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criticalmass181

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About criticalmass181

  • Birthday 12/16/1968

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  • Location
    Melton, Victoria, Australia
  • In My Garage:
    VFR 750 FV, 1913 Raleigh, 1959 Isomoto.

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  1. So many cans of worms...from so many countries. It's good to see that no one is sleeping, when it comes to engineering. So, what have I learned? Most are in favour of just keeping the cooler, as is, as it wouldn't benefit my bike, by making any changes. Tick in the box, as far as that's concerned. I'll still have to relocate it, as i'm designing a fresh fairing and tail. It'll be 'somewhere', but no different in size. That only leaves the radiator, then. I'll probably make it into something bigger. It's not going to effect the bike, as it's thermostatically controlled. If one was to overshoot the runway, it'd make no real difference. It's a supply and demand setup. Thanks for all your suggestions.
  2. I get that good oil will do wonders....However, I like to play hard. I don't own this bike, so I can be the fastest kid on the block. It's more of a 'David and Goliath' thing....The bike is being reengineered, to get every free pony...every degree of handling, and every drop of soul out of it. I'd rather ask the questions, now, while it's an engine on a bench, than to look back in anger. Sounds good... A little rustic, for what i'm trying to achieve...but good. I was, however, thinking of getting another (same model) oil cooler, plumbing them together, and sticking them in the sides of the seat. Could be a bit of a drama, though, as a good deal of crap is already earmarked for that location. The battery, and the two rear exhausts will be there, too. Seeing it'll all be a bit 'arse upwards', I don't want to stick too much in the rear. No VTEC on this ol' baby. Thanks for your input. I'll be riding it in the Summertime, in Australia. Nothing below 35c, most days. It was well into the 40's, over the weekend. The bike is just an engine on a bench, at the moment. I just want some input, before I stick it together.
  3. As a result of reengineering my tired ol' bike, i've come across a few sticky questions, with more than enough room for different angles of attack. This one's no different. When I pulled the fairing off, I almost laughed at the size of the oil cooler. Come to think of it, I think I did laugh. A 200mm three core radiator? WTF????? The question is, however, what do you all think? I was going to throw a bigger oil cooler at it, and be done. Then I saw a post of a bike with an extra radiator....right where I would have put the cooler. So which way would you go, if you were going down this track? Keep in mind that i'm in Australia, and not a winter rider. Over to you.
  4. That's interesting. I was thinking about sticking a huge oil cooler down there, in place of the pretend 3 core cooler that's on the bike (FV), to start with. Any reason you went with more water cooling? Bugger....now you've got me thinking.....
  5. That's a bit funny, in a way. We're somewhat the same. I've owned a ZXR750...be it just a production version, and a beautiful Ducati 1098S. And, of course, have had the pleasure of owning a VF1000R, way back when. At the moment, my VFR is in the shed, as it's being rebuilt, but it would usually be inside, next to the heater. Beautiful looking 1000R, might I say.
  6. Oh, my Lord, it's hot down here. Anyway...To the chase! It's a given that you have to seal every single part of the engine, before you attack it with bead blast. I did that, and then ground off all the cast marks, just so it'll look great, once back in the bike....Or once the bike is rebuilt around the engine, to be more precise. My thoughts, for this week, as i've been blasting in 42C (107F)??? The oil cooler has an insane amount of plumbing, to get it to where it lives. I have no idea why, to be honest....Therefore, i'll be moving it to a better place, and making it bigger. It'll be directly in front of the crankcase, from now on. I'm starting to see a COG drama unfolding, aswell. I'll be moving the rear two exhausts to the left hand side of the seat cowl, and also moving the battery up there, in the center of the tail, behind my bum. The tail will be a semi monocoque, but I don't think i'll have shed enough weight, even with the relocation of all of the crap that lives up there, and the sacrifice of the rest of the tail framework, to rebalance the bike. I've looked into having two 6V batteries hooked in parallel, but I still don't think i'll be able to put them anywhere better. Maybe a bit, but not enough to really warrant all of the extra wiring that would go with making it happen. Capacitors? Too hard basket.... Leave it where it is? No can do. That real estate's now taken by the back two exhausts. I'm starting to get the impression that you all think this is "pie in the sky' kinds stuff, and I don't blame any of you for thinking that. So, in a nutshell, here's the deal, as far as the redesign of this bike. I'd love to call it a rebuild, but it's not strictly a 'rebuild', by any means. I bought this bike to fix and ride, but I was fooling myself. I've never been very good at just fixing stuff. I can spot a design shortcut a mile away, and this bike has a few of them, to say the least. It's well built.....Don't get me wrong. It's built to a price, and a strict design regime, though. Honda, nor any other manufacturer, makes any money by hand finishing, or using anything better than the material that will fulfill the task. Nor will they get anywhere by making something that's out of reach of their perceived audience. It's a fact of life. I use to own, in a different life, a Ducati 1098S. Now there's a bike that doesn't hold back....Price? What's money? Technology? Yeah...., put a bit more optical fibre into it.....For $38,000.00 they'd want to push the technological boundaries. This bike...No. You have to do it yourself, if you want something special. And that's what i'm going to do. It'll be no match for a 1098S, but it'll be special, none the less. I'd like to hear your thoughts....Good and bad. Nothing ever happened, by good men staying silent. I'm looking forward to some sort of feedback..........Good or not so good.
  7. How's this for a good start? Keep in mind, this engine is over 200,000 kilometers old. I started into it, over the weekend, and was going to go to town on it. Something this old SHOULD be showing signs of wear, right? It'd be in need of major work.....right? Well.....no, actually. The next time someone says to you that your VFR is getting a bit long in the tooth, keep this entry in mind. The cam lobes are literally unmarked. All of the warranty yellow marks are uncracked, and there's no real need to go any further, as far as i'm concerned. If I were made of money, i'd go for it, regardless....but i'm not. There are much better things to blow my hard earned on, than speculative rebuilding. The engine has no pair valves (none, as in the castings are left unmachined.), so that's off the list. The carbs are perfect, and all I need to do is hit the whole thing with some glass bead, to make it all shiny, and that's about that, for this bit. If it ever goes pear shaped, i'll drop it back out of the bike, and play with it then. For now, though, why fix something that isn't broken?
  8. criticalmass181

