Updates

As today is the last day "off" before I head back to school for the year, I thought I'd update the blog somewhat.  Work won't stop, but I think the updates might get a bit irregular, as work on the bikes now shifts to the weekends only.

With my plan to move the exhaust, I now have room under the seat for the electrical components.  As the ECU was formerly placed under the tank, and above the warm engine, this wasn't a bad idea, in my opinion.  Not sure how hot things would have gotten, but avoiding cooking electrical parts is never a bad idea.  Years of building and rebuilding bikes, or converting them to race use had me collect some soft metal "tangs" that are used to secure wiring.  You can see a couple pressed into service here.

I've also done some more thinking re the exhaust.  If I've got a retro-themed machine in regards to the spoked wheels and bodywork, the exhaust should follow suit.  That means I think I am going to track down a reverse megaphone muffler.  The hindle exhausts weren't wasted by any means... the original has found a home on the zx7r... its titanium, and a bit shorter... so if I do dump the big greenzilla, I won't be too broken up.  The shiny aluminum one, at 20" long, is now off and protected in the box in storage.  Storage for what, I don't know.  So, with the megaphone, a way to mount that muffler is important, and some vibration isolation would be nice.  A sleepless night considering options was assuaged by some ebay searching.  An R1 has a mid-section hanger, in aluminum, with a steel tophat spacer and rubber bushing.  I got one for $1.99 off of ebay.  The rubber bushing might be a service item, but at least I'll be able to track one down from the local bike shop.  My first idea is to thread it into the rearset plates.  Blurry picture to the left.  The muffler should tuck up under my right boot, and take advantage of the gull arm in the swingarm.  Dime city cycles has both an 18" quiet one, and a 12" louder one.  Methinks the 12" will fit better.

I've got everything wired up, at least temporarily. The narrow tail light is DOT marked, so it's legal.  The turn signals aren't, but the owner of the local bike shop assured me that he'd safety the bike with them.  Underneath my hand is the LED licence plate light, which I will wire into the tail light harness.  I just need to figure out where I will mount this assembly.

I've given up on the version 2 seat.  It was too narrow, the rear end kicked up too far, and I didn't really like the look of it.  I finally found a seat that was wide enough in the front, and had the proper hump shape.  It's also plenty long enough, with a nice seat base, so I can adjust it for length with the dremel.  Once fitted, I'll make a fibreglass seat pan for the foam and cover to be attached.  I anticipated cutting a half moon out of the front to make a tight tank-seat interface.

Front turn signals fitted.  I found some sturdy aluminum angle from "something else" I had lying around, and used the fork clamps left over from the aborted number plate project.  You can see a few wires still dangling about... I am waiting on a resupply of proper connectors so I'm not tempted to use preinsulated crap from Canadian tire.

 Did some fibreglass work on the tail section.  Fabbed this piece in order to have somewhere to mount the tail light/ licence plate/ turn signal assembly.  If not that, to simply clean up the rear somewhat... a streetbike will no doubt kick up a bit of rain!

New exhaust mount location.  Its another Hindle titanium muffler, but a quieter one (allegedly) made for a snowmobile.  Otherwise identical to a streetbike exhaust.

August Trackday Fun

Made sure I got out of the garage and had some fun on the big kwacker!

Here's the working concept for my exhaust version 2.0 plan, courtesy of XTR Pepo -- the guy behing Radical Ducati.  Another thumping single, so it makes sense to keep the muffler away from your butt...

