The top of the airbox is held together with the bolts on top, one on each side and one at the front

The two tabs at the back of the airbox must be removed for it to fit under the tank
With a speed handle the screws come out quickly
The airbox is screwed to the carbs with three holes that line up.
The adapter plate is held to the carbs with four screws on the bottom of the adapter plate and home weather stripping is used along the edges to seal it up.
The screws that hold the airbox to the carbs are a finer thread. The smaller one is 5mm x 0.8 if I recall. To use the same socket for all the bolts I just used a die to rethread a 10mm bolt with a 6mm thread down. This took 15 minutes, but it takes five less minutes each time I take the carbs off by not having swap sockets and walk to my tool box.
The crankcase vent hose I just stuck a plastic elbow in it and then put quicksteel around it so it would fit, crude but it works. The Carb float bowl mod is the clear hose, rather than venting it up, I twisted the vents down and the hose comes down between the carbs, mates at a tri fitting and then into the hole seen. Since I don’t ride in the rain much (that hole is a drain hole from the air box) it is not an issue.

The intake is the stock intake with the elbow bend up part cut off. I took a scrap piece of ABS and shaped with heat to fit in the intake of the airbox. Then I used duct tape in several layers, since duct tape is flexable it allows the whole thing to be compressed in (the plastic keeps it from deforming) and does not crack or break.
Just on the inside of the lip of the airbox intake hole I put weather stripping (the sticky side should be perpendicular to the opening or stuck to the little lip you see inside the opening) this allows it to seal.

I had a piece of plastic filling the other hole and duct tape keeping it in, but the ZX6 cables would not fit like that, so I heated it up and just mashed it in so they would fit. Doesn’t look pretty, but it works. Be Careful if you do this, you don’t want to melt a hole or deform the mating rim of the airbox. I did, but I know how to fix it and had I been thinking ahead I wouldn’t of had too.
Another view of the intake and the weather stripping.
The adapter plate is held on with screws

Quarter inch delrin, ABS will melt when it comes in contact with gasoline, delrin will not.

the velocity stacks (intake trumpets) have a groove that accepts about ¼ inch, now you just need to cut the holes.
The holes are about 45mm in diameter (this is important) with a notch at the bottom and a hole at the top. You want it to look like the one on the bike. The hole that the stacks go in is the only part size that is crucial, the notches and the upper hole are just breather holes for the carbs, so you don’t have to worry as much. I have all the dimensions if you need them, but you should be able to get them off your bike. You want to make one like the one you take off the ZXR airbox.


Then you just put it all back together.
I took all the pictures and stuff just now, it took me 2 and ½ minutes to put the airbox and tank back on. Oh, and the holes should be 31.5mm from the bottom to clear the rail the carbs are all attached too.


Let me know if you need anything else.

ZX14 Front End on a ZX7

First, why would you do this?

The answers: the front wheel it lighter, the radial brakes are better, the radial master cylinder is better the forks are lighter and for the L model you have more adjustments in the suspension.

Second, why would you not do this?

You have to get new clipons, you have to have the stem pressed out, you have to find a non-totalled ZX14 frontend or you are a wuss. Sum it up for you?

Okay, Things you absolutely must have: ZX7 and a straight stem from the tripple trees. Zx14 forks, triples and axle.

How to convert the front end of a ZX7 to a ZX14. The reason I did this to my 1994 ZX7 is the new ZX14 forks are fully adjustable and the brakes are radial brakes that have more stopping power and the forks weigh just a little less (I didn’t weigh them, so I don’t have a difference). First you need a ZX7, and the front end of a ZX14. The fork diameters are different so you will need the triple trees, the forks and the calipers. (I think you can get the ZX7 axle to work, But the ZX14 one is nicer and I think may be a little lighter.)

First the ZX7

Next the ZX14 Forks (You need calipers with this) I don't have a picture with calipers.
The first thing that you have to do is remove all the front body work, tank and jack the bike up. You are going to be taking the front end off the bike so you want to make sure that you have it stable and un-movable. You don’t want this thing tipping over on you. I jacked the bike up on the front and rear stands and then I put dunnage (wood blocks) under the bike and checked several times to make sure that the thing would not tip over. You must remember that you are not going to be able to move the bike once you have the front end off. Don’t do this next to a wall or in the center of your garage if your wife is going to come home and want to park the car.
You can get the ZX7 front wheel to work with spacers (you loose your speedometer doing this) as the rotors on both bikes are the same distance apart. I will get to that in a little bit.

