Lucky Phil

Personally I believe in steering dampers esp if the bike was fitted with one from new. If you've ever experienced a proper full blooded lock stop to lock stop tank slapper and lived to tell the tale then you would probably feel the same way. Ohlins are arguably the best but pricey. The std Bitubo is well about as good I guess as the std one on the bike that tried to kill me. It's better than nothing, just. I went home and ordered an Ohlins damper the next day. Ciao

Sorry I couldnt load the whole image due to it's size. Ciao

Ok It was just a left field thing and upon reflection probably wouldn't have an impact anyway. I think on the early models its the same style plug as i recall someone asking about it after a manual tap conversion. That and when I did the daytona engine conversion I thought I'd get rid of the fuel tap connector and cut off the level plug,doh, and had a wiring repair to do. Docc will know or Kiwi Roy. I still think the ignition switch might need to come apart. You didn't wash it before the maintenance did you or the last ride wasn't in the rain? Ciao

I dont know if this counts but have you got the fuel sender and electrical fuel tap connectors around the wrong way? I THINK you might be able to connect them to the wrong things as the connectors are the same. Ciao

On a 2004 cat convert model 3/4 Greenie Ciao

A correction to start with, if you've had the airbox off then you will also have disconnected the ambient temp sensor mounted to the airbox as well. Wont be that unless the plug is trapped somewhere shorted out I guess. Have you thought about the ignition switch? They have a habit of creating strange issues and a disassemble and clean usually fixes them. Ciao

If your bike has a lambda sensor it will have the 15rc. Thats the only practical difference between the RC and the M. Ciao

Yes all good for Zink and everything else looks fine. I've always used Mobil 1 0W-40 without any issues like oiling up the filter box, it's been perfect. I am going to try a 10-60 in the Daytona engine after running in though. One issue with Diesel oils though is they are very high detergent oils and if you switch to them in an engine with a few miles on it they will break loose a lot of sludge and any build up in the engine which can lead to issues. If your engine has been kept clean you should be fine. Personally I dont see the need to run a Deisel oil in a petrol engine anymore. Anything over 1000ppm ZDDP will keep a flat tappet engine happy and around 1200-1400 is perfect. More Zink than that is getting into the diminishing returns category. There are oil manufacturers around that make flat tappet specific oils these days such as Penrite for older engines. I'll be running their full synthetic 10W-60 oil in the Daytona. Dont even think about a mineral based or fortified oil these days. Ciao

Yes although the 1100 Sport uses the 16M ecu not the 15M. Same basic operating system but larger dimensionally and without the internal atmospheric pressure sensor but a remote one. Ciao

I love it when people keep a bike or car for a significant percentage of their life. A tangible, physical connection to their life journey and history. I've sold so many things over time and all I have to show for it at the end of the day is some soulless cash in the bank. Very nice. Phil

Dave Richardsons new book has a bit of interesting history and details on the Aero engine Chuck. He used to be the supplier of parts to the government agency that operated the drones that used them. Ciao

Yes I understand. I was watching a show last night "escape from the city" which is as the title suggests people moving from the city in a tree change and Drouin was featured. I'm regularly at Lang Lang to see the in laws so not far away. Ciao

Well that's using the CO trim like an axe when with Guzzidiag combined with Tunerpro you can apply a scalpel. The ability to manipulate the bin file is the key to great running and it's not hard. I'm no IT guy and even I think it's a doddle. Ciao

MGS-01 Reaction rod. For those wondering about race track suitability

Yes reading Dave Richardsons latest book not all the wrinkle finish engines were affected only the earlier ones. Seems it was a batch issue.Interestingly no gearboxes with the finish were an issue. Ciao

It was a mechanical anti dive system to stop fork compression during braking. The torque from the caliper when the brake is applied is transmitted through the caliper mount which pivots on the axle and via the rods to a clamp on the fork leg under the lower triple clamp. Anti dive was a thing for a few years back in the 80's until it was understood that fork dive was actually a good thing. This is another case where the "theory" did't work in practice a bit like "telescopic forks dont work when the bike is leaned over" rubbish. When you get fork dive under braking it shortens the trail which makes the steering quicker just when you need it to turn into the corner and it also transfers weight to the front tyre increasing the contact patch for extra grip. The dive also lowers the bikes C of G which helps keep the back wheel on the ground under heavy braking. By the time the GP guys found out anti dive sucked and they lost front braking power/grip and they couldn't keep the back wheel on the ground under heavy braking the manufactures had committed to it on their road models so it hung around on road bikes for maybe 4 or 5 years. I was behind the curve as usual in those days:) Ciao

Yes wildguzzi has 5 speed experts. A few things, some 5 speeds were straight cut gears and some helical. Straight cut gears are more winey than helicals. Some gears due to variations in gear cutting quality will just be winey, nothing wrong with them per say just noisy. 5 speeds also have tapered cone bearings on the shafts I believe and they require shimming so maybe this is an issue. I dont think what your box has is terminal but may require adjustment/attention. Ciao

Just for you Chuck Ciao

The Mcintosh in the image actually has a 17" rear and 18" front I think. from memory the Mcintoshes came out with 18x18 combination at the time and the 17 was fairly recent and maybe that's why it has that combination. The 16" front came about as racers wanted quicker steering, less centrifugal mass,more rubber on the ground and better braking. So the theory's went A smaller wheel has less leverage on the brake assembly as well so you get a little more stopping power out of the brakes. It didn't last long and they finally settled on the 17" My TT2 race bike had a 16" front and the earlier factory bikes had an 18 and others used to tell me all the time how bad it would stability wise be but we raced Axles bike at the TT with the 16" front and the stability was never questioned. I rode a friends Mk4 Lemans with a 16 front and thought it was fine as was my 84 Kawasaki GPZ900. Racers eventually settled on the 17 front for various reasons some of which was pressure from tyre manufacturers wanting a std size for sports bikes. Interestingly 4 piston brakes were first invented to fit inside the small dis 16 front wheels and they went on from there. Look up Freeths bio, stout fellow and brilliant racer, typical Kiwi quiet achiever. Ciao

