consolodation

For future updates, please go to my manitoba supermono site... having 3 blogs is a bit silly.  See y'all there!

New fender

New to me... used, as usual, but in good shape.  Its a Harris one from the UK.

Note the bugs on the fairing, yes, I do get out to ride it, but not as much as I'd like. 

Done?

What does it mean to be finished with a bike when you are a fanatic, always tinkering, modifying, thiking of, hearing about, and reading information on how to make a bike better...

Something to ponder another day.  Graphics are on, bike is pretty much "done"... whatever that means.  Enjoy the pics.

harris

Got a Harris RC51 exhaust hanger off of ebay for cheap -- $1.00!  Haven't ridden the bike in awhile, due to work commitments.  Installed a new chain and sprockets, as the originals were over 30,000 km old, and starting to sound like it.  New parts are very smooth, and I went up 2 teeth in the back for a bit more oomph.  Needing a chain riveter, as this does not come with a clip or master link.  Need to find one/borrow one soon.  Plan is to get the graphics finally installed next week!

CF end can

I am really having fun riding this bike.  Daresay more than the Ducati 900 or 999.  What a nice, stable machine!!!

Graphics

I've made a decision regarding the graphics -- being involved in education (and the principal of an elementary school starting next year), meant that any tobacco-themed livery was out of the question... and I hate smoking anyway.  So, despite the pricy nature of the kit, I phoned tapeworks and ordered the following:

I also got them to include the rear black numberplates... when I get the graphics applied, I will get a single front one done as well, to cover the headlight-less side of the fairing endurance-style.  I think I will plump for professional installation, simply because when you pay for a graphics kit, you should likely get it installed "right". 

Bike will be taken to the shop today to get an MB safety.  In Canada, used bikes need to pass a DOT inspection prior to being registered with a new owner.  More cash grab by big brother.  Whatever.  I did realize that on paper, the front single light would not pass on its own, mainly because there is no low/dip beam.  With a bit of work, I was able to wire the LHS light, with a hi-low bulb, connecting the hot lead from the low beam.  Looks very neat and clean.  So "on the bar", I now have a proper hi and low beam light that looks "factory".  Unfortunately the 2 glorious weeks of 20 degrees in April (!) have not yet returned, so I'll be taking the bike over in the chill of a 10 degree (high) day.  Forecast for next week is certainly better, so I'll be able to get out on the roads shortly!

fairings

patience....

Still no bodywork -- next week, apparently.  Anyway, I levered on the new tires.  Old ones had the cores showing on the front!

Bridgestone sport-touring tires.  Horses for courses, as the Brits say.  No sense putting on racing radials for the street.  These also have the sipes extending to the shoulder of the tire, for rainy days.  It is a streetbike, remember!

Not much to report.  The warm weather of late allowed me to hook up the power commander, but I'm still waiting before I purchase a new battery.  And of course, the tank and bodywork is still of being painted.  I also re-installed the LHS rad with the new SPAL fan and hooked it up both plumbing and electical-wise.

misewell mode

As in, while the bike is apart, I misewell improve it.  Based on forums, the RC51 runs a tad hot.  On bit of advice is to upgrade the fan, and change it to a pusher style -- blow heat out from the back of the side mounted radiator, taking advantage of the low pressure system created by the wind blowing by the rads at speed.

I've since tidied up the wiring properly, but hopefully following the OEM wiring diagram I have things sorted out properly.  As far as I can tell, I'm the first to fit a SPAL fan to an RC51 SP1; other have done it with an SP2 which uses a far simpler wiring setup.

The shock has come back from RMR, so I installed it and so was able to mount the exhaust system.  Fairly straightforward, light, and good quality for the price.










Nice attention to detail -- exhaust pipe manufacturer is screened onto the rubber of the springs.

Here are a few upgrade pics...

Radial mount calipers, new chrome-plated allen bolts, new pads, stainless steel brake line, new crush washers.

Spal pusher fan -- the recommended modification to improve cooling.  Honda end is already soldered on... I fabricated some aluminum mounts to attach it to the inside of the radiator.  Will post some pics later -- just currently cut out in rough.

All the bodywork is now at Braemar to be painted.  Also got a call from RMR suspension, the shock has been rebuilt.  OK overall, but apparently the compression damping rod had seized up -- would still work, but could not be adjusted.

d'oh

Looks like the suzuka-style upper fairing isn't going to work.  Now I'll have to repair the cracked OEM upper.  I think I will fill in the headlight nearest to the crack however, and try to get something like this:

I might put on a white number plate, but not the number.  My upper has a crack on the other side, so I think I'll end up filling in the side opposite the one on this bike.  Dug out an OLD jar of mold release compound, and am polishing up the headlight in order to make a fill panel, which should help strengthen the cracked area as well.  The idea is to put the fibreglass on the headlight, and when cured, it should pop off the headlight due to the mold release.  It does work, actually.  Then some copius filler and etc, and it should, with some work, look like the upper to the left/above.

Some other (people's) ideas

The powder blue idea is admittedly a bit risky...  here are some others:

This is the European SP1 paint scheme -- made famous by a Mr. J. Dunlop... (yer maun!)

Same 'ting, sans decals.  Not that bad, but it needs something to break it up a bit.

The endurance headlight will allow for a numberplate design on one side -- I kinda like this...

