something i should have finished already

[retro1]

seems i never got round to doing this thread let alone finish the bike, let me know if theres any interest in what im doing, 86 vfr750 with sp1 or 2 front end and cbr1000rr swinger and r6 shock combo etc......

.

[SEBSPEED]

Nobody likes a tease!!

[BoosterYotaTuner92]

I would be interested to see how it works out. Also make a diy so we know how you were able to accomplish it.

[Switchblade]

Ah count me in and pic's are great .

Plus I will go ahead and buy the first 10 raffle tickets.

[retro1]

ok what ill do is cut and paste from another forum because theres been a lot of evolution over the last 5 years, iv had to take a lot of time off with this too as life sometimes gets in the way and things like helping my mum get through a double mastectomy take priority over a collection of components that arent going anywhere in a hurry.

ok so in 2010 this all started, theres a few mistakes along the way and some things were better thought out than others, it may seem a little disjointed at times because im editing out other peoples comments but here we go.

ok so its an early one and a bit tatty, but its a start now all i got to do is get it on the road, but the good news is it runs, on its own! without me having to fark arooooond, thats good huh? so the plan is get it home (only around a 400 mile round trip!) see what it needs (cos the ebay listing is a bit thin on details ) then make a plan to sort it out.

im thinking (cos i need to be able to use it at night aswell as daytime) endurance rep like the fzr 400/r4 i did, but using real lights this time instead of downlighters and an led cluster (passed the mot but only cos the guy thought it was funny i guess) cbr600rr race front fairing or something of that nature not sure of tail unit yet but i'll find something. high level can like really high just along the bottom of the seat unit or in the seat unit, adjustable rear sets and front end swap.

right so heres the issues, any suggestions as to what front end would be a good swap (im looking for usd and possibly honda so its a bit easier or does it matter?) any other mods that will make this bike better (yes i know its a vfr and they are a good bike to start with but you know......) also any ides what rear shock would be better i want it a bit firmer and im going to go for a slightly wider rear tyre too.

oh also im going to be doing this over winter but i wanted to get the bits together before christmas and birthdays are upon us so i actually have a chance to do it. and its a 1986 one with the normal swinger which i might want to change for something a bit beefier like a cbr1000 one any suggestions more than welcome.

just remembered i have a pair of cbr600 wheels i could use. happy days!

it now sits in the garden awaiting a bit of space in the shed so i can rip her down and see what she needs, has a small blow on the exhaust but nothing to worry about, checked the cbr wheels and they are both 17s so i will probably change both of them so i can get some rubber cheaper, calipers are seized so I'll change those for the other ones i bought for the cbr too, also it has no fluid in the clutch reservoir this a problem? any other help much appreciated.

ok so the list of problems so far goes like this, seized front brakes (stripped cleaned lubed and reassembled, work but need bleeding properly) shonky wiring (scotch blocks!!!!! if ever your bike has an electrical problem look for the scotch block!!!! also the three wires coming out of the genny were terminated with three insulated female spades and placed into the block that goes to the reg/rect, not a big problem in itself but the insulation clearly wasnt! so snipped off and also the block then new terminals and taped) alarm not arming and then not unarming (helps if you read the manual for the alarm) indicators not attached on rear (didnt come with any got to buy those tomorrow, i'll buy some that will work with the new bodywork ect that it will get come winter, not fake carbon though!) no fluid in the clutch reservoir ( screw in the cap has been attacked by some numpty with a spanner or something cos you cant get a screwdriver to do anything to it so until i get that off im going nowhere with that, bit worrying though cos i dont yet know if the clutch is any good??) other than that its ok, ive only got a couple of jobs to do and im done, might pick up some paint tomorrow too cos its blue and white at the mo, would be nice if the white bits were actually painted, but can i be bothered?? im just happy that ive bought a bike that works and dont need too much doing to it. it will get filter and oil change soon though cos i dont know when it was done last.

sorted the clutch reservoir, drilled it with a really small drill, then used a medium tapometer to 'caress' a torx bit in, out with the ratchet (like a mouseshit only bigger!!) squeek (my bum not the bolt) and out she popped (the bolt not my bum) filled it up with fluid, bled it up, cursed at it still full of air, bled it up, cursed at it cos its still full of air, (see the pattern?) found a problem with the tube i was using to bleed it and changed it, bled it up, WORKS! happy days, now i'll sort the front brakes out again cos they didnt bleed properly because of the hose too.

couple of pics of the bike as it was when i went 176 miles to pick it up in a friends fiat doblo (it didnt fit, so some of it was hanging out of the back as i drove the 176 miles home, made good time though it only took 3 hours to get home.)

oh thats the garage it was in too. £250 and £28 worth of diesel. touch! and i still havent bought anything for it had most of it to hand.

day spent in the shed mostly taking off 13 layers of paint (from the white bits), two of which were blue, eventually got down to the original colours which seem to be green and black? but i have seen all sorts of colours including black with a red metal flake, gun metal (which was a nice colour if a bit bland!) and mustard which i thought was filler primer but was just normal paint, poor bloody bike, still its loved now! so the white bits are blue now. exhaust was a pig too, was gently showing it the error of its ways by trying to get it off with a large tapometer slipped and twatted my hand, the air was a similar colour to the bike but with the pain fuelled anger enthusiasm it was caressed off. found a baffle inside the link pipe, thought it would be rude not to fire her up and hear what she sounded like....................

