Well Magny Cours this weekend! The circuit is fast, and I of course expect to be on the RG500. I haven't received my new radiater yet, but hopefully I'll get it before the weekend. Looking at the weather forecast it could be hot and humid or cold and stormy, so we'll have to wait and see what jetting to use.
I have managed to start both bikes and run them up the road over the last few days. The Yamaha doesn't leak and seems to run cooler (with the 4L0 radiater installed). The RG ran OK, moving the needles up has made a significant difference, much richer and I didn't perceive the big hole in the power, so I think I have gone the right way with the jetting. While I was testing the RG (without the fairing on), I lost the right hand side carb trunk, which bounced off into the countryside in a bid for freedom. It was only after mobilising the whole family along the 1.5 kms section of road that we managed to find it hidden in some long grass (thanks Libby!).
So fairings on this evening, and pack the trailer for the trip up on Friday morning.
Speak to you after the weekend (come on England - last pool match this evening!)
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Monday, 14 June 2010
Preparation for Magny Cours
So, I took the cylinder off the RG500 at the weekend, to look at the damage from my seize. Not too much damage and nothing above the rings, so a little TLC with some fine emery cloth, on the piston and the cylinder, and she is as good as new (almost). I also took the needles up 2 grooves, so I am running them one above the lowest groove. I am hoping this should improve my carburation hole at around 6K rpm. From reading various articles on carb tuning it would seem that I may be running lean at partial throttle - I will try this out tomorrow (up and down the road!). Apparently lean mid-throttle jetting can be characterized by a lack of power (hole), and a loud induction sound (wouououououou) noise, which fits pretty much what I was perceiving. Hmmm technical stuff.....
Annyway had troubles with one of the needle screws as it was completely solid and the top had been mullered by the previous owner, so I had to get the drill out, and drill down the throttle slide (5 cm hole) into the screw head. I actually managed a pretty straight line hole going out the other end of the throttle slide, to which I added a new thread and found a screw that would fit, so it all ended happily.
Other work at the weekend was fitting a new radiator to the RD 350, I learnt from a guy at Nogaro that the 4l0 (an earlier model 350) has a larger double core rad, so I ordered a second hand one from RDLCCRAZY, and received it during the week. It took me a couple of hours to make some brackets to hold it, and I am realtively pleased with the results. Hopefully the 350 at least will run cooler at Magny Cours. The only issue I had was the original water circuit has a thermostat bypass pipe that allow water back into the top of the original rad. this was not present on the new rad, so I have removed the thermostat allowing full water circulation the whole time, and I have closed up the bypass pipe with a bolt screwed into the rubber pipe (I hope it holds...).
Little left to do now except decide on initial gearing for Magny Cours (I'll go with 15/39 to start with), and await my high capacity radiator for the 500, hopefully it will arrive before race weekend.
Speak to you soon.
Annyway had troubles with one of the needle screws as it was completely solid and the top had been mullered by the previous owner, so I had to get the drill out, and drill down the throttle slide (5 cm hole) into the screw head. I actually managed a pretty straight line hole going out the other end of the throttle slide, to which I added a new thread and found a screw that would fit, so it all ended happily.
Other work at the weekend was fitting a new radiator to the RD 350, I learnt from a guy at Nogaro that the 4l0 (an earlier model 350) has a larger double core rad, so I ordered a second hand one from RDLCCRAZY, and received it during the week. It took me a couple of hours to make some brackets to hold it, and I am realtively pleased with the results. Hopefully the 350 at least will run cooler at Magny Cours. The only issue I had was the original water circuit has a thermostat bypass pipe that allow water back into the top of the original rad. this was not present on the new rad, so I have removed the thermostat allowing full water circulation the whole time, and I have closed up the bypass pipe with a bolt screwed into the rubber pipe (I hope it holds...).
Little left to do now except decide on initial gearing for Magny Cours (I'll go with 15/39 to start with), and await my high capacity radiator for the 500, hopefully it will arrive before race weekend.
Speak to you soon.
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Monday, 7 June 2010
Nogaro
Just FYI, the rear tyre was changed on the RD350, the guy didn't balance the wheel.
