Swingarm Swap

Started the process yesterday to switch out the steel ex swingarm for that of the versys.  Old rear swinger cam out fairly simply... and it looks like more of the parts are interchangable than originally planned, which will save me some money in the swap.  Did some comparison of part numbers on Bikebandit.com, and I already have $60+ of reusable parts, in the form of spacers, oil seals, etc.  I still need to order some items, but it will be far cheaper than I thought.

 While I was at it, I also removed the front countershaft sprocket.  I have a leftover racing chain with low miles that is slightly shorter than stock.  My hope is to shorten the gearing for racing, but go to a 13-43, rather than the stock 15-46.  The original chain had to be cut off anyway, so I went with a 520 set.  For longer tracks, I will switch to a 14-43, essentially back to stock gearing, but with the smaller sprockets overall.  Dad's bringing those in for me in a week or 2.

The bike is held up by a stand that I originally built to pass through a hollow rear axle -- this time, I just put a 3/4 inch tube through one of the hollow frame spars, and it lifts the back end up without using a rear stand.

The shock will also be sent out for a rebuild and revalve -- not sure whose weight it was set up for, and it is also weeping a bit around the seal. 

Note how much more beefy the rear swingarm is from stock -- and its still 4 lbs lighter!  Rear brake caliper hanger and caliper, along with the rear wheel spacers can be reused.

Weekend Education

Picture it -- glorious +26 degree weather in late September.  The weekend -- no work.  A new bike to break in.  Races being taped on the PVR... get out and enjoy the sunshine.  Which I certainly did, until I was about 1 mile from home after a lovely 50 mile ride (restricted to 39mph according the max revs break in according to the manual).  Me and the KLX are getting along famously.  Light, easy, fun to ride even with 20 hp, and more fun to be had when I can open it up after break in.  The supermoto tires mean that I can go through the 2 roundabouts in town without even braking, sticking my leg out with style.
On the way home Sunday, I approached the 2nd roundabout when a young kid in a Caddy pulled out in front of me -- he misjudged my speed (I wasn't/didn't need to slow down)... while he left me a bit of room I could work with, he then decided to stop dead... why, I don't know.  My brake hand reacted faster than my left foot, and down I went in a lowside with a locked front brake.  Like my roadracing crashes, things slowed down.  I saw the rear bumper approaching my head as I slid along the ground; I enjoyed the painless sensation of my Sidi boots doing their job, protecting my left foot trapped under the bike; I immediately felt pain in my hip, but the numb type I generally associated with a hard bodycheck; worst of all, I could feel my light jacket rolling up my arm towards the elbow, leaving my forearm to make corrosive contact with the pavement.  Then, silence.
I was conscious, did not hit my head, and I avoided the car.  The klx was still put-putting while lying on top of me... although I was able to reach down and hit the kill switch with my right hand.  The driver came out from his car, and a fella working on his yard also showed up.  Yard guy picked up my bike, while caddy boy claimed it wasn't his fault (was it...?).  He suggested we exchange information, but to what end?  My bike was remarkably undamaged save for a few minor scrapes.  My arm and knee were a bit of a mess, so with no information to exchange (single vehicle accident) he left.  Yard guy stayed with me to make sure I was OK, looked at my forearm to ensure that there was no bones sticking out.  I shook his hand, started up the bike, and went home for a date with the hydrogen peroxide and an old toothbrush.  Thankfully Kate was not home yet and I could howl in privacy.

The worst of it, 2 days later...


