Sprint RS....New beginnings

Discussion in 'Builds & Projects' started by suzook12, Apr 29, 2014.

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  1. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    Hi folks, just recently acquired a very sorry RS. Having sold my road bike of 10 years, a GSXR7/12 which evolved into a seriously capable bike, to go drag racing, the time had come to get back out on the roads.
    I was in a period of looking for something different having owned a stream of gsxr's and the like when the RS came along, after the first ride i knew i was gonna like this bike......

    On to the bike.... When i got it every body panel just about, was broken. Scouring ebay resolved all but the headlamp fairing so far. Also a pipewerks race can for a 1050 sprint was acquired for under £70. The 1050 has a single sider and the exhaust headers exit at a different point. Ebay again has turned up a pre bent 45 degree polished stainless tube which should marry the 2 parts up nicely. Once the exhaust is sorted, next step will be giving the motor a service followed by a dyno session to check fuelling. Then will be looking at some suspension upgrades

    Steve
     
    • Like Like x 1
  2. SteveJ

    SteveJ Super Moderator

    Aug 12, 2013
    524
    113
    North Hampshire
    Hi Steve

    Sounds like an interesting project that you have got there. I take it that although the panels are a mess the engine / transmission are ok?

    Keep us posted :upyeah:
     
  3. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    Yes mate, engine and box seem fine although a bit flat up top end, but hopefully service will cure that once i get time :)
     
  4. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    Today saw the release of the 3 cylinder growl......
    Having acquired a pipewerx can for a 1050 very cheap brand new from ebay, the link pipe was too short and the wrong angle. My ordered polished 45 degree bend turned up during the week, offered it up this morning and bingo. 10 Mins with a disc cutter and TIG welder, i nicked the end off of the original pipe and welded it in, cut the slots for clamping, made a small spacer to sit the can out so it cleared the caliper and arm, 1 longer bolt and jobs a good un, sounds spot on. Brand new end can that fits for under £100 all in :upyeah:

    This actually applies to any 2" slip on can, the bends can be bought from ebay in polished stainless for under £15 and even if you dont have the tools or capability to do it yourself, any friendly engineering shop should be able to sort you for around an hours labour :upyeah:

    Will put some pics up later
    Steve
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
  6. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
  7. SteveJ

    SteveJ Super Moderator

    Aug 12, 2013
    524
    113
    North Hampshire
    Very cool I have put a 3 into 1 Motad full stainless system on my 750 Trident which I got off of E Bay for £200 (new) Makes her sound more like the old Tridents with that proper growl, might have to get round to re jetting at some stage but its not too bad as is.
     
  8. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    Hi Steve
    Motads have generally always been "No rejetting required", so you should be ok on that front :)

    Will be looking at re shimming mine very soon, will take all the shims out regardless for making up a spreadsheet, so next time a quick reference and i can have all the necessary shims before i start. Hopefully with that done it should unlock some top end power, but think I'll be doing a compression test and leak down test while I'm at it.

    Seen some cylinder heads on ebay going real cheap, might be tempted to buy one and get it flowed and ported, should help free up a few extra ponies, would like to get her up to 150BHP and as near as 100lb/ft of torque as possible, so will also be looking at alternative pistons and cam regrinds....OR.... reckon a garrett gt28rs turbo would work really well on a triple ;)

    Has anyone ever ran one of these engines without the balance shaft? That would free up a few ponies too if the vibration was bearable....

    Steve
     
    • Like Like x 2
  9. SteveJ

    SteveJ Super Moderator

    Aug 12, 2013
    524
    113
    North Hampshire
    I have just taken the front and rear baffle out of the exhaust and it now seems to just fly as well as sounding like a proper triple should :biggrin:

    With regards to taking out the balance shaft, that may be a really bad idea as the bike would become a right horrible thing to ride with vibration, Horsepower is all well and good until such time as that the bike can rattle the fillings out of your teeth :eek: and as they were designed to have them I would suggest keeping it

    Cheers

    Steve
     
  10. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    After a little adventure last weekend where the bike tried to throw me off over the rough stuff, with the front tucking up on me, suspension is now top of the list. Spent Sunday evening playing with suspension adjustments, no real improvement was made so now waiting to hear back from maxtons.
    Seems pre 04 sprints there's very little that can be done with the front, so tailor made revalve and respring looks like order of the day. Unless of course you want USD's up front then swapping out with any one of a number of suzukis. As it goes, i want to keep a RWU front end in it so revalve looks like best option.

    After a week of thrashing about, the cam chain is now slapping like a good un. Done some research on this and seems manual tensioners for the oil coiled gsxr's fit most triumphs. Once we have the mill set up we will have as many of these as we want so these will be available to the general public in the next few months.

