What's the hurry?

So what's the hurry in finishing a project? This started in 2010, went pretty quick and was sort of together in 2012. Got some paint on it and it's kind of sat around doing nothing since.
I'm not bored with it, far from it, but I'm wanting track time when I go to a circuit and not to spend most of the day playing with spanners. The RGV does like a spanner on it.

I did Cadwell on it last year and had a problem with a spacer on the output shaft resulting in a steady mist of gear oil onto the rear tyre. Pitching into corners was interesting and I lost the back a few times before I realised I'd lubricated the bit that I wanted to be grippy. End of session.

I then took it to raf valley last autumn and the carbs did their usual trick of dribbling fuel oil over the track and my rear tyre again. Shame because it lifted its heels quite well in places. Since then I've fitted new fuel valves from the USA- some fancy high flow things. Apparently the fuel valves are a standard problem.
Also fortunately I have a spare bike for attending trackdays - an old ducati 748. It's brilliant. It suits me because it's old, noisy, unreliable and regarded as a bit rubbish by today's standards. Perfect for embarrassing fireblades then.

Got a lot going on this year so I've not had time to play with motorbikes. I've just been back to valley and decided to take the RGV at the last minute. I've done nothing to it since fitting the fuel valves but thought I might have 20 minutes on it if the weather was ok.
To cut a long story short I went out on it in the afternoon while some amateurs tried to fit tyres to the duke. Obviously it drew a bit of attention, four pipes ringing and castrol A747 smoke and I'm the pied piper.
I did four laps. First lap was steady trying to get some heat in the hoops. Second lap and starting to lean it a bit. Third lap and it's starting to feel more settled and planted in the corners (oil must be getting rubbed off now) so in thinking the next lap and I'll have my knees on the floor. Then it started raining so that was the end of that.
I wasn't quick but I was 100 times faster than the bloke with a genuine loris capriosi desmodesicci.

Suspension is too firm so I'm going to take it to maxton. It handles but you'd need to be riding at 100% for the current set up to make sense. I'm too old for 100%.
Rear tyre is wasted. It's had a steady spray of oil from day one so it feels as you would expect a lubricated tyre to feel.
Brakes are binary. I'm going to put an rcs master cylinder on to soften things up a bit. To be honest they are not too harsh (rode worse) and riding at 100% they would be perfect. The original disc/nissin caliper set up was just perfect.

Engine...it sounds ace.

Oh and yes it goes like f






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Location:Victoria Park,Ulverston,United Kingdom

'ere we go again

This blog writing is not as easy as you might think. 2 posts is 12 months is hard work.

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.

 Then I went to him (in my Vito) with the bike and we planned it out

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.

It needs a decent photo but its too cold to take it outside and its in bits again now. Next blog will show the guts again as I've put Brembo's on and a Tanslogic. Nice!



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Smoke and Noise

It lives! It makes a noise and it sounds terrific.

I need to get some pics of the various detail bits but this is what has happened since christmas.

Engine -
This was pretty much done in the last post so nothing has really changed other than its been filled with Silkolene Light gear oil and Pro Cool.

I have kept the RGV radiator as it fits it nicely. I hacked the top off an old RGV thermostat housing to get the bit where the cap attaches. I then fitted this to the radiator at the r/h side fill plug using a short length of hose. This has given it a new fill point and entry point for the expansion system. Simples! It works a treat and looks like it should be there, Expansion tank is from a ZX6 (I think) and is mounted under the clocks where a headlamp would live.

Kickstart -
This clouts the dry clutch case. The Nova unit sticks out a long way so gets in the way of the swing of the kick. I have Sellotaped a bit of cardboard on it but i think the kick start will be left off. I think rolling starters look ace and will add to the occasion of running the bike so I'm going to get one. I might make one.

Oil.
Castrol A747. Expensive but smells good and will do a good job of keeping the pistons moving Depending on the occasion I will run 33:1 - 40:1

Fuel.
I have been a little paranoid about feeding the carbs with plenty of fuel. The standard RGV tap would not flow enough to feed 4 thirsty carbs so I did a porting job on it. The I drilled a second outlet on the tap body opposite the first one. I opened out the area between the outlets to add a bit of extra volume.
The 'bobbin / shuttle' thing got opened up in the centre as much as I could without breaking though the plastic wall and also the the two input ports were opened up to 6mm dia each.
I offset milled the fuel ways fro the tank pick-ups so these are both 6mm diameter.
I also repositioned the shuttle position on the tap so now it only has 'on' or 'off'. In the 'on' position it flows through both channels - reserve and on.
The result - It howls fuel through both lines and the off position works.

Electrics
I made a harness from a couple of old RGV ones that where stashed in the back of thedampgarage.
Everything works apart from the Zeeltronic ignition. This is not good and I have the original spec spark box fitted at the moment.



