Bucket development: A few questions for the wise ones

[Bert]

It lives

[crazy man]

It lives

well done! .not to bad timing to but have you got the motor running the right way (-;

[crazy man]

hopefully next year will be alot better only could get the bike into 4 gear with the gearing. some time on the dyno will help as well and berts bike . glad to put names on here with faces . may have a go myself in a meeting or two if my body is up to it

[Bert]

I have to say; early Friday morning (1am) I was think of flagging it as things weren't going back together very well);
the bike was spread around the shed after stripping the motor having forgotten a ball bearing in the clutch unit)..

Well; Crazyman, Regan and myself got both bikes running the Friday before the GP a couple of quick runs up the road declared it was well better prepared than some other GPs in the past. Packed and drove up.

Saturday:
Well it was a day of plug chops chasing Jetting and carb issues (the afternoon could not stop my PWK from pissing petrol everywhere). F5dave lent me a spare carb but alas suffered the same issue.
The engine ran surprisingly well when it was not filling with Gas; even with the powervalve locked 180 degrees for open
Big thanks to SteveB for the rear brake pads without them it was a no go.

Sunday:
Resorted to a old TZR carb after the first race that was sitting in bits in an emergency parts box (we managed to find most of the required bits; including a maori airjet care of Rich). no time for Jetting just ran the largest Jet I had...
GP; well rather worried about full throttle and melting stuff; I made the call after a four or five laps that just finishing was going to be an achievement (so I buttoned off).
So if I held you up I'm sorry (I tried to keep well out of everyone's way). Chequered Flag meant that I'd finally finished my first GP since 1999 (all be it second to last but one of the few two strokes).

Looking Forward:
The motor felt good (with potential) so I'm looking forward to some testing with a more "racer" combustion chamber volume, working Powervalve (at least 180 degrees in the right direction) and a sorted 32mm Carb. which I hope to sort out this week before Easter (just waiting on a few more bits to arrive so it can be done namely the extra pins for the igntech plug which I somehow lost).
The Bike and handling; my god, I ridden a fair number of bikes over the years (buckets, 250, 600 & road bikes etc) none compare to the crazy frame in terms of how it handles esp mid corner (far better bike than I can ride at the moment; good excuse to ride more and get some race fitness again).. Its going to be a barrel of laughs with the 250 in it.

It was great to see old faces again (its been a couple of years); Rob, Mike, Dave etc. it was great to catch-up.

Crazyman, Crazydad (Dave G) and Regan (Team GPR); thanks for the help and patients with me over the weekend; and especially the amazing work done leading up the weekend to get the bike finished while I was off sunning myself on an Island.

[speedpro]

I wasn't alone in being impressed with your bike. Very very nice work.

[Bert]

I guess I'm now migrating this tread to a more; "how things are now progressing"

Firstly a big THANKS to Steve and Skunk for another great two day event.

So the Second Run.

Saturday:
Grand plans of having things sorted by Easter went out the window with going back to work; (and wanting to let Crazyman get onto his own projects without me in his ear with more silly ideas).
So I concluded that $60 for the weekend was still cheaper than dyno time (and the free advice was great too).... I arrived with a boot load of carbs (and what I though was enough jets to sink a battleship); folly.. The day was really spent chasing what I though was running too rich, starting with a 230 main dropping/stepping to a 150 main and thicker needle (it wasn't until near the end of the day with Rich Ban holding his hand over the back of the (TZR250 Mikuni 28mm) Carb did we come to the conclusion that Lean was the issue not running rich; piss poor plug chops didn't help the days progress). So back to original needle and 250 main and nearly spot on (a little flat in the mid range). Just in time for qualifying; a piss poor tenth was as good as I could muster.

Sunday:
Well started the day with a running bike; so now it was time to actually learn to race again (Its been awhile).
Running well'ish non points race so attempted another plug chop and stopped early. bike stuttered every lap through the pit corner (I'll come back to this).
next race, Started at the back as it seems no one can actually read the grid board. good start up into mid pack then lost my gear linkage but lets say the starts and turn one are rather, well F##Ken nuts (I had forgotten that bucket racers show no mercy at starts. I believe the quote of the day was pin-ball or holeshots... some rather interesting marks on my new paint job.
15 laper; well got halfway through and the old arms gave in a bit and then the brain froze while attempting to do another around the outside pass on turn four, full front lockup across the grass and into the hoardings/wall; then rejoined to finish off the race and the day (no damage other than pride).
Seems as it going; a few others took it out so I could see what it looked like and it look smart.


Thanks to F5Dave for answering the endless silly questions and sharing your Jets. TZ (Rob) for you help esp. jet drills. Rich to pointing me in the right direction again.. Henk and Michelle for their special light hearted feedback on sat that kept me motivated. also it was really great to see everyone else that I've not caught up with for a while.


The aftermath:
firstly the stutter; opps i left the 12k limiter on the Ignitech dumbass...

Approximately 3 hours running now so I pulled the head off again tonight to inspect things: No major scuffs on the piston or bore (even with running lean). no real burn marks on the piston edges or silvery bits or signs of det. We are running a larger volume combustion chamber (lets call it a endurance profile); but all of this is a good sign that the combination of bits are working together and the build is heading in the right direction. Working powervalve and some carb work should clean-up the low-mid range; (pipe mods and new combustion chamber should give a little more top end). but for now its good enough for me to get some time back in the seat and sort out my part of the equation (need more fitness).

