End cans and tank

Just picked up the tank and exhaust end cans from Richard, (TFL), and again I was more than pleased with the finish.

When I took the tank off the bike there was a lot of rust inside, but when it was taken to Nick at BPS he assured me that he would be able to get a flexible lance inside the tank. He done a great job I just need to get the half a kilo of fine sand thats still inside!!!

The original carbon fibre exaust end cans had seen better days, to be honest when I took the exhausts off the end cans just crumbled in my hands! I decide to go with Stainless steel to keep the cost down and Richard informed me that he could powder coat them black, so he did.

The megaphone part of the exhausts were taken to Nick Piravani as the perforated innner tube on both sides had come adrift, Nick is also pricing up a new set of megaphones and slip on cans as the originals are all in one from just below the engine. I hope to get the exhausts back in the next few days.

Got new discs!

Managed to meet Mick James this wekend and pick up the PFM discs, Mick did not have the caliper with him but we struck a deal and the discs were mine. The two carriers are different in that one has the normal plugs and circlips, where as the other has a large circlip that sits inside a recess and is very quick to change the rotors. I intend to only use one discs on the front wheels so the carriers being different does not cause an issue.

The rebuild is about to begin!

I have just been informed that James lock up will be available for me to move into very soon, so when I was sorting out the bike bits I took a few snaps.

Frame

Frame

Swing arm

Sub frame

FZR400 WHEELS

Fork yokes,fairing bracket, engine bracket and tank brackets.

As you can see all the components have been powder coated satin black but these photos do not do the work that Richard,(TFL), has done any justice at all, the only thing I have to do is re tap all the threads.

British Supermono Association Championship 2009 dates

The rider, Ash Norrington #23

The guy that will be riding my Yamatax this year is Ash Norrington, a very likeable chap from Manningtree, Essex. He has been involved in Mono's for some time starting off as spannerman to Nigel (Peds) Manual, he then got himself a RGV rotax and had a couple of races before selling that and getting a Tigcraft SRX. Unfortuanetly he had a startline incident at Mallory Park in 2007 that put him out of racing for teh rest of the season. He bounced back at the last 2 meetings of 2008 on a Mono 450, which in effect was a Honda CRF450 crosser with the forks changed and race bodywork, it was a very tidy bike but Ash was dispondant about his results so decided to part with it.
Ash asked what my intentions were for the Rotax that he knew I had just acquired, and after a very short conversation we agreed that he would ride it with the first refusal of actually buying it if that was the case.

Powder coating

I got a call from Richard to say that everything that needed powder coating has been done, he knew I wanted to be there during the process but his workers had been too efficient and completed the items while he was off! Anyway everything looks absolutely pucker and I cant wait to get started on the rebuild.
I also got comfirmation from James, (the new owner of my old bike), that I can use his lock up while he is away in Thailand, the lock up must be 3 times the size of a normal garage which means I have plenty of room to get all round the bike during the rebuild. I just have to wait to get the nod as to when I can start to transport everything over there. Photos to follow as soon as I get the chance!

Blasting complete

A few days ago I picked up all the parts that Nick at Blast Power Services,(BPS), had sand/bead blasted and what a grand job he has done too. He had to dip the wheel rims to get all the coats of paint off and Im sure they weigh at least 3 kilos lighter than they did!! Anyway all the components were then taken to Richard Burns at Thetford Finishing Limted (TFL) who will be wet spraying the fuel tank with the same colour yellow as my previous bike. The frame, swing arm, wheels, seat sub frame, oil tank and breather tank will all be powder coated satin black, which I think will look the dogs swingers, but I am being biased!! I will be helping Richard in any way I can to keep the cost down and will be taking some photos of the powder coating process to post on here asap.

The strip down!!

Well I eventually got round to stripping the bike down to the last nut and bolt, and to my amazement it only took me around 4 hours! I started with getting the engine out, which turned out to be very easy. The engine is bolted to a sub frame with 2 bolts which in turn is attached to the frame at the headstock and just below the swing arm pivot, then there is a bolt the goes through the frame and engine at the rear. To remove the engine you loosen the top sub frame bolt, remove the bolt through the engine then remove the bottom sub frame bolt while supporting the weight of the engine, the engine and sub frame will then pivot on the top bolt and drop down so you can either remove the engine from the sub frame or unbolt the sub frame totally. When the engine was removed I took the head and barrel off to check for damage, and as far as I can see the piston has hit the exhaust valves, (due to the timing being out), and has bent the valves. the piston has also picked up in the liner but hopefully that can be cured with a slight hone. Apart from that I cannot see any other internal damage but I will know more when it is taken to Steve Ruth for the strip down and rebuild.

The rest of the bike was very easy to dismantle, and all the parts were taken to Nick Hemsby at Blast Power Services to be bead blasted prior to powder coating and spraying. When I looked at the forks I noticed that the only form of adjustment was the top Pre load, even on the road this would be the bear minimum so for racing you would have to set the forks up with different springs for peace of mind. I had a look on EBay and found a set of R6 1999 with one of the fork tubes damaged! I offered the seller £35 and he accepted. I thought that even if I dont use them I could strip them down and sell the good bits on. When they arrived the right tube was slightly bent and dented but when pushed down there was no grinding or clicking so I knew the internals were ok. I called a few places and the ball park figure for replacement tube is £65 add that to the servicing of the forks and the £35 I paid for them you are looking at £160 for a very good set of forks. The next problem would be the yokes as the R6 forks are 43mm dia, but when I spoke to Steve Ruth he informed me that I could have them milled out to suit as this was the done thing when Supermonos first hit the race scene, so problem solved.

With upgrading the forks the next thing would be to upgrade the brakes so I bid and won a pair of R6 front calipers on EBay but found that I will have to change the discs as the TZR are 295mm and R6 are 320mm. I had a look on EBay but there were none in my price range, then my rider Ash Norrington informed me of a pair of PVM 320mm discs and an AP Racing 6 pot caliper for sale on the Mono website. They were being sold by Mick James he of Team James, (current European Supermono championship team with rider Mark Lawes on Micks Pami BMW ), and when I spoke to him I was told the discs and brakes were fitted and tested for aprox 20 laps, upon which Mark decided he could not get on with them. My idea would be to run 1 disc on the right with the 6 pot caliper and Brembo master cylinder. I have yet to go and see them but anything Mick has is normally top notch gear and he is a very fair man to do business with.