Post note:
This post has sat as a draft for months so is unfinished. I've published it anyway but a newer post exists and the detail in this will be discussed with pictures later.

The Lazy Blogger!

I intended to keep this up to date and post fairly regularly. Well 9 months is a little longer than I had in mind but here goes..

Its not finished.

I will summarise 2012 and promise to publish some tech
Since the start of the year I got it together in the spare room and rolled it out of the house on the 5th of May. Not painted and far from finished I put a litre of premix in the top and swung the lick start. At 2:15 pm, on only the 4th kick, it crackled into life. To say I felt like a kid at Christmas do doesn't come close and I celebrated with extended arms like when Lineker equalised against West Germany in 1990. (I didn't poo my pants though)

It ran for a few minutes, the engine reached 60˚C and stopped because it had drank its first litre of optimax mixed with Castrol A747. I suppose I should have gone with a Motul oil in keeping with Suzuki's of the era but the H*nda oil is 'reassuringly expensive', © Stella Artois, and it made my patio smell like Donnington Park used to through the 90's.
As for the sound; Its like 4 125cc motoX bikes. Brilliant.
So it smelled great, sounded amazing and proved itself to be soundly put together by living after only 4 prods on the starting handle. I then put another litre of fuel in, to get another fix, and it dribbled out all over the floor from the front right carb. This carb has since that day proved itself to reliably dribble fuel all over the floor unless kept constantly full of fuel under the pressure of the tank. If I turn the fuel off, as you would when its parked, then switch it back on it simply gushes out. Ive tried setting it up a couple of times and cant see anything wrong so I will get a service kit fitted and try again. I have noticed a bit of 'witnessing' on the float tab from the needle valve and suspect this my be what is causing the problem. I think this is to be expected on 30 year old engine bits. On the plus side the fuel/oil mix killed the moss that grows between my block pavers, I should have pushed it around a bit and killed all of it on the patio.          

During the build I had a H*nda RS250 GP fairing and slowly been modifying it to fit round the filters and pipes. Along the way I took moulds of the design (see further down the post) but continued to hack away at it and play with the cut aways. I have since decided that it looked horrible and started again as you will see at the end.
Here is the bike on the day it came to life wearing the experimental (and gay) fairing.

I will go through some of the details about the build over the next few weeks. I've got loads to show and not going to put it all in one post but here is a list of stuff that was fitted in May.

• Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa  - BSB compound as I dont have tyre warmers (yet)
• Rear brake calliper from a Husqvarner 610tc on a modified carrier (will be replaced this winter)
• Front brake - Brembo 19x20 master cylinder, HEL lines, Yam R6 gold spot callipers with EBC EPFA,HH pads. These are now replaced with Brembo callipers but to be honest I've never felt a brake as good as it was with the R6 blocks. Amazing power and feel, just perfect.
• New '90 weight Ohlins spring - the original was too firm.
• Tyga carbon front fender and hugger.
• Tyga rearsets
• Harris clip ons.
• Harris shorty folding levers (yummy)
• KOSO RX1N clocks (I'm not impressed to be honest) Biketec lap timer and a gear indicator from China
• Remote span adjuster for the Brembo master cylinder (not needed but I think it looks cool)
• Home made wire harness with provision for a horn and brake light circuit.
• Zeeltronic programmable ignition and powervalve control 
• Stage 6 throttle (bit of 50cc porn)
• etc..

Ignition problems

I've not had much success with the Zeeltronic unit. To be honest I think its my own fault in that I bought it second hand and it is the older 3 box system without powerjet solenoid outputs (I think the older one is an 8 BIT processor and the new one is 16 BIT) Anyway it doesn't work so I've sent it to the Tuningworks for investigation. It might be due to my own design of harness but the standard CDI works perfectly so I feel sure the problem is in the Zeel CDI. The Powervalve control is fitted and works but Ive had to take the pick up from a coil of wire wrapped around a HT lead. Ive had to do the same to get a signal to the Rev counter.

If my Zeel unit is goosed then I'll get a new one with the extra inputs and outputs. These may come in handy over the next few years as I plan to develop the engine and carburettors (TMX's obviously)

Carburation problems

As written about above. Fuel howls out of one carb. other than that it is fine.

Other problems

lots of little things but none worth writing about tonight.

The first ride...

Sometime in June I finally engaged 1st gear and let the engine propel me up the street. Lots of smoke and neighbours out etc. 

I think it's normal for the first few metres to be a mix of good and bad? well it was ok but harsh. The suspension felt like there wasn't any and the engine bogged down at low revs so a bit of clutch slip was needed to get it moving. The bars were positioned too open, no seat foam, back brake was making a scratching noise and then all the fuel pee'd on the floor again. On the plus side it pulled like a b***ard and sounded like a hairy arse two stroke should.

