well after racing all the machines at ds's days i'm very happy with the ds and with the 720. well next i think i'll add a nos set up. but that will have issues in it also, i remember the mag issue that had the lightened ds, azsand had his down to 402 lb. maybe less, i think this is a point to give a lot of attention to. areas to think about

1- i changed to the tvi alumunim swingarm i saved 13lb- over stock plus i got 4" extention

2- i replaced stock exhaust with graydon don't know how much savings here-

3- new stock head light much lighter probabley 2-3 pounds

4- thinking of drilling some of the metal on the bottom of the stock foot pegs, not much but some.

5- talked to gary about a new steering stem he has chrome moly not sur here on weight savings.

6- billet brake pedal maybe a shifter also.

7- maybe the few things under the frame but not sure there worth removing.

any other ideas to save weight, i know about the rear axle but not sure it is worth the money verus weight.

 

i say remove the sprockets......cant ever remove enough-! LOL

-Stock skid plates
-front brakes
-lighter handlebars
-remove rear fenders (wind resistance) hmmm
-incorporate a banshee swing-arm and axle assy.
-remove bumper
-remove radiator(cooling system) (if on alky and if its a drag only bike)

hell i dunno

brainstorming

 

-try going to a smaller battery, most new bikes have one thats alot smaller.
-take out 90% of the wiring,fan,sensors,lights,tach,crap that never works any way,you don't need it
-air box if your drag racing or not in real dusty places ditch it, if you racing baja don't even think about it
-last but not least make your self lighter, it's alot cheaper to cut lbs off your gut then your bike, think twice about pulling up to the next window.

 

i was wondering about that battery, going to keep all the cooling parts. plus i like the tach it always works and helps my wife be faster she knows how far to rev at the start. has anyone worked on the frame area under the seat, it looks like it could be unbolted and replaced with lighter metal. what about front bumper is there a light one? can work some weight off the rider but it is easier to put the wife on she is about 50lb lighter. is it worth the saving on lighter chain?

 

I don't know about the chain thing. using different sprokets and rotors will help. I think rad mfg. makes a ti. axel but you have to refinance your house to pay for that one

 

I saw that you listed a billet brake and shifter. Where did you find them? Does anyone know of any other billet parts available for the DS

 

I was wondering about the smaller chain myself, the chain would not be the problem, it would be where to get the sprockets, and if you do find the sprockets, I'm sure they will be over priced.....but you got the point reduce the rotating mass! How much are them TI axles ?

 

How 'bout....

Alum oil tank
Alum raidiator
Alum front bumper and rear grab bar
Lighter alum wheels
Titanium bolts everwhere
Alum or chrome moly A-arms

 

chromoly a-arms will shed a few, just like the swingarm did.
aluminum bodied shocks several more, but costly!
520 chain and sprockets will drop 1.5 pounds total combined.
Bearman (diamond G) was working on an aluminum subframe at one time, don't know where that project went.

 

Sandman, isn't the Ti axle and hubs $1000. It seems like alot but I think removing 1lb rotating mass is supposed to equal 3lbs of bike. If the axle/hub assembly saves 12 thats equal to 36 on the bike and thats alot. It should also last forever. Combine that with tripple buff paddles and a lighter brake rotor mount if you could find on. AZ sand said he has a Ti chain, I've got no idea on the cost or availability. A Ti rear brake rotor shouldn't be to hard to get.
I've mentioned before that there should be some street bike aluminum subframe that matches the DS closely enough that a little tweeking, cutting and welding should make work. They are aluminum, light weight and engineered to hold two passengers. There are lots of subframes that sell fairly cheap on Ebay. It's just going to take someone some time to find out which one would be closest to the dimensions we need. If it was 85 to 90% complete then you should be able to cut unwanted mounts off and have a few mounting locations welded fairly cheaply.
I've never had my radiator out, I don't think it's magnetic, is it aluminum? If it's heavy Ebay always selling aluminum street bike radiators. I don't think the oil tank weighs enough to justify a new one of aluminum unless it was pretty cheap.
Has anyone thought of using a nicad battery pack or Nimh cells to replace the battery. What's a stock battery weigh? I bet you could get awy with 1/4 the weight there.
An enterprising individual should be able to come up with tie rods of high quality aluminum or Ti. Some pretty simple machine work involved there.
If you haven't tweeked your steering stem yet, invest in a chrome moly one. It sounds like your wife could use the spare sooner or later.
These are the areas that I would concentrate on to lose the most weight. Obviously after all the simple and cheap areas have been looked at. SpotOnTheRug has it right, most of us need to look at rider weight first.