Something's looming.....

Apologies for the delay in posting an update, but getting stuff done does take priority. 
The last couple of weeks have been a little fraught whilst awaiting delivery of the new Corse loom being made by Peter at Oronero. Nobody said that making a loom from scratch would be easy and just sourcing the different parts is difficult enough. With some technical assistance from as far as over the pond Peter has got there at last, even able to supply bespoke parts able to cope with the subtle differences between the models. 
Well the loom arrived arrived last Wednesday morning and with the afternoon booked off it's home to the build facility, AKA the conservatory. So of course to fit a loom you need to access all areas so once again off with the airbox and other components to make some finger room. All in all it's a pretty straight forward item to fit with just some advice on which of the four injector leads to fit, each loom is made the same but some items are redundant, in this case I need to connect injector leads 2 and 3. Typically of course this the time you find that you've fitted the ECU back to front so the nice period Ohlins sticker is now hidden on the inside, not as if it's seen with the fairing covering it anyway.

Progress looms

This is the week the bike has to run if we're to stand any chance of some dyno and setup time. If the setup has to wait then so be it, if all else fails I'll pop the number plate on and get an MOT! With that in mind I also booked off Thursday and Friday to get down to Louigi Moto for those final little tweeks and base settings that would have the bike ready for the dyno. Simply put the injectors come off and the TPS is set with Christian's magic numbers along with a base setting to the ECU, he could have told me figures but then he'd have had to kill me apparently, I wisely declined the information. Just semi-synthetic oil for the running in period goes in the motor alongside distilled water for the radiator. Happily all the fluids appear to have stayed on the inside with no leaks, fingers crossed eh! Just a final connection to make up to the fuel pump, a reference check showed that as suspected the red and black were the required connections. With that and a few new earth leads we're ready to push the button, now don't get too excited as this was just to get fresh oil into all those important little places, and happily even though I thought I'd put a tad too much in at 4 litres all was well and the level returned to a more normal position, phew. Alongside these tasks I've been able to bleed all the hydraulic systems with some rather expensive Brembo fluid, I wish Paul Baleta had warned me how much it costs!! Also we now have a chain fitted, one of life's little essentials for bikes (shaft drive ones excepted).
OK so are you ready for it? It's time to simply add petrol, using Richards remote fuel tank we prime the system and wonder why the fuel pump doesn't stop? As it's a Corse style loom it's void of fuses and relays so yes the fuel pump runs continuously, hopefully well enough to keep Stuart and bike going flat out. 
Right, let's do it, turning, turning, turning, bugger. Turning, turning, turning, bugger. 
Right let's play diagnostics. Is there a spark, nope. Is there any fuel on the plug, nope. Have I connected the cam and motor pick ups back to front, nope. Call for the Mathesis diagnostic unit to check things over. First issue is the diagnostics won't talk to the EEPROM currently installed so a quick switch with a 916SP one gets us a step closer to seeing what's going on. We're now able to see where the fault lies, it turns out to be the cam sensor so a replacement is sourced and fitted.
OK are you ready for it?
Right, let's do it, turning, brum, turning, brum, brum, turning, turning, turning. Bugger what now?
"Ah" says Christian "we still have the 916 chip in the ECU and that runs four injectors" the 916 would run either 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 as pairs, but I run 2 and 3 having only two. So the bike was trying to run on one injector, or not as the case may be. Back to the original chip, let's see if that works.
OK are you ready for it?
Right, let's do it, turning, turning, brum, brum, brum, brum, job's a good'un as that man would say.
At last I'm smiling like a Cheshire cat and Rich just says "I knew it would start." Easy for you to say Rich you've been at the birth of many but this one's mine so it's special to me. The electronic rev counter works as does the temp gauge as well, I'm reet chuffed!

Now with a switch

 I'll take some more pictures later and maybe some video. As a final note the fuel tank now has some anti slosh foam installed along with a complete set of new fuel lines with some quick connectors.

 

Some inspiration...

