steel, annealed, hardened, or tempered, makes big differences in the different strength categories. The steel is about 10 to 15% stronger than titanium G5, so I increased the thickness of the axle wall by 30%. I will run some calculations on the probably weight difference at this thickness and see if it is a worthwhile weight saving.
I talked to one machine shop and they said they were too slammed with work to even get to it within 3 months. So I will try calling a few other shops.

 

[John Harris]

Ran the calculations on amount of material and weight loss. Instead of losing 17 ounces with the switch to titanium at the same thicknesses to only 11 ounces for the pair of axles with increased thickness. So a toss up on whether the weight loss vs cost vs risk is worth while. After I get the estimate on machining labor will be easier to decide.

 

[John Harris]

I received a second denial of quote from a shop way too busy to do any work anytime soonbut I did get 1 quote from a gun drill shop that was reasonable and one machine shop to turn the outside that seemed a bit high.
So the numbers with one quote each so far are:
Front axle - $100 for material, $100 to drill and hone ID, $160 to turn OD, total $360.
Rear axle - $130 for material, $200 to drill and hone ID, $310 to turn OD, total $640.
So even if I find a less expensive shop to turn the OD it looks to be too expensive for the effort and weight loss.
$1000 for 3/4 pound weight loss, not anytime in this life time. Oh well, you don't know until you investigate and it WAS an interesting exercise.
Found that the front wheel spacers are steel in the process and bought some Fast Frank Aluminum spacers then a titanium axle bolt for the front, 18mm x 1.5, and a Gilles rear axle nut, 24mm x 1.5. So some new toys came out of it.
BTW, took the bike for a longer ride today and found the Luimoto seat cover and gold gel pad to be MAYBE a bit more comfortable, but it looks really good so it is an ok mod. Once I get the new Titax wheels on I will look at an ECU flash.

 

[oldmansan]

For me, besides safety, another thing to consider is liability. If I went with titanium axles and had a failure, if I were lucky enough to survive, I would almost certainly not be covered for the damage to my motorcycle, much less myself. Just doesn't seem worth it.

I'm a big fan of titanium. I have two Litespeed titanium MTB frames, with titanium handlebars, seatposts, pedal spindles, skewers, fasteners and a 6-4 stem which is now unobtanium. I just don't think it makes sense for liter bike motorcycle axles given the small weight savings versus risk.

San

 

[Old&Tired]

.... I just don't think it makes sense for liter bike motorcycle axles given the small weight savings versus risk....San

I just have to LOL at this. I likely said it earlier, but I have titanium axles, engine mount bolts, and swingarm pivots in both of my Ducatis and if such were available for my CBR it would likely have them too. Practically EVERY bolt and nut on the Ducatis are either titanium or aluminum.

Of course, the Ducatis are much more valuable commodities than CBR Honda motorcycles. I bought my leftover 2015 CBR Repsol SP still new-in-the-crate in 2018 on a whim for dirt cheap.

Honda builds good, solid (heavy!), dependable bikes, but their sport-bike customer base is generally younger, less affluent, or just more budget-conscious than "exotic" Italian or even German motorcycle buyers so the high-end aftermarket doesn't cater to them as much. Honda makes their money on the Gold Wing buyers.

Don't get me wrong, I love my CBR and I'm upgrading it in the same way as the Ducatis, but if I have a chance to buy one of the new V4SP Ducatis, the CBR will be gone like yesterday's news.

 

[HP17]

I just have to LOL at this. I likely said it earlier, but I have titanium axles, engine mount bolts, and swingarm pivots in both of my Ducatis and if such were available for my CBR it would likely have them too. Practically EVERY bolt and nut on the Ducatis are either titanium or aluminum.

Of course, the Ducatis are much more valuable commodities than CBR Honda motorcycles. I bought my leftover 2015 CBR Repsol SP still new-in-the-crate in 2018 on a whim for dirt cheap.

Honda builds good, solid (heavy!), dependable bikes, but their sport-bike customer base is generally younger, less affluent, or just more budget-conscious than "exotic" Italian or even German motorcycle buyers so the high-end aftermarket doesn't cater to them as much. Honda makes their money on the Gold Wing buyers.

Don't get me wrong, I love my CBR and I'm upgrading it in the same way as the Ducatis, but if I have a chance to buy one of the new V4SP Ducatis, the CBR will be gone like yesterday's news.

I agree with a lot of your points, but,
the CBR is NOT heavy. In fact (at least in 2017, but your bike is only about 10 lbs more) it is the lightest in its class. 600 level light. The Ducati V4 is not on that list but that bike also weighs right about 430 lbs. so on par, but for what, twice the cost? Half the reliability ? And for most riders equally fast around a race track.

