650 tweaking

Had the rare opportunity of turning a profit on some eBay buying and selling.  Bought a new scorpion exhaust system for a zx14 for $38, and flipped it for $300!!!  This "found money" has freed up the dosh to send my throttle bodies down to Zoran at Twin Works Factory for some boring.  With some dyno time, apparently it frees up 4-5 hp.  I've actually got some dyno time coming to me, if a horsetrading plan with a fella in Winnipeg works out.

As well, some unseasonably warm weather allowed me to install the slipper clutch on the 650 without freezing to death.  Aside from a stubborn cltuch nut (thankfully the impact wrench came in handy) a fairly simple install, despite the absolutely shite instructions.  I believe this was due to the Japanese being translated to English.  I'm sure I did it correctly, but I am going to call yoyodyne next week to make sure the plates are done correctly.

radiator work

After many hours of online searching, comparing shapes of a million different rad hoses for a variety of bikes, I got a set of silicone hoses for a klx220 -- they appeared in the pictures to have the proper bends, so that I didn't have to use so many 90 degree adaptors -- the water flow would be smoother throughout the system.  I also got another ex500 rad cap filler unit, and was able to attach it solidly to the frame with an aluminum bracket I fabricated.  All the hoses clear the engine with room to spare, and the slicone construction is more durable and will hold up to more pressue.

There is still one 90 deg bend (centre of this photo) which attaches the silicone hose to the mito hose I need to use to make the mito rad work properly. 
















Notice too I am clamp-free -- silicone hoses require special clamps that have an inner sleeve -- prevents the notches in a typical rad hose clamp from tearing into the outer surface.

Some pukka race kit -- that is an actual HRC overflow bottle, zip-tied to an aluminum bracket I made.  Sender for water temp guage can be seen in the background.  Not much more to be done at this point.  The new carb parts have come in, so I went with a much larger pilot jet to address the backfiring.  Hopefully that takes care of it.  I also bought a used air/fuel ratio meter.  Came very cheap -- hopefully it still works.  If it does its job, I will likely get a stainless bung welded to to the header in order to take some readings to set the machine up with some more accuracy.

winter is approaching...

Life of a motorcycle roadracer in Canada.  Step one, make sure your tire supply for next year is secured in a nice warm environment.  Best to buy tires at the end of the season, as they are often cheaper.  Next you need to find a spot so they don't get subjected to the -40 degree (celcius) temps we can get over the winter here on the prairies.  Short of a heated garage, the downstairs exercize room will do nicely...

These include the 120/180 michelins that I am gonna try on the wider rear rim of the 650.
Next I took out the husky engine to give it a once over to eliminate any possibilities of the backfire at idle.  Timing was correct, valve gap was checked and put to spec.  With only .002" gap, I needed to buy a new feeler gauge.  Nothing seemed drastically out, but it was piece of mind to set it again.  Easy to do as well.  TDC was found by removing the clutch cover and using the punch marks to set TDC.  Gave me a chance to remove and clean the secondary metal screen filter buried into the case.  Nice to see how clean that was.  Will check valve gaps every time I clean that filter.  Makes sense to do them at the same time.

Less than a block from where I work is a Husky dealer -- no bikes, but mowers and chainsaws, I checked to see if they could order in gaskets and filters, and with some digging on their part, they indicated they could.  Cool, as I need a new water pump gasket after removing the head to check the timing mark on the camshaft sprocket.  Got a couple of spares as well.  Thus, everything now points to a larger pilot jet/richer idle circuit as the solution to the idle issues.  Unfortunately, will be a long wait until I can start the bike again.  Hopefully spring comes early!

On another note, the year-end awards were handed out a week or two ago.  Was presented with this.  A nice reward for the year.  Ended the Thunderbike class in 5th.