Classic TT Build - Week 1

Been in the garage every night this week... making a bit of progress.

Fitted some Renthal clip-ons. Never used them before... thought I'd support British industry. They are a bit chunky and almost foul the brake and clutch master cylinder so that there is zero room for adjustment and a 0.3mm gap. Not happy with that. Back with the standard jobs. They are a bit higher and only 100g heavier. They'll do. Renthals can go on my old Aprilia RSV that has been without handlebars for over a year after I robbed them for my SV650. I hope they fit. Woodcraft are still the best clip-ons out there. Oh - and some Renthal grips. No other grip comes close. Best 7 quid I'll spend on the bike!

Also fitted a quick-action throttle. On garage tests, it's not as quick as I'd like. We'll see when we get he out for a test ride.

 

Changed the sprockets and chain. Trying different gearing to get a feel for the differences and to make sure the toe guard is in the right place to cover all eventualities. Got it geared pretty low now.

 

Got the bling-bling toe-guard fitted too. It's a bit basic, but kinda fits in with the ally swing-arm and the image of the bike. One in carbon would be ideal... if I got time I might get around to making one. Did the alignment and marked the swing-arm too.

 

Turned the tick-over up to 1500rpm. Bike idles now and is suddenly not lumpy from pickup. Yay! Aggressive gearing, quick-action throttle and 1500rpm tickover. I gotta watch it around town!

Scratched around my pile of wheels in my dining-room (keeps the rubber good - don't store race tyres anywhere where the temp goes below 5 degrees). Jackpot! Found a set of good Brembo discs that were on the spare wheels of the last Aprilia I bought. Got started on replacing the stock iron ones (thanks for the help and advice on this one Mark and others...).

 

Of course, simple things aren't ever that simple. First - a seized bolt. Got it out. Mismatched disc bolts... oh well... 11 more M8 bolts into the miscellaneous bolts drawer. Fitted the discs only to find a slight clearance issue. The discs aren't exactly the same offset... or maybe that's why the original disc carriers are mullered. Hmmmm... a problem for the morning. Nothing that a few spacers can't sort.

Oh - almost forgot... got an oil sample off for analysis. Hopefully it'll tell me a bit of what's going on in the bottom-end. We'll see what they come back with.