Recap.
It started last year on my patio and dribbled fuel everywhere.
I ran it up and down the street a bit and it worked pretty good.
I took it to Cadwell Park and it was...well lets tell the story..
Firstly I must explain the whole sorry tale.
I bought a van. A Vivaro. I like vans more than cars and the vivaro 1.9dci looked to be a fab investment - fast, good on fuel and plenty of room to put pushbikes, dog, wife in the back. It would also make going to track days easier and cheaper.
Life with the vivaro started well but after a month or so it got difficult to start. This is not a blog about Vivaros and the millions of things that 'could be wrong' but I spent months trying to fix it and in the end sold it as a non runner. After weeks of oily hell I concluded it needed a new engine and by that time had lost heart. I will never again own a Vauxhall (I know its a renault really) every Vauxhall I have owned, apart from an old Cavalier, has been rubbish. Buying a Vauxhall is like taking on an expensive time consuming hobby.
Why am I telling you? Well its for 2 reasons.
1. I sickened myself with spanners so much I lost interest in the 500
2. I had to take my 500 to Cadwell Park on a bike trailer; not just any trailer, one that was simply a lump of submarine floor stolen from the shipyard with a pair of 10" wheels tacked on the back corners.
I wasn't happy and even now after 6 months the feeling of hate for that van still gets me.
That was a bit indulgent so back to the bike..
Cadwell.
The 500 arrived in one piece next to Col's 250 on the submarine trailer. We stayed in a tent! I dont like tents, they are hard work damp cold things. We went for briefing and listened to some codger go on for ages - it was hot in that room, we were all in our leathers and this bloke wouldnt shut up. Once he finished the tannoy announced it was foggy (not Carl) so we had to wait for it to clear.
Finally on track I chose to go with the beginners as I would be taking it easy with the new motor. It dribbled fuel in the pit area and a bloke stopped me for a minute or so while I pretended to fix it. Finally out on the tarmac and....it was...erm....OK.
It didn't break down but was very under geared, I got my sums a bit wrong. The powervalve wasn't working so it felt a bit flat. On the plus side it had whopping big dollops of power everywhere, braked like the best braking bike ever (I'm not joking either) but most importantly it went in a straight line so my frame machining (see old posts) had worked.
Riding in a beginners group was a bad idea - Motorcycling equivalent of Total Wipeout. I'm not fast but I can at least stay on the grey bit and off the green stuff either side of it.
2nd session and I'm starting to smile. The bike hadn't rattled to pieces in its first 20 minutes and the engine hadnt blown up so this session was going to be less stressful. I started off easy then gradually upped the pace and lean angles. It was quick and was going round bends pretty good. I went round the gooseneck, passed a few wobbly beginners and thought I would be scratching all the way round on my next lap. Then I lost the gears. That was it for the day.
I had a run on Cols 250 in the pm then some bloke fell off and had to be airlifted off the circuit.
Back on the sub floor and we cruised back to South Cumbria in Cols Volvo. Back at base the Devil Vivaro sat on my drive looking at me so I spat on it.
RGV gear problem turned out to be simple. The pawl / ratchet mech behind the clutch had come out of mesh - the arm had rolled out of the drum so was waggling around in fresh air (oil). This had happened as the selector shaft running through the engine had too much end float, probably due to the lack of a front sprocket cover holding the shaft with the selector arm. The standard motor must use the selector to control the end float (primative) I have fitted a 'Dent' shift shaft support and now put a spacer on the shaft to lock the end float, I don't expect to the loose the gears again like I did.
Its a shame I couldn't have fixed it at at the track but was an engine out job as the clutch cover is sat inside the frame rails.
Since then the bike has sat doing very little in thedampgarage. I neglected it for a month and paid the price - the alloy started to tarnish while I continued to flog away with my dead horse Vivaro. I sold the van, bought a Vito and put the 500 back in the house.
Oh, almost forgot - I bought 2 Yamaha FZR 400's for track fun and a tatty wet weather alternative to the 500 for 2013. I sold one and took the other to Anglesey - Not bad!
PAINT
Nothing like getting motivated like having something to look at so I decided to put some colour on it.
I rang around, got the usual answers and decided not to go with the usual painters. I found Custom Paint and Airbrush in Darwen, I spoke with Mark and he seemed to be on my wavelength so I handed the bodywork over just before Christmas and started sketching my design.
And I put an off centre feature on it
Then Mark pointed some colour at it
Then it came home. MEGA!
It looks better with a few stickers too.
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