Its going to be a long winter so whats better to do than buy a new race bike and start getting it ready for next season. So this is how i Bought it Current Spec. Bike was only ever used as a track bike Standard Motor Ohlins TTX Rear Shock Lightweight PVM rear wheel Cordona Quick Shifter with GP style shift full akraprovic race system Starlane gps3 laptimer PP tuning Clipons Rear sets Quarter Turn Throttle Thats her all loaded into the van ready to bring home As soon as I got it home I took fairings and tank off just to have a better look oooooh TTX I was really happy with how everything looked, the bike was in great condition and it was obvious it had been well kept. The only thing I found that I wasn't so happy about was that obviously the crash protectors that are on the bike where one of the cheep kind that didn't really bend like they are meant to when you crash the bike, the previous owner had had a lowside on it on the right hand side which had done bugger all damage but on closer inspection I noticed that the spacer between the frame and the engine is slightly loose probably meaning that the crash bar has bent the frame a bit. I think I'm going to get it checked out just for my own peace of mind but I'm not too worried because it seems to be a really small amount. The other problem with this is, obviously when the crash bar took a hit the bolt that goes into the engine mount seems to have shocked the threads and stripped a few of them, you can still get a bolt in really tight so maybe its still ok. If I end up taking the engine out of it I'll probably get it re threaded but at the same time its then a pain to get bolts for a different size at that side so the other option is just to get a longer bolt that goes through the engine mount so I can put a nut on the other end of it. Haven't made my mind up yet what to do. Heres where I found that the spacer has about half a mill of a gap between the frame and spacer which lets it move around a bit. Im pretty sure its meant to be tight So current thoughts about work I am going to carry out. MIght try a bazzaz traction control system for a bit of fun if not I'll put a power commander V on it Need a matching PVM light front wheel and discs As the bike had sat doing nothing for a year the front brakes are dragging so I'm doing to strip and clean them Brembo master cylinder Look into buying something like Ohlins cartridges for the front shocks New fairings + painted Full service plus check valve clearances Possibly look at buying a slipper clutch Short levers Remove water reservoir at the back of the engine - need to look into this to see if other people do it Set up base suspension settings Inspect bearings and replace as needed Replace hondas steering damper not sure with what brand yet Samco Hoses I'm sure the list will grow but this is the plan for now
As the title says I was also going to add some details about my VW transporter that I have been and will be working on to turn it into a van that I can go racing with at weekends with a bit of luxury This is going to be built up in several stages my end goal is to have something like this A the van with a Maggiolina bed on the roof, and awning out the side for the bike to sit in in the paddock and some sort of setup in the back of the van with seats and something to cook a bit of food on etc So first things first was to buy a van After I bought the van I thought I would do some cleaning up on the inside I painted the grey door cards / panels and made boxes to cover the wheel arches. I also stuffed as many of the panels as I could full of insulation The next plan was to build some sort of sleeping arrangement. I still want to be able to use the van as a van so it would have to be removable so I decided with the idea of building two kind of boxes that could be lifted in and out of the van. These boxes could be used and seats then extended to be used as a bed if required. when you wanted to turn them into the a bed you just fold out this flap and attach the legs After that I tidied it up a fair bit, levelled everything out, put at hatch on top of the boxes so we could store things in them and added handels to the box for easy lifting in and out of the van So the next thing to do was take it for a test. So me and the Mrs took off for the weekend into the Mountains to give it a go, note we also stuck a YBR125 in for some fun off road banter As I said this is probably going to change a bit over the coming months but its a start. Need to source and awning etc now and would really like to get that Maggiolina bed for the roof so we can use the space in the back of the van better
I'll be watching this thread with interest as I plan on doing something similar next year with a VW T5 Transporter, ideally a 4 motion with air con & cruise control. I plan on it being a camper van/trackday van so my needs will be very similar to yours.
Started to get a bit further tonight. Took the tank off and started getting ready to check the valve clearances. Looks like it will be a tight job not even too sure how easily the rocker cover will come off but will give it a go and see So this is how it is currently sitting A few parts have started to arrive It sucks living in Norway. Just moved here 6 months ago from N Ireland. Finding it hard to get parts. You are don't realise how spoilt for choice you are in the UK until you leave
Nice build some good ideas!! Im also doing the same thing with my rr08. I was wanting to remove the coolant tank behind engine aswell. What were you planning replacing it with? Just vent it into a catch tank? Craig
Yeah plan at the moment anyway is just to use one of these. I see all the wilson craig and padgets bikes use one of these just behing the front fairing HRC Parts HRC kit parts CBR600RR HRC parts Overflow bottle
If you remove the standard overflow bottle you need to replace it properly. I have 2, one for water and one for fuel, both piped with genuine HRC pipe into genuine HRC bottles in a HRC bottle bracket. That's the water overflow there. Tip, if you can't get the genuine HRC absorbent beads to go in the bottle, kitty litter does just as good!
Decided that doing the valve clearances without the radiator off would be a bit tricky so tonight I took the radiator off and drained the coolant from the bike. I'm going to take the two fans off the radiator. Does anyone know if they are disconnected if I will get an error light on the dash? I started looking at attaching the new GB Engine covers but it doesn't look like the old carbon fibre covers are going to come off too easily. Has anyone ever tried this before?
Both Bottles are not in that Pic, it has a bottle each for fuel & water. fuel overflow runs along frame rails and follows clutch hose up to bottle
haven't done much to the bike over the last few months. Living in Norway at the moment and when the temperature in the garage is -15ºC on a warm night it doesn't inspire you to go out. However today I decided to get stuck back in and have a few pics to update you on my progress fitted some samco hoses changed the clutch to the "upgraded" newer one apparently there was a recall on some 08 blade clutches Got too cold sitting in the garage at -15. couldn't feel my hands So moved inside and stripped the brakes to give them a good clean Front forks are currently away getting a service and piston kit installed. Once they are back I'll be fitting brakes, new brembo master cylinder and new brake lines. Then only jobs really left will be to fit a power commander / bazzaz not sure what one yet Fit a better steering damper and to change all the bearings in my wheels I'm sure a fair few more things will appear along the way but looking forward to getting her out
Didn't in the end need to retap or helicoil thankfully. New R&G protectors with new bolts went straight in and torqued up beautifully so was happy about that Still waiting for my forks to come back so haven't really been able to do that much apart from re fit my rear caliper, new brake line and new HRC brake fluid tube.
