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Re: the forks. I am the higher end - ie "normal" size around 250 lbs of solid errr used to be muscle.
The main reason for wanting to the route of ditching the air and going purely mechanical is that the math behind the selection of spring material and etc. is easier to work out !
The other is that a pal of mine had a catastrophic failure of the air tube at the top of the fork tree and instantly became a low rider - at 60 mph !
As to the tank strap......... The tank colour is FO Red and the gas cap is polished brass, not sure if adding stainless will be too blingy ? Like the idea of the brass accents though - thanx for the thoughts.
The stainless overcentre clip has been ordered [ 50 actually ! ] so I guess the strap has to be stainless as well. I start moving into my new shared hobby shop on Monday. No doubt it will take me a week or two to get sorted, then - no excuses.
At the same time the spare chassis goes down to the exhaust guy, so after weeks of frustrated hanging around I can now get on with something.
Of course I could just get plain o/c clips and have them brass plated !!
The latest donor finally arrived from the carriers. Typically, get 2" snow and the UK grinds to a halt. It's here now and should have all the crap off and sold [ engine crash bars - £50, Top box and panniers - £60,] that alone has more than paid for the transport costs - and I still have all the other parts to sell off [ another £500 ? ].
This one actually has a starter motor that works ! Doesn't sound like a bag of old nails either. Bike has done a genuine 18K miles [ 1 owner ].
Bonus - when I checked the paperwork the bike still has a valid MOT test [ roadworthy ] until July.
I plan use this one as a mule to test all the RAM parts further - shock, plug leads, progressive fork springs - and then pull it down as the prime donor.
Lee mate, I have to get 2 samples of the O/C clips - if you want one , pm me with your mail address.
On a blacker note - someone only tried to steal my new donor last night !!! As you can see from the photo in the snow, it was only the GBFO chain and padlock that saved the day. I found the bike on it's side where the tealeaves had obviously tried to move it before they realsied it was chained - bastards. Anyway no physical damage to the bike and it's been tucked away in a pal's garage until I can start moving the big stuff up to the new workshop.
In almost 30 years living at this address that's the first anti-social problem we've had - sign of the times.
Well, that's if you don't count two teenagers throwing stones at the Swans on our lake - so I threw them in the lake - seemed reasonable justice to me.
Ooops - just realised the chain is not visible in that pic - OK - THIS GBFO chain
It wouldnt even occure to me to chain my bike here. A buddy of mine had his Kawasaki thumper stolen right out of his trailer outside his house. Buncha chavs I'll bet.
A humbling lesson for those of us who think we know it all [ or most of it ].
I decided to make a start on the new black donor ready for the move - I've sold the panniers, top box, crash bars and the tank. as the bike is supposed to be excellent condition, low mileage [ which it is ] and a good starter, I decided I'd better do just that before I started stripping down. With a freshly charged battery and a few prods of the starter - it coughed into life. First time it's been started since November - not bad. A few more prods in an effort to get it to the point where I can check the engine for weird noises - nothing. Just a few coughs and running for a few seconds. On one occassion it did run long enough to get a feel that the engine WAS good - then cut out.
So, what I should have done was LEAVE it and carry on stripping down. No, out with the plugs , check wires, check mixture valve and a few other usual suspects. I was just about to strip the carbs for a check when common sense caught up with me. :
Ah well, carry on taking the bits off I'd sold [ 2 hours later ! ]. It was only when I took the tank off ready to drain and parcel up I noticed - yep you guessed it - novices' mistake - NO fargin fuel !!!! aaaaahhhhggggg. :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
"Asked this before, but have any of you TR1 /XV guys done away with the air assist on the front and fitted purely mechanical progressive springs?"
I wouldn't choose the progressive rate springs front or rear. Certainly not air assist. I view air as a temporary quick rate increase for a touring bike, when you go from single passenger to double with baggage. To increase spring rate buy stiffer springs and add fork oil a bit at a time. Two cents worth.
Cheers, 50gary
I ONLY ride solo these days, so the bike payload remains constant 'ish - depending on how many Curries I have
I developed progressive fork springs for my BMW Kay projects to compliment the RAM rear shox and the difference was - well a totally different bike from the slushy old tourer.
Our shock man agrees about progressive rear springs - especially with adjustable dampening.