    Criticalmass181's rebuild.

    Rebuilding my VFR from the ground up.
  9. I'm intrigued.........How does this work? The mechanics of the linkages........
  10. criticalmass181

    Vf

    Hi Oliver. You're right. It's not the best bike in the world, but it'll do, for us. I'll be doing work on mine in the coming months. I hope we can share some ideas.... Merry Christmas.
  11. The leg bit, I get. I caught my left leg in between the frame, and front wheel a few (insert 10) years ago, coming through a creek crossing. I broke my shin in 14 places, and still had to ride to our campsite. The bike stopped dead, on it's side, as did my lower leg. Unfortunately, the rest of my body didn't hear the signal to halt, and just kept going. In any case, just be gentle with it. Be active....but gentle. Bad injuries are deeper than a testosterone fuelled "walk it off' kinda mentality.
  12. Full suit, with exoskeleton...... 1 piece, or 2........Just a thought. You can look like a dick, at times, in one, but when you have that slow motion time, before you hit the ground, you'll know it was worth it. I wouldn't ride down to the shops in anything less. The cow it came from doesn't need it, so you may aswell make use of it.
  13. It's good to know that the part of the bike that's more important is still there. They're just a paperweight, if there's no pilot. I wish you a quick recovery. I hope this won't have any lasting psychological impact. 'Back on the horse' and all that good stuff. It's funny, in a way.....Most folks wouldn't know what a roo can do in an impact..... 3/4 of a stag, or 1/2 a bear, to all out Northern Hemisphere neighbours...... And, yes.....I'd guess that all you'd have had time for is 'Ffffff" Merry Christmas.
  14. This is what it looks like, when you get to the start of things.......Well, almost the start of things. Most of the engine will be going back into the bike. I'm still tossing up weather it's worth going too much deeper into it. Maybe a hone, and a port job, but just maybe. It DID take alot to get it to this stage, so i'll see how I feel as things progress. My first missions are to replace the steering head bearings with conical items.....but that'll only be once I decide which front end i'm going with. For a bike that has so much potential, and so much weight, i'm surprised that Honda went with such a (reputedly) limp front end. In any case, I was completely taken aback, when I got to the point where there was just an engine and frame. There's less weight in the package than i'd have thought. I'm well aware that there are a hell of a lot of things that will bring the weight back up, but these are the bits that MUST be light to start with. If the core of anything is heavy, then it'll be heavy, no matter what you do to trim the fat off it. I've set a goal to get down to 190 kilo's half wet. For those not familiar with the term, that's with all fluids, minus fuel. The 'curb weight' is 236 kilo's ( 520 lbs). I'd say, at a guess, that 16 kilo's of that would be fuel. So.., 30 kilo's off????? Just the muffler weighs 6.2 kilo's. I'd say that all of the rubber shielding, metal brackets, center stand, obsolete wiring harness parts (wait and see...), huge dash, fuel level indicator, bar end weights, useless tool kit, plastic inserts, and constant overuse of massive bolts that hold tiny parts. Really....they're everywhere...There are, at least six M10X25 bolts holding absolutely nothing...All that would have to be worth another 15 kilo's, at least. 30 kilo's? A challenge, but not an unrealistic goal, I reckon.
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