Down under, an idiot and a 400F

Thanks chief, appreciate the feedback and agree re the tail, although I do still like it. I will drop some pics of alternatives up once I get them done and see what the peanut gallery thinks.

Good work for getting through all the pages. That's a meal and a half and I'm not sure I would do the same. I have a copy of the build posts in my blog (see my signature) for those that want all the building/pictures but want to avoid the forum chat.

Agree re the hugger extending down lower too. That's bugged me for a while so I'll have to see if I can find another hugger to cut up and extend down there.

Re battery. The box and seat hump was designed for a Ballstic 8 cell. So all good there.
 
Ref Seat suggestions... The current seat doesn't really suit the bike imho, its too rounded, with a 60's vibe compared to the more angular 70's era tank.

I had the same issue with my Guzzi build, the tank is all squares and angles, so I went for a Rickman seat which worked quite well.

However, for something a bit more exotic how about a Suzuki TR750 or a Kawaski H2 seat unit. Both being made by the same place I got my Rickman seat from, though I'm sure other companies will make them too. Another benefit of this style is that the seat hump gives lots of space inside for electrics, battery etc..

In order.. Rickman, TR750, H2..
 

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I agree completely about the short fat seat hump, but it''s a personal thing. I tend to like round seats with rounded sixties race Hondas and prefer sharper/squarer seats on anything that has sharper lines like your tank.

I happen to have a TR750 seat here and it is very large at the rear. Shape is nice but needs a fat bike to look right.

Did you check out the hump on that Ducati. It is beautifully done. It looks to me as if he started out with a Yamaha TD3 seat hump and modified the front section to blend in with the tank. Really nice work. Nice combo of sharp angular lines and blended curves.

For a simpler look, try a stock TD3 seat (photoshop is cheaper than fiberglass) and they try a TZ250C/D/E seat which has a small duck tail flip at the rear of the seat or try a TZ250G seat which is much deeper and more modern. Airtech-streamlining have pictures and dimensions on their site and there are folks in OZ that make race seats when you decide what you like. I just brought my TZ250E seat back from OZ to the US, so not much I can do ther eto help out with teh cause.
 
Whatever the plan, one thing is certain... I'll be making the seat out of sheet steel I have here. I'm going to have a crack at making that Ducati style duck seat. I love the look, am keen to have a crack at making one, plus I can drop it on the 400 to see if t works :)
 
Too much stuff to try and wrangle. I'm torn between ordering all my engine parts, completing the exhausts or tidying up the dirt bike (which needs a new piston kit).

Given the outlay in the engine I'm thinking of shelving all spends and ordering all the engine internals. That's a hefty chuck of change that's hard to accumulate, whereas all the other parts are easier to grab in small chucks as/when I need them.

Mufflers have been welded now too, so I can get the placement of those where I want them on the bike and look to make up the last of the exhaust parts.

With exhaust, ignition and engine back together. I would be getting pretty close to firing it up!

Question: I'm a fan of breaking a motor in on the road to have some load through it. What's the best practice when putting an engine together that might not get that for a while (just a test fire)? Assembly lube it together or do it dry and then store it somehow?
 
For probably the last 30+ yrs I put mine together with cheap 'running in oil' (the cheapest I can get)
Warm it up around 2~3,000rpm then dump oil to see if any metal bits are shining in it. (rare but it can happen) Even with 2000psi pressure washer going through oil passages some small stuff keeps 'lurking' ;)
Refill with decent oil (non-synthetic) then give 10 second blasts at max rpm under load. Do it a couple of times, ride around a bit for a few hours/days to heat cycle everything then drop the oil again after 100 miles or so
It's probably best to leave motor in pieces until your going to assemble and ride it, it will 'breath' with air pressure changes and steel parts could rust. If you oil cylinders, rings will glaze over and it takes thousands of miles to break in
 
Have you finished rebuilding that engine yet ;) Man I love seeing the front of this beastie 8)
 
Nope :(

I have realised that I am useless at saving money though. Nearly got the $1k together for engine parts, now I'm back down to $400 and have had 3 extra audio projects on the go too.

I'm my own worst enemy :O
 
Sooooooo, I'm trying to pull my finger out and get this back on track. I'm running out of other projects (thankfully) and need to kickstart this one again.

Today I spent some time mocking up a tail to see if I like the change in direction to something more "ducktail" like. Used imagining to get a rough idea based on my favourite ducktail I could find:



Unfortunately its leaving me cold, even more so when I grey out the seat as it looks like every other ducktail seat out there. So for the moment I will pursue other things on the bike like getting the exhausts finished off and the engine parts ordered.
 
Get some 'Great Stuff' expanding foam (or whatever it's called 'down under')
Build up a decent amount and carve on it.If you go too far it's easy enough to start over.
problem with redering is things can look good onpaper but not so great full size when you can 'walk around' to study different angles (yeah, I'm old not just old school ;D )
 
Pretty sure that bike is a race bike with max frame strengthening from Denoon.

Edit: yep

http://www.denoonsp.com/frame-study.htm
 
julian.allard66 said:
79f03798df049726fc76713f2885117f.jpg


What about this seat?
Click to expand...

I know that seat!

It, and the bike, were built by a company called 09 Racing in Japan. Many moons ago I and Kevin at TTR400 were going to build a close replica to that bike. One in the UK and one in SA..... Sadly I had a few health issues, lost contact with Kevin and the bike(s) never got built. Although the parts I assembled then are still in my possession.

I contacted 09 Racing and they were prepared to supply me a seat, but the cost was very high and so I decided to try making one myself, but ultimately never did. I'm now early retired and living in France (for the time being) and will shortly have the time to start building my 400s, so maybe....

Absolutely love your bike by the way....

Jon

:)
 
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