The second ride...

The test track was the same (my street) so limited to 1st and 2nd gear only. New Ohlins spring fitted on the back and front backed off as far as possible so the suspension did at least move and respond the lumps under the wheels. Back brake noise was a slight alignment issue and fixed with a few thou removed by my little mill lathe thing.

This time I let it warm more and I risked a 'nip round the block'. Wow! Now it was starting to clear its throat and the bogging down had gone. coming back up the street the front end was not wanting to stay on the floor in any gear and at almost any revs. In first the front would lift as soon as you set off; it has so much torque and no weight to keep it down apart from me. It really surprised me how massive the power is all the way through. I took my GSXR out to compare and I would say the RGV pulls far stronger through the rev range but I suppose the poor old gixer is shoving near 200kgs plus the rider.

Back in bits again.

After these little excursions I took had some snagging jobs to sort and started to dislike the fairing. I felt it looked like a bad guy from a bad movie. I had my moulds from an earlier version to fall back on but decided to start again...

The family

The earlier fairing in gel coat

A trip to South Manchester with work lead me to call round to see the chap at Jap4 Performance. I left with a Tyga Aprilia RS250 GP fairing and a big smile. I took it home and fitted it in a couple of hours which is not surprising when you consider the Aprilia is pretty much the same as an RGV except for a price tag and some sexy curves. What was surprising is the width of the RS bodywork and how it comfortably wrapped around the 500 motor fitted with RG500.com pan filters. Even the width in the bellypan allowed the two cambers to run without touching it and exit easily. Tyga stuff is pretty good quality and the finishing is very good for a fibreglass fairing. It is not as pretty on the front as the H*nda's more aggressive sharp and pointy nose but overall it looks contemporary and 'made for the bike'. Everything fits perfectly and the steering is not hindered anywhere. 

In the words of Keith Lemon - 'OOOSH!'

It needs some paint and I've since done some work to the seat unit so the angle at the front matches the frame and fairing - it looks much better. I have also poked some crash bobbins through the bellypan, taken from the bottom engine mount, as I want to try and protect that clutch if it goes down,

I thought it looked big with a fairing fitted, especially after seeing it for so long as just a frame and engine. I put it next to my RGV250K (now sold :-/ ) and it looked tiny which is what I always wanted.

Another thing compared to the 250 - It is a lot lighter. Now I know the engine is a lump compared to the 250 but everything else is lighter including wheels, forks, exhausts etc. In total it is noticeably a lot lighter just pushing it around and the bike can be easily picked up at the front or back. I will weigh it one day soon.

Here it is along with the 250 to show how the size compares. if you have had a 250K you will know they are a small bike and the 500 looks smaller. Cool.

not the best pic but you get the idea

Cadwell Park - The first time it went passed 3rd gear.

Next post...It works but it broke and of course the fuel pee'd out again.

2011 New Years Eve post

New Years eve and i'm posting about my bike - no comments are required, I know how sad it is.

I'm not going to write much, the pictures say it all...

On the office table - Cranks in position and the clutch half finished. 1 week before Christmas.

The frame needed some more grinding to allow for the gearbox / screws but it went in easily.

Taken today. It looks like a motorbike. I will put some details in my next post.

And finally somebody is happy. I know he will probably nick off on it when I'm out one day and crash it but thats kids for you.

Yo Ho Ho! Its Christmas already and still not running

I've not posted for a while because not a lot has happened but this last two weeks has seen a fair bit of progress. Lets start at the engine...

The top end came back from Stan Stevens who, contrary to what I'd been led to believe, could not have been more helpful and happy to discuss my project. Top Bloke. He told me that his biography was coming out which I cant imagine my wife being too bothered about but for those of us that the mere mention of his name back in the 80's meant the bike was at least 20mph quicker than the others I'm sure it will be an interesting read.
Back then LC's nipping up every week was simply part of the joy of tuned two stroke ownership and in a weird way meant it must be super fast if it broke down a lot. Thankfully I've grown up and moved on a bit realising those LC's had 18 year olds owning them so were bound to break down.
Regarding the tune it came with new pistons / bored and is stage 3. To be honest the ports didn't look as big as I'd expected but I'm not familiar with RG500 standard porting so maybe I would see the difference if I could compare standard barrels. I have looked at a lot of RGV barrels this year and they have huge ports so i'm probably just not used to the old school RG sizing. Obviously Stan's work was well finished - tops of the port windows were better than my tooth fillings but the knifing on the transfers was not as blended as I would have done myself. I thought about doing some extra work on them but decided to leave it as I may spend some time working this area along with the crank cases when it comes apart in a year or so for rings.