I've been riding since 1997, and this is my first street crash.  Ironically, I wasn't speeding, I was on the LEAST powerful bike I have ever ridden on the street, and I was a mile from home.  It was a day I decided against my leather jacket... my choice.  I did have a helmet on, I did avoid the other car, and I did avoid serious damage to the bike... my race-trained habit of "looking through the turn" avoided a more serious rear-end collision.  My boots saved my feet -- had I been wearing sneakers, yikes!
2 days after, I am able to put things into perspective.  This was a real wake-up call for me.  This little bike was supposed to keep me out of trouble, and while it crashes about 1000 percent better than a sportbike, it can still be somewhat dangerous.  What have I been reminded of:
1.  Never, ever, ever trust other drivers!
2.  Always wear proper protection -- where I was hurt the worst, I was the least protected.  My bottom half was covered in jeans -- still some damage but minor.  Had I had a leather jacket on, no injuries to the arm!
3.  When in doubt, chicken out (on the street, at least) -- I had been through that roundabout many times before, much faster, but there was NO traffic -- much more margin of error.
4.  My wife is a patient woman.  She made the trip to the pharmacy for more supplies on Monday.

So no repairs to the KLX -- scratches have added character to both me and the bike.  No missed work, although I am stiff and sore all over.  Again, could have been much worse!
And I got back on the horse on Monday -- rode for an hour in the warm weather again -- with a leather jacket! 
Dad, if you're reading this, don't tell mom!  If she does see it, remind her that once again, RACING is safer than riding on the street!  Keep the rubber side down, everyone!

Carb Diet

The YZ427 carb showed up.  In decent condition, but I soaked it in a product called "Seafoam" to help clean it up.  That, and some work with an old toothbrush did a good job.  Next step is to get the right jets for it -- Sinceros Speed Works to the rescue.

The wierd thing is, it looks as if this carb will fit under the tank?!  I did need to adjust the underside with a brass hammer somewhat, but it now fits fine.  Hmmm.  I also intend to pressure test the tank again to make sure my welds are holding up.

Great Weekend

Really enjoyed the last weekend of the season -- got the reffing done on Saturday with only one bad crash (rider is OK), and the hit the track on Sunday.  Was happy with how the comfort level came back -- made some good passess, picked up speed pretty quickly, and also didn't surrender spots other than to bigger bikes on the straights.  Even caught and out-dragged an SV650 -- of course, not in a race situation, but it seems that the bike has some decent speed compared to its competition, even with stock gearing.  Was a very windy day, and the fairingless bike ran well.  In fact, the mono, with its full fairing, was being tossed around quite a bit -- more likely due to its weight than anything else.  Got to the point on the mono where I wasn't even braking for turn 1 -- just pop out of the bubble, downshift once, and hold on.  Handled pretty good!  Again, some chatter and sliding through turn five on the little bike.  Not sure if that's due to the tires (the street-based 2CT michelins) or to the suspension.  Need more time to sort it out.  Did 4 sessions on the ex and 2 on the mono.

Had the bikes loaded on the trailer a few days prior -- school had started up and I was spending some long hours -- did not want to wait until Thursday night to load up, in case I was delayed...

Trailer held up OK, but I'm keeping a close eye on it -- its covered lots of miles over the past 11 years, and has hauled more than just bikes.  Might be time to get something slightly bigger -- no extra room on the deck for anything!

No shots of me "in action" that I've seen, so I can show you tire wear -- fascinating!!!  The michelin slicks were awesome!  Not sure how old the tires were, and while they were sliding a bit out of turn 9 (asphalt, not concrete), everything was controllable.  Nice wear pattern, no cold tearing despite the lack of tire warmers and the cold ambient temps.

Of course, for me to be battling at the front, I need to find 4 seconds somewhere...!  Next year!

I wondered about the bellypan in right turns -- while it did touch down, it acted as a gauge (along with my knee) as to what the suspension was doing at the back.  I need to get faster through turn 4 -- there is a bump right as you turn in that upsets the bike -- the bump carries across the entire width of the track, except for a 1' spot roughly 3' out from the inside.  On a clean lap, you go for that spot -- otherwise, you grin and bear it.  Pegs and levers were fine -- no contact.