A Rickman would have been a lot less work. A friend of mine has owned a Rickman Kawasaki since new and has recently completed a full resto on it. The Motoplast came in a kit that was frame, swing arm rear shock and bodywork inc fairing. That was it.The original glass work, all of it! was of such poor quality and fit I actually threw it in the dumpster as I knew I could design and make better myself. It was a lot of work and the set cowling is a fairly ordinary shape. The Rickman was far superior quality in every way and a much easier build. Italians, you get what you get. Note the Nylon rear sprocket. Popular in the early 80's for about 2 minutes:) I had also mounted the battery under the swingarm which I may have been one of the first to do. Ciao

Yes docc, thats what the Magnesium pieces had in those days. Yes memories, cant believe it getting on for 35 years ago! I've got stacks more from Daytona,Suzuka, IOM etc but my scanner's broken and we're in a serious lockdown. $1600 fine if caught more than 5klm from home without a very good reason in one of 4 categories. I think on the edge of the Daytona image you can see the front wheel of the official Harley entry Lucifers Hammer Ciao

I came across these old personal images I had posted on the internet years ago. I had forgotten all about them but when I went looking for images of brake reaction rods etc there they were. This was my Bimota DB1 with its custom alloy fuel tank (hidden) its Racing Campag wheels ( hand cut slick on the back) Staintune mufflers made for me by Sandy that owns Staintune, four piston Brembo calipers and other mods I cant remember. In the background is my lovely modified Hailwood Mille that I smashed to bits,sigh and the fairing for my TT2 Ducati race bike just peaking out there. Here is our race bike after finishing the the 86 F1 TT. back to camera brown jacket Axle the owner of the bike, facing in the leather is Pete Muir our rider in the blue jumper is an English race whose name I have forgotten but we got friendly with and he assisted us in our pit stops when he wasn't racing. Next to our bike is the winning factory Honda of Roger Burnett, or Roger Hairnet as we called him. Here's Aussie superbike Champ and also successful WSB rider Mal Campbell at Sydneys Oran park for the 87 swan series on the Factory NR 750 oval pistoned race bike Honda sent over for him to ride that year. Mal was a factory Honda rider at the time and Aussie Champ as well if memory serves. ten years later I was mechanicing for him at the Aussie WSB round on a Privateer Ducati 996. Still racing now Mal and still way faster than most at Phillip Island on Post Classic bikes like Suzuki RG500's. 86 TT and David Tardozzi's Works Bimota that he later destroyed at the Glen Helen section. We went and helped pick it up and it was a molten pool of wreckage in the middle of the road as it had caught fire. Totally destroyed. Bathurst 85 and the late great Roger Freeths Macintosh Suzuki, note the Monocoque Suzuki Superbike in the background.( https://amcn.com.au/editorial/monocoque-master-steve-roberts/) Also note the unpainted bronze welded frame on the Mcintosh so he could keep and eye out for any developing crack in this prototype frame.Macintosh built beautiful bespoke frames for all sorts of stuff back then and we could buy road kits of this exact bike. Roger was actually and Astrophysicist and part time racer who was very very good and used to win this yearly race regularly and was also Mulitple NZ champion. He also was a keen rally car navigator at national level in NZ for Possum Bourne and was tragically killed in a rally car accident way too young. Totally fast and safe bike racer though. Swan international series 87 Oran Park and factory Yamaha GP racer Rob Mcelnea. Our working arrangements at the 86 TT sharing a house with Steve Wynn's crew. Our bike in the background, with back to camera is rider Pete Muir, partially hidden in red overalls is the bikes owner Axel and in the foreground is Wynn's bikes. None of the Steves bikes finished a lap in anger that year, we finished every race and practice session. They weren't amused at the time. The others are visiting German spectators that dropped by apart from the two Pete is talking to who were Aussies visiting. My TT2 race bike. I built this from factory parts and a second hand engine brought up to factory specs. I had a perfect example to follow as Axles bike was a genuine factory bike.My first attempt at 2K painting as I recall. My old 888 race bike with sump extension and home made rear brake disk and carrier. I didn't like the Brembo rear caliper at the time and decided to use the Nissan. factory frame, Ohlins GP forks, no brake torque arm, Marchesini wheels carbon tank and fairings, Corse radiator. And for you guys, Jay Springsteen and his mechanic, Daytona 87 Ciao

Yes rebuilt Kawasaki 900 powered with Malossi Carbs, Bitubo race shock and Magnesium racing Marzocchi adjustable forks. Ciao

The rear caliper on the Daytona race bike pictured is free to rotate on bearings on the axle same as the bevel box. Its just an inverted version of the bevel box and the torque is provided by the brake not the engine driven shaft. This is a bike I built from the ground up in the early 1980's with my own designed and built anti dive which we thought was worth having at the time. I also built all the bodywork including the original plugs and moulds. The dive mechanism is a leveraged version of a brake torque arm. Chuck might like the red engine cases. I was very avant garde back then:) Ciao

You sometimes need to do that so the guard bears down on the cover at the mount hole locations but you need to use special 11mm OD 6mm ID washers as anything of larger OD will cause a clearance problem to the valve cover. The Daytona/Centauro needs these smaller OD washers as well on the valve cover. I buy Titanium ones off ebay but have also made them up from Ti bar raw stock as well. Nothing looks worse than a 6mm washer thats 13mm in OD when it doesn't need to be. Ciao