Todays SITREP (Situation Report for those never burdened with a daily) is that I was successful in getting my tach to work, all it took was another look at the wiring diagram and realizing I was missing a power lead. Carbs working flawlessly, bone dry intakes and starts up quick and settles into smooth idle. sounds wonderful with that 3 into 1 Motad Venom system Neutral light still out but Im closing in on it. I pinned down my friend Dru wh is a painter and fingers crossed I get the tank seat and fender wet sanded and primed. wait a day, wet sand again, dry and apply wrap. I am looking/hoping for a thursday first test ride.
Well Boys, its been a while...I am so close to being finished, it hurts to walk. I fitted the tank /seat /fender which meant a lot of hand trimming and filing. I hate fiberglass work, not because its hard but because im not any good at it. Metal is forgiving, you can fix a mistake; to a degree. Fiberglass is one shot at trimming and fitting, there fore I have to go painfully slow and I still butchered a little but it worked out fine in the end..see photos. Now to clean with mineral spirits, wet sand down to fine, then prime, dry, repeat. Then wrap. I had to re route several wires and cables and lines behind the frame gussets, my mistake not the kit. I am also happy to report I am Gremlin free, I have chased down all of my WTF why isn't this working, Oil pressure, water temperature and Neutral all operate as they should, plus the tach was fixed last week, So thats it . I didn't like the way some of the wiring looked wrapped in electrical tape so I ordered some split nylon sleeves to dress it up, hopefully Amazon comes through with that as advertised this week. I have a dyno appointment to hash out the carbs and jets and such.Being German there is no "sure C'mon on down and we will throw it on" its more like "I have an opening on Thursday the 22nd at 1400 can you be here for that???" But I like these guys and I love the name Kielbassa Racing (As a Yank, Kielbassa is Polish Sausage) https://www.kielbassa-racing.de
Boys??? Relieved does not do me justice, happy is not nearly enough. I would like to say that as of tonight, I am finished with this build (except paint) and I am very satisfied with the results . After I chased down all my electric Gremlins and worked out some cable and Hydraulic line routing I was still disappointed in the multi colored can of worm soup that was my frame. Let me say that these nylon sleeves are so easy to use, and really clean up the crap I left behind. Tomorrow I sync the carbs just for fun and wait for my Dyno appointment. Its been raining for 2 days here so I have to wait to sand and paint the second coat of primer before wipe down and wrap. If I screw up the wrap I'll have to live with flat black this summer and I dont want that. BTW I'm done....I wanted to keep going and fit the Cobrra oiler tonight but I should wait for very last to be sure I dint mount it in the way of my riding position. Thank You all for staying with me from day one. I'm not quite ready to lock this thread but boy oh boyo are we close.
As soon as it stops raining, I'll wheel it out and take a pic. I need to really clean the shop out, it looks like a Sprint 900 died and was butchered in there.
I did get my body parts wet sanded (insert dick joke here) and Im ready to paint as soon as the moisture level drops to reasonable. I did throw my sync gauge on the carbs and warmed the girl up. This was my initial reading, I was not able to tweak much closer than that, so ...leave well enough alone.
I know I said Id pull her out off the table for the first time but the weather here is typical Germany, dark grey and wet. I have prepped all the body work and test fitted. I need very minor adjustment on the seat module , but thats it. I intend to attempt the 3M Galaxy wrap on the first sunny day this week. You will also note that I scrapped the CRK tail light / lic plate piece for some cheap Chinese LED strip and Aluminum (pronounce it as you wish) lic plate bracket about $10 USD each on Amazon. Thelic plate bracket is fully adjustable for angle and reach. I am using very expensive German bar end turn signals but I wired the led tail into the circuit anyway. Now Im just scared that my wrapping skills won't be u to snuff.
the odd reflection on the tail lights is the work light im using, the red is uniform and bright. I cant tell you how much its killing me to be this close to done, but i can show you. (just in case you are under 30 years of age...thats not me...it's the late great Kieth Moon)
sure, here is the tail light : Wiipro Universal led Harley Davidson Light Strip Tail Brake Stop Turn Signal 32LED 8" Flexible led light for motorcycle by Wiipro https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GJGCR9U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 the bracket: Oumurs CNC Motorcycle License Plate Holder LED Tail Light Eliminator Kit 6 LEDs Adjustable Universal for Honda KTM Yamaha Suzuki Ducati (Titanium) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C8M27S8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 my bad, the bracket was 31 USD and the light was 10 this is Amazon.com (USA) but Im sure the .co.uk site is the same.
Tried my hand at vinyl wrapping tonight. First attempt ever. The online know it alls say start with smaller easy shapes, so coolant hose cover and fender. Tomorrow is seat and maybe tank if it doesn't make me stab myself. Not sure about the galaxy pattern I picked, maybe on a larger scale with the tank and seat it will come together (BTW its not nearly as pink as it looks in photo, more of a purple). The beauty is if I dont like it, Ive only got 35 USD in it, peel it off and pick something else . maybe a nice metallic green or a leopard print (ooh, so GUCCI).
Ok , latest update...bike loaded in to the 30 year old truck, going to Kielbassa racing for a dyno session on Monday, I have to explain to them because they are German, and they are perfectionist but I am a good enough will work guy. Its not a race bike and we dont need to spend countless hours (that they charge a lot for) getting it just exactly right and averaged the same for three consecutive pulls. I got caught in that trick bag last time. I just want it to run good and strong, Also my skills as a wrapper are beyond sub parr. You can see that my tank is a mess. I already ordered another piece when I realized I didn't have enough last week so I get one more shot at it before I just paint. Im going to try doing panels because they are much easier, I unwrinkled the wrap and tried a panel just to test the theory, and yes. If that is a no go, then I'll just paint it for the summer, maybe a Nardo grey or French blue.
I was using a heat gun on low but it was too much I think, it would overheat and i would rip the vinyl .
I was wondering. I have two heatguns and both would be too vicious for vinyl but I have insufficient hair for my own hairdryer!
I know, I know....without pictures it didn't happen. I took my newly completed CRK (no wrap yet, just black) to the Dyno center in Calw. They made me an outrageous high estimate. I had to explain that its not a race bike and I didn't need the Nth degree German exactness tune, I just needed the wow it runs great tune. They came down from 600 euro to 400. I explained that I also dont need any paperwork and I would pay cash...there was more wiggle room and we put her up on the DYNO. I can tell you that 9000rpm sounds wonderful through that MOTAD Venom 3 into 1 and the intake roar from the RAM-AIR system from CRK is just as intoxicating. Initial pull showed that the 150 main jets recommended for my set up were way way too rich. We are jumping down to 140s for starting points tomorrow . I dont remember the stock jetting, I want to say 130?? I will take photos when I collect it tomorrow (just to prove it was there) and I will post final figures also. BTW, the initial pull with the 150s which were way too rich only produced 70 RWHP. Im expecting 85-90 when dialed in.
I was unable to take photos because they had my bike sitting outside ready for pickup. I will post the Dyno sheets. As you can see peak HP is 82.74 at 9000 rpm and Max Torque was 74.10 at 5800rpm. I was hoping for a higher peak number but the power curves are almost textbook and 82 just right hp is a lot better than 90hp with a big dip and flat spot. Im pretty happy if you consider he only pulled to 9000 not 9500, and for some reason he ran my rear tyre at 20 psi (lot of flex). factor in the 10-15% parasitic loss from crank to wheel and Id say that's a pretty good tune. The curve is graceful and arches over just right, the Torque jumps up and runs fairly flat with just a uptick. so a new stock was supposed to be 98 at the crank minus the loss and anything over 80 is a win.