So now its time to get the bikes ready for winter storage -- I've removed the Cool-Aid from the ex and replaced it with glycol -- gonna do the same with the mono, although its running straight water.  Winter plans include a rear swingarm swap on the ex, and a shock rebuild/revalve -- the machine is running perfectly otherwise.  I've built a stand that will hold up the rear of the bike while leaving the swingarm free to be removed.  With the mono, my 1 gal alloy tank has arrived, as well as the carburetor.  Gonna test fit the FCR, then clean it up and jet it for the DRZ.  Mounting the tank will take some work, but I've got a few ideas.  Off to get some pink foam insulation today.  As usual, stay tuned.

no excuses

For all intents and purposes, the ex is ready to roll... no comprimises with tires, exhaust, suspension, etc... all that is left is the fine tuning and me getting up to speed and to grips with it. 

The Muzzy exhaust came in earlier this week, and was quite easy to install -- just headers and the muffler -- 5 bolts in total.  Fired it up -- sounds pretty rorty... might be pushing the db levels at some tracks.  When I went to mount the bellypan the headers and collector pipe (as short as it is) fouled on the pan.  Spent another couple of hours cutting out a section of the bottom of the bellypan, and riviting in an aluminum relief panel.  The end result is still oil tight and should work OK.  The muffler fits well within the rear cutout and looks pretty stealthy.

  

Mom and Dad stopped in for a visit on their way west -- Dad played "mule" duty and hauled in some proper slicks (Michelin 250s from Motorace) as well as a few Versys parts for the swingarm conversion -- swingarm pivot axle and rear axle and adjusters, so that should help with finding the other hardware for installing the new rear end.  The Michelins can be a PITA to install, especially if they've been stacked on their sides (like they all have), but with some massaging I was able to get the beads to seat.

As I said, mechanically, there should be no issues with the bike -- everything works, nothing is compromised, all that's left is optimizing things like the rear shock (it may not be set up for my weight), and getting used to the bike.  I really hope the "experiment" that is the decision to go fairingless works out OK.  The streetfighter look is not something I am really keen on as streetbikes, but I still wonder if a full fairing is necessary on a 65 hp bike -- it is the balance between aerodynamic streamlining and coefficient of drag.  Short of a wind tunnel, I've go no way to prove my ideas.  The truth will be in my right wrist, next weekend.  The final round of the year is on the 11/12 weekend, and after my refereeing duties wrap up on Saturday, I plan to get in as many laps as I can on both bikes on alternating sessions on Sunday.  Hopefully my improved fitness will allow me to ride all day.

On the 'mono front, one of my long-term goals has always been to fit a FCR carb to the engine.  Google drz/klx400 and 39 FCR and you'll have hours of reading on the benefits of fitting this to the S/SM bikes (the E model got it stock).  I am still certain the 40mmCV I have right now is an improvement over the 36mm carb that came standard.

I was able to source this item on eBay for a good price -- I've also found a reputable page describing some jetting settings.  This is a popular carb, fitted to many models of MX bikes; therefore, aside from assuring its a 39mm, I will likely have to switch out some jets to get the carb to run properly.

Another fabricating problem is going to rear its head as well -- back in late 2008 when I was modifying the tank to work with this frame, the underside of the zzr250 tank was adapted to suit a CV carb.  In general, these carbs are "shorter" from top to bottom and so I modified the tank to suit.  A buddy of mine has a DRZ400 SM bike, and bought his own 39mm FCR.  There are no clearance issues fitting this carb to the stock bike, but I noticed at the time that it appeared a FCR would not fit under the modified ZZR tank I built... so with all mods, there is often a carry on effect.  This might mean a new tank!

ZZR250 tanks are a dime a dozen in the UK, but very rare in NA -- they were only sold in Canada... and, the only one I've seen in a year is stuck on eBay for a very high price -- fair enough, its new, but not what I need.  Again, in the quest to "lose weight", I did some research:

• 1 gallon of fuel = 8.33 lbs! 
• So if you put 2 gallons of gas into your bike for a 15-30 mile sprint race, you are carrying around at least an extra 8 pounds of ballast.
• Gimli sprints are even shorter, the tight track results in lower speeds, with less fuel demand
• A KLX400 single gets "great" gas mileage!