So I built the bottom end and was about to fit the cylinders when I decided that I needed to get the cranks done. I didn't really want to because of the extra £££ and felt sure the cranks I had were still perfectly fine but I knew this was being stupid so came to my senses and sent them off. The base engine was on original bores that were in near perfect second hand condition so I would estimate it had done 12k max. the cranks should still be good? Its not important now because I gave them to Armstrong Engineering (Westgate Road, Newcastle) who gave them back with fresh mains, seals and big ends.
Nice blokes at ARD - I went up and watched a video* taken in the 90's of some general GSXR hooligan behaviour taken outside the shop, when biking was in its heyday. Happy times...
*video - big black rectangular thing with 10 miles of magnetic tape in it that was used before SKY+ / flash memory to record stuff on tv and you had to rewind the tape at the end. I'd forgotten how crap they were.


While I was waiting for the engine bits to arrive I turned my attention back to the chassis, specifically the back wheel. I spent another evening with it on the bench getting measured and aligned so I could be sure of the spacing required around the wheel and also how much I needed to move the sprocket carrier inboard to get the chain to line up.
11mm needed to come out of the wheel / carrier in order to get things in line.

Finding a Lathe big enough to take a wheel was not going to be easy so I asked around some people I know in various engineering shops but wanted to do it myself really so I thought about things and came up with this..

Stop laughing..
This is my Emco Compact 5 lathe and milling head, on its side on top of a tool box. The wheel is fastened to a vice with an old wheel spindle.
Using this contraption I machined 9mm away from the hub. I used a fly cutter and rotated the wheel (feeding) the cutter taking 0.3 - 0.6 mm cuts each pass. I was able to do this work without touching the bearing housings and the carrier aligns with its own bearing so I felt comfortable that any slight concentricity run out should be fine but I was pleased (and amazed) to find the surfaces had not run out more than 0.15mm. Proper Job!
I had to brace the Emco much more than shown in the above photo. I had a mix of ratchet straps, wooden sticks and steel bars holding it as rigid as possible against the roof. It worked.

A quick blast on Cols lathe got the carrier adjusted and some spacers produced. The wheel fits perfectly but the rear brake carrier wont carry any callipers that I have to hand in TDG. I intend to use the simple lightweight Brembo unit used on the Aprilia RS250 so the little Emco will be put the right way up and produce something alloy and shiney for this. (the Suzuki 4 pot rear calliper is easily twice the weight of the Brembo)

So the chassis is rolling and the engine is all on site and that brings me up to the start of the Christmas break. Things have moved pretty rapidly this week but I need to get some piccys before I post the details - It is terrific! Engine fitted, top end half complete, fairing being fitted.

On the down side (or up side for me and the RGV) I have moved it out of thedampgarage. Not only is it soaking wet with rain finding holes in the roof but the cold is keeping a constant layer of moisture on all my lovely polished aluminium.
It's living next to a heater in theoldofficeatthebackofthehouse but I'm not starting another blog.

Will try to get the progress published before the end of 2011. Crickey! that gives me 23hrs and 53minutes!

What summer?

Another damp and cold summer, now with added wind for September and the damp garage has become the 'bloody soaking wet' garage due to several holes in the roof. The roof is cheap rubbish and it is old but I think it has taken some impacts from the tree that shadows it. One day TDG will be a nice brick built job with a slate roof but for now I'm going to splodge some roof mastic on and try to get to 2012.

As for the 500 it's been a phase of investment. Some nice bits and pieces plus the star of the show - nova gearbox.

Let's start with the motor.
Engine painted with PJ1 and new gaskets and stuff from Crooks Suzuki and I started the reassembly.

Fitting the nova box is well explained on the website and the version they sell looks a lot nicer than the cast thing shown on line. Gears are gears but they look nice.




All top quality kit and even I can figure out that the original ratios are hopeless.
Not so good is the fact that you have to reuse a bush on the primary gear and also use the Suzuki clutch arm / shaft. Not only that but there is NO warranty. As a customer I probably want too much but for over £3k I don't think a simple steel bush and a nice CNC arm is a lot to expect.
Sadly this dampened the nova fitting party experience for me a bit and it got worse when I fitted the clutch case to the engine and the anodising fell off. To be fair to Nova they don't do the anodising and anyone who has been involved with manufacture will know you are only as good as your suppliers. Nova know the anodising has issues and have offered to sort it (as you would expect) so let's see what I end up with. I sent both covers to them as they were different shades of black, I want them to match. Silver might look nicer.




The top end is still with Stan Stevens. He has had a bit of a health scare so obviously not working to his full capacity but it will be done mid September. Stan identified that one of my induction rotors was from a gamma 400 so this is getting sorted at the same time as the tune.
I'm going to run it without touching the crank. Risky? Maybe but I think its all good, in as much as you can tell. I will do the crank next year when I've got some £££ back in my account and will look to what is available to improve the original setup.

