With 25 underway, some practice was in order, rolling the bike out for the first time, looking rather fresh after a winter revamp, have to say, it went rather well.

no majors, and starting to get the hang of it, is 25 going to be a good season, well I 'd like to think so..

 

 

And the story continues....

 And what a story it is..

The MT made way for a WK450 DTX, and I made it out playing with some of the best there is, end of 23 saw me practicing at a local private Oval, then on to what is to become my favorite place to ride, Greenfield nr Lincoln.

I had the opportunity to get hold of a DTX bike which just needed to be brought back to life after sitting for a while.

A flush of the carb and a general look over, a few kicks and it was back alive, running well, and no obvious problems, time to get a practise in, as I said I'm lucky to know of a private oval, and was soon  wobbling around, trying to put everything into practise and not falling off, covered in dust, grinning from ear to ear, booked in for the last DTRA round of the season, Greenfield oval.

The van fully loaded, everything in and away we went, a mission drive, but we got there, set up and prepared for the Sunday racing, Saturday was spent enjoying the action, drinking a few beers and meeting new people.
Sunday.

What a day, i had no idea what I was doing, just get out there and see how it goes, riders going by, but I stayed where I was, rode my own race and stayed on! 

The races fly by, and soon I was sitting at the back of the van feeling pleased I made it.

Next up IOW...

Still grinning from my first outing, I got the chance to ride at the IOW, and grabbed it, a ferry across and a very wet track awaited, all I can say is, wow, what a day, all over the place but the grin factor was worth it, the finals and speedway boys spot on, great viewing, and great memories.

But I wasn't done there...

Iwade in kent, a chance to go round again on another new track, and why not, dry, cold, and mad, but what else do you need..

A great day going out and round, just really getting on with the bike and trying to get some speed and above all confidence in what I was doing, you don't get long out there, and a soon as I was getting happy the day was over, as was the season, the off season was full of preparation for the 24 season, and a hoping for better results!

2024...

With the bike serviced over the winter, and a few goodies added, time to move onto the van and get that finished, and pretty much sorted it is, does the job, and although had a couple of issues, battery, alternator its been a good one.

The dates came out for 24, and I had greenfield TT in my sights, 

Amazing weekend, I can put into words how good it was for me, really good racing, and although at the back, I had a great time, and some good battles.

A few up's and down's followed on from the first meeting, then a major change, I heard of a bike via the grapevine, and went for it..
Something completely different to the DTX, a Rotax framer styled flat track racer, I remember seeing this bike at the IOW at the back end of last season, and it went rather well..

So towards the end of 24, I'm now back learning a new bike, which I do feel more comfortable with, and as I get a few more meets in, and with 25 around the corner, It may be a while before I update the blogger again... 

You Can Only Give Your Best, Even If You Know You Will Fail.

Be Lucky in whatever you do!

 

 

  

 

Erm.... well, its like this....

 its all been a little hectic...

the CRF, yes, Could have done better, costs going out of control, and covid tax really did hurt, the Chinese motor didn't want to play, and after some soul searching, rebuilding a blown 450 motor to be doing it all again a few hours down the road really wouldn't have sat well at all, so, a look around to see whats out there, soon had me thinking it was not going to be happening, CCM, Rotax, framers etc all well out the price range, so a home build was going to be the way forward.

XT, TT, XS, something along those lines would be good, but again, few and far between, but hang on..MT03!?!? 660 motor, and plenty about..

yep, you got it, I found one, no MOT, but all there and a runner, perfect!

Time to strip out the CRF bits, swap out what I could, and lets see where it goes...It all started really well, and I even got in a flat track school day, which was great, and proved the point of getting the MT ready, but, ah yes a but, on a return from a weekend at Santa Pod, the trusted Big Tranny started to make some very strange noises, and was soon at the side of the road rather ill.. 

A new turbo, cat and tappet bridge with a recon set of injectors had the old girl up and running again, but only for a short run, as the bottom end went south, and that was it, time to cut the losses, and move on, I found a Custom, reasonable money, and perfect for what I need, So campervan 3 is underway, and fingers crossed on this one, but the flat tracker is well behind, so maybe out for a practice before the end of year...we will see!
never easy, never straight forward, and never to plan.. Wouldn't life be boring!

The Custom, the Dirt day, that MT! 

So the CRF....

 I had a day flat track marshalling, and really enjoyed the fact its nuts, so, after a few phone calls, and messages, I found a bike that needed some work, but on the whole was all there, so off I went and a few hours later, well most of the day really, I returned home with a bike and a few boxes of bits, and a possible plan.. 

its been a up hill struggle with the Cerf.. the engine although new, really dont want to play ball, so another 450 honda motor is going in, as it stands, I have a garage full of engine parts, a few sets of crankcases, and a fair bit of re-assembly is on the cards over the winter, but hey, if it was straight forward that would be too bloody easy! lol. 

