seat is on!

Just a few photos of the sprayed seat in situ.

TZ Droopy seat

Picked up the sprayed TZ seat today from Thetford Finishing Ltd, as you can see Dave has done a grand job with the Two Pack paint. I was surprised how heavy the paint makes it, this was the lighter of the two seats that Ray from LRM Fibreglass had made me. He also called today to say the fairing is ready to pick up anytime I want so looking to collect it either Friday or Sunday.

The parts arrived for the Del Orto carb today and although its my birfday I crept into the garage and assembled the carb using the new seals, gaskets and jets.

Its a waiting game now!

I have ordered some new parts and a service kit for the Del Orto carb from Eurocarb Ltd and hopefully they should be with me in the next few days, so to be prepared for them I stripped and cleaned the carb. I would have liked to have had cleaned in the Ultrasonic cleaner which woulkd take time, something that I dont have a lot of. The bike needs to be race ready in just over two weeks and the motor still has to be built! DOH.
I also sprayed the exhausts after they were sand blasted by Nick, (BPS), just hope I can remember what pipe goes where?

I had fitted the longer rear brake line to the front while I was working out the caliper bracket so I changed the line for one that Ash had kindly donated, and to my surprise it only took about 15 minutes with rebleeding the system too, I must be geeting good.

Steve has said the engine will be ready for this weekend. I had to order another gear lever where the link arm is facing uppermost as the one I have impedes on the exhaust mount. Also picked up the repaired rear wheel from Abba ltd, they have done a fine job but alas the front wheel was too damaged to repair so Im on the look out for a TZ front 17" x 3.5" for the wets.

Ash will be taking the bike when its running to have the rear caliper mount made, hopefully he can turn it around pretty quick because I would really like to get the bike on the dyno before the first race just to see what the motor is kicking out.

My namesake in Indiana seems to have sorted his jetting problem but he wont know until he has a blast at his "Out Laws" place in the country, hope it goes to plan Dave.

It never rains!!

Just had a call from Steve, the guy that prepares my engines, he was heating the crankcases to fit the new bearings when he found one of the cases has a crack and cannot be used. He will have to use the cases from my spare motor but they will have to be machined out to accomodate the bigger barrel, so more expense but essential if the bike is to be ready for the first race at Cadwell, May 16th. Steve assured me it will be ready for next weekend, and as that is a bank holiday I aim to get the engine in and hopefully fire her up, then it will be down to the dyno to find out what the motor is capable of doing.

My namesake in Indiana, USA has also run into problems with the jetting on hi Yamaha 400 so if you can give him any words of advice check out his blob, http://davesfzr400.blogspot.com (click on the link from my site).

Ash at Snetterton

Ash Norrington, (my rider for 2009), was attending a track day on his Honda Fireblade at Snetterton so as I was working in the area I dropped by. He seemed quite comfortable on the bike even though he has not had much track time this year. All was going well until he decided to change groups so he was in the same as his 2009 team mate Andy Duncan, (Tigcraft Yamaha). Andy had already gone out onto the circuit when Ash arrived back with the amended wrist band and hastily got onto the circuit himself, I went to watch from Pit lane and on his first flying lap Ash was really motoring. As he went out of view into Riches Corner I looked back to see where Andy was, just then the red flags were waved and the session was called to a halt. As the riders came back in I could not see Ash! I waited a few minutes before strolling back and as I neared I could see the tell tale signs of mud and grass caught in the tyre wall. Ash was unhurt apart from a bashed knee and a slight headache, the bike was not badly damaged, just cosmetic but Ash said he was sticking to Mono's from now on!! Needless to say I did mention that if he done that to my bike there would be trouble!! he let out a nervous laugh.....

Just a quick update

I haven't had chance to do much on the bike this week but I have managed to sort a few things out! The 2nd gear from Rotax, Austria finally arrived this week so as soon as Steve gets back from his Easter break he can crack on with the engine, hopefully having it finished so it be be put back in next weekend. I also visited Ray of LRM Fibreglass to see what fairing would be better, I opted for the TZ250E which has a slightly wider front than the D, and Ray says it should be ready for me by the end of the week, however I may not have time to have it sprayed as it will need mounting when the engine and exhausts are in place in case of any alterations. The first meeting is at Cadwell Park, May 16th & 17th, then the following week at Angelsey, Ash has already said that he will not be doing this round as he will be unable to get time off work and the running costs will be coming out of one months budget. June sees the European Supermono Association racing at the British Superbike meeting at Snetterton, and if Ash is able to lose his novice vest he will be eligable to enter. I entered this race last year but came off at the Bombhole due to water running over the track, even so it is a prestigious event that can only be good for our class.

My name sake in Indiana, USA. has almost finished his Yamaha FZR400 and its looking the Dogs Swingers too, we have really hit it off yet we have never spoken,(something I intend to remedy in the near future!), and its uncanny how much alike we are, although Im sure he is a better rider than I was or ever will be!! I wish him the best in his racing.

TZ Droopy seat unit

I had purchased a TZ250E Droopy
seat unit from LRM Fibreglass several weeks ago and was very impressed with the quality, however in comparison to the original seat the new one was quite heavy. This was not a problem but I emailed Ray at LRM and expressed my views. I was not trying to get a discount or refund I just wanted to say that other makers of fairings and seats do not use as much glass and he may be able to cut the cost of manufature! Ray replied saying he was aware and as a gesture offered me another seat that is thinner FOC. I was gobsmacked that a company would offer this in the current climate and even offered to pay half, but Ray insisted that it will be gratis. Anyways I picked the seat up this morning and Ray explained that he had made it even thinner than he said, he has asked me to try it out and after drilling the mounting holes it was fitted in about 15 minutes, I had to make a few alterations, ie the oil filler cap is under the seat and it was a tad too long going towards the tank, but as you can see it looks the buisness. I have asked Ray for some LRM stickers as I will be more than happy to advertise his company as in this day and age there are not many firms that value their customers as much.

Starting to take shape

Well I managed to get into the garage and fabricate the front caliper bracket, Rob Hunt had kindly sent up a selection of wheel spacers so I could get the front wheel centralised. The making of the bracket turned out to be a tedious but rewarding job as the AP Racing 6 pot caliper and the 320mm dia PFM disc will stop a train me thinks. One downer to the day was when I positioned the other front wheel on the spindle I found that it was also buckled! so I have now 2 wheels that need straightening. I have been told they could be used but me being a perfectionist I want them to run true.

I was contacted recently by a guy from Indiana, USA and at first thought that it was an April fools joke, his name was Dave Bennett!! yes there is more than one of us, " Oh bugger" I hear you cry! he is also carrying out a bike rebuild, a Yamaha FZR400 that he intends to race, it also turns out we have a lot in common and he is a genuine guy that loves racing bikes so check out his blog: http://davesfzr400.blogspot.com/