Odd burn pattern on the head (not quite a butterfly; esp at the transfers).

[Henk]

Awesome toy you have there, looks bloody awesome, handles brilliantly, a bit more midrange and it'll be an absolute weapon.
Thanks for letting me take it out for a few laps.

[crazy man]

pulled out the half finshed centre hub steering bike . looks like the honda 125 twin will go into it (looks the best)

[Bert]

pulled out the half finshed centre hub steering bike . looks like the honda 125 twin will go into it (looks the best)

the GT.. the GT..

So are you going to build a crazyman framed centre hub steering bike?? Roll over Elf Yamaha.
I better sort out those pistons then...


Third outing:

Well after getting up at some un-earthly hour on sunday morning I was lucky enough to share a van trip down with Crazyman and Regan for another day in sunny Wellington.

Made a wee opps at the start of the day by parking the van in the wrong car park?? while unloading, we suffered a very heated Kart'er dad yelling and swearing (actually right in my face) regarding his park (he must have got close to fisties before I could even apologise and explain we were out of town'ers ); fortuitously another kart'er saw what was happening and stepped in too resolve the issue; we apologised for the fifth time and moved the van. Sorry if this caused any issues organisers... I wont be parking there again; that was unbelievable response given we had only been there a couple of minutes....

Anyway slow improvements...
Finally connected up the exhaust servo and configured an opening curve in the igntech that matched well----> nothing; all a guess.

Practice and race one??.
Well the jetting was more on target and the exhaust valve really helped with the low end response. but unfortunately the 25year old servo failed to last any longer than 10 minutes before it died and lock on closed (causing a stutter up high in the rev range)... rolled in unplugged the servo and wired it open. bugger but at least we know that it does make a difference; which until then was all speculation. Crazyman noted that the front tyre had been hitting the radiator.

Race:
Well now back to the bogging bottom end; race went well and started to find some confidence in the handling and slowly got the feeling I was going faster. only just missed lapping crazyman at the flag (that I suspect will be the last ever chance of doing that!!). An attempt to resolve the radiator wheel issue we gave it a bit more preload; this didn't really solve the issue

Race:
Well that started well; however exhaust popped off at the header connection to the cylinder in lap4 or 5. Came straight in as has caused piston issues in the past and the noise was terrible... This issue I would suggest is linked back the the radiator wheel issue as the radiator is close to both; something to get sorted me thinks.... heavy springs went on for a day solution..

Race:
A great tussle with Crazyman (whom had now woken up enough and had come to grips with bike and track); mid pack finishes. I really wanted to get up to Kendog as that is about the mark where I stopped two/three years ago; next meeting...

Last race:
Well most of you have likely has seen the footage of this.
Finally got a good start and found some room around the outside.
but four of us were rather "grouped" in turn two. not sure of names (and this is my recollection of events) but the two in front decided to have a wee lye-down together after the inside rider lost the rear; I didn't have anywhere to go other than into a sliding FXR and unfortunately took out the person on my outside as my bike went down (probably my bad here; I didn't yield my position on the inside going into turn two and really hadn't completed the pass that well);. then we all turned into a sliding mess/hazard bring down other riders coming through.
So; a few things now to fix up for next time (Which put toll to racing in the streetstocks class in the last round of BRM this weekend).
but other than a bent sub-frame (having been a pitbike launch ramp ); bent foot pegs brackets and scuffed fairings; the bike is actually in good shape considering (& I spent a couple days limping around being laughed at by my staff after showing the clip).
The white nylon did its job and there is not a single scuff on any metal parts of the bike (other than the alloy exhaust; will have a better solution for this next time). So I hope that this event didn't upset the KART boys too much and I hope everyone is alright.

Will be back next meeting; its sooo much fun being out there again.

[crazy man]

the GT.. the GT..

So are you going to build a crazyman framed centre hub steering bike?? Roll over Elf Yamaha.
I better sort out those pistons then...

no l have reserved the frame the 125 twin was going into for the 100 twin he he. you better get the pistons here (-:

[husaberg]

the GT.. the GT..

So are you going to build a crazyman framed centre hub steering bike?? Roll over Elf Yamaha.
I better sort out those pistons then...

Wasn't the ELF's er........ Honda powered they brought all the patents after the project like Proarm etc.
Serge Rosset went on to Build pretty but conventional framed and suspended ROC Yamaha's and Swiss auto powered stuff later?

PS found some RS rear brakes stuff carrier, MC etc caliper too i think as well if you are interested?

[Bert]

ELF... Honda...

true; bugger.
yes well I was rather young at that stage of GP history... no excuse for that though.

[Henk]

Bert

Having riden that bike of yours I feel you are doing both yourself and the bike a huge dis-service if you are aiming at mid pack B grade finishes. I'm getting mid pack A grade results on a pretty stock FXR that your bike should shortly smoke in HP stakes as well as handling much nicer.

[jasonu]

pulled out the half finshed centre hub steering bike . looks like the honda 125 twin will go into it (looks the best)

Wot a 40kg motor that makes fuck all power? Surely there is a better (2 stroke) alternative.

[crazy man]

Bert

Having riden that bike of yours I feel you are doing both yourself and the bike a huge dis-service if you are aiming at mid pack B grade finishes. I'm getting mid pack A grade results on a pretty stock FXR that your bike should shortly smoke in HP stakes as well as handling much nicer.

A grade in Auckland is like B grade in wellington (-;