Project FZR: Parts from Japan

The FZR has been put back together after I spent a little bit of time cleaning it up over winter. My replacement top fairing arrived from Japan a couple of weeks ago so I have now fitted that. I initially had an 'oh crap' moment when I saw a rather large scratch on the fairing but after a session with t cut, autoglym paint renovator and polish the paint came up like new.

I spent a lot of time cleaning up as much of the bike as I could reach. I bought a replacement seat subframe off ebay as mine has been hacked around. I intend on fitting this later in the year.

As a short term fix I have put some tape around the fairing support as I haven't had time to paint it yet.

Here is a better shot of the replacement top fairing. I need to buy a touch up pen from RS Paints as some of the red on the decals has worn off, when this is touched up you won't really notice it.

I bought a red reservoir cover as well as a pro bolt reservoir lock recently. I need to buy a nut that the reservoir lock can screw into but for now the cover has been fitted.

At the weekend the bike had a service too so the engine oil and filter was changed, a long with the air filter and fork oil. The chain was adjusted to take out some of the slack as well.

My intention is to have a mini restoration around May time as I want to get the bike to top condition. The plan is:

• Bead blast the replacement down pipes and spray matt black
• Replace all EXUP valve bushes and grease up with Yamalube
• Have the scratch on the tank repaired by Faircharm Restorations in Leicester
• Clean up the Coerce exhaust by having a small plate welded onto it
• Use firegum to seal the exhaust
• Fit new seat subframe
• Bleed brakes and fit new bleed nipples
• Replace all pads for sintered pads
• Fit replacement clutch spring
• Fix up peanut cover and re paint
• Re paint sprocket cover
• Re paint wheel in gloss white as well as replace the wheel bearings
• Paint centre of front disc brakes gold
• Use touch up paint where needed and t cut back
• Fit replacement screen
• Buy replacement mirros from 4DX model
• Replace chain and sprockets
• Buy replacement 4DX indicators

Once I have completed this list the bike will be next to immaculate which is rare for these bikes as after 22 year these 400cc race replicas normally lead a life of being abused usually. Although this gets the nuts revved off it I spend money on it to keep it in top condition. Having riden the Ducati this week I now realise how truly gutless this bike is, but you just don't care when you hit 14,000 rpm and the Coerce pipe is snarling.

I found an old review between the RGV250 and FZR400RR recently online which is always interesting to read! 

100,000

I've just seen that earlier this week my blog hit 100,000 views. I just want to thank all the folk that have visited! Here's to 150,000!

Alfa Romeo 179B - V12 Symphony

This is the outcome when Alfa Romeo build a V12 Grand Prix engine. Turn up the speakers.

Project FZR: Naked Gun

At present I seem to have 3 bike projects on the go at once when really I should only be working on the KH125. Either way the reason behind the Yam being stripped down even more is because I have managed to find and buy a good condition fairing top cowl from Japan. I stumbled across is on Yahoo Auction JP so I got in touch with Jesse Streeter and he placed a bid for me.The cowl should be with me in around one week so that's why I began stripping the front end of the bike down, it also was a good reason to have a poke around the wiring and braces.

This morning I thought I'd have a bash at fixing the annoying rattling EXUP valve. Since day one when I bought the bike besides the scratch on the fuel tank (soon to be fixed) this was the biggest thing that bugged me as on tick over the valve would rattle around. I previously played with the EXUP cables but it just wasn't enough to stop it rattling about so today I removed the EXUP housing and took out the valve to see what the condition was like. Luckily these shaft hasn't worn badly so I used some wire wool to remove the build up of gunk and coated both spindles with a hefty amount of heat resistant copper grease. I then fitted the valve and covers as well as slightly tweaked the cables to reduce the slack for the EXUP pulley.

The result can be heard on the video. It's massively quieter now than before so I'm quite please with the result. I'm not sure if it is related to the valve being serviced but before I did this the bike used to be a little hesitant around 7,000rpm and then rev freely again, but now it's smooth throughout the whole rev range. I'm hoping when I ride the bike this will have improved the riding experience.

The long term plan is to have my other down pipes blasted and then painted black. Once I paint these I'll use the EXUP shaft out of the exhaust currently on the bike but I'll buy two new bushes for the housing and use Yamalube EXUP grease. In other news I had the broken off stud drilled out of my replacement downpipes and re tapped by a friend,

As my bar ends were well and truly seized in the clip ons I had to use mole grips to remove them subsequently marking the hell out of them. As I bought a replacement pair I had two good ones out of the four so when my exhaust was being fixed he machined some metal off the bar ends,

Lastly, as I managed to mark one of my perfect rear panels a few months back so I've been on the look out for a good condition rear cowl. This one popped up on ebay so I went for it. The condition is alright, but not to the standard I want so the hunt is still on. It won't do any harm have pretty much a full replacement set of fairings.

I still have jobs to do on this bike but it's looking like the main expensive things should be over soon. My plan is to do a mini restoration around May/ June time so I'm looking forward to that, I'll have to work out how to fit my RRSP single seat too.

Watch this space!

Group F2 Rallying - Maxi Cars

Back in the late 90s the group F2 Maxi rally cars were intended to be a cheaper entry into the World of rallying for car manucturers. Essentially these cars were FWD with a 2.0 NA engine achieving over 300 bhp in certain cases. The cars used in the group 2 class ranged from the Renault Megane, Peugeot 306, Renault Clio, and Escort RS2000. Pretty much every car had wider arches, spoilers, splitters and looked how a proper rally car should.

Below is a clip showing what these cars could do when they were unleashed on smooth dry tarmac,


It's no surprise that on events like Corsica the F2 boys would often be quicker that the four wheel drive turbo charged WRC cars.

Project Manki

I have to start off by saying that this is not my project, the photos below show the bike my Dad has spent the part 12 - 18 months planning and building. The plan was simple, to have the feeling of a Manx Norton/ BSA Gold Star but be reliable and easy to live with.

The donor bike was a Suzuki Savage 650 hence Manki (Manx/ Suzuki = ManKi), a Norton Featherbed frame was bought and then other pieces were sourced a long the way. The Savage below was the very donor bike used for this project, not my idea of good bike but it had it's purpose in this project.

When the frame arrived my Dad spent ages lining up everything so that the engine would fit without fowling any other components. I only have a few photos to hand but nearly everything was done twice to ensure the quality of this build was to a really high standard.

It's taken a long time to get here and hundreds if not thousands of hours have been spent in order to perfect every little detail. My Dad still wants to change a few pieces here and there but the bike is pretty much done as all that's left is to fill it with fuel and ride it. 

Little details from the Manx style fly screen, alloy tank and single seat complete look that was set out from the initial concept of this build. I'm sure the rivet counters will not be that keen but this bike embodies everything that you get from a Manx Norton/ Gold Star without the constant worry about something going wrong. I can't wait to get my first ride on it.....

Project Ducati: Sunshine Shots

As the weather is still lousy in the UK at the moment I haven't ridden the Ducati yet, but I thought today would be a good time to have a proper look over the bike and clean any areas up. I need some touch up paint for bits and pieces on the engine and the frame but they need minimal work. I just can't wait to ride it.

I got the FZR out the garage to compare them both on the drive way. Expect an updated on the Yamaha very soon as I have been working on it and buying it parts.

F40 LM