Asthetics Complete

Leave tommorow for the big trip with Mike and Don. However a few spare moments allowed me to get the RS50 sidepanels painted and clear coated, and the rest of the decal kit installed prior to departure.

Pretty happy with how it looks. The tail doesn't seem to work quite right with the rest of the fairings, but I do like the "real" seat and the ease of how it attaches to the subframe.

3/4 view. Most of the companies listed on the fairing have nothing to do with the bike it is on.... 2D data acquisition? Perhaps that stands for "Dumb and Dumber"... at least these tires are Dunlops...

A view many riders will see... just before they pass me!

Canada 1, Italy 0

We leave for the Wild Hogs '09 tour in about a week. I thought it would be a good idea to change the belts and the oil, even though the oil is recent, and the belts are no where near their service limit mileage wise, but are over 6 years old.
The problem with the belts is that there is no commercially available belt tensioner for the home mechanic for the narrow valve heads. Considering the "fish scale" technique I and others use with the 900ss, the 916 models had a mechanical deflection tool to measure tension, and the 999 and newer models used a vibration tool. Apparently if the belts vibrate at 110 hz, the belts are in proper tension.
A guy on a Ducati forum pointed out that a proper A note is 110 hz, and had a picture of a Korg tuner he had to set tension. Turns out it was the exact same model Kate had to tune her Cello. Dad was by for a visit (and he helped me a lot with the deck too), so we set the belts to the tension he thought was right, and I plucked them and took a reading -- G# -- very close right off the hop! For each belt we got within an acceptable range -- from G# to B flat readings, with a few A's thrown in. Good enough! The 999 is still apart, as I want to mount the vented cam belt covers while it is dissassembled, prior to going on the trip. They should be here sometime this week, but if they don't arrive by Wednesday, its going together as is.
The dealer did not remove the oil filter screen during the oil change, so I did, and found gasket sealer -- the grey yamabond stuff -- on it... so it is still being broken in (?). It is supposed to take 3.7L of oil. Used 3 to get it to the max fill mark on the case, and will fire it up and add as necessary.

I got the new CVK40 carb and RS50 sidepanels for the supermono, as well as some sticky take-off tires (Mom and Dad's courier role). Switched the items necessary for the conversion from the dodgy carb to the new one, and fired up the bike. Took a bit of fiddling to get it to idle and run properly, but I think I've got it. Running on the stand is nothing like riding the bike, but its a start.
The RS50 panels went on really easily. A few pieces of aluminum strap, a few riv-nuts, and presto -- the sidepanels went on with decent clearance all around. They immediately came off, and I'm in the process of painting them as well. Should look alright. Swapping the tires are next -- I have a pretty good feeling that the bike is ready to begin proper testing -- as in pull on your leathers and go out during a session testing. We'll see if I can't arrange that sometime during the August race weekend.

I also got a neat email from Dave Pearce of Tigcraft. He sent me some photos of the KTM supermono, finished, with the swingarm he got built for it. A really sexy machine. I also asked him about this supermono race available on youtube http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4566741028621927922... here was his reply:

Oh by the way reference the Monza Supermono race, we were there that day. I was showing Dr John Wittner around the paddock, he was intrigued. Monza is just down the road from Mandello de Lario where the Moto Guzzi factory is, and no, the Germans did not allow me to have anything to do with the racing after the bikes were delivered.

Dave

Watch the video if you get the chance -- it's nearly 30 mins long, but worth it. FWIW, the tigcraft Muz bikes were the white and green machines -- rider #2 (Mike Edwards) leads for awhile late in the race before his engine gives up the ghost.

Off to work on the deck -- 4 hours of bike racing being recorded today -- Mid-Ohio and Sachsenring.

This is the KTM with the new swingarm. From what I can tell from the pictures, the oil tank has also been moved, and the rear seat support changed a bit as well.

Rear 3/4 view.
















With bodywork. That is (I think) RS125 widebody bodywork on the bike. Looks pretty good -- but should be orange, I guess. If I win the lottery, I'll take 2. One to race, and one to terrorize the streets on. By the way, Dave is currently working on a Triumph 675- powered Moto2 racer!

brief update

Not a lot to report. At the last race, when the reffing was done, I went out for a couple of slow, cautious laps. The bike turned and stopped as it should, and acceleration was better with the jetting. Still the BSR 36 -- really want to get the CVK40 installed and figured out. My first try with a dodgy example of the 40mm carb led to copius flooding. Problems with the float vavle... when I priced out a new float valve, seat, etc.... just bought another (newer this time) carb off of ebay.

Temps didn't get past 65 celcius (hooray!) so I think the rad will suffice. Will need to put more revs into it before I make a final decision.

Installed my APE manual cam chain tensioner. Piece of mind -- the stock camchain tensioners in the pre-2003 models were known to fail with expensive consequences.

In other news, a plan to make a few repairs to the deck out back of the house has turned into a complete teardown and rebuild. A tip -- DO NOT coat your back deck with 2 sheets of plywood and indoor linoleum. It lasts for about a year, and then turns to mush. Lucky we didn't fall through... everything had rotted! That may take up a significant amount of my time over the next while.

More progress

Got the clearcoat finished last weekend, so by today, it had properly cured. Not my best work, but a durable finish for a racebike. The clear covered the rattlecan Krylon quite well, and while the finish isn't consistently glossy throughout, had I wet-sanded and put on a second coat of clear, I think it would have come out (too) nice.






I also ordered a Rizla decal kit off of eBay -- came from the UK. I know I mouthed off about what Rizla papers are (sometimes) used for, but the yellow decals really make the bike stand out. Not sure how many people around here even know what "Rizla" is... so I decided to leave it as is.












I spent most of today trying to get the 40mm CVK carburetor working properly. When it did, the bike ran beautifully. However, there is a bizzare flooding problem going on -- perhaps a stuck float? Either way, it was so flooded the last time (after I had shut it off) that it was fully upright, yet fuel was flowing out the tip-over hose... so I put the stock carb back on, with the needle jet spaced upwards to deal with the lean condition I noticed the last time I was at Gimli.

The plan this upcoming weekend is to lash it down to the trailer again and haul it out to the track for the second round of testing. Might have time to put the manual cam chain tensioner on -- seems like a very simple process. Already have the tach/water temp guage in place, and it seems to run cool enough -- on the stand at idle! We'll see how hot it gets when the engine is revved up somewhat.