My Day to Day & Project

[mikeycee]

HI All,

Thought I would take the step over now with the rest of you!

Owner of an S1000RR as my day to day ride and Track Hack, and a work in progress Project RGV Which I have been updating over on TRC.

Will probably use this thread for the final update

Also stuck in a pic of my previous completed Fireblade project for good measure!







Looking forward to getting used to the new home - Well done for getting this together!

[weeksy]

Ace stuff! Bring it all on!

[Skub]

A good stable of healthy horses right there!

[mikeycee]

Thanks Guys!

I've saved all of my stuff from TRC Now and will just continue here - Looking forward to getting used to my new surroundings..

Trackday booked for Mallory in a couple of weeks time, looking forward to getting the set up on the RGV Locked down and any more teething problems shaken out (Quite literally!)

Also taking the BMW Along as a back up in case of any 2T Related hiccups

Will post some pics up here soon

[mikeycee]

Evening All!

First day out on track for the RGV On Friday at Mallory Park - Weather was kind and there was a 2T Facebook group meet up there on that day so there was a fair few RGV's, Aprillia's and TZR's buzzing about which was great to see.

Really good for me to have a look around also to get some inspiration and set up ideas from some of the other bikes there.

On the positives - The engine ran absolutely perfect all day, didn't miss a beat and I am really pleased with that as I had not really ran it for a whole days work or pushed it particularly hard, Really chuffed with the results.

Things that need some work - The clutch is on its way out, Its still serviceable on the road for now, but its slipping at the top end so need to get this sorted sooner rather than later as its not going to get any better.

The biggest problem of the day was that the thing was handling like a cruise ship. Multiple issues were causing major problems all day - Severe chatter under hard braking meaning I had to let off and brake so much earlier than normal, Front end squirming when getting on to the outer 1/4 of the tyre meaning I could not lean in far enough and carry enough corner speed and the icing on the shit cake was the bike wanting to run a mile wide on the exit to every corning the moment I got back on the gas, Meaning I had to let off again and let it run right to the outside of the track. The thing just didn't want to turn under power at all.

Speaking to a few people in the know, the big problem I have is that I have 20w Oil in the forks (This grade came with the spring kit I purchased) - This is causing the system to run way too stiff which will likely explain a lot of the above symptoms. Comparing settings with some of the other bikes in the paddock with standard internals as I have, mine were way off - And that was all to do with the oil being too heavy, If I had mirrored their settings the thing would have been unrideable.

Need to do some work on the tyre pressures also, I was running them a bit hard which would not have helped things but once I have the forks rebuilt and back on the bike at least I will have the correct start point to work on everything from.

Bit disappointing, especially as it was my error with the fork oil that caused most of the issues but overall I am pleased with how it went. Bikes back in the garage now with the front end stripped and the forks draining waiting for the new oil to arrive. Will then get it back together again and get it out for a road test to ensure I can get the set up correct.

Fingers crossed!

[KungFooBob]

IIRC USD forks usually take much lighter weight oil than conventional forks, 5 or 10wt, 20 does sound a bit high.

[mikeycee]

So, Fresh 10w arrived on Friday so spent Saturday afternoon refilling the forks with the 429ml each of oil as per the Workshop manual prescribes, reassembling the units and reconstructing the front end. After everything was successfully put back together and torqued up it was a case of reverting everything back to road trim ready to test things out.

I set the preload to the precise setting of 'Somewhere in the middle' - Which is as good a start point as anywhere. Out on the road and the bike felt immediately better. Softer and better sprung (Obviously!) but also smoother with no chatter on heavy braking and more planted mid corner. Came back and increased the Preload a little and things are feeling good. The turn in is a little slower than before so I am thinking of dropping the forks through the yokes about 10mm or so to see if that helps a little - Not decided yet. More fine tuning to do but the difference is already greatly apparent from where I was a couple of weeks ago and is a perfect start point to get things completely in line.