Wow... its all gone crazy!

Where to start..

The ZX6R..

After a final refit, the bike developed a starting issue, I spent many an hour chasing down what it could be, and came up blank.

Very frustrating, and just a little soul destroying after the work that went into it, but, if its got Tits or Tyres, its going to be trouble..

The ZX went off to a new home, fully aware of the issues, and what had gone into the bike..

The van got some more love, with a better bed and storage set up, some nice dark lining, a few charging ports and even a TV! 

Front suspension got a treated to a Polybush set up, and has made a world of difference..

The CRF..

Now that is another story.. and will be back with that at some point!

Stay safe, be lucky!

There's been a fair bit going on.. The ZXR is nearly finished, and looks good, a few little bits to sort, but nothing that won't take to long,

The big Tranny has been given some love too.. arches, underbody treatment, some rust spots sorted, a map has boosted the drive, and a whole day with the polish made a world of difference..

Then there is the CRF, now that is another story...

Be lucky, and stay safe! 

Its been needing some attention..

A weekend show some love...

Oooh a CRF..

 

 

The bike is coming together nicely, the wiring is moving on well, and just needs soldering up, awaiting new soldering iron, as the USB one went bang... well I did hook it up to a 12v supply, before reading the instructions... heated up quickly thou..

Exhaust back on, new gaskets and brass stud nuts, plus a few other little jobs, throttle cables and lines routed, little bits that can cause headache later, radiator mounted with fan checked.

A really good few hours...

Once the switch gear is sorted, choke cable is next, as I'm removing the left hand switch gear altogether, then move on to the rain/brake light...

All the best, and stay safe.

 

Time to sort out the calipers..

Had them apart, all pistons removed, cleaned and inspected, no damage or pitting, so after a polish and the fitting of new seals, happy to get them back in, nice new stainless bolts, and a paint, all looking very good..

Now, bleeding these is notorious for being a pain, so started the job on the bench, filled the caliper first, then connect the hoses, and bleed away.. 

It worked pretty well, and after a few pumps bubbles coming up the tube, pleased with that, got some good pressure on the lever pretty quickly, so all in all well worth suffering the cold...

Once the handle bar is sorted, it can all go back on, and the front end is done! 

Looking all nice clean.. the brake pad pins cleaned up with a little scotch bright.

All bled and ready for the new pads and fitting back on the bike, once the bar is sorted....

It was a rather cold couple of hours in the garage, but well worth the effort, and very pleased that its coming together again.

 

A couple of hours later...

Been working on the fairing bracket, removing the "bird cage" set up for something a bit better, this has come from the ZZR, but has a different set of clocks, so had to make up a bracket to fit the bracket...

First attempt looked great, fitted perfectly, till I put the fairing on, and then realised it was 2 inches to tall for the screen,

back to the drawing board, and a bit of thinking had a solution, and job done.

On/Off switch located just above the clocks, gear indicator will go on the left.

Retro Lime green screen will be bright! 

The 6 pots are on the bench, and they will be next to get a seeing too...

 

 Its been a busy time indeed..

A break in the wet stuff gave me a chance to seal the screw holes in the roof, just in time..

Not my doing, before you ask, so thats cured the damp patches in the back, still some more work to do in the back, as I found a few more scattered around the arches and floor, but I'll get there with them.

Also for the van, some new wheels and tyres.. I've had a soft spot for the banded steelies look for some time, and finally found a set local to me, and at the right price, so they are awaiting some attention, thinking of painting them a different colour with a contrast stripe before fitting...

Looking forward to getting these on, then back to the ZXR and the list of to-do's on the wall, but first..

Merry Christmas to everyone, yes its a weird time, but, we're all this together, so lets beat it.

Stay safe and have a great new year! 

  

The weather has been awful, so any chance of sealing the holes in the van roof have been patched with a few layers of Duck tape, need a dry couple of hours to do a proper job..

The seals are on order for the brakes, so with a few hours spare, brightening up the garage a little was on the as and when list, which seems to be never ending at the moment..

Found a few litres of good old emulsion, thinned it down and after a couple of coats, job done.

There's more storage on its way, so will free up some space, also a plan for getting the wheels and tyres on a rack.

Its all coming together nicely, and although 2020 has been up and down, I'm still enjoying this project, and 2021 should see some track time, as well as being able to work away on the bike as I like..

Did the whole wall in the end, once the bike is back on its wheels some matting is going down, and some repairs to the guttering is in order as well, more jobs... lol.

Stay safe everyone. 

I've been busy getting a few more bits for the garage, little bags of nuts and bolts, plus a few oils and sundries that might be needed.

The postman has been bringing a few packages in the last week or so, the garage does look good thou, and there is a lot of bits that have been collected over the last few weeks, all neatly stored ready to go.