I raced at Nogaro in the South West of France this weekend. We arrived Friday afternoon as the free practice was scheduled for the end of the afternoon.
The RG started fine, the re-found power band (with the exhaust valve working!), was incredible, but really accentuated by the fact the clutch was slipping freely, so every time the bike hit the power, the clutch would slip, and let the engine run up to 12K. I tried adjusting the clutch on the run, but couldn't get my gloved hands around the cable adjuster - should have come in really. Anyway I kept going but the bike was running dangerously hot - around 94 degrees celsius - too hot!!
As you may remember Nogaro has a long straight along which the clutch was slipping most of the way, at the end of the straight, I have already suffered from a "shut throttle" seize..... well it happened on the RG! On previous laps I had been holding the choke in to give some more fuel as the throttle is shut for braking, well on this particular lap, I was more concerned with other things so I forgot, and well, I got my punishment - leaving a 20 metre darky as the wheel locked, grabbed the clutch and cruised to a halt at the end of the straight - bummer!
Back at the pits, I let the bike cool off, and I could then freely move the engine, removed the plugs - all nice and chocolate coloured, removed the exhausts, and piston nr. 1 was the guilty culprit - unusual I was expecting nr. 3! The piston had touched on the exhaust port side, below the rings, I could see some shiny aluminium on the piston, which actually rubbed off with my finger!
All the other pistons looked OK, and no damage to the cylinders.
On Saturday morning, and after receiving the advice from most of the paddock, I decided to increase my main jets to help (up to 230's with the carb trunks on) with cooling the engine, and raise my idle speed to about 3K to ensure that even with the throttle closed, there would be some fuel going through - plus use the choke every lap!
The Saturday was as hot as the Friday, but the RG ran at the hottest of 84 degrees - hot but not as hot.... I shared the timed practice between the RG and RD as the game plan was to use the RD if the weather was really hot and use the RG if it cooled down. Well in the end we started for the first race Saturday evening at 18:00 and the air temperature was around 35 degrees, so the RD took the punishment. I got a reasonable start, but I was totally under geared for the long straight, which meant the RD was up at around 10K for most of the straight and people came whizzing past. Never mind, I had a few good scraps around the twisties, and finished a somewhat lowly (scratch) 29th place, but a fairly respectable fastest lap of 1:52.
Sunday was forecast rain! We awoke to a misty day, with moisture in the air - a great day for a hot bike! I lined up on the pre-grid (8th line), and slowly the heavens opened up on us! Really big blobs of rain, getting steadily faster. A few of the guys abandoned without even going out, but I was determined to give the RG an outing. The warm up lap was incredibly slow, and when the start was given, I must have got the worst start of my life, Libby said the lap car was nearly pushing me up the backside to get me going! Anyway throughout the deluge, I was opening the bike up only when I was in a straight line and vertical, the Michelin Power Ones, are OK, but they need to be up to temperature!
So the bike goes OK fairly linearly up to 6K, then a huge hole, and then the full beans as the valves open at around 7.5K - lovely to feel the bike really accelerating cleanly to the red line again, although the big hole made things interesting in the wet.
As the race continued, I got past a few guys, for the fun, but I wasn't risking anything, I was having to change lines as the puddles were getting bigger near the rumble strips!
Anyway I finished at 18th (scratch), with a fastest time of 2:23, even the fast guys were well over 2 minutes for a track that at it's best is around 1:35 for the promosport 1000's.
Now I have to find a big radiator, and clean up piston/cylinder nr. 1, before Magny-Cours in 3 weeks. Plus I need to move the needles either up or down - take your pick!
I raced at Nogaro in the South West of France this weekend. We arrived Friday afternoon as the free practice was scheduled for the end of the afternoon.
The RG started fine, the re-found power band (with the exhaust valve working!), was incredible, but really accentuated by the fact the clutch was slipping freely, so every time the bike hit the power, the clutch would slip, and let the engine run up to 12K. I tried adjusting the clutch on the run, but couldn't get my gloved hands around the cable adjuster - should have come in really. Anyway I kept going but the bike was running dangerously hot - around 94 degrees celsius - too hot!!
