Just the engine and swinging arm to go.
Tuesday, 27 September 2016
Thursday, 22 September 2016
Just tested this...
KTM 1290 GT
What an engine, loads of gadgets to play with, traction control, anti-wheelie, shifter, ABS, dynamic suspension... but all that pales into insignificance when you open the throttle.... Brrrrmmmmph....
GREAT... now where did I put that 18,000 Euros.....
What an engine, loads of gadgets to play with, traction control, anti-wheelie, shifter, ABS, dynamic suspension... but all that pales into insignificance when you open the throttle.... Brrrrmmmmph....
GREAT... now where did I put that 18,000 Euros.....
Wednesday, 21 September 2016
New Rev counter
So, fed up with the Ducati rev. counter bouncing between 0-10K rpm, I though I would add a cheap alternative, just so I know roughly where I am. I purchased this off ebay, honestly the Chinese will rule the world - 5 quid and free postage for a rev. counter. Anyway, the first thing you notice when you get it out of the package is that there doesn't appear to be a way to switch it off, so it's built as a disposable rev. counter lasting as long as the lithium battery lasts! Setting it up was easy, although there are different modes for 1 spark, 2 sparks per revolution etc... honestly didn't seem to make much difference. The other thing you notice is that it has quite a big latency, so it won't do to look at fast changes, but will still be useful when cruising at a fixed engine speed. Anyway, for a fiver what did you expect!
Here is what the Chinese manufacturer said to do :
If you want to turm off it.
You need press the S2 ,when LED show '05'.Press the 02 together untill the LED show '00'.After few seconds.The item will turn off.
You need press the S2 ,when LED show '05'.Press the 02 together untill the LED show '00'.After few seconds.The item will turn off.
Just a simple process then! haha...
Sunday, 18 September 2016
Repairing the ALFANO
I am just starting to do little bits and pieces of the RG. This weekend I was trying to repair the lap time/logging device (ALFANO). This device has a magnetic sensor which recognises magnetic strips at various places on various circuits, so you can do lap times and segment times and see how you are doing. It also measures coolant temperature and RPM.
The magnetic sensor was ripped off in the accident. Basically the wire connecting the sensor to the display unit is a small size coax cable. Looking on the web to replace it I was shocked at the price they were asking for a new one, so I was looking at ways to fix it. I thought I would be able to just join the ends together, and solder, but this was difficult as the earth (shield) connection had been ripped off within the rubber connector.
Instead of giving up, I got the dremel to work and cut back the rubber and got down to the simple 2 pins that were the connector. I cleaned up the tips of the 2 pins and soldered on the remaining wire, and bingo it worked - saved myself over 100 Euros!
The magnetic sensor was ripped off in the accident. Basically the wire connecting the sensor to the display unit is a small size coax cable. Looking on the web to replace it I was shocked at the price they were asking for a new one, so I was looking at ways to fix it. I thought I would be able to just join the ends together, and solder, but this was difficult as the earth (shield) connection had been ripped off within the rubber connector.
Instead of giving up, I got the dremel to work and cut back the rubber and got down to the simple 2 pins that were the connector. I cleaned up the tips of the 2 pins and soldered on the remaining wire, and bingo it worked - saved myself over 100 Euros!
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| The bit at the top is what was left of the connector plug, the bit at the bottom is the 2 pin connector |
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| Sorry about the focus, but a bit of shrink wrap after having soldered the wires on and good to go |
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| Waving a magnet next to the sensor proved that the repair was working! |
Wednesday, 7 September 2016
RG Stripping
Monday, 5 September 2016
Yamaha FZR600
Hardly touched the RG in the garage since the smash. It looks like there is a guy in Lyon (A2M) that will be able to straighten the frame for ~500 Euros, whilst the other alternative is to use the engine in a more modern frame (RGV250 is popular), totting up the various costs of that are much more expensive so I will probably go with straightening, need to start stripping everything off it.