loud, very farkin loud, but did give me a small chubby! so it will be getting the can back on once the black bbq paint has gone off and it looks nice. also gave me the room to remove the rear wheel (which i found needs a valve as the middle is missing from the one it has, not the valve piece itself but the whole of the metal parts, all thats left is the rubber), tried the cbr wheel and found distinct differnces, disks are different, drive is different (4 cush on cbr 5 on vfr and vfr is wider by 19mm) bearings are different. so then cbr wheels will get stripped down, sand blasted and powder coated, im thinking white which is a mare to keep clean or gunmetal which will go with anything (its going to be gunmetal!!) then fit them up with new bearings and disks and investigate drives. anyone know what bike has four cush and is 19mm wider than a standard cbr600? or a mod that i can do? wheels are the same width from disk mounting face to drive mounting face so i dont think that should be too much of a problem. oh also does anyone have a good second hand rear disk for an 89 cbr600?

hands are sore today, spent the majority of the day at a local car and bike show, looking for bits and trying to sell grandads car, mk3 scort 3 owners £350, then came home and made a start on the wheels, front wheel is a straight swap but tyre was shagged so i cut it off with a stanley knife, then took to getting the paint off it (changed my mind, polished rim with silver/grey center we'll se cos ive half done the front and its a pain in the arse) but it has kept me occupied cos mum got taken to a&e yesterday and im a bit preoccupied.

ive left the front brakes for a while after bleeding them up but i still have very little pressure, blead them through again and they feel ok if i pump them up but quickly loose pressure? seems like they are full of air but if its in there its not coming uot but i have got through a litre of dot4 trying to bleed them taking it nice and slow without rushing it and causing more problems, any suggestions? might try swapping the m/c from the cbr onto it see if that makes a difference.

service done oil filter was a berk! would not come undone, so i had a chat with the bike, and explained that i was trying to sort her out, seemed to work filter came off without too much more of a struggle then decided to fall apart (worrying!) i dont think she's been serviced since before 2007, filled the oul up then transfered the old oil to the empty can and it came up to about 2.75 ltrs so that wont have helped things any, so she's got new oil filters and plugs (what a gent the front ones are!)waiting till i come back off holiday before i take her for mot also might have some goodies by then fingers crossed, still perplexed by the brakes though, could it be the hoses? (dont look like they have ever come off the bike imo) answers on a postcard.

no this one hasn't got enough original parts to worry about turning it into a retro race rep, im going newer, looking at more modern fairings and exhausts, but i will probably use the older colour schemes and it will be an endurance styled bike (i have a soft spot for those!) keep the ideas coming though. there was a vfr750 on fleebay recently that i nearly bought but apart from fairings and exhaust it was standard and the guy selling it didn't know too much about it, he thought that they all had single siders and that his one had a swing arm from a cbr600f (funny really looked exactly like my swinger and the bike was the same age!) glad i didn't buy it really. looking into a digital dash at the mo, all the way from china ( 220645776610 have a look tell me what you think, got to better than the standard one) today i shall mostly be working on the mito, want the brakes done and controls on so i can take her for a spin. oh im looking at using cbr600 fs 01-04 fairings ( 360098544224 )

still having issues with the brakes so i may have to postpone the mot till they work. there is no air in the system at all but i just cant get any feel to the lever it pulls right back to the bar, there is pressure there but its crap. any thoughts? getting to the point where it has to go on the road to start saving me the money i need to sort it out over winter.

this is the look im going for tell me what you think.

yeah i wasnt overstruck with the colours either i was thinking red black and white like honda used to have whats this preseason black then?

mot tomorrow brakes are now bloody excellent, happy days.

passed! one advisory on brake lever travel, but everything else a ok, rode it ther and what a fun bike, doesnt matter what gear roll on and it just fucks off, big grins the whole way there and the whole way back!! and that noise...... oh my god i thought it sounded the nuts in the shed...... took it through an underpass on the way home, 25mph 2nd gear, roll on and all hell brakes loose! makes me happy chappy. so then now to save up and buy all the bits i want to make this pukka bike even better. cabbie i will be giving you a shout soon. braded lines usd forks 17" wheels change the fairings new subframe single light new rear shock... the list goes on.

over winter though i will be stripping it down and cleaning/painting/polishing everything, so do we think black for the frame and swinger or should i leave it silver??

The man from carbon delight he say yes!

so after a short conversation we have come to an agreement as he is getting a bike soon and was looking to do the same thing. all i have to do now is locate a set of fairings and make molds then he will lay it up for me and i will sticker it up and laquer it, and i get to keep the molds if i want. so does anyone have a spare set of fairings that i could borrow to take molds from??

ok so a very nice bloke from a very far away place said as long as i take care of them and help him out with his i can have the use of his fairings to take molds, so if anyone else is interested in carbon bodywork tell me now, the misses (bless her cottons!) has bought me a 6 spoke rear wheel from a later cbr, £31.50 minging colour but i'll sort that out. need a matching front wheel from something like an f2 if anyone has one cheap. looking at changing the swinger now and ive discovered the nc29 has a sexy little number that might just do the trick and theres one near me being advertised on that dodgy auction site we all love to hate for £20 (by near i mean prat nav says 7mins) not sure if its suitable waiting for anybody to send me the measurements so i can compare to the vfr anyone here have any idea, i need to know how wide it is at the pivot and wheel spindle and max/min distance from pivot to spindle also what size wheel it takes as standard or will the 17/4.5 fit?

whilst im here and possibly making myself sound stupid, the vfr feels very light at the front end when im filtering/moving slowly and it meanders, tyre pressures are good thought it was just me cos ive not been on a bike for any length of time for a while but a friend said the same thing, any ideas?