The planned new race bodywork has been put to one side for the time being, and the fairings that came off the bike will be repaired and repainted, the colours will be staying Green and Black, nice and simple, but that s a way off at the moment.

Once the seals for the calipers have arrived, I'll be stripping them down, a quick look at them has all the pistons moving about the same rate, but think its better to have a really good look while I have the time, hopefully later this week..

But, I do have a leaky roof on the van that needs attention first...

Stay safe everyone.

  

 Forks are done. 

A bit more involved than first glance, and getting the bottom bolt out of the cartridge was not as easy as I thought it would be, but got there in the end.

A good clean of the sweep area, and some light polishing of some pitting, new bushes, seals and dust caps, with heavier 15w oil should help the front end! 

Moving on to the 6 pots next.. 

 Started the AirFix kit...

The rear shock came up well, although have found out I've misplaced my spring clamps.

But, a workmate and a couple of straps did the job, the spring paint took well, and looks so much better for it.

Swingarm and suspension linkage all greased and put back, so the rear end is almost ready to be back on the ground, the sprocket carrier has been cleaned, repacked with grease, the cush drive bushes are very good, so, just a good clean and a polish of the rims are next on the the "to do" list.

The mechanical side of things shouldn't take to long to get back on the bike, the electrics and re-wiring of switch gear and add on's might be a little bit more involved, but the manual is there, so patients will be the key...

but for now there is still a few more big bits to play with.

 Its all come together nicely, just needs a kettle! 

Whoops...

Dropped myself in the dog house, but hopefully the rear shock will appreciate it.

Had, yes Had to puts some bits into the garage, which lead on to having a look at the rear shock, the spring has a few signs of surface rust, I could have just touched it up, but thats far to easy.

After some messing about, it was apart(workmate, spring compressor, and some patience.) in the parts bath again, cleaned, and given a coat of paint, its a bit cold for top coat, so that will have to be done in the workshop after having the heater on for a few hours to warm it all up.

Unfortunately, I let the time run away with me, and the poor long suffering wife came in a disrupted my tittering about with the "Right, I'm off then...See you tonight." you're in the shit mate, tone of voice!

Good job the dog's still like me! 

Interesting amount of pressure required to release the top ring, Paul Daniels came to mind.. 

    

  

Got a coat of grey primer on, so the black should make it look rather nice.

Rear end looks good mate...

Swingarm and shock removed with no drama, although did find some crash damage on the swingarm, so decided to replace it, loads of used parts available for the G2, so no problem in finding a good used one.

Rear shock was cleaned, and apart from some surface rust on the spring, all looks good there,

There are no grease points on the shock linkage or swingarm, so a careful removal of the dust seals and pins, a clean and re-grease of all the points took a little time, but very rewarding to know they are done, and nothing is amiss.

Replacement swingarm arrived, and is very good, a clean and a re-grease, job done.

A very productive couple of hours in the garage playing with a few bits, all looking very nice, ready to go back.

Shock linkage bearings being re-greased.

Looks a bit sorry for itself, but all for the greater good...

  

Rude not too...

A nice early finish to the work day gave me a few extra hours to work in the garage,

I did have an idea of turning the bike around, but then decided to leave it, and just carry on.

with the forks awaiting oil, the swingarm and rear shock need a look at.

Now, the rear is held up on a paddock stand, so will need to be out the way for the swingarm to com off, an Abba stand would be very useful, but I sold mine a while ago, so thats out.

turning the footpegs upside down and then supporting with axle stands, will allow work on the rear...

Exhaust system removed, all nuts and studs okay, but I'll refit them with new nuts.

So, a bit more done, a couple of things to get, then the rear will be off...

  

Then there was light...

My poor garage was a little dark, and with winter nights drawing in, it was time for some light.

12v LED strip lights looked favourable, and with some not being used, very easy to liberate to the garage.

A unused car battery for power source,

some wire extending and away...

 And seeing how it looked so good, I thought it would be rude not to have a look at the forks.

Which have been left to drain over night, with the operating table awaiting...

Not your normal Friday night, but these are strange times...

Hopefully, these will go without hitch, and be back together with no problems.

Famous last words eh..?

The strip down has started, and there is plenty to do, but first job, the fork seals, 

The top yoke had a seized bolt, and although I did try to remove it, obtaining another was a quicker and easier option, plus I wanted to remove the ignition lock and smooth it up a little.

 Couldn't resist a bit of polishing, plus a NOS Datatool gear indicator sourced as well. New pads for the front as oil has seeped into them from the forks, seals and bushes, and a host of stainless bolts to replace a few rusty worn ones.

Looking a little sad, but its a on going process, yes that is a stock end can, I have another, and also looking out for 1 more, then all noise issues are covered! 

Radiator will be coming off and getting some tlc, as its a little full of dirt... 

Forks dont look to bad, and hopefully will clean up nicely, and not be hiding any horrors when they come apart.

Fingers Crossed.