A few people have recommended increasing the fork oil level a little, but with the new Progressive springs I have fitted - Things feel ok at the moment but will see how things go as I move forward.

Once you get it set up properly it'll be great, there is nothing like it when you get a two stroke just right.

Definitely! Bit of a dark art however that I really didn't have a lot of experience in when starting this project. That said, I have learnt a huge amount over the last two years in bringing this together, I did cheat a bit having the engine rebuilt by a specialist but managed to get through the installation and set up of the thing and it is singing like it should do - Just need to get the chassis right and hopefully I will be in a much better position.

IIRC USD forks usually take much lighter weight oil than conventional forks, 5 or 10wt, 20 does sound a bit high.

You know - I thought to myself the exact same thing, but as the 20w came with the spring kit..... I thought well it must be right, Surely?

Should have trusted my instinct - But I was not confident in the slightest as I've not dabbled with suspension ever before.

[mikeycee]

Morning All!

Not a great deal to report on this in terms of updates, but a couple of things for you to cast your eyes over......

Noticed that the RGV Was dropping a bit of oil, something that started off as minuscule - But has gradually increased over the last 6 Weeks or so. from the colour of the oil, it looked to be 2T - So first suspicions laid with the Autolube Pump.

Awkwardly, The pump sits just to the right and behind the front sprocket pretty much meaning lots of fun trying to work on it with a fully assembled bike:





So spent some time checking the feed coming into the pump, replacing all of the compression fittings on the lines out of the pump and putting fresh PTFE Tape on the bleed screw (Fibre Washers for this are no longer available in this size unless you purchase hundreds) and reassembled everything and span it up again to get the oil flowing.

Next day I was greeted by another tiny pool of oil

All the connections were good, and I could not for the life of me work out where this little drip that was hanging off the bottom corner of the pump was coming from, Every connection I checked was dry.

Looking through the workshop manual however the penny dropped. Where the pump is driven from the gearbox, there is a drive and a bush. There is no oil seal on the shaft and it uses the oil from the gearbox to keep the shaft, bush and connection to the pump lubed. The only thing keeping the gearbox oil in is a paper gaskett between the crank case and the autolube pump body.



As the gearbox oil is red too, I just assumed it was 2T Oil

Didn't expect the way it was sealed to be like this to be honest, but as I have said before during this project I am learning all the time!

So new Gasket (£2 Delivered from Flea Bay - Suzuki wanted £9) and a sparing amount of sealant and we are now oil tight.

Other than that I have new silencers on now, I cannot afford to replace the entire system at present so purchased one of the very few kits out there for the OEM Pipes. Only changed I have made to the kit is to paint the connector fittings black to match the rest of the system and pleased with the results.



Panels go for paint in two weeks time - Think we are looking at a lead time of a month or so. Just in time for it to be locked in the garage for the next 6 Months

[kendo57]

Buying some gasket paper and a cheap hole punch set saves a lot of time .

[mikeycee]

Buying some gasket paper and a cheap hole punch set saves a lot of time .

Thanks for the steer - If I have any ongoing requirements I think I may well do that.

[mikeycee]

Evening All!

Hope you are all well

Just a quick update to let you know that I've now made it onto the final stretch after almost three years......

Wheels are currently with the powder coaters for a 'Brilliant' White finish with pearl lacquer, and all of the OEM Panels are with the paints shop now. Base coats are being done this week and then we are doing some colour tests to ensure we have the OEM Colours matched 100% with a secondhand panel I got from Ebay.

Providing all is fine with the colour matching, Paint should be finished by Mid November - Taking a little longer than normal due to the fact that is it being 100% Hand painted with no decals at all so it is a bit more involved than usual. I was a bit dubious to begin with, but having seen this guys work I am really looking forward to seeing the results.

Thanks to much kindness from our local decal printer (The Image Works), we have been given all of the scaled designs for the logos etc so we can ensure a 100% Match in terms of proportion with the OEM Scheme.

