new GS racer

[patrino]

Finally got the forks and front wheel back on the bike last night. Next job is to rework the caliper hangers.

In the meanwhile, changed the oil and filter, finished up the seat pan, and sent the bodywork out for paint. Borrowed an electric knife to cut the seat foam.

Tentative plan is to race only locally with OMRRA (Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association) in 2014. I ran a couple AHRMA events on my DT1 road racer with AHRMA last year (Sears Pt. and Miller). Ton of fun but probably not in the budget this year. We will see!

I'm not 100% sure of the AHRMA class legality but yes, I believe it's Heavyweight Superbike.

 

[mrbridgeport]

I don't see anything on it that would not let it run in AHRMA superbike heavyweight. -joe

 

[patrino]

Tank, fender and seat section have been painted. Need to get a Suzuki decal for the tank.

Painted the wheels too (rattle-can), and the front brake hangers are nearly done. My setup required the rotors be turned down a few millimeters. I have a friend who's a machinist, he's turning them down today.

http://brokenbonepatch.com/picts/non_gfb/fender.jpg

http://brokenbonepatch.com/picts/non_gfb/new_tank.jpg

 

[CivilRock]

Patrick,

I had a hoped this was you. Now I know with those links. (I have a couple broken bone patches on my leathers).

Bike looks sick. I love it. You're going the right direction focusing efforts on suspension and brakes. Can't wait to hear what kind of lap times you hit with that beast.

In trade for any free advice given here is the mandatory reciprocal agreement that you post more pictures. You have to understand that pictures of your bike (in whatever state it happens to be in) is actually pornography for this group of knuckleheads. Myself included. Respectfully, you are not holding up to your end of deal. We don't want a peep show, we want the full monte.

-Kevin

 

[CivilRock]

I don't know if you're still working on getting the calipers lined up with the rotors, but instead of stacking all your washers between the fork leg and the adapter, you might put one behind the rotors, one on either side of the adapter, etc. As far as losing them during a frantic rain race, I'd glue, wire, or weld them in place.
Another direction to go would be a fully round spacer between the wheel and rotor. There's 6 bolts there and a lot of surface area as opposed to 2 with an off-set caliper adapter.
Just some ideas, as I've dealt with (and contemplated this problem) on several bikes.

-Kevin

 

[patrino]

bah! of course! Pushing the discs outwards would have been an easy thing to do / easy part to have machined: just the large central hole plus the five/six (I forget) for the disc mounting screws. NEXT TIME.

For now the caliper spacers seem to be working.

More photos, I promise.

 

[patrino]

I ended up wrapping the entire pipe. I'm generally not a big fan of chrome, I think that this looks better. A friend of mine suggested the idea.

Put some new tires on last night. I'm running a Bridgestone R10 front and a Bridgestone supermoto H-pattern rear. Our local Bridgestone rep is a great guy, he expected "loads of grip" from the rear. I'm hoping they last at least two weekends. The rules require treaded tires, but don't require that they're DOT-legal.

I finished the seat pan a while ago. Last night I welded on some tabs to hold the tailsection. Now I'm laying out the foam, need to head to the store on Monday to get some more, plus some vinyl to wrap it. I'll probably use industrial velcro to keep the seat on the pan.

 

[CivilRock]

Love the heat wrap. I just wrapped my headers this weekend too.

So is this bike going to be for the track only? Will we see it on some club rides?

You've inspired me on the suspension work you've done. I really need to give my bike some love in that department.

 

[patrino]

Track-only at this point. Don't have a title, no charging system (end of crank is cut off), etc. etc. etc. Anyhow I've got my RC51 if I want to go have fast fun on the street.

That said I ought to track down a title at some point, if I sourced a new motor (with charging system) I reckon it'd be a fun street bike.

 

[patrino]

Got the brakes fitted up last night. Rotors were turned down to ~294mm (from 298mm). I need to pick up a Grade 8 bolt to replace the hex-head on the top mount. The brake pads had a big step in them (from the previous mounting setup, which only positioned about 75% of the pad material on the rotor), so I ground them flat with sandpaper on a mirror.

Once that was wrapped up, I started work on the seat. It's pretty squishy so I'm going to hollow out most of the underside and fill it with denser foam I have at the shop.

