YADBS - Stage 8
so we have all the major issues licked and we settle down to a steady progress rate. all parts are checked cleaned oiled etc before going onto the frame, and as usual jaggu is the director general of quality division. we make sure that everything is neat and clean, and even have a can of black paint standing by.
the carbs are cleaned and set and plugged in. we sort out the wiring (which is minimal) and all loose ends are tucked away neatly. the tank is drained and cleaned, and we fit new tank rubbers. all cables are cleaned and oiled and the carb synch corrected. the UNI filters are washed and dried and they go in, too.
we have some difficulty with the clipons as they are a little bit overbored. we struggle a bit with some shims and in the end manage to get them tight. but they would give us more trouble, later. anyway for now it works, and the clutch/brake levers as well as the throttle assembly gets bolted on. we are now using a quick throttle, borrowed from crank. (dude its still with us)
so in the end its complete and we wheel the bike out. do some more oiling, especially the chain.
to get an idea how low the bike is now, compare it with jaggu.
as you can see, the seat is a clumsy affair and it does stand out. maybe there is too much foam on it, and the bum stopper is not that effective and cut out.
the door that you see behind, its that of my neighbours - bunch of poor chaps who put up with all our antics.
another shot, this time with a stock RD.
as you can see, the stock RD looks big broad and tall, while the drag one looks sleek thin and sharp.
so the work is done and its down to some sanity testing right now. we start it up easy enough and take it to our testing strip. do couple of runs and everything looks fine. the clipons issue a few warnings though - they have already starting moving around just a bit. we are not sure about the timing and that needs to be checked and corrected, if needed. we call up ron and he promises to land up with his digital gun. so soon ron appears and his digital timing gun is in action. it doesnt take long and we set the timing to around 2mm BTDC at around idle. since its his digital CDI, as the revvs go up the timing advances. at around 3.5k or so, it reaches max advance, and then it starts retarding slowly.
so thanks to ron we soon get the timing part correct and we are all set. but Murphy fires one more salvo. the nut holding the upper end of the rear left strut slips. anxiously we search around for a similar nut - if its the threads on the stud that got slipped, we are in deep shit. we would need to strip down the whole thing back to frame, take the frame to a machine shop and get the stud rethreaded. unfortunately yes - its the stud thats screwed.
but enter papaboost (vivek). he is toms cousin as well, and he saves us a lot of trouble by lending us his pickup to haul the bike to his place. now whats there at his place? whats not there at his place would be an easier question to answer. everything from a few full fledged garages, machine shops, cutting and welding equipments and what not. papaboot is sure living a dream life. anyway his mech corrects the threads for us and we are soon on our way back home in papaboosts pickup. many thanks to papaboost.
we do couple of more test runs back at our strip. soon its obvious that the clipons need to be fixed. they just wont stay in place, since there isnt enough friction on the smooth forks to hold them steady. so im off to the welding shop and make a metal bar, with holes drilled on both ends. with the clipons in place we use the bar to lock them together and that settles the issue.
here is another shot of the bike at our "secret strip".
yes i know, the seat is ugly.
so now we need to do some proper testing.