Frame
I got an ohlins unit from an old CBR600. It is 295 eye length which is shorter than the Gsxr unit I tried but I feel the back end was a little too high when I built it in the house and this is due to the larger wheel diameter from the 5.5 180 tyre. I have fitted the ohlins using a VJ21 upper shock mount as it is a little shorter and therefore raises the back a little so this compensates for the shorter shock length. The result is that the back end is around the same as before, maybe 1/2 inch lower. The new shock has a remote reservoir which will help not to get in the way of the two rear chambers.



Wheel alignment is done, well it is at least measured and straight.
An afternoon with some steel rulers, vernier callipers and string got the rear wheel straight and in line with the front. The rear wheel is going to need machining to get the sprocket pushed in and the chain will end up nearly touching the tyre - done this before on my yamma gamma without any issues.









It's nice that this being done on my wooden bench.

Finally I tried a seat unit on from a fireblade. Sick!








It's going to be good i reckon.

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Quick update part deux

The frame....
The frame I got from mr C in stafford turned out to be less than perfect. It's not scratched or dented and the history is fine but it had seriously oval steering bearing cups. Apparently this is not unusual on Rgv frames and is blamed a lot on braking, endo's and wheelies. I must admit I find this a bit difficult to accept and think it's more likely due to the fact that most have been crashed.
Crashing rgv's is very easy and if you had just got off a 125 on to a 250 I would think an impact is inevitable. The thing with the 250 is it's gutless and struggles to pull 5th at legal speeds so you knock it down a few, gas it and suddenly you are doing 100mph and that corner is right under you....bump!
I digress, sorry

So the bottom bearing cup was loose but not unserviceable. A bit of loctite retainer has it held strong so that will work. The top cup was stretched by 0.70mm!
The Gsxr front end uses a 30mm steering tube, the Rgv one is 26 I think. Anyway the upper bearing cup was 47mm and a 30/47 taper bearing is not available but a 30/48 was. So it's simple - open up the 47 diameter (47.70 in places) to 48. All I needed was a person to do it...
Spondon....££££!!!!!
Local engineers not interested
I tried to get the tool room to do it at workout they didn't seem keen to do foreigners (a bit odd)
Local blokes with various machines were a bit scared of the job or too busy.

I think the truth is that people were a bit frightened of the job and not sure how to do it. Well if you want a job doing right you should do it yourself....so I did.



Sadly I didn't have a horizontal boring machine handy or any kind of vertical machine either (like the Bridgeport that I've since acquired) but col has a lathe so that would have to do.
Basically I used the steering tube between centres to align everything and then hold the frame upright against the tool post with g-clamps. Once set in position I put a boring tool in a small 4 jaw, set it to cut 47.95 diameter and put it in the big 3 jaw.


I turned it our by hand. Look. I was quite pleased. It must be said that i took 3 or 4 attempts to position the frame and probably took 10 hours to get set. It's only cheap if it's your own time. Anyway all done and everything went together great. The bottom taper bearing was available in the right sizes without any machining which was good news.



Sweet.


Next was the swingarm. No real drama, just required the removal of 5.5mm off each end of the axle and new needle rollers. I then took 11.00mm from the internal bearing spacer. It needs some different shims making but nothing difficult.
The frame rearset mounts needed the inner edges filing back a bit to give clearance but that's all and it went in 'dreamy'.
I got a gaxr600 k8 shock from eBay to see if it would work. Shock length is the same as Rgv but the reservoir is attached. Directly to the shock near the upper mounting. I've been told hat it is a good upgrade but I want an ohlins unit and Gsxr ones are everywhere so I should get s good deal on one if I can get one to fit.
The swingarm has retained the aprilia linkage because it uses the same distance angles as the vh22 (did you hear that you posh aprilia owners?)

Front end on and a swing arm fitted. You know where this went....


Mega!
The subframe is 11mm higher at the end than it would be with a standard swingarm and shock. I think that is close enough.

So next I need to get the Gsxr rear wheel aligned and the sprocket carrier positioned.
So I got the back wheel and.... Well have a look.



Double mega!

Then I had to try some clothes on it.



Triple mega!



Quadle mega!

It's better than porn. Well it was until that fat bloke sat on it...



It's tiny. I'm talking about the bike.
I think I'm going to have a pretty cool looking GP bike in the end. If it has 110bhp and weighs 140 kgs it will be as good as it looks.
Why did I not do this years ago?

