Z3n's Project Thread - Witness Me: mediocre edition

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > Z3n's Project Thread - Witness Me: mediocre edition

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

New job, new commute, new bike.

Life is pretty good.

It's like the super serious, can't-take-a-joke german I4 superduke.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2015 03:23

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 19:06

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Infinotize posted:

Congrats on another uber-bike.

The only moto journalists I can reliably tolerate are the ones from Bike mag (UK).

Good modern motorbike publications:

Bike

SuperBike

Both are UK.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2015 18:57

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

Installed cbx carbs.

Forgot to install choke and throttle cables first.

WHELP, IT WAS A GOOD RUN GUYS

95% percent complete project only needs some throttle cables and she's good to go for the summer $5,000obo.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2015 22:33

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

I agree. Seems like people have no idea what they actually want in a bike so marketing comes up with a million different bullshit models every generation, but popularity always seems to lie with models that are 'good' without being specialised at anything.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2015 00:39

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Crikey gently caress is there a catalytic converter in there? That verges on RSV mille huge.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2016 05:54

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

# ¿ Jan 18, 2016 06:48

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

Nerd poo poo warning: if you like relatively simple applied physics poo poo, check this out - http://www.epi-eng.com/index.html

Goodbye, evening.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2016 09:27

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Is the guy on the R1, in fact, a giant?

# ¿ Jun 15, 2016 04:28

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

This seems like the best option. Also, any insight on finding oddball piston wrist pin clips?

Not sure if this would help? Or you could get some buttons made up to stick in there instead.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2016 06:06

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

Get to call Cometic tomorrow and see what's up - also, the head gasket that was on the bike doesn't line up with the cylinder bores:

A great deal more common than you might think, never seen it on a bike though.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2016 06:53

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

They mains caps look like almost identical to what you'd see on an archetypal japanese car that's done around 300,000km's with oil changes all the way and no abuse. Just worn down by time and good for another few clicks if you stick to the same routine.

The little dots visible in huge on some of the mains to me look like spots of corrosion which formed when the crank sat still for ages, presumably when the bike was parked up for a long time with no prep. They've since been worn away but left pitting in the bearing to the same depth as the mileage wear.

# ¿ Jul 4, 2016 10:33

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Wait so the primary drive is a chain? What tensions the chain?

Also what is the purpose of the giant spring on the primary shaft?

# ¿ Jul 5, 2016 22:16

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Are those studs torque-to-yield? All the ones I've seen with those spiral thingies have been TTY but I've never seen them outside of a car engine.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2016 08:08

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

No - early on Honda had issues with head studs snapping under the contraction if it was run hard and then stopped while still very hot. So they swapped to the spiral studs as they are stronger/flex better. There are copper crush washers that go on them, so they can't be torque to yield

That's really interesting! Is this just a cbx thing or do the 750's have it too?

# ¿ Aug 1, 2016 19:57

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

Ha! Been very busy lately, thankfully things seem to be coming around and I should start moving forward more quickly.

It's rebuildable, and has a combination of a more traditional shim stack and finer grade control over the electronic damping side of things. It uses the OEM preload adjustment which uses the elastomer design to change effective spring rate, not just spring preload like your typical shock setup. I've got 26k on the bike now and the suspension is starting to feel a little less refined so this should fix it up nicely. Probably do the forks with their kit in another few months.

Are you able to explain what this means? I don't understand.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2016 07:05

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

Rather than having a traditional shock spring, it has an elastomer at the top of the spring. That elastomer means the first part of the shock travel is actually at the spring rate of the elastomer, rather than the shock itself. When you change the "preload", you're compressing the elastomer, which changes the effective spring rate it provides. When you have the preload maxed out, the elastomer is completely compressed, so it's just the straight spring rate.

So it's like a huge fuckoff bump stop trapped between the spring and preload adjuster?

# ¿ Dec 16, 2016 05:36

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

That's pretty cool, I'm surprised it isn't more common cause it seems like a reasonably cheap way of Making A Better Shock.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2016 06:50

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

I'd imagine it's mostly that the existing setup works well enough.

My current struggle on the CBX is with this:

The front cam chain guide has some cracking and has some damage on one of the side rails. Replacements are hard to come by, and so expensive it borderline makes sense to just buy an engine or another bike instead.

So what say you, guys, would you run it?

On the bright side, the rest of the engine is coming together nicely:

Also decided to try to test fit a ZX6 swingarm instead of the ZRX one, as I decided I both would like to avoid losing the centerstand and that I would like to not have to cut/grind on the frame if at all possible. With some parts mix and match, it should mostly bolt on. Will need to have 2 shock mounts welded in but that's not a big deal.

Consider a zephyr 1100 swinger, it bolts onto the ZRX but allows a center stand.

I'd run that tensioner but I would always be thinking, in the back of my mind, about how brittle it looks and I'd have nightmares about chunks flaking off. Maybe you could find a tensioner of a similar length off another bike and bodge something up to make it work?

# ¿ Dec 26, 2016 23:12

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

# ¿ Jan 23, 2017 08:33

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

If it's anything other than purple I'll be loving disappointed.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2017 03:03

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Z3n posted:

Livin' that dream. The only downside to the 1290 SMR is that it's pretty top heavy due to the gas tank being high and forward, this should move the CoG down quite a bit. Plus it was having some difficulty doing wheelies with all that weight, so moving the gas to the back should fix that up real nicely. Folks are seeing 170hp with the akra and an otherwise unmodified airbox, so if I run the Rottweiler setup, and the full Akra system, I should be able to see ~175rwhp. Bazzaz for fuel tuning, and I'll borrow the Z-AFM off of the 1290 SMR for tuning purposes.

I haven't put more than a few hundred miles on the SuperDuke since I bought the XR, but this is the one thing I can do that make me want to ride it again...

Already have the suspension on the way as well.

You'll forgive me for being skeptical :v:

# ¿ Mar 1, 2017 04:41

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 19:06

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Sick streetfighter bro.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2017 00:31

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > Z3n's Project Thread - Witness Me: mediocre edition