[Veefer800Canuck]

Edited images to show in post.

[retro1]

thanks for that i was going to go back over and sort it later. but if you find yourself with time on your hands i wouldnt mind the help.

anyway onwards.

bought an nc29 swinger of that auction site, picked it up (it is very dirty but i didnt have to pay for that so im ok) looks very short, not sure if thats because its chunkier compared to the cbr one and the vfr one, but it does look very short, like pit bike short. also its obviously been made in 2 halves and then welded together but the welding looks like ive had a bash at it (im still learning to tig using a home built machine made from a chinese arc welder and so far ive had one good weld and hours of non stop heart ache after) so is that how they all are or is mine especially shite? measure up tomorrow and compare, im expecting to find a big difference between the two

went to the work shop today more on that in the other bike build thread, but when i came home i whipped out my tape measureso the measurements are 505mm-530mm from axle to pivot, 220mm wide at pivot and 220mm at inside of axle plates for the nc29 swing arm, 530mm-565mm from axle to pivot, 290mm wide at pivot and 240mm at inside of axle plates for the vfr, so it would fit physically (excluding the shock mounts as im not sure if they are even similar yet) but it does mean that i wont be able to use the vfr wheel and bits (not that i wanted to!) but just to get a feel for it i mocked up my cbr600 3 spoke just to get a feel for it

with all the bits on the axle it needs about 3-4mm spacer made so it doesn't pinch the swing arm closed. but it looks good so at last there is some progress to report.

having just had haloween though it was about time we had a couple more zombie's resurrected!

so as you've all been paying attention you will all remember the story so far, we'll all know who wasn't paying attention after the exam!

so the wheel that the misses bought me is a ted too wide to fit, its in the swinger in case i need to move the bike but after having spent the day pulling it apart and cracking out the grinder i think its going to be a while toll she's under her own power again.

i decided its time to have a go with the fairings as well, so for the time being they are cable tied in place untill i make the mounts which will probably be tomorrow, for your perusal the emperors new clothes ( i sometimes get called the emperor because im short and have a goatee and dark hair, and more often than not im also quite angry, not at anything in particular just angry, i think its cos im short?)

so anyway this is the rear wheel in situ

and this is the fairings

and im actually working in the shed i built at the bottom of my garden!!

forgot to say that im having trouble with the front end as the one i wanted (usd sv1000) is no longer available so im now on the look out for another that will be cheap, oh and ive swapped the bars for cbr600f 1989 ones as they sit lower to the triple and look a damn sight better than the sodding great ones she had, she's lost some weight too, not entirely sure how much cos i could only get the front end on the scales but that was showing smack on 85kg, seem to remember it being more when it was mot'd.

so if anyone has an usd front end that is surplus to requirements please think of me condition is not that important, just needs to be usable ie not one of those special ones that is not only bent but twisted too. thanks peeps

i'd like to see 180kg wet but i think thats a bit optomistic, ive been given some figures and i think i might struggle but we'll see as time goes on, its looking bloody light at the moment cos theres no exhaust either took me nearly a full afternoon to get the front pipes off but any progress is progress. going out to the shed in a mo to try and get to the rear pipes but i hear tell they're a bastid to do so wish me luck.

WINNER!!

all exhaust tubes are now off the engine, ive snapped all the studs but they're off. molegrips and some heat got them out but i snapped a bolt that holds the engine in, so i decided to drill and torx bit the fucker, yeah that ended well i now have a torx bit snapped off inside the bolt which is snapped off inside the engine, and it was a halfords one too! rasa frasa bolt! what a cock!

still the engine is almost out of the frame so i might take this opertunity to clean the engine and frame and take the engine to the workshop and borrow my mates left handed drills and see if i cant get the bloody thing out that way.

how bloody inconvenient!

ho hum!

new shinyness turned up today, a full ste of stainless steel engine bolts with washers and copperslip. ive never been so exited about bolts! they even come in little bags marked for what they replace how cool.

having built up the rear wheel and put it in situ it wont fit! oh well back to a more specific forum and i found a how to on fireblade rear wheel insertion!!

so now i have to take the sprocket carrier off and get the studs out and take it to the work shop and take 5mm off it to bring the wheel square in the swing arm, cos thats not difficult! i will be using a disk facing machine to remove 5mm off the face of the sprocket carrier, its the first time ive ever tried to use this machine for anything other than its intended useage and im a worried that i might end up with a scrap carrier, but unless i try i'll never know. then its spacers, which arent too hard once you get a hang of it.