You are totally right though that the aftermarket bling parts are not as widespread for the Honda like they are for some of the "exotic" brands. Maybe that's because the prudent Honda buyer doesn't care for non-essential look-fast bling? I think the Ducati buyer has deeper pockets but more than that, is also more willing to reach into those pockets for bling.

 

[oldmansan]

I know of no titanium OEM parts on my 2018 Ducati V4S.

San

 

[oldmansan]

I agree with a lot of your points, but,
the CBR is NOT heavy. In fact (at least in 2017, but your bike is only about 10 lbs more) it is the lightest in its class. 600 level light. The Ducati V4 is not on that list but that bike also weighs right about 430 lbs. so on par, but for what, twice the cost? Half the reliability ? And for most riders equally fast around a race track.
View attachment 261398

You are totally right though that the aftermarket bling parts are not as widespread for the Honda like they are for some of the "exotic" brands. Maybe that's because the prudent Honda buyer doesn't care for non-essential look-fast bling? I think the Ducati buyer has deeper pockets but more than that, is also more willing to reach into those pockets for bling.

My Ducati V4S was less than my CBR1000RR-R. Not by much, but less. It's also very light.

San

 

[John Harris]

I received the BST carbon fiber wheels a couple weeks ago and tires came in today so I had them mounted up, another set of Pirelli Diablo SuperCorsa V3s. The guy at the shop carried the front wheel out to my truck while I carried the rear. He said it was the lightest tire/rim he had every felt. Weighed the rims before mounting tires, they have the ceramic bearings. The front rim is 5.8 pounds and the rear is 7.2. First estimates is a 7 pounds reduction for just the wheels, the sprokets, chain, etc. should also save some weight. Tomorrow I will change one wheel, the next day other wheel. Will weigh everything and get a total reduction and an close estimate of the stock wheel weight.

 

[09_Blade]

A 520 Renthal hard anodized sprocket weighs a fraction of the stock steel sprocket and will cut even more weight from your setup. Maybe also a lightweight skeleton rear rotor?

 

[John Harris]

I bought a SuperSprok which has an aluminum inside and steel teeth, and a 520 3D chain, will see if it takes any weight off.

 

[DannoXYZ]

For me, besides safety, another thing to consider is liability. If I went with titanium axles and had a failure, if I were lucky enough to survive, I would almost certainly not be covered for the damage to my motorcycle, much less myself. Just doesn't seem worth it.

I'm a big fan of titanium. I have two Litespeed titanium MTB frames, with titanium handlebars, seatposts, pedal spindles, skewers, fasteners and a 6-4 stem which is now unobtanium. I just don't think it makes sense for liter bike motorcycle axles given the small weight savings versus risk.

San

Yup, to take most advantage of titanium, parts made from it must be designed with its properties in mind from beginning. Due to its lower strength, parts must be oversized relative to their steel countreparts. The Litespeed frame has larger diameter and thicker tubing than chromoly frame.

Same thing with moto parts like axles and handlebars. Unfortunately in this case, not being able to increase diameter of axle meant increasing wall thickness over steel part and negating lots of potential weight savings.

 

[DannoXYZ]

I received the BST carbon fiber wheels a couple weeks ago and tires came in today so I had them mounted up, another set of Pirelli Diablo SuperCorsa V3s. The guy at the shop carried the front wheel out to my truck while I carried the rear. He said it was the lightest tire/rim he had every felt. Weighed the rims before mounting tires, they have the ceramic bearings. The front rim is 5.8 pounds and the rear is 7.2. First estimates is a 7 pounds reduction for just the wheels, the sprokets, chain, etc. should also save some weight. Tomorrow I will change one wheel, the next day other wheel. Will weigh everything and get a total reduction and an close estimate of the stock wheel weight.

These are my next purchase!!! I saw review of them over decade ago at Thunderhill. They were 1.5s per lap faster! That's over football pitch ahead on front-straight.. PER LAP!!! Wow!!!

 

[John Harris]

The system lost my last post so here goes again.
Today I removed the front wheel and disassembled it and moved the rotors over to the new wheels. The stock front rim weighs 8.8 pounds, the BST 5.8 pounds, so a 3 pound savings for the front. Tomorrow I will change the rear wheel, and the sprocket carrier, sprockets, and chain with 520 size so will see how much weight it loses there, expecting about 4 pounds.

 

[CBR-SP]

The carbon wheels will transform the bike. Here’s mine… The bags on the floor are aluminum and titanium hardware.