As you may remember Nogaro has a long straight along which the clutch was slipping most of the way, at the end of the straight, I have already suffered from a "shut throttle" seize..... well it happened on the RG! On previous laps I had been holding the choke in to give some more fuel as the throttle is shut for braking, well on this particular lap, I was more concerned with other things so I forgot, and well, I got my punishment - leaving a 20 metre darky as the wheel locked, grabbed the clutch and cruised to a halt at the end of the straight - bummer!
Back at the pits, I let the bike cool off, and I could then freely move the engine, removed the plugs - all nice and chocolate coloured, removed the exhausts, and piston nr. 1 was the guilty culprit - unusual I was expecting nr. 3! The piston had touched on the exhaust port side, below the rings, I could see some shiny aluminium on the piston, which actually rubbed off with my finger!
All the other pistons looked OK, and no damage to the cylinders.
On Saturday morning, and after receiving the advice from most of the paddock, I decided to increase my main jets to help (up to 230's with the carb trunks on) with cooling the engine, and raise my idle speed to about 3K to ensure that even with the throttle closed, there would be some fuel going through - plus use the choke every lap!
The Saturday was as hot as the Friday, but the RG ran at the hottest of 84 degrees - hot but not as hot.... I shared the timed practice between the RG and RD as the game plan was to use the RD if the weather was really hot and use the RG if it cooled down. Well in the end we started for the first race Saturday evening at 18:00 and the air temperature was around 35 degrees, so the RD took the punishment. I got a reasonable start, but I was totally under geared for the long straight, which meant the RD was up at around 10K for most of the straight and people came whizzing past. Never mind, I had a few good scraps around the twisties, and finished a somewhat lowly (scratch) 29th place, but a fairly respectable fastest lap of 1:52.
Sunday was forecast rain! We awoke to a misty day, with moisture in the air - a great day for a hot bike! I lined up on the pre-grid (8th line), and slowly the heavens opened up on us! Really big blobs of rain, getting steadily faster. A few of the guys abandoned without even going out, but I was determined to give the RG an outing. The warm up lap was incredibly slow, and when the start was given, I must have got the worst start of my life, Libby said the lap car was nearly pushing me up the backside to get me going! Anyway throughout the deluge, I was opening the bike up only when I was in a straight line and vertical, the Michelin Power Ones, are OK, but they need to be up to temperature!
So the bike goes OK fairly linearly up to 6K, then a huge hole, and then the full beans as the valves open at around 7.5K - lovely to feel the bike really accelerating cleanly to the red line again, although the big hole made things interesting in the wet.
As the race continued, I got past a few guys, for the fun, but I wasn't risking anything, I was having to change lines as the puddles were getting bigger near the rumble strips!
Anyway I finished at 18th (scratch), with a fastest time of 2:23, even the fast guys were well over 2 minutes for a track that at it's best is around 1:35 for the promosport 1000's.
Now I have to find a big radiator, and clean up piston/cylinder nr. 1, before Magny-Cours in 3 weeks. Plus I need to move the needles either up or down - take your pick!
Saturday, 29 May 2010
technical Update
Well, I have changed lots of parts on the RG. The stator is new, the plug leads, plug caps, the SAEC Motor and controller are new (second hand), and finally I have removed the battery.
And... well the bike seems to be working OK, and the exhaust valve is opening, so will have to wait and see at Nogaro next weekend to give a final result!
I have put back the carb trunks, to ensure I am too rich next weekend, as Nogaro has a long WOT (wide open throttle) straight and I don't want to seize!
As can be see in the photos, the Suzuki coils, are not meant to have the cables changed, so I have had to hold the new cables in with some silicon sealant, this will also help keep the water out.
I have also modified my twist grip to make it more fast action. I simpley cut up a piece of old plumbing plastic tube and stuck it to the twistgrip - this has increased the diameter of the twist and should give a faster action.
In between times, I changed the ignition pickup on the 350, and it has made an incredible difference. The bike flies now....!!! I also adjusted the air screws which ended up at 2 turns out for both, which gives me a nice pickup off idle, and I have re found the power I have had earlier this year. I must work on the clutch to stop it slipping....