[retro1]

checked the fit tonight and i need to make 1 spacer which is cool, so thats the job for tomorrow along with building jigs for bike lift tables. ive pushed the wheel as far forward in the swing arm as the adjusters will allow (actually i took the locking nut off and pushed it too far forward) i have about 5mm clearance either side and as they say in darts a miss is as good as a mile.









and yes the frame is quite shiny now i used this (i kid you not £1 from asda and its the kippers nipples!!)



speaking of shiny these are the bolts that i got, in their individual little bags and marked as to what they do, came with all the washers and an allen key and a little packet of copper grease which will obviously not go far enough so i will invest in some more.

snapped torx bit in snapped bolt came out! yay! mullered the mount doing it though! doh! anywho bloke next door to me welds ally so i says to him if i get the hole clean can you weld it up, no he says. bollox i says! but if you grind the top out and make it u shaped then i can get my nossle in and weld the hole he says. yay! i says.

so thats what happened so now i have to flatten the face off bolt the engine in on the other 5 mounting points then get a drill in and centered so i can drill it out and tap a thread into the welded section, without breaking the bloody thing again. its a good job i like this bike!

[retro1]

whilst the engine is still out of the frame i'm taking the opertunity to tidy it up, so im cleanig all the last 20 od years of chain lube/wax and all the crappy paint off the engine, not looking to strip it down just yet as i want all the bits to do the big bore conversion for the spare engine so if it goes wrong i still have the original that can be put back in. theres a lot of crap that has to come off which is probably why the thing is so damn heavy but we'll get there in the end, and whilst your waiting how about some gear driven cam porn?? well here ya go looky here

right engine is now back in and the bolt hole has been drilled ready to be tapped, started working on the exhaust, i wanted to have twin outlet like the moto gp bikes, i was thinking along the lines of having the rear pipes exit either side of the shock in a gap in the frame then joining and exiting under the seat, but the gaps are quite tight, the bottom of the gap is the swing arm pivot, and one side has the chain run so i seem to have stumbled, the movement on the swing arm hasn't really caused any issues as i cant see the swing arm moving that much as to hit the exhaust tubes but the chain does pose a problem, does anyone else have any idea if this has been done before and if so how?

front pipes done! made from stainless pipes from something else not sure what cos i didn't take them off, ive tucked them under the engine cases and then the one on the left cuts across under the back of the engine and meets the other front pipe, i'll tig them up properly when i can get some stainless filler rods. the rear is still a problem as i dont think i have enough room to just get them to meet and point out the back but we will see, still have no idea how they normally do it as there isn't enough room there anyway but we will see.

funny aint it? you can spend hours, days even staring at a problem when the solution is staring you right in the face. take my idea for an under seat exhaust as an example, ive wanted to do it since getting the bike, the idea has always been to have the rear pipes feeding an exhaust can under the seat and the front pairing to go just rear of my right foot, ive been scratching my head for ages trying to find a path for the 2 pipes to take that wouldnt hit anything on their route or heat anything that shouldnt get hot. today i gave up. literally i decided that enough was enough and that i should stop trying to be flash and just have a can either side of the bike. so now i was looking to emulate the right side but on the left, heres a pic of how the front pipes have gone.

and how they are at the front.

so anyway, i have to lower the engine back out of the frame to mount up the rear pipes so there i am engine almost out pipes almost in when i hit my hand on a protrusion, its the old center stand mount! well that dont need to be there! grinder comes out and chopped it off, now the pipes can swing to the left and out. engine back in the hole, im looking at the footrest now as i want the pipe to come up just behind it, but its not much narrower than the pipe its self, so i takes off the foot rest, and try the pipe for fit, needed a tweek but its pointing under the subframe!?! cracked it, i have to space the foot rests by 10mm, just so happens i have some 10mm ally plate laying around, but for now its nuts and washers, lower subframe mount was in my way but its not now cos the grinder took care of that too (well i was modding the rear end anyway! so think ive finally cracked it, i now have the pipework arranged for the moto gp look.

this is the tubes in the rear cylinder head.

this is the route the pipe will now take.

the yellow cable ties are holding everything together untill i either get good at tig welding or i get some stainless wire for my mig. i still have to make up a spacer for the right foot rest as i kinda want it to look symetrical but its early days yet i have to get it done for spring so i can use it when the weather is nicer.

[retro1]

new goodies, thanks to our tame bike breaker!







should look a lot nicer than the lorry dash i removed.



spurred on by all this fevered v4 activity that the site has been pounded by i went to the shed today, cant do too much after clearing the garden this morning cos my back is fubar due to being the front car in a 3 car smash. but a friend of mine that was going to do a similar thing with his vfr till he turned to the dark side and sold it (went all gixer on me!) turned up this morning with a bag of bits, inside were the spacers i needed to do the rear wheel, happy days, couple of coffee's later i had the rear wheel in and done up enough to be able to check the chain run with my lazer thingy, its only in bloody line! hurrah! progress at last, thought i'd button the rear up and mount the caliper again, bending the aluminium torque arm into an s shape and it went ping! bollox so now i need a new torque arm.