The next thing you should do it to get the front wheel lined up. I took the ZX7 wheel off and with the ZX14 forks in the ZX14 triple trees I lined everything up so it fit, the wheel spun and the rotors were dead center in the calipers. (The calipers will need a spacer as the ZX7 disks are larger than the ZX14 ones.) The spacer will need to be 6mm, I just used some stacked washers. The ZX 14 caliper bolts are a little funny, I got three that were 70mm and one that was 60mm in length when I bought my forks. The parts diagram says that they are supposed to be 60mm, but I got a SS one from the parts store and shaved off the flange and it worked fine.

You can see the stacked washers between the caliper and the fork mounting point. The bolt at one end is the one that I shaved the flange off to get it to work with the caliper. You could just uses a hex bolt.

Now that you have all the wheel, caliper and forks parts lined up you have to make sure that all you spacers are correctly situated and the wheel will remain true and straight. I had a 28.3mm spacer on the side of the wheel where the speedometer is and a 17.6mm spacer on the other side. The difference in length is due to the fact that the speedometer is set in a little more. I later moved to a ZX14 front wheel as it matched the Aprilia RSV wheel I have on the back. See another post how to do that. Once You have the wheel in you then need to work out getting the ZX14 forks onto the

Since the forks are different diameters you cannot just swap them out and since they are spaced differently too you can’t build bushings that will work. I tried lots of different ideas and combinations and finally settled with the fact that the best way to do this was going to be push the stem out of each and swap it. The stem on the ZX14 is longer and the lower triple is thinner you need to swap the stems, unless you want to do a whole bunch of machine work.

You will need a shop that can do this for you, it takes a multi ton press and you cannot do this by hand.

You will need to remove the bearings from both sets of triple trees and then have them press the stem out the bottom of the lower. Make sure that you tell the shop a million times to press it out from the top and out the bottom. They ruined one of mine by thinking they knew what they were doing and pressing it out the other way. They come out with about 7 tons of force and the ZX7 stem should go into the ZX14 lower. Now you will have a ZX 14 lower triple tree with a ZX7 stem in it.

Now you have the ZX14 Lower with the ZX7 stem in it. After doing a LOT of measuring and fiddling with the stems and triple trees I finally settled on this ZX7 stem swap because it would prove to be the most effective and require the least amount of parts to be made by a machine shop. I also like to be able to convert it all back if it doesn’t work out. Next you will need a spacer made. If you don’t know the difference between diameter, circumfrance and radius, have someone help you.

I had mine made of aluminum, you will need a disk 51mm in diameter with a hole in the center that is 35mm in diameter. This will make the ring width 8mm as shown in the picture. The height, lay it flat on the table not on the edge of the ring, should be 8mm. (I know in the picture it shows 10mm, but you will need enough space to put the Zx14 dust seal on. I didn’t have enough space to put mine in and I will have to keep an eye on my lower bearings to make sure they don’t get dirty.) Now that I have the ZX14 lower with the ZX7 stem in it the ring needs to be pressed onto the lower part of the stem. This ring will be the spacer so the whole thing comes together properly. I will call this the “Stem Spacer”

I had originally tried a different route with the spacer and it did not work out as well. Since I switched ideas and went with this one I didn’t get a picture of the above idea before it went on the bike.

Now that you have the stem spacer pressed down on the stem you can put the new ZX14 dust seal on. Then put the lower bearing on the stem. You can follow the instructions in your manual how to do this. (Don’t reuse bearings, they are worn and you should just replace them while you are there, they don't cost much) Now you need to replace the bearing race in your steering stem. I used a torch and light hand to get them out.

First I heated the headstock of the frame. (This is a crucial part*** You want to heat/ warm it, not cook it!!!***) I kept the flame moving and just circled the inner steel race. You want to warm up the aluminum so it will expand and the steel will remain cool and not expand. ***You do not want your flame to stop moving around the head stock at all*** If you don’t feel like doing this with a torch, use a hair dryer. It takes longer and you have to make sure to not not heat the bearings.

Then you want to punch it out carefully from the underside of the head stock. You have to be really careful, read the manual and don’t use too much force. You may have to get the special punch tool if you have never done something like this before or have someone with experience help you. You do NOT want to mess up your headstock.

Repeat with the lower bearing race.

Now you have to put the new ones in. I cut the old race and use it as a punch. You must cut it or you will jam it in the headstock and then have to remove it and you will be really mad at your self for not listening to me.