    I will be swapping one off my gsxr race bike tomorrow for now, meanwhile i will be out playing on a 750m streetfighter that came up at "the right price". This will give me chance to get those valves reshimmed :).......

    Another thing i came across, talking to a friend who has a Speed Triple 955, his was very tame up the top end. Took it to a Triumph dealer who loaded a new map and problem solved.... So guess will have to go and have a word with mr triumph dealer very soon.

    Once I get it behaving how it should, then some serious playing can begin.

    Steve
     
  11. SteveJ

    SteveJ Super Moderator

    Aug 12, 2013
    524
    113
    North Hampshire
    Lol all systems go then?

    I've currently got the Daytona in bits putting new iridium plugs and K&N air filter in and will have the wheels and rear hangers powder coated ready for triumph day at the Ace on the 8th of June... if all goes well.

    Bloody air filter is a right bugger to get at ( got to take the carbs off to get at the air cleaner) and its dam near impossible to get them back on again :mad:
     
  12. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
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    Reminds me of one or two jap fours I've previously owned :/
     
  13. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    With the day getting off to a poor start, finally got down the workshop this afternoon. As the bike has been stood a few days, first up was valve clearances. Exhaust were all ok (0.17 ish), intake were all under 0.05!! Probably explain the lack of top end perfformance then. Seeing as all 6 needed doing, i decided to drop the inlet cam. Luckily, all are 2.45 or above so can get 2.3's to go in.

    Also decided to check the cam chain tensioner at this point, and sure enough thats worn away 2 teeth so time for a manual tensioner.

    Usefull tip to self, when using tip tools, cover plug holes while working on engine!! Yup, the torx bit fell out and straight down plug hole when slackening the cam caps!!
    Just one of those days i guess.....

    The oil in the head area smells really burnt, and seems pretty thick so guess some previous owner has been using car oil in there, so looks like a flush with some cheap semi coming up before putting fully synthetic in....
    So another week to get tensioner and shims, then time her back up once torx bit removed, and get her back together. Be interesting to see what the difference is

    Steve
     
  14. SteveJ

    SteveJ Super Moderator

    Aug 12, 2013
    524
    113
    North Hampshire
  15. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    May end up giving that a try
     
  16. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    Quick Update....

    Yesterday, double checked shim measurements and obtained new shims from local triumph dealer, well, localish anyway.......

    Called in to Grumpy1260s' for a cam chain tensioner then off to workshop to crack on.
    t
    Fitted shims into their respective buckets, oiled cam bearings and shims and set about installing inlet cam. Checked procedure for setting cam timing, looks easy enough..... HA!!!!
    Having done cam timing on who knows how many double and single overhead cam 4's, this was a complete t**t to do! Keeping all of that cam chain slack in one place and keeping it taut on front run is a nightmare, cam chain is miles too long on these, anyway, enlisted another pair of hands and got the job done. Ended up putting the tensioner in to get a part tension then timed it up :wink:

    The tensioner itself turned into a bit of an episode. Someone had said that the GSXR oil cooled tensioner was a straight swap, well if thats straight then drag racing uses an oval circuit!! As it goes, it does fit, BUT, the opening into the block has castings squaring the round hole off. The gixer tensioner was filed down on 2 flanks untill it resembled the shape of the triumph one. It now went into the hole but wouldn't seat properly, A 7mm drill bit cured that, new gasket, bit of hylomar, and jobs a good un :upyeah:

    So, everything double checked, reassembled, and we're ready to start the engine. Bike fires into life and settles at a fast idle. ECU light is on but am guessing this is because starter was used to turn engine over with various sensors etc unplugged. Unfortunately, bike still has the same rattle, we spent a good couple of hours trying to track down the rattle with no success.
    I also discovered my petrol tank seems to have grown about 5mm!!! It no longer fits in the frame, wtf?? Will finish putting back together this morning and take it over to a man who knows these bikes better than most to get his opinion....
     
  17. suzook12

    suzook12 New Member

    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    1
    Possiby discovered cause of rattle, the idle air pipe ends are all split, so she will be sucking air. Will get some on order and exhaust gaskets as another possibility and will balance tb's in the process.Hopefully that will cure it.

    Also, have been looking at alternative front ends, with zrx1100 being a distinct possibility. If they do work out. should be able to retain the original triumph yolks. May still require some revalve/spring work but ultimately should be an instant improvement as is. Apparently, its fairly easy to extend the kwak forks internally by around 40mm so opens up a whole new avenue of potential front ends. :)
     
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