I really don't like the idea of the air assist AT ALL - so an alternative form of progression seems relevant..........hmmm more questions than answers.
I put a 1" spacer under the damper rod spring and removed the air isst JB welded the holes and left the spring full length and compressed it in. It woeked great plently frim up front and nice quickturnin and handling. Cheap, easy and effective.
I put a 1" spacer under the damper rod spring and removed the air isst JB welded the holes and left the spring full length and compressed it in. It woeked great plently frim up front and nice quickturnin and handling. Cheap, easy and effective.
Deepjoy - put the tank off my Silver donor on [ yes petrol in it ! ] - 2 prods of the starter and away she goes, sweet as a nut.
Deal agreed with my pal, and the stuff starts going down to the new, new workshop at the weekend.
We just got the latest RAM shocker for the TR1 with alignable [ Heim ] bearing fixing bushes so that will be fitted first to continue the road trials for the shox.
TJ: I've run that coil on a VT500 and it's a nice piece, lots of visual 'weight'. It didn't make any outstanding difference, but it looked neat. I believe the color code in the pic is correct, but the guy to ask about OE harness still would be totallyredvirago. Myself....I'm wiring from scratch with the motogadget M-unit as the heart. If your goal is a stronger spark acurately timed, keep the pickups on the flyweel, swap to an XV750 tci unit (better mapping and slightly more rpm on top. Add a pair of 5ohm dyna coils with their very nifty boosters and top it off with fresh low resistance wires. This is my initial plan unit I swap to the Microsquirt, then I'll convert to coil on plug.
That said I had no end of ignition problems with my BMW Kay projects, eventually solved with decent plug wires and coil.
anyway ..............OK you TR1 / XV920 guys - anyone had experience with fitting an oil cooler?
I'm a little concerned as to whether the stock oiling system is at all suspect - or is it just poor maintainance that gives it a bad name?
I see Bob Work and others have fitted oil coolers, and I presume without problems.
I need to source a suitable take off for the Turbo oil supply. I see one guy using 3/8" NTP fittings. The recommendations for most small Turbos is 1/4" bore feed [ 15 - 20 psi ] and 1/2" return.
The OE oil pump is a good one on these but if flow is in question aparently the pump from an XVS1100 (Vstar) may offer a slight improvement. I haven't seen the difference first hand however.
The feed for the heads comes right off the left side of the case as you can see and can be tapped for an external cooler. My plan is to eliminate the factory lines all together, run a single AN fitted braided hose to an aluminum Earle's cooler the use a 1-2 splitter block on the output and two suitably smaller lines to then feed the head. I am considering a remote spin-on filter as well inline, before the cooler though I understand the OE filter does a good job.
As for a turbo feed, that same feed coming out of the case should suit fine as well. I'd probably add a little inline capacity specifically FOR the turbo, but an extra pint or two in it's own little tank shouldn't hurt anything and would be good insurance. You could also plumb in a external electric oil pump for the turbo like the one Kiley used to feed the head on Gretta.
Thanx for the input Lee - I'm going with the 6205 bearing conversion for the cams to give them an easier life.
I'm trying to understand WHY there should be an apparantly common oil related [?] problem on the front cam ? Initially I would suspect the feeds being marginal, which is why I was a bit reluctant to take the turbo feed from that point. However, IF the oiling IS marginal [?], then there's maybe cause for concern wherever it comes from.
Any idea what the output from the stock pump might be ? The V Star conversion might be worth a look - or am I just being paranoid ?
The wonders of the Internet thingy .........just had a trawl on the Virago forum http://viragotechforum.com/viewforum.php?f=61 and got some answers via Banater and Turbodog. Not sure about these link things - but it's in "TR1 Cafe Racer - It Begins".
Looks like it's safe to tap a take off into the end of the oil filter housing via oil cooler to Turbo. The system starts out around 70 psi, so maybe I've maligned it unneccessarily.
Plenty of info. on that link that allows you to make an informed judgement.
BTW - bidding on two seperate Weber 40 DCOE carbs for the project [ only need one ! ]
Side draft, cool....but where are you planning to stash it? It's not a compact carb though I am fan, had a set on a Celica once...
I've secretly had my eye on a 40 IDF; downdraft could be perched sideways between the cylinders on fairly simple manifold(s). I like these too, ran a pair on a quick Karmann Ghia I had in highschool
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