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.