How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Forum rules
Please can you post items for sale or wanted in the correct For Sale section. Items / bikes for sale here will be removed without warning. Reasons for this are in the FAQ. Thanks
Jinx
Settled in member
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:21 pm

How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by Jinx » Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:42 pm

I'm swapping out the front end of my NC29 and have come across such a load of misinformation that I figured I'd put a rough guide together to save other people from committing to the mod without knowing the work and costs involved. I've not finished mine yet, so bear in mind these are the discoveries I've made so far. There might be more later.

No matter what anyone might tell you, don't kid yourself that it's a straightforward or 'bolt on' mod. It's not.

That is unless you've got a lot of cash to throw at it, but I'm guessing that everyone considering this mod and reading this thread is like me and wants to do it as economically as possible but without cutting corners on worn parts.

What you'll need to get hold of and factor in to the cost:
NC35 top and bottom yoke and forks (£200 off ebay)
Shop rebuild of forks (£90 from A.B.E.)
Steering bearing set (£20ish)
Clip-ons (£40ish)
Calipers (I paid £120 for a good set of 2003 cb1300 calipers, same as CBR600F3 I believe)
Master cylinder to match the calipers (£25)
Hoses (Hel hoses were about £60)
Brake pads (EBC pads for the above were around £45)
Mudguard (£30ish)
(Which takes my current total to around £630)

Stuff you can reuse:
Switchgear
Grips and throttle mechanism
Levers
Ignition switch
Front wheel
Brake discs
Axle and spacers
NC29 stem

The hard part
Swapping the NC29 stem into the bottom yoke of the NC35.

This is the point I'm at right now and it's a real ballache. You will either need to do the work yourself or find a machine shop willing to do it for you (no easy task).

Here's some pictures so you know what I'm talking about:

Comparison of NC29 bottom yoke and stem (left) to the NC35 (right). Notice how the 35 is slightly shorter. That's just enough to mean the locknut can't be put on when you thread it through the headstock. Arse.
Image

The stem is WELDED to the yoke on both the NC35 and NC 29 bottom yokes. You will need to remove this on both, press out both stems, then press in the NC29 stem into the NC35 yoke, then reweld it.

NC35 bottom yoke weld.
Image

NC29 bottom yoke weld.
Image

I'm told the 'right' way to remove the weld is to use a lathe.

I'll pass on what someone suggested to me, but do this at your own risk. Carefully use a grinder to take the weld off. They also suggested cutting a slot into the NC29 yoke and basically destroying it, but that would theoretically allow you to push out the stem without the need for a hydraulic press.

To get the NC35 bottom yoke, they suggested that I cut off the stem just above the yoke and carefully grind or file away the welded section, then slip a hacksaw blade through the remaining piece of stem in the yoke and carefully cut through it, all without damaging the yoke. Then drift out the piece you've just cut.

This all sounds pretty extreme to me, so if you go this route and mess it up, you've been warned. I'm only trying to pass on the suggestions made to me in case someone braver reckons it's the way to go.

I was quoted £100 for a bike shop to sort this out for me.

The other way around this is to shell out for a CNC bottom yoke. Tyga don't do a NC29 stem, but at the moment Gavin at Jap4performance is finding out if they can machine one up for me to press into their NC35 yoke set. I'll update this post when he gets back to me.

Then of course you could spend as much as you like getting a custom set of yokes and stem made up.

Hope this is useful to someone. Why anyone would spend £500+ on an NC29 is anybody's guess (unless like me they realise the NC29 is awesome), but I'm still feeling the love for the mod even if it's a pain in the arse at times.

To be continued...
Last edited by Jinx on Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

cbr400rrn
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Posts: 754
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:37 pm
Bike owned: NC29 CBR600F
Location: Lancashire

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by cbr400rrn » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:11 pm

Why anyone would spend £500+ on an NC29 is anybody's guess (unless like me they realise the NC29 is awesome)

:plus: Well said Sir

Are the fork lengths the same on the 29 as the 35?

Now can this be made a sticky Mr Moderator or is it better to wait until it's finished?

tanuki
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Posts: 1571
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:47 pm
Bike owned: CCM404 SM, CBR4/6 in progress
Location: Nottingham U.K

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by tanuki » Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:44 pm

once its finished it can be passed to paul to add to the how do I section.

Good Work

User avatar
chrisja2
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Posts: 642
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:44 pm
Bike owned: nc29 trackbike
Location: Nottingham

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by chrisja2 » Tue Jan 11, 2011 3:37 pm

Well done for taking the bull by the horns so to speak, dont forget to add the cost of servicing/uprating the forks as im sure most off ebay will not have been looked after. ;)

Jinx
Settled in member
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:21 pm

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by Jinx » Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:22 pm

Cheers for the encouragement guys.

I measured up the NC29 and NC35 stems and it turns out they are more or less identical except for the 29s centre section being 10mm longer.

Matt at Tyga got back to me today and agreed to turn up an NC29 stem for the same price as the regular NC35 item (nice bloke!) and I decided to cough up the dough rather than piss around grinding and swearing and maybe giving in and paying £100 to a machine shop to do it (if any of them even had agreed to do it).

Let's hope I got my caliper measurements right and it slips in without a problem! :pray:

It feels like a cop out, because I'm sure the stem swap could be done, but I'm dying to get on the bike again and need it to commute to work. Plus I'd have upgraded to the stiffer yoke set at some point anyway so I may as well do it now and save the time. Are those excuses convincing?

Here's a side by side comparison of the fork lengths as requested
Image

The 29s are about 10mm longer.

Amended the list to include reworking the forks. Damn. More cost... :mrgreen:

User avatar
chrisja2
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Posts: 642
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:44 pm
Bike owned: nc29 trackbike
Location: Nottingham

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by chrisja2 » Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:12 pm

Heres a pic of mine, complete with nc29 stem pressed in and firestorm calipers. If i can measure anything for you let me know.

Image

Chris

Jinx
Settled in member
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:21 pm

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by Jinx » Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:59 pm

Nice set!

How did you get the stems swapped over?

User avatar
chrisja2
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Posts: 642
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:44 pm
Bike owned: nc29 trackbike
Location: Nottingham

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by chrisja2 » Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:06 pm

Was already done when i bought them off ebay, not much help there lol.

Jinx
Settled in member
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:21 pm

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by Jinx » Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:09 pm

Damnit! :mrgreen:

Wozza
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Posts: 629
Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2008 9:51 pm

Re: How to swap NC29 front end for NC35 USD front end

Post by Wozza » Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:41 am

Seen them before but, that IS a tasty pair of forks!

Post Reply