The FZR 600 was treated to new linear fork springs from RACETECH (0.95Kgs/m). The springs are a fair bit shorter than standard, so they give you some plumbers tube to make up new spacers, to adjust the pre-load correctly, I have had then out a couple of times to shorten the spacers as it seems really stiff. At the same time I have been updating the carbs, adding ones from the 4JH model, they are Keihin carbs versus the old Mikuni ones, they are 1 mm bigger diameter (33mm) but more importantly they do not wear the needle valves as much as they have a slightly different design, so I am hoping for better fueling coming off idle. I thought it would be a quick swap, but the following had to be done to get them to fit :-
New admission rubbers (ebay for 80 Euros), fitting these was a game as they have spigots for fixing vacuum gauges too, which very nearly touch the water hoses running behind the engine. in the end I fitted some rubber hoses sealed off with screws and clips to the spigots, which should make balancing the carbs relatively easy. Also the new rubbers have a "double O" kind off cross section, so ideally material should be removed from the cylinder head to make full use of the extra diameter - maybe a winter project.
Next the standard hose clips wouldn't fit the new admission rubbers, so I just used standard jubilee clips (40mm-60mm), which I think are OK, however getting more difficult to access them to remove the carbs.
The choke cable had to be lengthened by about 2.5cms as the mechanism is slightly different, but it works the same.
Also the push pull accelerator cable needed a mod which involved me removing the soldered nipple from the push end and adding a cable adjuster, and then re-soldering on a new nipple.
Remove the plastic fixing spigot from the air box as it is more centered on the new airbox, compared to the offset one on the old box.
Finally although the second hand airbox came with a K&N filter I dumped it coz it looked like it had melted at some stage, so a normal filter was sourced (Best4Bikes).
Luckily the carbs were pretty well balanced, a couple of tweaks and it was good to go, and the air mixture screws have now been set to 1.75 turns out.
In the meantime went out for 250Kms with the Ducati through the Vercors and down to Die with PL and Fred - nice with Fred's Le Mans, the 900ss and PL's Triumph! here is a photo!
The Ducati is going really well at the moment, IT TICKS OVER! although the clutch still slips it you give WOT, and the bouncing rev. counter drives me mad! I will have to get a modern one! Oh and the riding position is enough to give you cramp after 15 mins.
Gave it a really good clean on Sunday with loads of Gunk and then cleaned the stainless down pipes with loo cleaner which really does bring the shine back!
The FZR 600 was treated to new linear fork springs from RACETECH (0.95Kgs/m). The springs are a fair bit shorter than standard, so they give you some plumbers tube to make up new spacers, to adjust the pre-load correctly, I have had then out a couple of times to shorten the spacers as it seems really stiff. At the same time I have been updating the carbs, adding ones from the 4JH model, they are Keihin carbs versus the old Mikuni ones, they are 1 mm bigger diameter (33mm) but more importantly they do not wear the needle valves as much as they have a slightly different design, so I am hoping for better fueling coming off idle. I thought it would be a quick swap, but the following had to be done to get them to fit :-
New admission rubbers (ebay for 80 Euros), fitting these was a game as they have spigots for fixing vacuum gauges too, which very nearly touch the water hoses running behind the engine. in the end I fitted some rubber hoses sealed off with screws and clips to the spigots, which should make balancing the carbs relatively easy. Also the new rubbers have a "double O" kind off cross section, so ideally material should be removed from the cylinder head to make full use of the extra diameter - maybe a winter project.
Next the standard hose clips wouldn't fit the new admission rubbers, so I just used standard jubilee clips (40mm-60mm), which I think are OK, however getting more difficult to access them to remove the carbs.
The choke cable had to be lengthened by about 2.5cms as the mechanism is slightly different, but it works the same.
Also the push pull accelerator cable needed a mod which involved me removing the soldered nipple from the push end and adding a cable adjuster, and then re-soldering on a new nipple.
Remove the plastic fixing spigot from the air box as it is more centered on the new airbox, compared to the offset one on the old box.
Finally although the second hand airbox came with a K&N filter I dumped it coz it looked like it had melted at some stage, so a normal filter was sourced (Best4Bikes).
Luckily the carbs were pretty well balanced, a couple of tweaks and it was good to go, and the air mixture screws have now been set to 1.75 turns out.
In the meantime went out for 250Kms with the Ducati through the Vercors and down to Die with PL and Fred - nice with Fred's Le Mans, the 900ss and PL's Triumph! here is a photo!
The Ducati is going really well at the moment, IT TICKS OVER! although the clutch still slips it you give WOT, and the bouncing rev. counter drives me mad! I will have to get a modern one! Oh and the riding position is enough to give you cramp after 15 mins.
Gave it a really good clean on Sunday with loads of Gunk and then cleaned the stainless down pipes with loo cleaner which really does bring the shine back!
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