Going Racing

[Rikugun]

It's Chrysler Hemi Orange - The same colour as the General Lee.

I'm not sure I like it as much as I thought I would.  The idea was to have subtle splashes of colour here and there amongst the black and metal - this is not so subtle.

It doesn't look quite right because there is no flag painted on the top.  :)

[Re-Vision]

Just a suggestion unless you want your race bike designed by a committee, black and yellow keyboard layout like on the front of the Owner's Manual would make for a nice accent color addition. There was a bike recently for sale that had this combo and I thought it looked good.

It's Chrysler Hemi Orange - The same colour as the General Lee.

I'm not sure I like it as much as I thought I would.  The idea was to have subtle splashes of colour here and there amongst the black and metal - this is not so subtle.

BDC

[QBS]

Pod, thank you very much for the "dome" nuts aka "acorn" nuts in the USA.  I feel much better now.  Is the angle that your risers are installed at going to be the final set up?  Bike's is looking very good.  Your grease bubble story is amazing.

[dingleberry]

It wasn't dirt (I am very thorough), just a change from water clear to the colour of oil.

Talking of dirt - I powdered one of my valve colours.  Despite cleaning in degreaser, then soapy water, then acetone, then pre-baking @240C for an hour, then acetone again, I still had grease bubbling out of the alloy and marring the finish.  Fortunately, where it will be in the shadows so I don't think I'll bother overcoating.

What about boiling in caustic soda followed by boiling in a diluted acid followed by plenty of water followed by...

[The Prophet of Doom]

...and just in case some poor soul thinks you are serious, caustic soda will VERY quickly dissolve aluminium and create explosive hydrogen gas.

[The Prophet of Doom]

Pod, thank you very much for the "dome" nuts aka "acorn" nuts in the USA.  I feel much better now.  Is the angle that your risers are installed at going to be the final set up?  Bike's is looking very good.  Your grease bubble story is amazing.

We also call them acorn nuts, but only unofficially.
These clip-ons can only pivot on the fork tubes, and changing the angle makes them move forward on the bike - the exact opposite of the adjustability of the XZ stock bars (and I think look cooler).  I'll leave as-is for the meantime and see what they feel like once the bike is rolling.  Aiming for December 15th

Just a suggestion unless you want your race bike designed by a committee, black and yellow keyboard layout like on the front of the Owner's Manual would make for a nice accent color addition. There was a bike recently for sale that had this combo and I thought it looked good.
BDC

I'm happy for all suggestions.  After all I get to be the final arbiter of what happens. 
I've always liked Dave's Yellow bike, but never liked the Yamaha box scheme - I had that on my first RZ and hated the colour so much I swapped it for a red/black one shortly afterwards at a great loss.

I've decided against the orange valve covers so think I will polish them out best I can.  They are very corroded and have micro-cracking.  More shitty Japanese casting.  Where were the master swordsmen when they were hiring at the Yamaha foundry? 

[dingleberry]

...and just in case some poor soul thinks you are serious, caustic soda will VERY quickly dissolve aluminium and create explosive hydrogen gas.

Oh, I didn't know that. I suppose that is using it undiluted? I worked in a milk treatment factory years ago and we used a liquid caustic for cleaning at boiling temp. Used to clean up the alloy spanners we used on pipework pretty well so I tried an old sidecover in the tub and it looked really great afterwards. Should have said a caustic solution/dilution. We would use something like 2 litres (yes thats the correct spelling in NZ) to 100 litres of water. Sorry for not explaining properly originally.

[The Prophet of Doom]

Got bored with polishing my pits, so started the last of the work on the upper triple.

Milled about 5mm off where it sits on the steering column.  This is to minimise the fork push-through to mount the clip-ons and maintain as much travel as possible.  I also took off the mounts for the instrument panel - won't be needing those anymore and they kinda looked stupid sticking out there. 

[The Prophet of Doom]

Some goodies arrived from the United States today. 
A chrome peak for my headlight and a replica taillight for a model A Ford.

[pinholenz]

Rohan the detailing on your rebuild is looking fantastic. I love the minimalist speedo and the clip-ons are looking really smart. You must be getting pretty close to ignition now?  Hows it feel to be back on a 400?

Happy New year to you and yours.

[The Prophet of Doom]

Thanks.  There's actually quite a bit of experimentation, fabrication and tech in there to make that happen.
Lots of new bracketry, a microcontroller to handle the idiot lights, the switchgear is all digital, the ignition switch is RFID and all relays & fuses are solid state.  Still have to build a new harness to tie it all together.  I'll start on that after shims are done (by Friday if all goes to plan)

and the 400 is STILL giving me gyp.  Bastard thing.  I'm going to have to buy a Corolla instead - I've been stuck up on the hill for a month now  >:(


Merry Christmas / New Year to you also

[pinholenz]

Its no consolation, but your adventures must be heading us towards one of the longest threads on the forum. 9000 views so far

[The Prophet of Doom]

Just because I'm concentrating on the other bike, does not mean I've stopped thinking about this one.