It's all you need sometimes when things feel a little slow. The first of the paintwork has arrived thanks to Del Whitaker at D W Automotive. Gotta say it does look rather good and I've asked Stuart to lift his boot clear when climbing aboard. So here's an early weekend post as I'm very excited.

Hope you like the style of the number boards which are loosely based on the period bikes.
In other news the hose for the rear shock has finally arrived and the reservoir is now set in position for the overhaul. With that back later in the week and tyres from James White in the post, next weekend's goal has got to be a rolling chassis at last. My deepest thanks also go out to Jill and Stuart Calkin who have also made an offer of sponsorship, cheers Calky.

Other points of note this week are the new bracket made by Stuart's dad fitted straight on with the addition of some riv nuts to the air runners.
Well done Stuart's dad.

The sharp eyed amongst you will spot the lock wire, surprisingly tricky when the bolt heads are this close together. Also fitted were the coils which are also lock wired. Overkill maybe, still they won't come loose.

Just in case you're in the South West the naked bike (poor Emily) will be on show at Sammy Miller's on the 20th July at their MotoItaliano day. 
Maybe see you there.
Finally I can see that the blog has had over 3000 views and I thank you all for taking the time to read all the way to the bottom.

Ah well at least the there's footie on the telly....

OK I know they're a bunch of overpaid, diving, hair gelled, crybabies but just occasionally they do something quite exceptional, not often but occasionally. Failing that they are a distraction or at least a diversion when you're running out of things you can get on with. As is normal, most weeks a box of goodies (not Bill, Graeme and Tim) was on the expected list but upon opening I seemed to have received a food parcel. Turns out it was just packing to protect the contents but I am somewhat concerned by Peters diet.

"What was in the box" I hear you cry, well some jolly nice air runners with extra layers of carbon to survive the rigours of the TT.

They fitted straight on and with some new rubber mounts on popped the ECU with carbon dash. Now we did discover something and that was that the standard tachometer is 80mm diameter and the Corse one is 85mm. Peter's now going to produce a blank version of the dash for us mere mortals with standard clocks. Anyone going down this road in future will also notice that the standard clock is deeper than the electric version so careful positioning of the clock and ECU is required. All that said I now have a Laverda tacho to try that runs from the same P8 ECU, just might have to put a sticker over the name though.

Other parts were a splendid pair of end caps for the swingarm. Now as with some parts that are small, it is hard to justify the cost but when you realise the hours that go into making them and that there are around 20 layers of carbon in there it kinda makes sense. 

I've also added fixed studding and roll pinned to retain. This should be better than the standard bolts and I think is in line with race bikes of the day so it's also in keeping.
With the air runners in place and checking clearance with the dash I've popped on the brake and clutch reservoirs.

So with most of the larger parts to hand and fitted I've really only been able to trawl eBay and outlets for nuts and bits and bobs. Holes for the breather and air pressure sensors have been made in the air box along with tie wrap holes in carbon where required and some new lock stops have been fabricated.

Some lock wiring has taken place, one of the few things that I can say is staying as it is!

I even found the bobbins I'd been after all the time, so two M8 helicoils later we now have bobbins you can get a paddock stand on to. (Apologies to Stu, he'll know)

New hose clips and wiring waiting for a loom are there but the shock is at service still waiting for a new longer hose, so apart from the odd little job I'll get on with I'm running out of things I can do. Maybe it's just as well as I'm off to London for the rest of this week.

  
It really won't take that long to finish with everything in place but I'm trying to avoid constant fitting and stripping in case I miss a lockwire or Loctite'able part for safety.
Almost finally I'd like to thank Anthony at Avanti Race Parts for a box of very handy consumables and a rather nifty folding brake lever for the Brembo master.
Finally I'd also like to thank my employer TRE for their timely paid bonus, not enormous but it pays the bills. Please click on the following link to get Celeres as the highest referring site to ours at http://www.trerail.co.uk/. It'll be great to see this on the kitchen wall in a few weeks. 

Good things come to those who wait, you'll just have to wait a little longer Stu.