You can see where the old race has a slice cut out with a regular die grinder (make sure to file off any burs that the grinder makes, this will keep your driver from scuffing up the inner surface of the headstock) and is tapped with a hammer to seat to new race in the head stock. The old one will lift right out because the removed section will not allow it to wedge in the headstock. Repeat with lower bearing.




Now that the upper and lower races are in the headstock of the frame the triple trees can be put on and further modifications made to make the key cylinder work with the new triple trees.

Now comes the easy part, putting it all together.

Now you have to make a minor adjustment to the ZX14 upper triple to get the ZX7 key assembly to work properly and the steering to lock like it normally did with the stock ones. It is obvious the mounting points on the ZX14 upper triple are pretty long (They are the black things hanging down in the front). These need to be cut down and a new hole tapped to fit the ZX7 key assembly.

You will need to remove 32.2mm from the triple tree and then some of the material at the back of it to get it to clear the headstock. It is visible where I notched it out. This allows the upper triple to spin freely.


Now you can put the key assembly in the triple. You have to notch the bottom of the key assembly to get it to clear the steering stop. Then put the key assembly in and mark the triple with a punch though the holes in the key assembly. Next drill holes of the appropriate size of the assembly screws and tap in threads.

A portion of the key assembly at the bottom must be ground so it will clear the steering lock. If you grind the pin a little, you can get it to go into the hole and lock the steering just like it did when the bike was stock.


Now put on the top nut on and you have your ZX14 triple trees on your frame.
When doing any measurements or adjustments make sure that you have your bearings on the stem and or your measurements will be off and you will have to work around it or fix your errors.

Now, onto the steering stop.

Since the ZX14 and ZX7 have different steering stops, you have to fix this, you want them on your bike. The problem that you have to overcome is the stops on the lower triple tree now don’t reach up high enough to hit the stock steering stop on the frame. The easiest way to get around this is to make the stops reach up higher or the frame stop lower. I tried both, this is the one that works, make the stop lower.

I tapped a hole in the steering stop on the frame and then took a block of 1/2 inch aluminum stock and screwed it to the frame.

I counter sunk the hole in the aluminum block so the bolt would not stick out and then I made sure to use lock-tite to keep it from backing out of the frame hole. The block was 33mm long with the hole in the center of the length, the hole was off to the side width wise to make sure that the bolt was as far into the frame steering stop as I could get it.

You can see how the head of the hex bolt is partially exposed but countersunk so it is flush.

ZX14 has clipons that go above the upper triple tree, the ZX7 has clipons that go below the triple tree. I wanted to keep the lower ones. The stock ZX7 forks have a larger diameter than the ZX14 forks. But the Zx14 forks have the same upper diameter as the ZX10 of the same year. So, I decided to use Attack Performance Adjustable clipons. I am sure that you could get anything of the same size and get them to work. Both the ZX14 and ZX10 have a 50mm upper tube diameter. So you could use the Stock ZX10 ones of the same year, but I don’t know the specifics. The Attack ones went right on and looked great. (Picture off Attackperformance.com)
I got the black anodized ones.

You can see in the picture of the blue bike the clipons are above the triple. On my bike it is below. I put a list of the other things that are on the bike. The ZX14 radial front brake master cylinder is was better than stock and costs much less than a Brembo one. I also used the ZX14 upper lock nut, because it looks nicer than the ZX7 one. The ZX10 throttle tube is a straight swap for the ZX7 one and it gives you the same effect as a 1/4 throttle. ( I used 636 cables, but have heard that they do not work on the P model ZX7. You will have to make some from a kit.)

I used a old ZX7 shock mount and bolts as the tool to tighten the front axle, It works great.

Before I did anything else, I made sure that all the settings on the forks were set up so everything was in the middle (Rebound, damping etcetera) and that the forks were rotated in the triple trees so the marks were pointed in the same direction. This allows me to visually look to see if they are at the same setting.

Now that everything is on and tightened down, recheck it again. Spin the wheel and make sure that the rotors are turning and stopping correctly. Then lower the machine onto the new frontend. Check the brakes again just to be sure.

Now you want to roll it around and make sure the weight of the machine is not causing the forks to slide in the triple trees. This is a good indicator that you forgot to tighten something. The reason I keep harping on this is you have to tighten different things on the ZX14 than the ZX7 and if you forget it could really hurt you.







The ZX14 front end is for a bike that weighs about the same as the ZX7 and the stopping power of the lighter front end is much nicer. The front rotors on the Zx14 are smaller, but since they are stock petal rotors they are lighter and with radial brakes and a radial master cylinder, the bike lifts the rear up with only the lightest of pressure on the lever. I have stock ZX14 pads in the calipers.