Quick Update for summer

Engine

Sir Stan Stevens has the top end. He was away in France on his hols all of June and has had a bit of a health issue which has slowed his return to work. Get Well Soon Stan!
Anyway I spoke with him to discuss if I should go for a 570cc oversize (plus tune) as the cost of replacing pistons etc would make it no more expensive to do. Stan put me off, or should I say put me right, by pointing out that a good set of barrels is worth keeping. Oversizing is fine when the barrels have gone to their last re-bore size but other than that it is worth keeping them standard and prolonging their life. He did say that more power comes with 570, as you would expect, but it's not a huge amount more and is it really worth it???? I agreed with him, bid him a speedy recovery and hung up.

Mark at Performance Fabs has the carbs and they are getting bored out to the max. I also bought a shift shaft support.
I called in at his place and was a little surprised to see it was at the back of his house. from the outside it looks nothing but inside it is pretty smart with 500cc goodies and projects everywhere. NICE!

Frame
Success! I had some problems with it but these are now fixed. details in the next post.

Spring into action?

It's June and the need for the 500 is stronger than ever having done a trackday on the 250. The little 'V' was amazing on the track and managed to live with modern 600's, with a better pilot it would have got past them too. My mate has one too but fitted with slicks and a '22 back end. We both went well and thought how cool it was to live with modern race kit on 20 year old smokers. Things obviously haven't moved on as much as the marketing men tell you.

One thing is clear though - that handling and double the power is going to be quite a ride.

So lets discuss power.
After several months of deliberating the engine spec I have made my choices.
Stan Stevens stage 3
Carbs bored
Programable ignition
Straight cut primary gears
Some tidying up in the crank cases
Lomas pipes
Air boxes in the fairing
Nova gear train and dry clutch.

That should give me over 100 bhp easily, maybe 110???
I thought about doing the bdk engineering Rgv 250 top ends conversion but I feared it would have hidden complications and I'm not sure it actually does what bdk claim. I followed a forum link and after a lot of messing it managed to crack 115. To be honest I would be happy to mess but I want it running this year so that meant using the rg5 top end. I called Graham File but it was mega pricey. I suspect that he would do the best job but it was just too much.
Mark at PF would be likely to do a decent job but he gave me a strange reply on the forum when I asked about which top end to go with so I've chosen to give my hard earned to the godfather of 2 stroke tuning. At least I know it will work even though I could maybe get more bhp going elsewhere. I got a forum response saying how good the Stan tune was, it's a safe way to go.

As for carbs I think opening them up has been done loads of times and proven technology. As the finished bike will live for track days with the throttle wide open, bigger carbs will be beneficial.
Timing is an area where it's obvious I will need to work. I like the idea of two maps and a switch but that's just showing off. I will buy an off the shelf solution here.

Gearbox- like everyone else I love the Nova racing unit but £3k is lottery money. My box has some wear so that is enough excuse enough to borrow some wedge and get one. Again, my track day intentions are going to destroy a gearbox with any weakness so one is going in. Anyway, dry clutches are the shizzle.

Bodywork
I'm afraid it's coming from a h*nda



No- I'm not styling it like a dog. That is Elvis my aerodynamics expert consultant

The fairing hung on the pushbike is from an RSW 250 and is proper GP style. Mega. No headlamp (it's not having one) or mirrors. I will have to do a lot of cutting on the sides to get air in and I will try and reveal the clutch.
I've not got the back end yet but it's likely to be based on a k10 fireblade as it is small, simple (unlike new Gsxr) and will reveal the exhausts which is a look I want.

Colours
I'm going to go modern and keep the Suzuki race rep theme. I like the sert colours although a 500 gamma would be a stupid endurance racer choice but I'll steal the colours anyway (or at least be similar)



Looks good don't it?
I'm hoping for a similar cutaway to reveal the lovely engine goodies.
The best thing about this the White wheels. When I were a lad there was two rules for motorbikes :
1. Frames were polished
2. Wheels were White
As far as I'm concerned these ate still THE rules and all this black frame nonsense is just bring silly. And WTF is that gay blue purple thing on new gixxers? I'd sooner have it with hammerite!

Frame update
Nightmare. Clive flogged me one with egg shaped steering bearing cases. The top one is stretched by 0.7mm! I need to open it out for the Gsxr front end so I'm looking for a machine shop to not charge the earth. I might do it myself yet.
Oh yes, another thing. I've got an aprilia rs250 swingarm. It would be cool but it's got the usual dent on the right. I half expect rubbish from eBay but this was from an rgv250.co.uk forum member. You can't trust anyone these days. I will put some metal in and a sticker over it ( like all the rest)






The frame is progressing slowly.


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Finally reached the start line.

Its been a long time and many a late hour has been spent in the damp garage but today we finally generated smoke and noise from the RGV. I'm talking about the 250 not the 500.
Before I get to the 500 I'm going to indulge myself with a paragraph(s) and picture(s) about the VJ21.

