Duke Art

Beautiful!
Off the Cafe Racer Culture blog. Thanks guys!

Two Texas Legends

Just love this pic... Colin Edwards and Ben Spies...

How to Make and Airhead Sing

Last winter I took (mostly cut) a load of crap off the bike. This winter I've gone down the tuning route in the quest for silverware. Hopefully this two pronged approach will give me the edge I need to bring it home.

To make the most of that fantabulous 2 into 1 cobbled together exhaust... we have try make her breathe better at the front. Standard air-box (as on most bikes) is a hideous monstrosity. Even with the hack-saw mod, it's still crap.

So... I attack it at 15 000 rpm with the most bad-ass Dremel bit I have. Ten minutes later, with a garage full of tiny bits of molten plastic that I'll be cleaning up for the next five years, we have an air-box that's one third of the size...

bit of a clean-up and it starts looking purposeful.

Some council-estate kudos here - Pipercross!

The whole thing slots right in :-) and get this... weighs a whooping 1/2 kg less than the original. Win - win!

Man! She's gonna breeeeeeeeeeathe!

If I can ever get my oil-in-the-top-cylinder issue sorted, we'll get her down the dyno and see what fruit these sacrifices to the God of HorsePower bear.

Chipping Away

As I wait for new rings to arrive for the Wee Monster, I've been chipping away at other bits n pieces. 

This is the original exhaust with a left-side chop. The economy model.

Got a nice 2 into 1 conversion pipe from Kevin Ellis (the Godfather of Desmo Due)...

added my own link pipe, an old can from my flattrackers' original exhaust (Titanuim too!) and made up a hangar...

Badda-bing!

A few 100 grams weight saving... but hoping she'll breathe better. Damn looks cooler and I won't get anymore questions and snide remarks in skrootineering about the old blanked off system.

The clutch cover was worn pretty thin from sliding down the track many times. One more and it would have been holed. Check out the epoxy/ally crash protection on the underside of the clutch cover. R&G - kiss my ass.

Next up, the tank-clip/bracket. The original clip works on a road bike... but not so well when you park it in the gravel. Besides... new rules this year means no more tank clips. Found a bit of old tread-plate ally...

made a template out of an old baking tray in the garbage (Eeeeeuw!)

measure twice and cut once...

a bit of finishing, a few holes...

been busy with a lot of bracketry and stuff...

down to the painters for a rattle-can finish

Done. Race legal and neato.

Update on the BIG performance mod tomorrow...

Wee Monster Goes Desmosedici

The other week, Peter from Oronero dropped off a set of Desmosedici bodywork he'd made for the Wee Monster. Thus far, I have gone the nekkid route... but would like to visit the podium again. It's been a while since I got any trophies. We'll see if the extra weight is worth the reduced drag.

While I wait for the rings to arrive from Italy, I started on my long list of other things for the bike. Fitting bodywork is a bit tricky with only 1 pair of hands. Especially on a bike that has never had a fairing and has no fairing mounts.

Wooden blocks, cable ties, duct-tape, straps, swearing, cussing and a whole lot of patience later and it was done. The screen is a off an old 748 fairing I had knocking about. Had to cut it a bit and makeup some ally brackets to get it to fit... but turned out okay.

She's looking pretty sweet. Thank you very much Peter!

Character Building

I have been trying to gather some stuff for a positive post. I have failed.

I have spent around many days in the last 4 months trying to get my Wee Monster together for the first race of 2014 in just 5 week's time. A simple job for some... but I have struggled my ass off.

My first ever bit of engine work - to fix the loss of compression on the front cylinder after she ate some gravel at Oulton last year. Just top-end stuff. Hey... how complex can a two-valve air-cooled twin be? Everyone keeps telling me how simple it is.

I have had the heads and barrels off on on 4 times now. Compression issue sorted... but oil pissing into the top cylinder. Thought I'd found the problem of a split valve seal. Nah... still as oily as Chinese Fish 'n Chips in there.

Just broke the scraper ring. The 3rd one I've broken. Which of course only comes in a kit of 3... for 90 quid. Nice. Spent 270 quid on rings and the fecker is still broke! Keep going...

This'll be the last time I touch a goddamn engine.

Time to Bail Out

From Colin Edwards Facebook post - one of my all-time favorite riders. Love it!

Some News

This has been the leanest blog month in years... what's up in Speedtherapy land?

Not much on the motorsickle front. Been hammered by the flu and am just getting back to health, work has been a bit hectic too. Not had the time or inclination to be in the cold garage... but soon the race season will be upon us so I better pull my finger out and get crackin' on the bikes.

Some great news though... got engaged to marry my brolly girl and pit crew... the love of my life, Alex.

:-)

Slideeways!

This is the guy and the bike that made me want to go racin' ...

Bucephalus

One sweet lookin machine... Bucephalus (1967 Triumph Bonneville engine) by Loaded Gun Customs

Thanks Silodrome for the link.

KTM 690 Bobber

Love the KTM 690...  if I had the scrilla, I'd build a 690 flattrack racer. But here's something different... and super-cool.

According to Hell For Leather:

Sven Etzelsberger is not your average garage builder. The soft spoken automotive designer works at Fisker Automotive and also has a background in metalworking. Rather than spending $15,000 on a GS, he decided to take that money and build something special: This single-cylinder KTM bobber.

“In my normal work, I typically don’t fabricate anything with my hands,” he said. “I design it. I engineer it. So it was actually nice having a garage project where I create something with my hands and put it into place, where typically, I only design.” Etzelsberger’s “Bob Racer” is crafted from a 2007 KTM 690 Supermoto. “It had to remain rideable, it had to be fast,” he said. “That’s why I decided to go with a KTM. I wanted to build something unique, something that no one had done before. I didn’t want a V-twin. Everyone builds a custom bike with a V-twin. Everyone.”

Read more: http://www.way2speed.com/2013/12/ktm-690-supermoto-bobber.html#ixzz2nRXLOcxx 

ManxGP / Classic TT

Just found 2 more great ManxGP / Classic TT pics from Robin Hynes at Northline Photography.
First one is one of my favourites... must have been the Supertwins race...

Formula 1 race...