the list of new parts continues to grow, i have just purchased yoshi (copy?) rearsets, mirrors, indicators (mini ones and under a fiver a pair, ok they are carbon look but that can be sorted!) blade swing arm, new sprockets (rc30 front one which moves the chain parallel to the wheel which is nice and a 41t rear to keep the gearing as near standard as possible) seat unit, samco hose set in blue, and some medium renthal grips! followed that up with a trip to see scotty rescogs to deliver a bike bench and picked up an usd front end and spare rear tyre! i'll be machining up a stepped top yoke soon (had to buy a controller for the home built cnc but its bought now, just need to work out how to use it!) so i can get the front end at the right sort of height, its moving along quite quickly now but im having to share my time between this and getting the 2.5l v6 to fit my escort.



pressed out the stem from the new front end and pressed in the one from the vfr tripple they are the same dia but the vfr one is longer, ive set the top of the forks level with the top of the headstock tube, seems about right but i'm not sure, i'll have to take some more measurements later and work it out properly, dont mind if i get a bit more head down tail up just dont want to end up with a bike thats un-rideable. waiting on some more bits and i can make some more progress, back to the workshop tommorrow with a shoe horn and some grease cos although the engine is now in my escort it needs some figuring out to get the rad and wiring and plumbing to resemble something sensible.



spent the afternoon in the shed today, ive got the forks mounted using the lower tripple only as i need to make the top triple. ive drawn the kind of thing im after and i intend on making an mdf one first to get a feel for my cnc machine and weather or not it will work then i intend on refining it and then finally making it from ally billet, but i cant get the damn thing converted to a file type that mach3 will accept, heres a picture. its a skp file at the moment (google sketchup)





dont be too critical as its the first thing ive drawn this way, what do you think though (bear in mind i have a lot of alterations to make like slimming it down and making it pretty).

whilst i was there i fitted the new braided lines and changed the fluid for 5.1 (it was the best i could afford) what a difference that made! bled the system out (very easy with a visibleed) and the lever is solid! not like it wont move but when the brakes come on its probably 10mm of movement and its locked on! best mod so far by far. i take it thats how its supposed to feel? lots to do still waiting on quite a few bits still so i'll have a potter around tommorrow but i cant see too much being done too quickly.





cos i said i would i did and just to prove it here it is.

front end in, and in need of top tripple.



"yoshimura" rear sets (i use the name loosely as thats whats printed but i dont believe everything i read)



here in situ on 10mm ally brackes made by me for extra i did that points.





they are actually ok, quite happy with the feel of them and the build quality/materials used, only criticism is the rose joints are a bit pony but i'll change those later on when these ones get too notchy.

so exhaust can now be finished and seat subframe then fairings and lights, just got to keep pushing on now

[Veefer800Canuck]

OK, you'll have to fix those tags now. I'm out of free time. LOL

[enzed_viffer]

Interesting(ish)thread, but... I have to comment. Photos: check them, and if they're blurry, badly lit, or out of focus, then either retake them or don't bother posting. I mean, what's the point of a picture that doesn't actually show what it's meant to? No, don't thank me. Oh - and the advice is free this time.

[retro1]

no probs, i came to the conclusion a long time ago that opinions are like arse holes, every one has one and most of them stink, but if you dont like whats been written or photographed feel free to pass on by, the photos were taken on a crap old nokia phone something near five years ago, if youd lend me the time machine you clearly own then ill go back to then with my sony alpha dslr and retake them for you.

but thanks for the constructive input, its always appreciated

[retro1]

more progress to report, having got the pegs where i wanted them i concentrated on the seat subframe, its tacked together at the minuit as my tig kung fu is nowhere near as strong as my mig kung fu, but the tail unit is in place and looking sexy, its a little far back over the rear wheel but i cant get it any closer or i'll end up sitting on the tank, mocked up the seat height as well feels really good, not too cramped but still keeps you in the tucked focused position i like. excuse the mess the shed tidying will commence tomorrow.





cut the hole for the front light in the body work and mocked up the exhaust cans and associated pipework. for your viewing pleasure.

sorry to anyone that was reading, i havent done a lot in a while cos i've been busy again, with this.......

http://i443.photobucket.com/albums/qq152/kaighn80/Image0219.jpg
this is what i made.







small i know but (near) perfectly formed. so i now have a working home built cnc machine that actually does something!
next job is design a smaller one for this one to make!

[retro1]

ive been very bad lately and i havent paid my bestest bike any attention, to make up for it i have purchased a pillion seat cover and smoked rear light with built in indicators in the hopes that she forgives me, i will push on tomorrow and get the exhaust tiged together, i have a small issue with the width of the bottom of the fairing so what i'm hoping to do is split it along the bottom and let a bit in that will widen the whole thing. front light is mounted but i need to do a bit more to that as well, should mean i can mount them slightly higher to but we'll see. ive decided that i have to push on now or sell her so we'll see what happens.