So some changes since the last post.  I did get the bike up and running, and took it for a few quick spins around the block.  A few things have become apparent:
1.  I've decided to make this a streetbike.  The zx7r is a perfect trackday hack, with improved suspension, lighter wheels, and enough power to keep me with the faster guys on the track... this supermono would be a rolling chicane, as well as an uncompetitive race machine in Canadian Thunder, even if I did throw a visa card at the engine.
2.  The bent fork I talked about in the video are disappointing.  It means another front end build (bearings, anyway), and re-fabbing the spacers for the wheel and the caliper.
3.  The old R1 16mm master started to weep at the bleed nipple.  I swapped it for an 18mm zx7r one I had lying around.  Bad move, brakes are wooden!  I've found another used R1 master in 16mm, and have ordered some replacement pads (the ones that came with the calipers are long overdue for replacement).  Hopefully this results in better braking performance.  The bike this caliper orignally came on, an Aprilia SXV, had a 17.5mm master, but those in the know all suggested swapping it out for a 16mm master.
4.  The Baja street kit is inbound.  I already have the headlight and horn, and have found some DOT tail lights and have a line on some turn signals.

The biggest issue is the vibration.  I suppose attaching a muffler to what is basically your arse, and then fitting that to a single cylinder bike is going to lead to some potential harmonic issues with the backside.  I need to conduct a bit of an experiment to see if the hindle exhaust mount location is the root of the problem... I'm gonna run the bike with it not attached, to see if the vibes are the issue.  If this is the source of the shaking, I've got a couple of solutions rolling around in my head.  One is a complete re-route of exhaust system to create an under-engine arrangement, and the other is to use a different muffler, and mount the can to the mainframe itself, and not the rear subframe.  I'll have to do some thinnin' on that one.

The under-engine arrangement would cost more in time and tubing to fab, but it would eliminate the vibration problem as well as the kickstart rubber melting on the link pipe.  My fab guy might want to hit me, considering all the hard work he did to create the exhaust.

 Got the painting done.  After years of getting "decent" results with spraybomb primer, color, and a inexpensive 2-part clear, I struggled a bit with this one.  I think part of the problem was I was using a fast-hardening activator, and with the temps on the warm side, I got crazy orange peel with the first coat.  Knocked it down with some wet 600, and switched product for the 2nd coat.  Came out much better, but with a thinner final consistency, actually got some runs (minor) in the clear on the tank.  That's a first.  Anyway, the finish is nothing if not durable, and that's the main thing for a racebike.

 Still details to sort... waiting still for the carbs, and need some seat foam and a rear brake line.  Am also going to run a small cafe race fairing, a 250 BMW rennsport one from Boxer Cafe.  Should look pretty cool, I think.  The numberplate is all right, but some wind protection might help with top speed a bit.

 Been learning a lot about these XT engines.  There is an oil pump upgrade -- I bought a NOS one from an ebay seller from Canada, and just need the gear to go with.  David Lambeth from the UK has also been helpful with his suggestions.  He does offer a complete bullet-proof rebuild but the cost is staggering, and I'd need to factor in shipping a very heavy engine to the UK and back.  Not sure if I can justify this expense.  2000 thousand pounds (choke).  There are other options as well.  Part of me would like to do this work myself as the engine is simple enough.

Slow progress

Speedhut custom tach.  2 1/4" size, and I got to pick the color and font.  I've used one before, straightforward setup.  Hopefully I can get this to work on a bike without a battery, just using the 12v feed from the alternator.  On the stock bike, this feed powered the head and tailight, once the bike was running, so this should work the same...?

Projection Components adapter plate v 2.0 showed up this week.  Now the pegs are in a more reasonable position height-wise.  Can still be altered fore and aft.

Right side.  Note that I've had to come up with a rear brake master cylinder solution.  The thumb brake did not turn out as planned.  D'oh.  This should work fine, once a proper-length hose is fitted.

Side view of the rolling chassis and messy garage.  Wheel came back from Buchanon's lined up perfectly, and no chain rub with the 150 dunlop tire.  Carbs are still on back order.  Fluid on the floor of the garage was some brake fluid that leaked out of the thumb brake.  Tank and bellypan are currently in paint (as in, my home-grown spray bomb and clearcoat approach), and a new seat has been procured to stay true to the vintage look.  It needs to be modified to work with the subframe.  I am also going to be swapping out the flat numberplate with a BMW rennsport fairing.