When I pulled the carbs I found the fuel pump in less than satisfactory condition.  Given the cost of rebuild kits, I decided to take a different tack and bought a small electric fuel pump.  This is a FuelFlow FF015L  1-2PSI. Hand built in NZ.  Self regulating.

Don't know how well it will work.  Does anyone else have experience of, or thoughts about electropumps as a stock alternative ?

[Walt_M.]

Looks good. I have an electric pump from an R6 that I am going to put on mine. I put one on my TDM850 and it is amazing how much easier it starts after setting for a few days.

[Rikugun]

Will the 8mm pipe size be OK or close enough to work?

Jasosm has advocated for some of the Yamaha electric pumps especially those from certain year Venture/V-Max and FJ11/12's that use 1/4" fittings and have auto shut off features. Apparently quite handy in the event of a stuck open needle valve.

[The Prophet of Doom]

Will the 8mm pipe size be OK or close enough to work?
Jasosm has advocated for some of the Yamaha electric pumps especially those from certain year Venture/V-Max and FJ11/12's that use 1/4" fittings

8mm is a bit bigger than 1/4 inch, both are larger than the petcock.  I guess they could burn out through lack of cooling fuel,otherwise the only issue I can think of would be matching hose ends.

and have auto shut off features. Apparently quite handy in the event of a stuck open needle valve.

This is a piston pimp - I don't think it will feed fuel unless on.  I could also get a crash sensor to cut fuel if the bike goes over.

Reading the installation it seems it needs to go below the float bowls.  Not liking that for fitment - I've sent a querty to the company to ask if that's absolutely necessary

[Rikugun]

This is a piston pimp - I don't think it will feed fuel unless on. 

Yes, that's what I mean. If while running it doesn't sense pressure building it shuts off after some predetermined elapsed time. I think that's how it works anyway. Also yes re the pipe sizes and hose fitment, not cooling.

Reading the installation it seems it needs to go below the float bowls.  Not liking that for fitment - I've sent a querty to the company to ask if that's absolutely necessary

I guess they mean lower than bowl level rather than literally mount it under the bowls? What's wrong with that? Were you hoping to hide it under the rear cowling?

[The Prophet of Doom]

I don't think it has a time based shut-off or they would have mentioned it I'm sure.  I can cope with the larger fittings by using 8mm hose and sleeving it at the petcock and carb ends.  I am going to mount it in that gap between the coils ( and make damned sure that fuel won't leak on to the high voltage cables).  This way it's out of sight and still close to the tank and carbs.  Initially the catch can was going to go there, but I'll relocate that to run down the left side of the radiator.  Nice, because it will mirror the radiator overflow on the other side.

I got an immediate response to my questions from fuelflow...

My bike doesn't have a return fuel line to the tank.  Is this an issue?  The old mechanical pump has a line from the pressure relief valve back to the input. 
Shouldn't be a problem as this is a low pressure pump, not much more than the pressure of gravity.

Your instructions mention a fuel flow collision safety switch, but I can't find this on your web site.  Where can I get one? 
Don't worry about this additional switch.  They were a big deal 10 years ago but nowadays nobody bothers with them.  We do have some in stock but you would be better to spend your money on other stuff.

How important is it that the pump is below the float bowls?  I was going to mount near the stock location which is above the bowls up under the tank, and given it is a motorcycle this would be needed for a tidy (hidden)installation.  The bowls are in full view.  If it has to be below the bowls, it's not really going to work for me I really don't want a pump out in view.  Especially as the colour scheme (Yellow/black) is all wrong, and it's made of plastic. 
The pump will be fine in your proposed location.  Ideally they would be below the float bowls but on most bikes this is an almost impossible mounting position.  We can also change the colour of the endcaps to black if you wanted us to.  You would just need to send us the pump back and include a return envelope for the trip back.

[Rikugun]

It's nice when your write a company and actually get a response.  :)

[The Prophet of Doom]

This weekend I had a bit of a clean, got rid of the Black Demon XZ400, and used up the room it vacated with a different kind of machine.
The garage is spotless, all my tools oiled and dusted, and I'm ready to start back on my racer which hasn't been touched since November!

Dingleberry thinks my next project should be a nice set of Alloy rearsets, but I'm open to other suggestions