So, likely any new tank would only require 1 gallon of volume -- I would just need to remember to keep the tank full... and save more weight!

The plan now is to find a decent quality 1 gallon fuel cell -- go kart racers have these in aluminum or even plastic.  I'd prefer the alloy, but we'll see what I can find for a reasonable price.  Mount it in a suitable location, and then cover up the sharp angles by gluing pink foam insulation to the tank, and then cutting, sanding, and shaping the big block into something resembling a fuel tank.  The pink final copy is then covered with epoxy resin and fibreglass, sanded, and then painted like any regular tank.  About the same work as modifying a stock steel tank, but with the anticipated result of a lighter tank (albeit with less volume).

Finally, on a sad note, many of you know Peter Lenz was killed at the Indy MotoGP.  I have a very loose connection to the fellow -- I emailed and spoke with his dad awhile back when I bought some of his old bodywork -- the tail section on the 'mono was some of his old stuff.  I bought it used with some crash damage, and I had to admit I was a bit jealous of the kid when I was prepping the piece for painting -- the underside of the tail section had a really neat professionally-made decal with his name, number, and a pile of sponsors.  A real pain to remove!   Looked pretty cool and I was jealous of the then 12-year old.  His passing reminds me again how my life has been one big stroke of luck/Lucky Stroke in comparison.  The only consolation is that he died doing what he loved to do, by no mistake on his own.  Pretty cool legacy for a 13 year old.

Sorted!

Took the ex out to the test facility yesterday.  No definitive proof that what I'd done to the electronics  since the last race weekend had solved the problem, so with hope in my heart I headed South with the bike on the trailer.  I'd know if I'd fixed the issues within about 10 seconds of running the bike in.  Up and down the runway once to warm it up.  Come around for the first WFO run and.... whoa! (relatively speaking) -- she goes!  The aggravating thing about this little-used runway is the layer of gravel on the tarmac.  It got to the point where on the third accelleration test, the rear wheel was spinning up.  And no FI light coming on and reverting the bike into "limp" mode.  It runs as it shoud.

I also did my best to bed in the new brake pads, and suffice to say, it also stops quite well.  I did a panic stop, locking up the front and compressing the forks fully in order to ensure the front fairing did not hit the front fender on full compression.  I even found a relatively clean stretch of pavement to practice a few starts... hmm... getting a bit ahead of myself here!

So, aside from installing the Muzzy (on its way according to an email I got today), the tires, and the bellypan, the bike is race ready.  All that's left is adjusting and tweaking some of the details, and perhaps fine-tuning the suspension at the back end.

This guy's coming for a visit in a few days...

Consolidation (sic?)

For simplicity's sake, I've decided to combine all of my blogs back into this one.  The supermono one is the most often visited, although lately, the least often updated.  So, if you're here for ex650 news, great; if its RC51 info your after, well, look elsewhere.

New Bike:  this is the 3rd bike in a year for me.  From a 119 hp Italian exotic, to a rarer 130hp Japanese Superbike homologation special to.... wait for it.... a 20 hp supermoto.  What the heck???  The reality is, both the RC51 and the 999 were ridden very little.  I took meticulous care of them, putting in blood, sweat, tears and money, and loving life with them only when I was on a deserted highway breaking the speed limit... as in go to jail breaking the speed limit.  I never put anyone other than myself at risk, and that would only be from an unforseen circumstance like a stoopid deer coming in for a close-up or something.  I was at the point where I could likely calculate the cost per ride on the honda based on how little I was actually riding it.  No big deal if we had bike insurance like the Brits or the Yanks... based on the information I've read, I could plate several bikes for less than what I am paying for one in Canada -- I'm nearly 40, no accidents, no tickets, no claims, etc, etc.  Not the case here -- $1500 a year (for a maybe 5 month season) for the Honda.  Yikes!  It was not a bike to hop on and pop down to the shops for errands.  It was not happy tootling along at 30 mph in traffic.  Again, only at home doing extra-legal speeds, and even our highways leave a lot to be desired in terms of curves and surface integrity.

