Saturday, February 27, 2010

As promised, Cycleboyz were able to silver-solder a small barbed "stump" into the fitting that bolts to the engine.  While I was there to pick it up, I also bought a nice hose clamp finisher, some 3/8 Gates oil hose, and 3 litres of Motul petroleum based oil. 
Oil fitting picured in previous post is in the spares kit -- will see if this setup is oil-tight.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hand made is cool and all, but when it comes to a track bike, a "one-off", custom, or bespoke part doesn't do you any good when said part fails.  The proddie bike guys and gals just buy 2 of things that are likely to need replacement -- 2 brake levers, 2 clutch levers, 2, etc....  In my case, there were two custom-made pieces (of what may become many) that I thought I should have spares for (and whose initial fabrication/design/concept I was pretty sure I could improve upon.
One was the splined shift shaft -- at first I put two ends on it, to reverse the shifting if needed or possible.  In the end, traditional street style shifting was the only option.  So version 2.0 would only need one arm facing down.  Note relieved area for chain run.
This is the second version.  It still needs to be painted (note the bit of rust on the inside of the tube.  I'm happy with the design as it makes for a very sturdy, direct, and positive-feeling shift.  It will also work with a 16T sprocket, but the 15 I have on leaves a bit more clearance.

This is the outlet for the oil feed.  It works quite well, despite looking a bit rough.  It is a metric tube size, so the compression fitting had to be custom-ordered, and you can see where the steel feed tube has a few marr marks from being bent (I heated it and filled it with sand to minimize a kink forming, however).  I did buy a second DRZ400 feed line, and Cycleboys is going to silver solder a simple "stump" on the mount that has a barb on it for the appropriate hose.  The 90 degree bend will be in the hose itself, but I hope it is not too sharp to starve oil flow.  If version 2 works as well, I'll use it. 

Version 1 of both parts will go in the spares kit, just in case.  Paint work for the Key Lime Kawi is coming albeit slowly...

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Over time I've come up with a cheaper and simpler option than using dzus fasteners.  It requires a riv-nut (either metric or SAE), some old bolts to match, some spring clips (in the 1/16 size) and some fender washers.

The riv nut is installed in the backing panel.  Cut the head off of the bolt, and drill a 1/16 hole near the end, like you would for safety-wiring.  Thread the headless bolt into the riv-nut to the appropriate depth, with the fender washer as a cushion.  Insert the spring clip and secure it.  Much quicker than bolts -- fairing panels can be "hung" in place on the "stumps" of the headless bolts, and then the washers and clips installed at once.

This is the busy rear subframe -- remote resevoir finally hung out of the way (note cut rubber tube as a cushion), crankcase breather filter.  Remote resevoir has hi-and low-speed compression damping!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Here we have some pictures of the upgraded front master cylinder -- this is the Magura master, with a proper stainless line heading down to the front caliper... had to buy the proper remote resevoir separately.  That is a looong front brake lever as well.

Connected to this at the bottom.  New lines, crush washers... speed bleeder really helped with bleeding the system.  New pads installed during bike club as well.

This is the stainless exhaust bracket(s) I fabricated.  Rubber bushing with some proper shouldered washers, and a locknut on the other side. 

And this is a totally unrelated and gratuitous picture of me (#65) racing in 2006.  My Ducati 900ss supersport bike.  A sweet ride.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Living by the Kiss Principle

No comments about being part of the Kiss Army or wearing face paint and silly boots...

Went through the original wiring loom and got rid of all the extraneous wiring -- for turn signals, handlebar switches, brake lights, headlights, etc.  Hooked it up when done, and the engine cranks, so I'm assuming it is correct.  Will have to wait a few months before I actually fire it up to run...

Far simpler than what I started with -- with a weight savings in the ounces.



Getting rid of the extra wiring also allowed me to simplify the connections in the cockpit.  No auxiliary wiring and power to run a guage, a tach, a water temp gauge, no battery for a lap timer because...



I splurged for one of these -- a Mychon 3 gauge.  It does a lot -- RPMs 9 (programmable to whatever range you want), temp gauge (EGT, CHT or water -- I'll choose the water), and a lap timer!  Pretty cool, and all the data can be downloaded to your computer!  Essentially 3 gauages in one, with data storage, for the price (used) of a decent tachometer.  No farting around with power supply as well, 'cause it runs on a pair of AAA batteries!  Kart racers have been using these for years, so it is ideal for single-cylinder engines.  It is also idiot-proof, as it has an automatic-on feature (when the bike fires up), and shuts off after 10 minutes to save battery life.
In other news, the 'mono is back home -- I've made stainless muffler mounts with rubber bushings, modified the rs125 seat to work with the rear subframe, found a proper shock mount (borrowed a fork clamp), and will set about working on making new rad mounts.  Paint will be applied to the new tail and fender shortly.  With all my hemming and hawing, a TT racer said replica paint schemes on club racing bikes was "a tad wank"... and he's right.  The bike is unique enough in its own right, might as well personalize it to my tastes, rather than ape a MotoGP bike.  I doubt anyone would confuse me or the bike for being a GP machine anyway...

Lucky Stroke may reign again!