(joshmolloy, on Mar 29 2011, 01:27 PM, said:

This is going to be amazing. Blade good looks with V4 growl.)

thats the hope, i want it to growl like its about to eat what ever gets in its way but i want it to look like it wants to be touched, like a pikey bird at basvegas.
did a bit today, not a lot mind, i split the lower fairing so i can measure up and add a couple of inches of girth, means i can have the uncooked style of fairings where the exhaust doesn't touch the sides, its a little wider not much but it makes a hell of a difference, not sure how to make it look neat yet though, think i may make a piece that goes in the middle and is bolted in place along its long edges, its not a race bike so it shouldn't matter too much if it drops its guts on the tarmac instead of holding them in the belly pan. also started tiging the last bits of exhaust together, and confirmed that my tig skills are shit. so i will be purchasing stainless wire for my mig and doing it that way, then its wiring! all i have to do there is tidy up the wiring and sparky doodads and plug everything back in, got the light for the rear turning up this week hopefully then i think other than mounting the numberplate i'm done. scary!



may have found something interesting about the engine now its on my bench, on it in white paint pen is 1996??!!??!! interesting no? so it would appear that the engine is 10 yrs younger than the chassis its in (was in its on the bench now being cleaned with a bloody toothbrush.) i may be wrong but thats the impression i have from seeing this writing, anyone else care to share some info as to whether or not this is possible are there any tell tale signs that its not as it seems?





epic winning today, the engine is almost back together, is satin black and looking noice!

http://i443.photobuc...0/Image0237.jpg
turns out that the temp sender that i bought for the vapor dash i bought fits in place of the original! happy days. now i have to build up the rear downpipes and get them fitted and bolt the engine back in the bike. all this with a sprained ankle and possible ligament issues after tripping over a door mat!





engine went in and was removed for the last time today, rear pipes have been tacked together and i'll mig them up at my workshop. totally stripped the rear suspention today ( apart from the rear shock after seeing whats involved i tipped it bollox) took a little while to get all the bolts out perhaps because like the rest of the bike it hasnt been done recently but with a bit of patience it came free. so its all together again all cleaned and painted (where it needed) looking for a new (er) shock for it for next winter when i start all over again. looking like it should be finished in time for the summer propper.

(all this assumes that nothing goes wrong in the meantime)





(bignige, on Apr 17 2011, 07:44 PM, said: How long did it take to prep and paint the engine? looks good.)

farkin ages to prep, like 2 days of solid (only stopping to refuel with coffee and sandwiches) cleaning/scraping/de-gunking/wirebrushing. then about 2 hours to paint. used satin black bbq paint from a tin, thinned with white spirit and sprayed using my air brush (shaped like a hand held flame thrower, was intended to be used on small figures that i play a game set in the year 40k, theres a hint there somewhere!) did the same to the rear wheel today, took off any loose paint then keyed the ally used etch primer and painted black, then lacquered over the whole thing. had to make something to break the bead to get the tyre off last night but its done and i now have a new home built tool for doing tyre changes.




blood angels if anyone wanted to know!



forgot to mention that every nut bolt and washer was copper slipped to make it easier to sort next time round.



pulled my finger out tonight got back from the workshop about half 4 quarter to five, stopped for about half hour to have some dindins then back to the shed. engine is bolted back in properly with all the correct spacers and stuff, wiring loom was laid out in the sort of direction it needed to go so i could connect everything up, found all the little bits i hadn't bolted on yet and bolted them on (mostly need to make a couple of brackets for cdi, reg/rect, fuel pump, solenoid and a couple of other little bits) spun it over for ages, didn't seem like the fuel pump was priming, but then it only pumps when the engine is running! then the inevitable happened battery started to go flat, battery out of the cordless drill (14v) wired up with the bike battery, crank it again, nothing, for what seemed like forever, then from nowhere WHOOOOOOM WHOOM WHOOM WHOOM BURBLE BURBLE. it sounds the kippers nipples! i is one appy farker tonight i am now celebrating with a cup of coffee. when i have the rad and watery bits sorted i will make a video of the biatch running and will probably be filming with a large hard on!



again the taste of win is sweet! digi dash is in and working all joints soldered and covered properly.






then as i have promised i will share with you all (yes all 3 of you that are reading this) the symnphony that is my home built pipes. (recorded on a shite nokia camera phone cos i cant find my proper camera sorry!)



http://vid443.photobucket.com/albums/qq152/kaighn80/Video0026.mp4http://i443.photobuc...h_Video0026.jpg



today was a good day, during a break in the rain something cool happened, i test rode the bike. it showed up several errors i have made, like the fairings being so low that they scrape the ground as i go left to enter a roundabout then again on the right while going around the roundabout. the rear brake decided that it didn't want to take part in this and left all braking duties to the front brake which felt spongy (its only when you have no rear brake that you realise how much you use it) so i rode it along a section of road that has 4 roundabouts before i turn off to a friends house (who was following in case something unforeseen happened) then the bike was checked over before i rode it home alone. its loud, silly loud so i have to make something to quieten it down, and from the first ride i have chicken strips that are only 3/4 of an inch wide (so much for taking it easy) and it felt good not overly on it or over precise but good. i am a happy chap. next on list of things to do is chop back the fairings so they stop scraping. bleed and or rebuild rear brake system. rethink exhaust system.



guess what i bought yesterday? its big and heavy and dirty (for the min)if the weather holds i'll do a vid of the bike and take some pickys of the new purchase.





sod you all then, i bought an rc36 lump so i can now do all the work i wanted to do to this engine, happy days, its also lighter and smaller, ok it wont bolt straight in, when have any of us been bothered about slight technical hitches like that?

on a lighter note i rode past my neighbours (also bike people) put the bike away and walked back to them to ask what they thought of the noise level, (bear in mind that my fzr had an open pipe and they thought that was excellent) i asked if they thought it too loud, the reply was no its just right (wifes not impressed with it though) will get a ride past at some point, got a temp problem to sort first (kenlow isn't working, probably wiring)





new parts pile is slowly getting bigger what with a new (to me) cbr swing arm caliper and master cylinder, new fairing lowers, and more pipe to make into exhaust so i can change the set up cos i'm really not happy with it, pulled the 36 lump to pieces, I've found that the big bore kit for these would be a 74mm dia piston, which is the same size as cbr 929 pistons (954 has 75mm dia, which i think i might have a try with) so then the plan for now is stroke the crank, but not in a creepy way, bore the block and purchase some 954 pistons (if anyone has some that i could have for sexual flavors that would be great if not then what about money?)