Flipped the shift linkage around too, so we're GP shift, which I prefer on the track.

 

[Guest]

p i c t u r e s....................please?

 

[CivilRock]

Flipped the shift linkage around too, so we're GP shift, which I prefer on the track.

Other than me, this is the first mention of GP shift (reverse shift) I could find on this site. Just like USD forks should be normal, I think GP shift should be the norm on every bike.

Yea, what's up with the lack of pictures. That thing is sick. Don't be scared to post the "in progress" or "bad angle" or "bad side" We want to see it all!!!

I need a test ride here in the next couple days. Can I come over and check out this thing in person?

My GP shift was a little more work that just flipping the linkage over.

 

[Rob S.]

Patrino, love the whole thread. Can't say I understand most of the wrenching posts, but I try. Can you tell me what this baby started life as?

And that rattle can job looks first class. MORE PICTURES!!!

CivilRock, you said you'd like bikes to be 1 up, 4 (or 5) down? Why? Is it a Southern Hemisphere thing?:-k

I ride an 1100EZ with Vance & Hines, K&N, nothing more. Never did a 'track day', but I swear your posts got me thinking about it.

And one more thing: MORE PICS PLEASE!

 

[GregT]

So called GP shift pattern where up is down...you know what I mean...got that way due to low ground clearance situations where an up shift was needed but there was no room to put a boot under the pedal...

these days where ground clearance is designed in at an early stage it's not so important.

rider preference is the main point...I have several customers with large collections and in the main they have a rooted objection to any one bike being "different". In practise this usually means up for up as a standard arrangement. If you've got left and right hand shift bikes in the collection too, up for up on both at least means slowing down when you press down with both feet...

i must and will find a pic of our racebike arrangement as i think you may like it.

 

[GregT]

Pic as promised - couldn't edit it in to previous post.

minimalist.....

 

[gs58]

I did the same thing Greg. I made a nylon bush for the gear selector shaft to rotate on so it wouldn't bind.

 

[John Kat]

I did the same thing Greg. I made a nylon bush for the gear selector shaft to rotate on so it wouldn't bind.

Simple and elegant

 

[patrino]

Here we go, a couple "full monty" shots per request. More detailed shots soon. The seat and tailsection are still very much works in progress, and those seas of white that are my numberplates will look better once I get my number on them. But we're making progress. I got the steering damper mounted last night, too. Also, I ended up having Bridge City Cycles do the paint, they gave me a great deal (and I recommend them if anyone's in the Portland, OR, USA area!). The pinstripes were hand-done by Jeff Wolf. Love 'em.

 

[patrino]

P.S. I prefer because GP for two reasons:

1. it's easier for me to get positive gear engagement with a push down, than a pull up. At the track, when a bad upshift can cost you a race, that's important.
2. it's easier for me to upshift when you're heeled over in a corner (and can't get your foot underneath the shifter if you're not running GP). This doesn't happen often but when it does it's nice to be able to upshift at a large lean. (Like GregT noted, this is less an issue nowadays.)

But at the end of the day yes, it's personal preference, whatever you're comfortable with is the way to go. I still run standard shift on my street bikes.

 

[CivilRock]

CivilRock, you said you'd like bikes to be 1 up, 4 (or 5) down? Why? Is it a Southern Hemisphere thing?:-k

Most of the time downshifting is done when the bike is straight up and down. Sometimes up-shifting is done with the bike leaned over. Also upshift timing and precision is more important than downshifting when the brakes are doing most of the work.

All the reasons stated here, plus a personal one. When I broke my ankle riding MX, I basically twisted my foot around backwards. When I was able to ride again my ankle mobility was severely reduced as was the strength to pull up on a shift lever. I had moved to GP shift in 2002, and this injury was in 2005, but it took a long time to recover. For a while there I had to use my heel to pull up on the lever.

Almost every MotoGP racer uses GP shift. Most top level road racers anywhere use GP shift. That alone doesn't make it the best method, but noteworthy. Mat Mladin uses the normal shift pattern and he's no slouch.

It took me all of about 1 hour to get used to GP shift. After that, it completely made sense. And for some reason I have no problems going back to a dirtbike or regular shifting.

I would think that anyone drag racing would greatly benefit from it.