I did the air screw adjustment on the Suzuki as well, and left them at 1 turn out each carb.
Hopefully all is now ready for Nogaro next weekend.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
RG 500 update
OK, so the plugs leads did not fix the problem. After an easy start running it up the hill for a kilometer and getting it nice and warm, and the bike gives the sames symptoms, initially it just dies, I can start easily using the choke and then it will pop and fart mainly showing on Nr. 3 but more generally not running right.
So I am now assuming I have a heat related problem. Indeed starting her up again after leaving her for an couple of hours and having done nothing, (i.e. cold) and she does start nicely - so I think I am convinced this is related to something electrical and heat related. Honestly this is starting to sound like the stator (I have some experience with the 350 on these problems...). As I managed to get a cheap one off ebay a couple of months ago, I have one in stock, so on it went!
This time, the problem changed sides clearly making the right hand cylinders pop and fart - I think this is a different problem - I think the stator I bought is not working properly.... Oh well back to the drawing board!
During troubleshooting I also wanted to test my exhaust valves, and this does not appear to be working either. When troubleshooting this, the motor appears to work, but does not turn the valves at all. If you connect 12 V from the battery to the Pink wire, and the negative to the Grey wire, the motor turn clockwise and reversing the polarity makes the motor turn anticlockwise.
The next electrical test involves testing some hall sensors (part of the electrical motor). Connecting the tester to the green and white and turning the pulley by hand, you should find one spot where the circuit is closed (i.e. low resistance). You then do the same test on another pair to get the same result.
This all checked out fine, although the motor still does not turn when commanded by the control box - so it looks like the control box is shafted. I have ordered second hand a motor and control box, so we should be able to fix this.
And I also ordered a new stator from Electrexworld.co.uk, who provide stators and other electrical stuff for bikes. With a bit of luck I am on the right track, and the bike will finally work in 2 weeks time!
So I am now assuming I have a heat related problem. Indeed starting her up again after leaving her for an couple of hours and having done nothing, (i.e. cold) and she does start nicely - so I think I am convinced this is related to something electrical and heat related. Honestly this is starting to sound like the stator (I have some experience with the 350 on these problems...). As I managed to get a cheap one off ebay a couple of months ago, I have one in stock, so on it went!
This time, the problem changed sides clearly making the right hand cylinders pop and fart - I think this is a different problem - I think the stator I bought is not working properly.... Oh well back to the drawing board!
During troubleshooting I also wanted to test my exhaust valves, and this does not appear to be working either. When troubleshooting this, the motor appears to work, but does not turn the valves at all. If you connect 12 V from the battery to the Pink wire, and the negative to the Grey wire, the motor turn clockwise and reversing the polarity makes the motor turn anticlockwise.
The next electrical test involves testing some hall sensors (part of the electrical motor). Connecting the tester to the green and white and turning the pulley by hand, you should find one spot where the circuit is closed (i.e. low resistance). You then do the same test on another pair to get the same result.
This all checked out fine, although the motor still does not turn when commanded by the control box - so it looks like the control box is shafted. I have ordered second hand a motor and control box, so we should be able to fix this.
And I also ordered a new stator from Electrexworld.co.uk, who provide stators and other electrical stuff for bikes. With a bit of luck I am on the right track, and the bike will finally work in 2 weeks time!
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Technical Update
Well, I've been quite busy in the garage with a 4 day weekend and grotty weather.
On the 350, I broke the silencer (I think this probably started because of my crash at C-en-T two years ago), and the fairing bracket had broken, so these have been taken off and sent for welding - the exhaust is stainless steel which requires TIG welding so I am using a place I found in the Pagesjaunes (yellow pages). I am trying to find out why the bike doesn't run well at low rpm - just off idle - so as the only thing I changed was electrical (I added an electronic CDI charger which takes power directly off the battery), I am looking at the electrics again.
I have removed the windings on the stator for CDI charging as I no longer use them, this will reduce the electromotive force (EMF) in the stator and should allow the crank to spin up quicker, plus I removed the wiring associated - just to clean up the wiring a bit. Whilst I was at the stator I changed the pickup, to an original Yamaha model, this way I am sure the the stator, and electrics are all good - I just need my silencer back before I can do any testing.