I've decided that I'm not happy with my sub frame so I'm going to rebuild it and change a few things so its not as high but the same sort of angle, then i need to raise the back up that extra inch as it really notices when your trying to corner fast and it just wont let you, feels like i have to wrestle the bike into the corners rather than the fluid motion it should be so theres a bit more development in it before I'm happy but its better, i want to get a new shock for the rear aswell so i'll probably be going down the r6 route, just because they are plentyful and relatively cheap, so thats the update for now, should have some more news soon as i'm about to rip the rear end out and see what i can do with it.



phase 2 started last night, i decided to have a look at what was stopping the fan from cutting in, which lead to me tipping it bollox and ripping her down again. so everything off and i mean everything, swing arm out and see what we have to do to get it to fit, basically take a bloody great chunk off the swing arm, so out came the grinder and hacksaw, bearings out of the swingarm and away we go, good progress but i'll have to make up some new spacers for the wheel and swing arm pivots but thats no bigee. what do we think?

its starting to look like how i wanted it, got to have some meat put back in the swinger and i think it may be a little too close on the right side but we'll see when the bits are machined up and welded in.



verdict?





waiting on alluminium and bearings now, dont want to use the old bearings from the vfr swinger unless its for measurements, finished modding my lathe so that the run out is less than it was (1mm, but over 360deg thats 2mm!! cant have that much waste!) so in absence of a plate that goes between the chuck and face plate i made one from ally plate (8mm thick) not ideal but it does the job for the mean time and looks kinda like it should have been there, so tomorrow i'll start to build up a new pivot to be put in the cbr swing arm and take up the space for the vfr bearings, means i can have a bit more meat welded into the swing arm as i may have gone a bit ott with the file and grinder!!

got to get a bit to bore it out too but i'll sort that as and when. unless someone here has one they could donate to a not very good cause,

also on the look out for an r6 shock from an 03 to 05 bike (preferably in shagged condition or free as funds are very low since we started fostering our nephew but thats another story) so if anyone is feeling generous, i could do with the help even if its only a loan.





so any way, got an r6 swinger with linkage axel and shocker, the shocker fits, kinda, mods needed to get it to clear the swing arm but in for a penny and all that, worked on the linkage and after what seemed a serously long time under the blond wig i worked out what i had to do so i've made some templates and it all seems to work fairly well.

broke my lathe, was turning a pivot up and the tool jammed in the work piece and sent the chuck so out of whack i cant get it back so i'm currently saving to get a new faceplate so i can finish up the pivots. its getting closer though, once she's back on her feet i'll be going over the exhaust again to see if i can get them a little higher and more comfortable around the bike. pics will follow.



bought some rose joints for the shock linkage, the idea being that i can then make it adjustable for height, now heres a lesson, when you buy things from that auction shite we all love to hate, read the bloody listing, i looked and found listed brass bushed rosejoints with grease nipples, happy days, they turn up i take them to the work shop as my welder ther is a bit more manly than the one i use at home, so i'm now at the point where i need to fit the rose joints, out of the box thread on a nut....... hang on whats up with this then? turns out i bout them with left handed threads. twat! should make adjustment fun. so i've now ordered 10 left handed nuts for my left handed rose joints, i only need 4 but i know i cant be trusted to not repeat this in the future so i'm prepared, in other news i cant find a face plate for my lathe so i'm a little stuck.



wow, fucking wow, last touched my bike in november, i am ashamed. do you ever get the feeling that you may have taken things a bit far but you end up pushing onwards anyway? november i started helping a friend with some welding that needed doing on his 1963 mk1 mini, the only panels that are original are the bulkheads and the roof, the rest has either been replaced or repaired, well that turned into a full on nut and bolt strip and rebuild. i finally found a faceplate for the lathe, and that allowed me to spin up some spacers for the swing arm, i now need a good cut off tool and a bit more speed on the lathe so i can make them look a bit neater, may have to make them again because i'm not happy with them and i'd rather have them neat. so anyway, took an angle grinder to the swing arm again today, the r6 shock that i bought touched on the reservoir?(stickyout bit) so with a 1mm slitting blade i carefully removed a section of the swing arm to allow clearance, i was surprised to find the arm full of expanding foam, and the part that i had cut out was held by a tube that had been tacked on the inside of the bracing. made good with the cardboard templates and transfered them to 2.5mm ally sheet and bent those to the shape required to plate the hole back in. need to push that little bit (read as get of my lazy ill ass) and see this back in one piece for the summer, thats if we have one of course.