Enter the supermoto... Transcanada had a 2009 KLX250SF languishing on the floor for over a year.  Gathering dust, the battery was even dead.  Took it out for a spin in town and breifly on the highway, and had a smile on my face the whole time.  60mph feels like 100, and it is so light and fun, that even respecting the under 4000 rpm break in limit, it was a riot.  Within 5 minutes the chicken strips on the tires on the Honda were gone on the Kawi.  It also gets 70 mpg, and costs $500/year less to insure.  Still far too expensive, but at least I can actually ride it regularly -- getting on a 1000 sportbike is an "event" -- getting on this is a quick turn of the key (after pulling the choke) let it get warm, and then whoo hoo!!!  20hp has never been so fun.  A few of my riding buddies think I'm nuts, but I can't wait until it gets some mileage under its belt so I can really let it rip and unleash the ponies!!!  250cc... that's a small chocolate milk, kiddies!

The 650: 

Magura radial master and 1.4 turn throttle.

Race fuel cap -- key will stay in the ingnition where it belongs!

Finally getting there -- after waiting 3 weeks in vain for EBC pads, Scotty ordered me SBS pads and they were here in 2 days.  The zx10R master cylinder felt like crap, so I gambled and swapped the magura 16x18 from the mono (radial brake caliper needed for the brake lines I got) -- bled it and it finally has brakes the way it should.  I put the stock er6 master on the mono, and while the 5/8 bore is a bit big, should work OK.  Also got the proper front fairing mounted and painted.  1/4 turn throttle installed, so it should be good to go.  Just need to get out to the airstrip and give both bikes a try -- to see if the 16T on the front of the mono is workable, and to make sure the idiot light (the FI light) does not come on on the 650 -- installed and checked all the tweaks I'd done, and found a few possible suspects, but also cleared the trouble codes from the computer.  Just waiting on the Muzzy so I can install the bellypan and the bike will truly be "finished".  You all have heard that before!

Bellypan -- brackets are in and installed, but this won't fit with my home-made pipe system...

On a personal note, I start back at work on the 23rd, getting ready for the first day of school.  An ongoing project for me has been trying to get fitter for racing.  Over the years since I last raced (dating back to 2007), my weight has creeped up to around 200 lbs. Not good when you are 5'8" or so. My muscular strength is as high as its ever been, but has been accompanied by some extra insulation.    I described my physique as "oversquare" -- only engine builders got the joke -- everyone else thought I was just porky.  Anyway, this summer has seen me do some diligent exercizing.  Running every second day (between 4.2 and 4.9 miles, depending on the route I take), and hitting the bow-flex on the other days.  I've also cut down on the brewskis, reduced my bread intake, and am taking the huge step of.... wait for it.... NOT eating peanut butter!  This is huge as with most people, their body is 70% water... mine was about 68%, with 2% being PB.  To date, after around 2 months or so, I'm "down" to 187, with 165-170 being the "ultimate" goal.  Considering every 7lbs of static weight (as in my lardy butt on the bike) is equivalent to 1 hp, I could gain as much as 4-5 hp just by getting fit.  A big deal when you are riding a supermono or small twin.  When the cold winter comes, I intend to keep running, being sure to get the proper gear so I don't DIE in the -30 degrees celcius weather -- you imperial chaps look that up -- that' freaking cold, it is.... no idea what it is in Fahrenheit or Kelvin or whatever.  This fitness craze has been inspired by my buddy Mike who cycled across Canada in 2008, and my other friend Greg, who is a week away from an Ironman -- as in the full monty... check out his blog here:

http://once-upon-a-bike.blogspot.com/

And for your entertainment, Brit supermono racer Mike Edwards travels 1500 miles or so to race a brand new, untested mono in the wet. Qualifies it in 4th or so, leads in the wet, and then crashes. No biggie, until another rider hits the downed machine and destroys it. Remember that when you see the acres of carbon fibre, and the amount of evident effort put into the bike. At least all the riders were OK!