1997 Yamaha yzf1000 Thunderace

[Oldman99]

Is this a 20 valve head like the R1?

Yes, but the frame connects to the head with no down tube. Looks weird and is going to be a PITA to build an engine cage for.

Yep. Thunderaces are way more pleasant to put miles on, too. NICE score!

Thanks, I've only did the ride home and the test ride so far. 130+hp is something I could really get used to.

Found what the tach tester thing was trying to tell me. I still think this is a weird system. It uses a "TRANSISTOR CONTROLLED IGNITION", which I'm told is like comparing a regular camera to a digital one. It's only about $60 for a new-ish one.
The tach was telling me 2 faults. The ex-up valve and the fuel system both had issues. Fixed the valve and replaced the light bulb for the low fuel light.

 

[Oldman99]

Took apart the rearend tonight. Wanted to check the bearings and chain. Found that the axel and adjusters where not put together corectly. The chain has no master link, just crushed pins. It is an o-ring chain, but I'm still going to replace it. Bike has a fully hydraulic clutch. The salve cylinder needs new seals. Leaks fluid and needs the air blead out every so often.

 

[RichDesmond]

...The chain has no master link, just crushed pins. It is an o-ring chain, but I'm still going to replace it...

Sounds like a riveted master link rather than the clip style. The riveted type is much more reliable.

 

[Oldman99]

Sounds like a riveted master link rather than the clip style. The riveted type is much more reliable.

Riveted was the word I was looking for. Thank you.
After some more cleaning, I found that its a D.I.D.
I'm just worried about the damage a chain that heavy can do to all of that aluminum that's around the front sprocket if it lets go.

 

[RichDesmond]

Riveted was the word I was looking for. Thank you.
After some more cleaning, I found that its a D.I.D.
I'm just worried about the damage a chain that heavy can do to all of that aluminum that's around the front sprocket if it lets go.

Riveted is much less likely to fail than a clip style M/L, if the chain's in good shape I'd leave it be.

 

[Oldman99]

Got some paint on it.

 

[Oldman99]

Some of the parts that I needed to get the bike legal came in today. Headlight bulbs, clip ons with a rise, clutch slave rebuild kit, and new seat cover cloth.

 

[Oldman99]

Drove to the next town over today and got my inspection done.
Some observations.
I'm glad that I did not spend too much on the new clip-ons. I'm thinking I'll be swapping to handlebars. Something a little more sport touring.
This bike will never see a track day or go over 85mph. New front and rear sprockets are needed. I'll haft to play with the sprocket calculator to see what will work best, but still fit.
I like the muffler. It's so quite at low rpm's, but I can still hear it at highway speeds.

 

[Oldman99]

Still dealing with the gauge cluster error code even tho it's fixed.
The ex-up valve in the header is run by an electric motor that drives cables to open and close it. The motor has a potentiometer that the cdi compares to the throttle position sensor on the cabs. Too much variation between the 2 will generate the code.
I have the basic understanding of how this all works in theory, but I've never done much otherwise.
Found what it will take to fool the cdi, but I'm not really sure what I'm looking at. (this works on most R1 bikes)
I've already bought the retro kit to get rid of most of this mess and convert the valve to a simple spring loaded one.
That said, the gauge will still jump back and forth the whole time I'm riding.
In the drawing, it shows 2 power wires, this is to open and close the valve.

 

[Oldman99]

Heres my first attempt at making a fiberglass part. It's about 1/2 inch higher on the right than on the left and the front is not as smooth as I would like, but it will do what I need it to do. I'll make another one when the weather improves. I had to pre-heat the resin to even get it out of the can.

 

[Oldman99]

Went for a ride down to the lake area and found a public access for boats. I like the bike so far. Getting used to the clip ons. I'd like to go from a 17 tooth front sprocket to a 16. It's hard trying to do the speed limit. It will easily do 45mph in 3rd and feels weird.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

That thing looks cool, though I wonder whether you meant 145 in 3rd.

 

[Oldman99]

I dont lug it really, but I dont like to rev it too high either. Highest speed limit near me is 65 and she does that in 4th gear at like 5000 rpm.
I dont have a need for anything over 80mph, so why not back it down a little to make the available gears more usable?

 

[Oldman99]

So I did the spark plugs today. I really thinking someone in this bikes past did not change two of the four plugs because #3 and #4 are hard to get to.

 

[roeme]

Yuk. At least the electrodes look healthy.

 

[Oldman99]

Took the carbs off today. Ordered all new rubber for them and they finally showed up.
It's easier to start cold and seems to run better, but I might be a little biased.

 

[Oldman99]

Got tired of the tear in my passenger seat getting hung up on my back pack.
Did a half-arsed repair.
The adjuster on top of my fork looks to be ground down from a crash/ sliding down the road up-side down. I can only assume the pass seat got messed up the same way.

Some clamps and steel tube with a heat gun to put a crease in to hide my horrible stitching.

Complete-ish. I need much shorter staples. I'll pull these out and fix it later. Maybe...

 

[Buffalo Bill]

I like your project of course, not so different from my 7-11 Katana.
Mine is so fast, want's to be ridden so hard, it only feels normal on a race track.
Had it up to 130 no problem, with plenty of room to slow down for the next corner.
Still only average compared to other bikes on the track.

 

[Oldman99]

Thank you.
I was considering a different sprocket set.
Stock is a 17 x 47 with a 532 chain.
The speedo runs off of the front wheel so that won't be an issue.
I want to say if I switch to a 15 x 48, it will have a lower top speed, but will have better acceleration. Right?

 

[Buffalo Bill]

I looked at all the possible gear ratios I could use, but came back to what the Suzuki engineers chose, 15-48.
My engine is a 92 GSXR 1127 with the highest lift cams they put in those engines. A tweak one way or the other would not matter a bit, it has the highest torque figures I've seen.
I think getting clever about gear ratios is something you only need to do for small displacement engines.
Are you using the Gearing Commander site to help you?
Gearing Commander.com