So, for now the RGV is just sitting and waiting for her new party dress.....

[Claude]

I’d love to ride a sorted 2 stroke.

Mine ran really rough 80% of the time. That 20% was sweet as’ though.

[mikeycee]

I’d love to ride a sorted 2 stroke.

Mine ran really rough 80% of the time. That 20% was sweet as’ though.

*Touching Wood* - Mine is running spot on, Really smooth and getting on to the pipe exactly how it should be. Really pulls well as soon as it hits 8.5k and it never gets boring!

I've gone one tooth up on the rear to give it a little bit more pull lower down which certainly helps with the grin factor too

[Bigyin]

Looks superb and have been following this since the start at the other place .....thanks for bringing it over and looking forward to the end results as i would already be happy with it as it is

[Supermofo]

Taking a little longer than normal due to the fact that is it being 100% Hand painted with no decals at all so it is a bit more involved than usual.

My brothers mate had that done when he got his ZX7 painted in the early 2000's. It was a custom paint job but with painted decals and it looked mint.

[G.P]

NIce one Mikey

Good on image works for giving you the gen on the decals - they've always been really helpful whenever I've used them. Good bunch!

[mikeycee]

NIce one Mikey

Good on image works for giving you the gen on the decals - they've always been really helpful whenever I've used them. Good bunch!

Yea he is a top man, I've purchased a few of his kits over the years and they are always top quality - Best quality and most comprehensive range I have found!

[mikeycee]

Afternoon All!

Hope you are all well

Just a very quick update on the RGV Project to provide some paint progression - Getting there slowly but surely. Most of the base coat work is now complete, and over the next two weeks will be the very tricky business of the lines and logo detail - All being done by hand....

Really looking forward (But with perhaps more than a little trepidation) to seeing the results..... The next two weeks are going to be a long wait....

Having seen his previous work however - I have every confidence in him and so far... So good!

[mikeycee]

Hope you are all well!

Closing in on paintwork completion fast now - Hoping to be done and have the panels back by Thursday afternoon provided all goes to plan. Then the final build can begin on the weekend I would hope.

A few more progression shots for your delectation in the meantime - Pleased with the quality and progress so far and really looking forward to seeing it once all sealed and shiny behind some thick layers of lacquer!

[mikeycee]

Evening All!

So..... We are there - Almost!

All bodywork back, with the exception of the tank - This failed my painters quality control, Which to be honest is quite refreshing when I often hear of mistakes being sent out by more unscrupulous painters in the hope that the customer will not notice.

Seems that at the lacquer stage some surface dust was missed when it was prepped - To be honest when I had a look at it I didn't even notice until he pointed it out to me and I am really grateful that he did. Its one of those things that once you have seen, you cant un-see if that makes sense!

I had this with a slight colour mismatch on my Fireblade project and it drove me potty!

Tank has to be taken back to primer and the whole job started again unfortunately as he tried to take the lacquer back but it had embedded into the paint so it could not be salvaged so will be next week now before I can pick this up, I have to admire the guys commitment.

In the meantime I took the opportunity (Due to over eagerness on my part mainly!) to get the panels in place to ensure everything lined up, matched and looked how it should and I am really pleased with the results (Try to look past the black tank!):











Will have some more images to follow soon - But I was fast running out of light today by the time I got it out of the garage to spin it up.

As well as the tank, I am waiting for a couple more parts to come in and once fitted up - Well I think I will be finished..... Not really sure what I will do then as I have got quite used to having this project in my life for the last three years!

Looking forward now to getting things polished off and then it will be the long wait until spring when I can get some more miles under my belt on it

In the meantime - I am going to be kept quite busy...... I am due to get married on the 12th December, And just this morning I found out that I am going to be a Dad!

Couldn't make it up eh?

Hope everyone has a good weekend ahead