One busy Saturday later......

A week away put things on hold but with the promise of a box of carbon goodies from Peter at Oronero Friday couldn't come soon enough, oh and some home cooking would go down well also. I received a text from my wife, Liz, at 07.45 letting me know that a large apparently empty box had arrived, luckily she just managed to get dressed before dashing to meet the postman.   

Black gold had indeed landed on the doorstep, all I had to do was to get home from Crawley. Incidentally if anyone knows of anywhere decent to eat in Crawley please let me know it's a dire place.  
So calls were made and Stuart was happy to pop up Saturday and get stuck in and deliver the footpegs he'd been working on. Various tasks then ensued, Stuart got stuck into fitting the radiator and guard, followed by the hose kit. Whilst I "borrowed" bits off my 888 starting with these calipers.

A nice pair of billet brakes which will be paired with a Brembo radial master cylinder, hopefully they should do the job required. The rear sets bought by Rob Scheuer, president on the UKMOC, were fitted and of course adjustments and parts were required. More "borrowing" from the SSie gave up some gear change rod ends. The brake push rod was also relieved of it's position but this was found to be a little too long at minimum adjustment to give the required angle on the "I don't use it anyway" rear brake. Stuart was subsequently tasked with making a shorter one from a 6mm cap screw. He's also narrowing the front wheel spacer by 1mm to get the wheel back in the centre of the forks. This would have a been a much simpler solution than the previous owners shim method behind one caliper to stop it fouling the disc. Stuart being the owner of a lathe was also tasked with making a spacer for the new front brake protector, neither of the two supplied fitted the Renthal bars. In the meantime between cups of tea and coffee various parts were test fitted and checked, Loctited if good or listed for later work if required. We even discussed pit stop strategy and decided that as Liz is the lady of the team she should be doing the visor cleaning and a bit of dusting.

       
Most surprisingly the oil cooler was in almost mint condition and married with a new oil feed hose and fittings looks resplendent. They're all hidden by the fairing, but I know they're there. The carbon air box goes straight in with a pair of velocity stacks, each the size of a small tornado.

So come Sunday morning I have a basket full of goodies on eBay to press buy on, a selection of titanium pre drilled bolts and general bike build ephemera. This week I'll test fit the exhaust and make a decision on which to use, the original or the set off my 888 along with ordering hose clips, Bendix pads and chase up the paintwork.  

     
Apologies to the purists but a Japanese part may have sneaked under the radar.
Up until now I've been reluctant to ask and have been very appreciative of the offers of tyres and the assistance by my main sponsors but, if you'd like to get your name on the bike for the Classic by sponsoring test days, oil or even an oil filter please drop me a line at stafford@metronet.co.uk

Moving on.......

The engine's back!!!!

 But let's just step back and review what's been going on. So with the heads built, the crank balanced and the re bore back the engine was left with Chris to get stuck in. Due to having to be at the UKMOC weekender I had to miss the birth but did get over a week later to see the umbilical cord get cut, well by that I mean see the cams get dialled in. Prior to this a few other little internal jobs took place with the main bearing holders changed for later ones and a better shim selection. This entailed having the sockets bored to accept the later type. The crank has had some small tear drops added to the big ends to aid oil flow.

Gearbox assembled and checked for end float.

Some of the original lightened gears are re installed.

Except for the original primary drive gears, these have been replaced by later 1.84:1 as opposed to the original 2:1, Ah I hear you ask "why?". Right, thanks to Brad for this one, see "Ducati gearing" for the full explanation, but in a nutshell the same tooth on the primary gears now meets every 1888 revolutions as opposed to every other and it makes the gearing a bit longer, ideal for the TT course.

A couple more shots taken by Chris just to show the assembly process.

So as always the final part is the grand dialling of the cams. It all seems quite straight forward with some simple maths but you do need a couple of bespoke tools to make it as simple as Chris makes it look though. Timing is set to factory standard for now with the standard cams.

Once completed the last few pieces can get bolted into place like the snazzy Louigi Moto cover and a replacement water pump cover was fitted as the original one was cracked.

