Waiting...

Not much happening on the bike front currently.  Some parts have arrived, and so I spent some time on Saturday playing with the new Koso dash.  From what I have seen in pictures, this is the same model fitted to KTM's Moto3 machines... in fact, I am sure of it.

So, if it is good enough for a world championship-winning race bike, it is certainly good enough for my garage-built special.  To left is NOT my bike, but the KTM.  Obviously those Austrian geniuses have added a few more lights... I think I might end up doing the same, if I can suss out the wiring harness.  Perhaps the FI trouble light, and maybe even a neutral light (although the latter is less important).  Oh yeah, I also have domino grips on my bike, so pretty soon it will be hard to tell a KTM moto3 bike and mine apart... yeah right!

Here is mine, on the kitchen table...  If I've figured out the wiring diagram correctly, installation should be a snap -- just splicing in 1 wire that goes straight to the ECU.  I'll look at the Kawi manual to find the wire for the FI light, and see if I can't mount an idiot light somewhere.  The tach is powered by a 9v battery -- again, perfect for machines that don't run a typical alternator... and for those that do, well, I don't have to hack into the harness to find a 12v hot wire.  Pretty slick.  I've played with it a bit, and set the signals to work with a 4 stroke 2 cylinder bike.  Once it has been on the dyno and the engine broken in and tuned, I'll finalize the shift light feature.
On the more radical front, I hope to be playing with some carbon fibre shortly.  I picked up a second fuel tank... I've always felt there was way more volume than needed for race purposes, especially sprint races.  Considering a custom aluminum tank would be very expensive, and proper fittings for the fuel pump would need to be made, I decided to simply cut the original in half!

You can see the cut line (the electrical tape)... everything forward of that will be removed, only after I've made a mold out of fibreglass first (the electrical tape will hopefully act as a "lip" in the mold).  I will then get cycleboyz to weld a plate in the front, pressure test it, and I will then seal the tank with POR-15.  I might even see if I can't better vent the tank somewhat.  Meanwhile the female mold of the front of the tank will be used for a carbon fiber cover, to preserve the lines of the tank and to cover up the air box.  It will be attached via Velcro to the tank, and by a bolt just aft of the steering tube.

Here is the inspiration for this idea, from Rossi's M1...  A portion of his tank extends under the seat, right in the C of G... however they needed to carry 24L to deal with the long race distances and thirsty engines.  I don't have the same issues to deal with at my level!  And of course, if I do go to the Isle of Man or enter an endurance race, I'll be sure that a stock capacity tank can easily be re-installed.  I've got a DIY carbon kit coming in (but I can't import it to Canada, so I'll have to pick it up in Rolla), and to save costs, I'm gonna make the female mold out of cheaper polyester resin from Canadian Tire.
So, with no computer aided design, engineering support, or the like, this is "eyeball engineering" at its finest.  I anticipate the tank to end up only marginally lighter, but hopefully the weight distribution will be better, and I can be sure the bare minimum of fuel is being added before each race.  If I get this done before we head south to Mid America in April, I can test the range of a "full" tank there as well...