When the 500 project turned up I chose to leave it alone until the 250 was complete. Inevitably this meant the 250 project took a different direction to what I set out to do and it has not reached the perfect Pepsi that I had in mind. What I mean is I took some shortcuts to get it out of the way.

Engine - Its a long story but It is wearing 250 L barrels (these take the 22DO pistons) - the porting is much larger than the K cylinders. The porting is still conservative compared to VJ22 but I wanted a standard type of engine and didn't want to start messing with the 2 stage powervalves on the '22. I had a set of 22 barrels and swapped them with Col (he will be mentioned again later) for the 250 L's.
I've lifted the barrels by 0.50mm over standard and machined the heads to step the combustion chamber into the barrels. Its running 0.80mm squish and the combustion area has been profiled to give just over 13:1 UCCR so I'm close to the limit of what I can get away with from the Shell forecourt. I'll see how hot it gets and might end up chucking a splash of Ethanol in the fuel to cool it but we'll see. Other than that the engine is bog standard so it should run pretty good but the exhausts are likely to spoil things over 10k rpm but at least they might save the engine from being revved to death. I bet I end up with some fruity pipes after my first track day.
I worried that lifting the barrels would make it struggle at low revs but it pulls smooth and strong from tick over - I'm amazed - It's easily as smooth and progressive as my old 350 YPVS.

Anyway it ended up in non standard clothes but it does look pretty smart, just the smoked screen lets it down (I hate smoked screens) A replacement clear screen is on its way from Skidmarx via Crooks Suzuki and should be fitted at the weekend along with a fresh water pump. It will get an MOT, Tax then have a few shake down runs along the Coast Road then its off to some track days wearing some of the tons of spare bodywork I've got.

Remember that shell suit that you loved... My RGV is wearing it.

Looks pretty smart I think and I managed to get some Dunlop track sticky rubber for that 18 inch rear. Its all new, freshly painted and polished and feels nice and tight. the forks are GSXR400 because they have better damping but with standard springs (see Vincent Crabtree blog) and Goodridge front lines. what more dy'a want?

I have to say TA to Alan in Carlisle for the chat and bodywork. when building project bikes you meet loads of people who share a liking of garage tinkering, Ive met loads and it makes me laugh. I thought I had it bad but when I met Alan to do a deal for the body work I found he had 3 RGV's and a pair of GSXR250's all getting the treatment . I've got to hand it to you Al, you're mad for it and you will have a sweet collection in the end.

And here it is in its natural environment. I will get it a bag like what the GSXR has been in all winter. Side note - the GSXR has remained perfectly stored all winter and the alloy is gleaming as much now as the day I packed it. What a marvellous invention - a huge plastic bag.

lost in a world of rubbish. Note the Santa-Fe Express next to the GSXR, its a beast!

Now lets get back to business. The 500

Although I've restrained myself I have been doing some homework and bought an engine cradle from Mark at Performance Fabrications. It wasn't cheap at £230 but the quality is excellent so its a fair price for decent work. Ta.
I got a GSXR 750 rear wheel to match the front and it fits in the swing arm wearing a 180 even with the spindle forward in the slots. Chain line is going to be a challenge and I suspect the sprocket carrier is going to need some creative machining but I'll figure that out later. I'm pleased as I'll be able to get plenty of choice when it comes to putting tyres on.

Air filters. I suspect this is going to be the area that 500 owners ponder for eternity. the project came with some of those expensive filters from RG500.com however I might not bother with them.
I'm only guessing but I can imagine these motors dyno better than they actually achieve on the road because air must rush past the filters and almost pull air back out of the carbs at speed. I just cant see how  air is going to turn through 90 degrees in the area of a carb inlet when its moving at over 100 mph. With this in mind I'm favouring air boxes with good sized inlets in the fairing. Again I'm sure this is a well trodden path i'm on
I bought 2 sets of carbon airboxes from Germany so I can use these as a start point when i get to that point in the project.

Frame. No progress although I have had half an eye open for a decent after market shock. I would like something I can change the spring easily as I suspect I will need to change the spring rate to compensate for the heavier motor. maybe?

Bodywork. I fancied Tyga but I've gone off it. It is too obvious and been done to death. On top of that I think the back end is too big and the more I look at the overall shape I feel it looks like something from the mind of an American airplane designer of the 80's. It looks like a Boeing.
I want the back end to be short and the new Mito Evo is pretty cool but It might age quickly?? I like the look of it and I also like the look of the new Ducati Streetfighter, that would give a cool rear and the pipes would look great with it.
As for the fairing there is only one bike in the world I think is truly perfect and will age as well as the Ducati 916 design did. The Ducati Desmosedicci is the ultimate bike design and not just the bodywork. I spent some time with one and it really is as near perfect as you can imagine a bike can get. Worth every penny if you can afford it.
I'm tempted to try and get a Desmo fairing on my RGV but it will need some heavy modification as the Ducati blends into the tank and back end with unbroken lines between the panels. The back end has the exhausts exit out of the top where a pillion would be sat. I'm not sure about that bit but Ducati have made a beautiful job on the Desmo.
I need to decide before I write my project spec.