So home again and Stuart found time to pop up and assist in fitting the seat unit, this along with the tank is already at the paint shop D-W-Automotive to try and keep things moving along. Del has done work for me before and it is simply stunning. Emily will look good if nothing else. Which reminds me we have a date at Sammy Millers on the 20th July for the Italian Race Bike Day, eek!

Stu was also strangely drawn to the battery, at 791 grams as a racer I guess you would be. He did seem to stroke it a lot though.

  

So this weekend is all but over and I've managed to move forward a bit more with rear suspension in but the shock is still to be serviced. Upper and lower hugger fitted, sharks fin added along with what you can see.

I'll only get a couple of evenings in this week as I'm working away, hopefully as new items are added the build will get easier as at the moment I seem to have to do everything 3 times. Simple things like a worn thread on the sprocket carrier should be easy to fix but you find the previous repair helicoil that had been fitted, out of pitch so the sprocket retaining nut doesn't sit in the counterbore. So that's put to one side and the old 900SSie gives its carrier up for the cause. Ah well you can only ride one bike at a time, just don't tell the wife. 

And so it begins.......

Apologies for the lack of an update recently, Liz and I have been quite busy with final arrangements and attending the UKMOC Weekender 2014. An annual get together of all things Ducati Monster. It all seemed to go rather well, but now back to matters in hand.

"I'm going to spend, spend, spend!,"as Viv Nicholson once said. Unfortunately having not won the pools my bank account will have to suffice. So the crank is back from balancing.

What I didn't initially notice was that not only that the crank has been worked on, but the rotor on the end as well as both conrods have been balanced and matched. Things like this I like quite a lot, as in my mind this will help with not only with a smoother running engine but less wear on main bearings and the like.

Now I can tell you that the bottom end of the motor has been completed, I'll post up some pictures when I can as long as Chris has taken some. As I was out on UKMOC duty I missed getting over to the workshop. I hope the rest of the engine work will be completed this coming Saturday. Why? Because sitting on the floor at home is this!

Nick at Reality Motorworks has done a cracking job on the frame and wheels. On the right you will see where the frame number resides, I asked for this to be masked off so I can paint it and leave it readable should anyone need to read it in the future without having to resort to scraping off the powder coating.

Wheels are in satin black and the fronts will be adorned with some new Grimeca discs, Rich says they have Harris centres, Brembo bobbins and Grimeca for the outer. I've no idea but they look great. I'll get the new bearings in the front wheel as soon as the spacers have been machined to suit the 20mm axle.

A new set of injectors have been sourced down at Louigi Moto complete with a nearly new TPS, these replace the ones below.

I still have no idea how you can snap of both right hand side inlet mounts!
So this is where we are at today with some test assembly work going on. This is just as well as the bottom yoke I had intended to use had a very slightly differing offset to the OE one, so back to the old one which is fine, I had just preferred the look of the newer one. That said I'm going to fit a later SSie top yoke as the OE one has been randomly drilled to mount the reservoirs.

And finally, I mentioned in the last update that there was a name. Now bear with me here, with all the mention of a Nice Pair previously this put me in mind of the second album I ever bought. This was a double album called A Nice Pair and contained two Pink Floyd albums, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets. One track is called See Emily Play which I also later found out is the name of Stuart's Nan, so that seemed to be a bit of good kismet.

So come to the IoM in August and see Emily play.

Great news!

Dear Stuart,
Congratulations! Your entry into at least one class at the Manx Grand Prix has been accepted subject to full payment being received. The class you have been accepted into is
Formula 1 Classic TT - August 16-30, 2014 @ Isle of Man
You will receive a separate confirmation email for each class into which you are accepted, so if you have entered more classes than the one above continue to watch your email for further confirmations. You may also log into your account at any time to see the status of your entry which includes race numbers that will be assigned to you at a later date.

Initially we have been allocated race number 104. Best pull my finger and build the lad a bike. Extra tea bags are on order for the hospitality suite.