I am very happy with this over my ZX7 with PM rims, EBC pro-lite rotors and HH pads. Stopping power is increased and now I have fully adjustable forks. (I later decided to go with a ZX14 wheel as well. The PM rims shown here are very light, but the newer ZX14 ones are almost as light and I think they look pretty cool. Plus the ZX14 front wheel matches the Aprilia RSV wheel on the rear of the bike. Here is a picture of the finished front and rear swaps.

ZX7 Swingarm Conversion from an Aprilia RSV 1000

1994 ZX7 L Model – This is the conversion to an Aprilia RSV Millie swingarm. (Note, the ZX7 will now be referred to just as the “7” and will denote the L model unless otherwise specified, The Aprilia RSV 1000 will be referred to as the RSV. Many of the Aprilia bikes have the same parts as the RSV over several years, I don’t know which used the same parts, so I didn’t list them. If the parts look the same they probably are) I did my best to use parts that I already had and limited any points that would keep me from going back to stock. The only thing that I would have to replace is the 7 pivot bolt. Everything else allowed me to convert the machine back if it did not work out or if it wouldn’t work.

Cover the sides of your swingarm with duct tape while you do this project, it will keep you from scratching it up.


This is what it starts out looking like, and it becomes this: (ZX14 front end is a different conversion)

Parts you will need:
RSV Swingarm, Pivot bolt, rear axle (ZX7 one may work, they are the same diameter)
Parts you will need, the bearings and stuff in the swingarm should be in it if you get one off a bike. (Most likely you won’t have to source the parts: 10,11,4,9,26,3,12,18,19, or 20)

You will need the chain guard ( part 7) and adjustment blocks (21 and 22)







For the wheel, you will need to source a Aprilia wheel or you will have to machine down your rotor to fit. You will need the rear brake caliper and parts : 17 and 14 and part number 1 (It holds the caliper hanger in place.



Step 1:
Take off your old swingarm and shock. If this is a puzzle to you, you need to stop now. This is not changing your sparkplugs, this is real work and if you mess it up you can really get hurt or killed (all great things have risk). That is my only disclaimer, you may want to read it twice just to make sure you get it.

Okay, the next step is to make up your new pivot bolt. The 7 pivot bolt is 25mm in diameter and the RSV is 20mm. Since the RSV spacers are made of hardened steel and the bearings are all correct, it is better to use the RSV pivot bolt and make spacers for it to fit into the 7 frame. The7 pivot bolt can be bored out so the RSV pivot bolt will fit into, but this is what you want to do (Remember this is NOT for a P model pivot bolt, so don't mess up yours and then complain. You have to make the proper adjustments)


Part 1 is the 7 pivot bolt nut, part 5 is the RSV pivot bolt (note the left end had the hex part ground off, you may want to keep this for the P model conversion. It may fit inside the P model pivot bolt.)

Now it is a matter of getting the RSV pivot bolt to go into the 7 pivot. I had the hex part of the 7 pivot removed so it was flush and only had the lip. You do not want to bore the whole thing out, just about 60mm into one end. Your 7 pivot bolt is going to become parts 2 and 3.





I removed the hex part that is in my fingers and made it flush and then bored the center out to 20mm and went 60mm deep into the 7 pivot bolt. ***You do not want to bore the whole thing out***









The P model pivot bolt (top) and the L model pivot bolt (bottom) are different, the same technique could be used on the P model with minor modifications. Unfortunately, I don’t have a P model to experiment with. The information here could be figured out by a mechanic on how to get it to work. I specifically would keep as much of the threaded part as I could to make adjustments from side to side with screwing it in and out of the frame to move the swingarm once it is on. you will understand why later. The bolt end of parts 1 and 3 are on the brake side of the bike, this set up will allow you to follow along with a P model.

Once the end of the 7 pivot bolt was bored and the hex removed, I had it cut to 38.3mm. This was the width of the frame on the shifter side. I am not sure if frame measurements vary at this point, so you may want to put it through the frame and mark the length and then cut it. The hex end of the pivot bolt became part 2 in the picture.