Engine. I'll go here in the next instalment

...and in the beginning. Day 1 of the rest of my life

Side note on my bench.
My dad made that bench when I was a kid - he was a joiner and used it to cut wood etc.
It has seen many bikes of mine..AP50(proper old one) AR50(s) DT50 RG250 YammaGamma YPVS(s) 350LC GSXR(s) WR400 KDX200 RGV250 etc, even a woman once. I cant remember them all but needless to say that the 500 will be worshiped at this Oily Alter. You can keep your bike lift!

2010 last post

The project is on pause at the moment while the 250 gets out of the way. This is not strictly true as I am still thinking about it, planning parts and keeping an eye out for bits.
My replacement frame turned up today.


Here it is before it gets the grinder.

I have been thinking a lot about the finished bike and what I want it to be. I have previously said that this is important for me to be able to plan and focus the project. I will post a design spec before I begin but in the meantime I have decided on a daylight only MOT so no lights etc.
Bodywork: I thought about ducati carbon but it's too complicated and fussy for my taste. Standard rgv is awful, I didn't like it in 1990 and it's not got better with age.
Tyga is and obvious choice and one I keep coming back to. It is simple, contemporary and, at the end of the day, designed to fit the rgv. I see Mark Dent is offering tyga subframes for 500 conversions that include oil tanks. I have no intention to build something different for the sake of it and so tyga kit seams to suit my needs. I will see when I've done my final design spec.

I have done a project plan ( geek project manager) and it shows the project to take 7 months and cost £4160 on top of what I've already spent. This includes a tune and paint but not a crank rebuild so I'm hoping to get away with my current bottom end. I will see when it comes apart.

One thing I have decided to sort out with or without a spec is the back wheel. I'm going to fit a 5.5 wide rim to run a 170 or maybe even a 180. It will be close. I want a wheel to match the gsxr k6 front I have so need a wider rim and need the spokes to match. A 180 is going to look great but will take a bit of warming up.

One other thing I like and will be putting on the spec is a polished frame. I know it's old fashioned but I'm tired of everyone powder coating frames and I still think a polished rgv frame looks great. My engine will be unpainted alloy too. Lots of shining bits please!

Lastly it was decided in the pub on Tuesday that proper attire must be observed when working on the 500. A shirt a tie MUST be worn at all time when addressing this bike. A flat cap and cardigan are allowed if it's a bit cold in 'the damp garage'
Sadly Suzuki don't do a tie. I asked Martin Crooks (Crooks Suzuki) if he could get one and he told me about his very own 20 year old tie but he wasn't for letting a tyke like me near it. He gave me some workshop gloves and sent me on my way. Cheers Martin.
looks like my old leather piano tie might be making a comeback. I will spec the tie with the bike design. Maybe I should wear a tie under my leathers when it's finished?



Imagine this as a 500 and the bird showing her Windsor knot.


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My frame and other rubbish

I thought I should capture the project at the start and post some pictures.




This is the 250k that I've got to get out of the way before I get to the 500. It looks worse than it is and I should have it close to running by the end of the year. I'm going to spray it in pepsi colours so that helps my choice of what to do on the 500.

I mentioned the gsxr before so here it is so it won't feel left out.




Now to the 500. I have mentioned the frame disaster and here it is. See how the cast webs have been completely removed and where the grinder has also thinned the outer plate. Whoever did this should keep quiet, you are a plonker.









Notice on this picture that not only is the casting ruined but the lug for the frame cradle has gone!
To be fair, the lug removal has been done because the engine fitting kit does not require a cradle. The engine is held at the upper and lower rear mounts and the front is suspended by a pair of brackets. These attach to the front cylinder heads and share the same bolts as the cylinder.


This is not going on my bike!
It might work but I don't like the look of it much. I don't like the idea of 120hp twisting it's way out of the frame being held back by these two skinny bits of ally. Not only that I think the vibration is directly put on the frame and this won't be nice. Most of all though I think they will crack in no time as the natural vibration of the motor will be prevented by this direct attachment - the brackets are going to become vibration dampers and I don't recall aluminium being good at this.
Mine will have a proper cradle (I've ordered one from Mark Dent at Performance Fabrication)

Finally for now- a pic of the donkey. Isn't it great!



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