The last four days have flown by, last Friday I spent the day rushing around organizing everything I needed to do in the garage over the weekend, I wanted to be prepared so that as soon as the filming started we could progress pretty quickly and the bike come together the way I wanted it.
I reworked the fuel tank, made the engine mount, pre-cut some tube and started to understand the look of the finished product.
Filming on Saturday started at 10am and went through to midnight, in that time we took the bike from where we left off last weekend when the stock dirt bike was pulled down. This meant I had to reverse the process I had taken over the week and do it all again in one day.
It probably sounds like a lot of extra work but I like the way we are doing things, Matt knows what he wants and makes sure each shot is polished to perfection. By the end of the day the bike was together on the jig and the final polished frame was almost complete.
Sunday came around pretty quickly, it was a perfect day, I had to weld up a manifold for a friend, then repair and finish off a heap of small jobs on Deans bike, it basically took all day and by the time Matt came over it was 5pm and we had a solid 5 hours of filming to do.
So Sunday night the frame was finished, the wheels on and the bike on the ground with the motor mounted.
I was able to sit on the bike and get a feel for what it’s going to be like to ride, it’s going to be an experience that’s for sure, long low and the motor is basically an inch below my chest, It gives me a good idea of what those guys did in the 70’s on their drag bikes.
So now I have 4 days till I have to test ride the bike, this will be interesting!
17/2/2015
Last night I spent a long time setting everything up and finding its place on the bike, I have learnt a lot with this project, I am loving how clean and organised the build is looking, it looks like a team of engineers drew everything up its laid out that well, I think it’s because the frame is the extremity of everything on the bike, I could build that and then increase the rigidity while mounting the components at the same time, it also helps to have everything I need right there in front of me.
I did some calculations using the 5th gear ratio, the tyre diameter and the sprocket sizes, it looks like I can achieve a 248kmh mechanical speed out of the rear wheel, mechanical speed and actual speed are two different things though, I think if I can get the motor to rev to 12,500rpm in 5th gear with the gearing I have Ill achieve nearly 200kmh, if I get that I will be super happy, if it won’t get to its peak power RPM because of wind resistance then I’ll have to gear it up to get that happy medium between power and drag, let’s hope it will do it!
I still have a lot to do before I ride this though, it will be another late night tonight but if I weld the fuel tank up I can test the electronics to make sure everything works and the fuel pump is actually pumping fuel. I hope the fittings I ordered will arrive today, hopefully there’s a box on the front doorstep!
18/02/15
Last night I didn’t get into the garage till late but I had a list of jobs to get done, first up was the finishing pieces to the frame, the battery surround/ rear motor mount/ chain guard mount/ under seat support tube was now all finished and tacked in, with this project I have been heavily tacking pieces into place, this allows me to actually have enough strength in the frame to move it around and wrestle with it, it also allows me to tack, mock up, roll around, disassemble then final weld.
Next I moved onto the fuel tank, I was apprehensive about welding this, I didn’t think my skill level was really up to doing “nice” AC welds, but I nailed it, not so much on the bits you can’t see but the bits you can, but that’s all that matters, that and the fact it holds fuel.
So now I had the frame almost finished, the wiring all mounted, the earth points, coil and fuel tank all sitting in position, next on the list of jobs to do is the fuel tank mounts, weld the filler in, make up the clutch and brake lines, make a radiator, make an exhaust, get it running and then disassemble, final weld, then test ride on the weekend, sounds like it’s doable!
19/20/2015
Last night was huge, I spent a lot of time finishing off the tank, welding the tank mounts to the frame, welding on the filler, then mounting the tank, then dummying up the wiring to weld the air temp sensor to the fuel tank. I have taken care not to weld next to the ECU so there’s a lot of fit, remove, fit again so on and so on.
I made up the exhaust from stainless, I wanted to keep it somewhere near factory length with a slight rise in diameter to try and scavenge the exhaust gasses from the pipe, what I came up with was a 1 and ¾ inch 180 bend out of the head, then a nice 15 degree bend that runs straight past where my knees are (nice and tight to the bike, then a diameter rise to 2 inch, then a 30 degree and 90 degree 2 inch wrap around the frame rail, I love this little flair in the exhaust department, It keeps it tight with a twist. Once that was done I started work on a V mounted twin radiator setup, I spent hours on it but in the end it looks crap so I am ditching that idea.
20/02/2015
It’s been a crazy two days, the deadline is tonight and I have been working on the bike full time, I get home from work and get straight into it, most nights I finish up at midnight and its starting to wear me down. I have found the limit, I am 100% that this is the fastest motorcycle build of this calibre that is capable from a human being (with the same amount of tools I have) Yesterday was a good day though, I finished off all the little jobs on the frame, made the brake line and clutch line, made a battery tray, then mounted up the in-tank fuel control gear and flushed the tank of any debris.
I filled the tank with fuel and loved the fact that there were no leaks, I connected the battery and mounted the kill switch and electric start button, I hit the button just quickly to prime the fuel pump, then again to start the bike, it fired to life, ran perfectly and sounded like nothing I have ever heard, I can’t wait to ride it, ok I have to go get more done now, next up the foot pegs, the stand, and a whole host of other jobs. Then tonight I tear it all down to nothing, final weld the frame, clean everything, CRC and reassemble ready for a test ride at day break.
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