Modifying the RG frame

As you may remember I bought a second hand frame when I was getting my old one straightened. Well it wasn't a fantastic purchase as the sub frame had been altered and it wasn't at all straight, so I set about straightening it today.

I don't know if the previous owner wanted a different angle for his rear end or what, but the left hand strut had been cut and rewelded at the wrong angle, he had also removed the supporting struts from both sides, and replaced them on one side with a piece of plate, all pretty badly welded.

I cut loose the plate, and cut through the upper strut where it had been welded, I then had enough flexibility in the strut to bend it into position.

I am buying some 20x20x2 square aluminium tube which I will use to replace the diagonale struts to support the weight.

I will followup with more photos when I get the tube.

Jets & needles

42 mms of free cable length

The RG ran really well on Tuesday (best for a long time), but I still felt it could have an easier transition from off pipe to on pipe.

It was at the top clip position and I wanted to lean it off, but already at the top that was impossible due to being at the top clip position, so against my better judgement I raised the needle one clip position, it revs nicely on the stand but I really need to test again.

I also moved the FZR  needles up to richen it up, I took it for a test drive and it had really improved and the new rear BT45 has all but cured any white lining. I think I am at the best setup for the 600, although it still vibrates significantly at high revs.... Maybe jetting up more would smooth it out or balancing the carbs again....

Ledenon Track day

Went down to Ledenon for a quick track day with LPP. Good organization and as it was midweek there were only about 40 bikes. Split that into 2 groups and you finish with 9 sessions per group! 5 sessions in the morning and 4 in the pm. The last session of the morning was a 30mins session as was the last session of the day.

The RG now running 100% on all 4 was wheelying in the first 3 gears going up the hill! Showing impressive power at high rpm. Also a lot better in the midrange although still difficult to ride as it comes on pipe!

I did the long session before lunch on the 350, to give the RG a rest also to save petrol otherwise I wasn't going to make it to the end of the day! The 350 was difficult to start (pilot jets) but once running it worked really well a part from a few missed gears (think its the box not me).

The temperature was around 40 c in the sun and after each run I downed a litre of water, however I started getting cramps in the legs  after the first 2 sessions in the pm. I managed to complete another session, alternating the bikes helped as the positions are different, the last session I missed as really I didn't have enough petrol, and the body was no longer responding correctly.

Anyway packed the van and how by 19:30. An excellent day, about 65 litres of SP98, a couple of litres of oil and no issues! I can't remember when I had such a successful outing!

New rear tyre FZR

New tyre on FZR 600 130/70/18 rear tyre at 70,000kms. Bridgestone BT45.

FZR jetting

Wasn't completely happy with the jetting. The top end was really buzzy, lots of vibration, and the low end a bit lurchy. So I decided to go up on the main jets 120's and turn in the air screws by half a turn. This done, I am also concerned about this bikes white lining. It is just crap, so looked at the alignment of the wheels which seemed OK, and the next choice was to look at the spongy fork, I removed the gold valves and adjusted them to have 4 threads showing. There was some funny stuff bunging up one of the valves so I cleaned that all out but have no idea what it could be.....

Ducati valve adjustment

So, in order to change/check the shim sizes you need to remove the rocker shafts after having removed the covers. I was slightly concerned that because the cover holds a bearing that the shaft would become unstable but it doesn't appear to make any difference. With the covers off you can screw a M5 screw into the shaft and then pull out the shaft, being careful to grab the shims and thrust washers as they fall and noting carefully what positions they are in.

With the inlet rocker on the bench, measured the shim thickness and calculated the corresponding amount to sand off.  Apparently this is customary practise for ducati shims and it worked pretty well and after two attempts I got he clearance on the opening shims to within spec.

I am considering the closing shims as good and the horizontal cylinder was also just within spec so that was left as well. On the opening exhaust rocker the end of rocker shims were all at one end without any thrust washer! I think this has been badly put together so I have moved a thrust washer and shim to the other end, I need to see what the spec is on the end float for these shafts.

Ducati Valve adjustment

Hi,
I got stuck into doing the valve adjustment on the Ducati. You really need to remove the tank, side panels and the rear carb to get good access to the valve covers, oh and the battery, which BTW, was at 12.6Volts - so good.

The front Cylinder :-

Inlet opening measured between 0.005mms and 0.1mms
Exhaust opening between 0.15 and 0.2mms
Closing exhaust 0.05mms
Closing inlet zero measurable clearance but I could turn the shim

The rear cylinder :-

Inlet opening no measurable clearance so less than 0.05mm
Exhaust opening between 0.1 - 0.15
Closing Exhaust 0.05mm (tight)
Closing Inlet 0.05mm (tight)

In my opinion all of the closing shims are about right i.e. very little clearance bordering on the zero, whereas the opening shims definately need some work.

Now I have to do some research about how to remove the rockers and cams(?)  and where to buy shims.