This is the same bike, with the plate on the tailsection.  Not sure about the fairing graphics.

So... imaging the entire bike red, with these white, silver, and black logos on the side.  This is the big money option, but the best quality stuff out there.

The all red idea seems logical, as the inside of the side fairings and the underside of the tank are already red.  That scheme will make it look less obvious that the colors are not original.  As well, there is a color-rite paint code to match the oem honda red.  Decisions, decisions.  Tank and tail off to the paint shop for repair and prep.  Sidepanels staying put until the upper comes in, for test-fitting.

This is what I'm thinking...

Paint Update

Ok, he's my hero (one of them, anyway...)

This is his car (one of them, anyway...)

My go-to people (Brae-Mar Autobody) can do the proper shade of blue -- the owner passed me on to a local sign guy, who is a big fan of old motorcycles and cars.  Called him on the phone, made a vague description of my idea, and knew exactly what I was talking about -- a man after my own heart.  Even mentioned the pinstripe along the Orange.  According to him (25+ years of experience), the right 3M vinyl can be cut and bent around compound curves.... so rather than the paint shop doing the stripe, the same effect can be done in "decal" form -- he can even do the Gulf logos to match.  And the upper will be on its way from Australia tommorow.  After the Chinese fairing fiasco, some good news!  As well, the paint guy recognized me as a repeat customer and told me to bring in the fairing parts that needed to be repaired first -- they'd fit it in between jobs.  That way, it will be a bit of a hanger queen and won't be (as) expensive... we'll see.

(if you don't know, that's Steve McQueen)

(shame on you!)

Crayola time...

Actually, they're markers, not crayons... I plan to pop by the paint shop to get some idea on a price quote for the RC...

Obviously inspired by the 1198 Gulf endurance bike...

Further on the endurance theme, one of these should be winging its way from Australia to me in short order.  A cracked upper fairing (which could still be repaired) inspired this...

Which was inspired by this -- an RC51 racing a Suzuka... if you recognize the helmet, that is a Mr. V. Rossi in the saddle.

Headlight is from a Euro-market CBR400 or 250 -- all the same size.  Cabin is a tobacco company from Japan (I think).

Towards the back of the bike, this is a faux carbon hugger I got on sale.  If need be, hopefully it can be painted Gulf Orange, to match the front fender.

Nice weather has allowed me to sort the undertail, properly secured with bolts, not plastic rivets.  Riv-nuts are wonderful things!

Jetting, 21st-Century Style

So this is how you jet a fuel-injected bike in the 21st century.  No jets, no needles, no "spray bottle cap to catch the fuel from the float bowls..." -- you hook a USB port up to a power commander, connect the PCIII to a 9-volt battery, install the CD, and away you go...

A fellow RC51 rider with the same exhaust system and similar injection mods (pair and flapper valve) suggested using 1 of 3 possible maps to start, with his "best" stock map as a starting point.  And hey presto, the information was downloaded to the PCIII.  It just needs to be installed on the bike!

A suitably-equipped Dyno shop would have a PC hooked into the Dyno, a exhaust gas sniffer, and the PCIII itself.  Based on the fuel-air ratio of the bike set up, the dyno operator could go in and change the values of each of these quadrants to fine-tune the performance of the bike.  Cool!  The new PC5 is such that (from what I understand), the unit can store 3 maps, and you can toggle between them depending on your needs -- mileage, performance, or even dodgy conditions.  MotoGP for everyman!

Still no shock, so I'm not going to bother with the exhaust yet -- get it tucked away before I snug down the headers.

If you ever wondered...

If you ever wondered what a $22.00 bolt looked like, here it is:

Note the bit of red loc-tite added by Honda/whomever when it was completed.  Pretty basic...











Although...

It has been "dished" for safety-wiring, and it is hollow!  I needed 4 of these to mount the radial calipers to the caliper adaptors.  Got these and the exhaust gaskets the other day.  Started to mount the exhaust, but stopped as the rear swingarm drooped on the stand without the shock in place -- off getting rebuilt.

Your results may Vary....

Well, as the Brits would say, I'm gutted.  The Auctmarts bodywork showed up from China -- relatively quick shipping, no additional duty or fees when I picked it up from Canada Post.










Other buyers had warned the world that fitment could be a potential problem.  Since I had gotten Ducati bodywork to fit on an EX500, I wasn't too worried.  However, the nature of putting this stuff on a streetbike, and trying to make it look decent is a different story...







You can't see it here, but the headlights do not sit square in the fairing -- and because things did not line up properly, there is tremendous stress put on the mounting tabs in order to get things to line up right... and eventually, a few cracked off.  And the windscreen doesn't fit...








So, what I have here is a nicely-painted set of trackday bodywork.  It does look nice in the pictures, but a few hundred highway miles would have things vibrating and cracking and falling apart -- especially the headlights.  Damn!  So, we're back to repairing and painting the OEM bodywork.

I guess we will be starting with a clean slate here... I liked the matt/satin black of the 999 -- with a few discreet decals, it would look pretty mean (black wheels, black frame, black swingarm...).  Another option is the gulf color scheme I've seen.  The bike would be predominantly the gulf pale blue, with the orange in the number plates in the front and tail, front fender, undertail, and perhaps the hugger.