Fucking hell! Over a year, didn't think it had been that long, oh well time to get a wriggle on then, whist this has sat idle I've built and sold a gsxr400 an fzr400/600 a gsx125 and pulled apart the mito and sold the frame, and built the sv650 I'm using now, all have been spannering rather than having to make stuff though, still now i know what I'm doing this summer then,

Things to do: swing arm needs finishing, need some help with shock linkage design if some one would be so kind. That will involve plating up the cutouts I had to make to get the shock to fit, and using the mill to make a new linkage and getting the bits made to take the bearings. Fairings still need persuasion, exhaust needs revisiting as I've never been happy with it. Subframes will be revised and made neater, there will always be other things I'm not happy with, and I've found a cbr600 dash that I'd like to use if ever I find out how.

Balls ..... Best get cracking!





Look what I got!



Swing arm is back in the bike, not permenant but just to get the measurements done so I can design and mill the shock linkage, if you remember I'm using an r6 item which has a different bottom mount to the vfr, so once I've run a rule over her and done some number crunching it should be time to shape some metal, happy days



So again life is getting in the way, but I've made a start at getting a bit of space in the shed so I can get the vfr in and finish off the swinger, I've decided to rebuild my old lathe too which is becoming ever more complex as time goes on but lll need that if I'm ever to get it finished, I have however bought myself a 1951 Colchester (it's seven foot long and far too big to be used in my shed meaning it'll stay at my workshop) so no excuses now, need to get the poor neglected thing finished. Oh the space I said about, mainly involved the engine from my mito (625 ktm, was offered the right money for the frame so that went) and my rs125 frame, a remarkably simple procedure.



progress has been slow I'll stop making excuses and just make with the pictures as and when I can get stuff done.



And back out.......







....to plate up the bits I've cut out and weld in the pivots, looks a bit ott at the moment I'm hoping it'll look a lot better when I'm done, I'll also be plating up the sides so it looks a bit more endurance rep.





and thats how it sits, except that ive burnt out two anglr grinders flapsanding the bottom of the swing arm where the old linkage mount used to be, sad times.

[Rush2112]

I may have missed it but why did you cut out that section of the 954 swing arm?

[retro1]

it fouls on the r6 shock reservoir, so it had to go, its getting plated back up so im not missing any strength if anything its probably going to be stronger for having the extra material in there.

[Polarbear]

Interesting read. And I am just amazed at your skills. Wow!! You are one skilled dude. Please carry on and take more pictures.

Thanks for posting this detailed project. I hope life is ok otherwise ...

C

[retro1]

thanks for the compliments polarbear, although i think you may have been mislead by my work being more bolt together than fabrication and that fact that my bravery and my stupidity sometimes gang up on me and make me do things that mean theres no going back.

[Veefer800Canuck]

Nothing but fear and good judgement standing in your way.

I've had a few of those crossroads.

Spectacles, testicles, watch and wallet, then dive right in.

[retro1]

Well my next job after zipping up the swing arm is to redo the exhaust, can't remember if I'm supposed to link front to rear or rears and fronts paired, I'm going for a 4-2 system with either two cans under the seat or one either side, I'll probably go under he seat if I can, and if needs be ill have the one cube can under it, any advice here would be appreciated.

[The Phantom]

Five years building you say? Whew, my record is well safe

Enjoying the build. Looks like it will be one interesting machine when done.

[retro1]

So after burning out two new five inch angle grinders trying to flatten out the bottom of the cbr swingarm out came the nine inch, used a nice thick metal grinding disk and it's almost flat, the item I was removing was the lower linkage mount, the reason for that was so I could turn an insert that will be welded in from 5083, which I'm assured is the closest I can get to the original alloy used and won't need heat treating after welding. The insert has been drilled and tapped to take a spherical joint so I can alter the suspension in as many planes as possible, this all means that I may just complicate things to the point where all that happens is I get so confused I disappear into a suspension induced coma, but if it can be altered then that can't be a bad thing?

[retro1]

So I have this long term project bike, it seems to get close but then something crops up and it gets pushed to the back, so one of the conditions of me and the wife making a go of it was for me to finish the things i start, every cloud and all that, so I bought myself a prezzy, actually I bought two, the first of which was too small, and the second too large, but we do like a big one, so what did I buy? A cbr600rr swing arm, which was too small so I replaced it with its big brother version from the 1000. It didn't fit, for obvious reasons, one being it wasn't going into a cbr, instead I was putting it into vfr750, yes the same one.

So what do you do with a cbr1000rr swing arm?

Simple, take a hacksaw to it!

And you cut through the pivot point!

Then the other side!

Then you offer it up to the vfr and see what hits!

Needed a shave on the right side and then.......

Looks like it will fit better than the previous attempt which needed a lot more cut out to make it fit.

Oh, incase anyone is interested I have the measurements for both the 600 and 1000 swing arm if you need them let me know

[retro1]

Right side pivot spacer machined and pressed into the swing arm, left to do but I'm out of 5083 alloy (I may have a piece but I need to find it ) need to relieve the swing arm and engine casing because at the moment it's touching on a bolting point where the sump joins the block, should be ok if I take a bit of meat out of the piece between the two casings and still allow the bolt to tighten up, we shall see, if not I've got a spare engine anyway, just means I won't be putting it into my nc30 frame.