I also, restuck my seat padding, and made a new instrument plexiglass cover as the old one got damaged by the leaking hydraulic fluid. The front brakes were removed and hung up to ensure the highest point was in the calipers, and then bled, this will ensure I lose the spongeness at the lever.
On the RG, the action plan is as follows and in order :-
Change plugs for Iridium
Change plug leads
Change coils
Ignition stator
then ....
Check fuel flow
dirty tank
sticky chokes
and finally if none of that fixes my issue, then it must be the crank oil seal.
I am waiting for my plugs to arrive (www.Sparkplugs.co.uk) so in the meantime I changed all four plug leads with silicon resistive lead, this is not only flexible, but should I change my plug caps again, I will no longer need any resistance. Unfortunately the old leads are held in the coil by some stupid plastic clips which are designed to break, which they did on both coils! So the new leads are held in by tie wraps, to which I will add some mastic sealer when I finish troubleshooting.
I started the RG, and she ran very smoothly in the garage, so maybe I have already found the problem! I will need to run her until hot, to really test to see if the issue disappears. The Gamma listers (email enthusiasts) thing I am getting to the lean end of my main jets so I will need to be careful at Nogaro as there is a really long straight.
I still have a couple of odd jobs to do on the RG, re-torque the cylinder head, check my steering head bearing.
Just to use up my time, my brother has bought his 900SS Ducati down for storage at race HQ, so I changed the oil, filter, and brake fluid, and bled the front and back - his front brakes are pulsing so I hope that will get rid of that!
Speak to you soon, after the RG and RD test later this week.
Dave
On the 350, I broke the silencer (I think this probably started because of my crash at C-en-T two years ago), and the fairing bracket had broken, so these have been taken off and sent for welding - the exhaust is stainless steel which requires TIG welding so I am using a place I found in the Pagesjaunes (yellow pages). I am trying to find out why the bike doesn't run well at low rpm - just off idle - so as the only thing I changed was electrical (I added an electronic CDI charger which takes power directly off the battery), I am looking at the electrics again.
I have removed the windings on the stator for CDI charging as I no longer use them, this will reduce the electromotive force (EMF) in the stator and should allow the crank to spin up quicker, plus I removed the wiring associated - just to clean up the wiring a bit. Whilst I was at the stator I changed the pickup, to an original Yamaha model, this way I am sure the the stator, and electrics are all good - I just need my silencer back before I can do any testing.
I also, restuck my seat padding, and made a new instrument plexiglass cover as the old one got damaged by the leaking hydraulic fluid. The front brakes were removed and hung up to ensure the highest point was in the calipers, and then bled, this will ensure I lose the spongeness at the lever.
On the RG, the action plan is as follows and in order :-
Change plugs for Iridium
Change plug leads
Change coils
Ignition stator
then ....
Check fuel flow
dirty tank
sticky chokes
and finally if none of that fixes my issue, then it must be the crank oil seal.
I am waiting for my plugs to arrive (www.Sparkplugs.co.uk) so in the meantime I changed all four plug leads with silicon resistive lead, this is not only flexible, but should I change my plug caps again, I will no longer need any resistance. Unfortunately the old leads are held in the coil by some stupid plastic clips which are designed to break, which they did on both coils! So the new leads are held in by tie wraps, to which I will add some mastic sealer when I finish troubleshooting.
I started the RG, and she ran very smoothly in the garage, so maybe I have already found the problem! I will need to run her until hot, to really test to see if the issue disappears. The Gamma listers (email enthusiasts) thing I am getting to the lean end of my main jets so I will need to be careful at Nogaro as there is a really long straight.
I still have a couple of odd jobs to do on the RG, re-torque the cylinder head, check my steering head bearing.
Just to use up my time, my brother has bought his 900SS Ducati down for storage at race HQ, so I changed the oil, filter, and brake fluid, and bled the front and back - his front brakes are pulsing so I hope that will get rid of that!
Speak to you soon, after the RG and RD test later this week.
Dave
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