Part 3 you will have to cut threads into the end of the pivot bolt. This is going to be the spacer/adjuster for the end of the RSV pivot bolt. First take the left over section of the 7 pivot that you have left over after making part 2, then you are going to cut threads inside the end that has threads on the outside (the part that goes on the brake side) You will need a metric tap ( Thread size 20 x 1.50mm) and you will tap into the end of the 7 pivot bolt the at least 50mm. This is slow going and use plenty of cutting oil to lubricate it to get it to work. (for those of you who have never cut threads, you have to turn it in ¼ turn and then out ¼ turn, then in ½ a turn. This keeps you from ruining the tap and the treads and keeps the tap cutting surface clear of metal shavings)

Once you are done cutting the treads you want to put the nut (part 1) on the end and tighten it down all the way. Now put the pivot bolt though the hole on the brake side of the frame. Remember you cut the other end off so it shouldn’t have any thing that won’t fit through. Mark it where you will cut it so it is flush with the frame then add 5mm and cut it. Since you tightened the nut (part 1) all the way down you now can make minor adjustments side to side by threading the bolt on and off the 7 pivot bolt. Once cut you now have part 3. You will have to remove some of the internal thread from part 3 so the RSV pivot will go into the part before hitting the threads. I ground this out with a Dremel tool and then ran the tap through to clean up any damaged internal threads.

On the brake side I still had to put a 5mm spacer on the RSV pivot bolt between the frame and the swingarm, because I cut my part 3 just a little too short. It worked out fine though.

When the pivot bolt is in the frame it should look like this,



















You will note that the RSV bolt is inside the 7 spacer (part 2) that fits into the frame. On the side with the nut if you look carefully you can see the nut then the 7 spacer (part 3) and then the RSV pivot on the inside. I think I left part 4 out as it was an adjustment spacer, but I can’t recall.




Once you have the pivot bolt in you are ready to start with the swingarm. I worked out the wheel first to make sure it would work, it did so then I moved on to the pivot bolt. Here is a picture of the rear wheel on the swingarm before I put it on the bike. I think you can use the stock axle, but I wanted the RSV one because I like the look of the adjustment blocks, plus you would have to make new ones to fit the RSV swingarm and the 7 axle. The shock came next.




The reservoir on the P model shock will hit the braced part of the swing arm so you will have to go with another one. The stock L model shock and the Ohlins shock will work and the M shock should work too. I think that you could get a newer one with a reservoir to the side, rather than to the back, to work. I don’t know what you would do if you were converting to a P model. I went with an Ohlins.




Now came the tough part. Lining up everything that didn’t match once the swingarm was in. (Everything looks a little cockeyed and crooked because it is not tightened up)
Since the shock linkage was wider than the swingarm linkage attachment, there has to be something to adapt it. You can see that the dog bones are wider than the attachment area but other than that they line up. I had a ZX12 linkage and I pushed out the hardened bearing sleeve and put it in the RSV swingarm. It fit right in there and is the same length as the 7 linkage is wide. (You could use a zx9 or zx12 or any linkage sleeve as long as it fits in the RSV swingarm)

This acts as a spacer and a hardened sleeve for the bearings in the RSV attachment. I was going to put a cover (aluminum tubing) over it to protect it from the elements, but have not had one made yet. Once the shock is hooked up I tested for lateral movement and found none. There is some vertical (5-10mm) movement but it is not noticeable on the bike.




Hook everything up and check twice, thrice and a fourth time to be sure you did it all correctly and everything is tight and operable. *** This is crucial, remember there are no specifications for what you are doing. Messing this up can get you KILLED!!!***

I broke my chain and put in a new master rivet master link so it would go through the swingarm and fed it in.
Oh, you have to remove your front sprocket and just turn it over. The front has a lip on it and if you slip the sprocket it will align it up with the rear. It was good fortune that this worked. (*Note* you may have to flip it back or make a spacer for other wheels, RSV, ZX10.)

If you use the 7 wheel and rotor you will have to machine it down to the same diameter of the RSV rear rotor. You will have to remove 5mm from the radius (10mm from the diameter) from rear.

Okay, so now you have the whole thing together and from the bottom of the shock linkage it should look like this. The picture is two pictures lined up to show the linkage and the shock. You can see the sleeve around the bolt where the dog bones connect to the swingarm.

Now you may have to move some of the electrics, I moved my battery so I can route the pipe up the swingarm hole and under a different tail section. The RSV has a section of exhaust pipe through there so it should be okay. Now bleed the brake and make sure that everything is working properly. I was a little hesitant to just put the RSV axle nut on, (I had a clip on the ZX7 axle) so I drilled and safety wired it so it won’t come off. I figure it looks cooler too. You can see the safety wire just about the bolt and going to a small hole that is drilled in the trailing edge of the swingarm.












Final look with swingarm on. The ZX14 frontend with radial calipers and ZX14 front wheel is a different conversion.