Building a race bike

Small update,
Been really busy with work the last year or so and have not made much progress other than a little here or there.
However I have at last finished the design and prep of the engine layout.
Head has now gone off for scanning of the reshaped combustion chambers and ports and laser welding / machining to the new shape,
Crankcase has gone for laser welding and line boring the mains bearing housings ready for the shell bearing conversion.
Oil pump flange is now being built up also to allow simpler removal and replacement of the oil pump for maintenance.
God I hope this engine stays together as I would really hate to have to do it all again. But we will scan it all and keep a file for future reference just in case.
Now concentrating on getting the rest of the bike finished. (when I find time)
 
Great to get an update, Julian! It's been more than a year since we heard from you. I've even managed to bring a 'certain' project bike to virtual completion in that time :eek: The complexity of the work you're doing is incredible - I can understand your comment about not wanting to have to do it again ... I'm in the same boat, but to a lesser degree than you!

Look fwd to the next instalment.
 
It's definitely tricky, getting right out there on the one-off prototype limb and sawing away. I think Red always tries to make a few as spares for race bits I guess, but modified cases and heads might be not viable.
 
Yes, that's the thing, because I am not really doing this as anything but a project it is not worth making multiples of anything. The only reason for it is to show myself what is possible if you can throw enough time at it, I am not intending to use it for endless seasons etc but just to race for maybe one season and then retire it.
The cost to have the parts made professionally would be astronomical.
Fun though to do on the side, and hopefully it will work for long enough.
Jules
 
Small update,
Frame and all related parts have all now been Satin black etch coated, Rear swing arm will be orange though.
Been modifying the front drum brake to make some nice looking air ducts for it. Std it simply has mesh in front and from experimenting and experience mesh is not very good at letting air through, especially when not 90% to the air flow. So I knocked up some ally vents and here they are.
 

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julian said:
Small update,
Frame and all related parts have all now been Satin black etch coated, Rear swing arm will be orange though.
Been modifying the front drum brake to make some nice looking air ducts for it. Std it simply has mesh in front and from experimenting and experience mesh is not very good at letting air through, especially when not 90% to the air flow. So I knocked up some ally vents and here they are.
Click to expand...

That should catch some air, if there aren’t too many birds filling the voids 😉
 
julian said:
Small update,
Frame and all related parts have all now been Satin black etch coated, Rear swing arm will be orange though.
Been modifying the front drum brake to make some nice looking air ducts for it. Std it simply has mesh in front and from experimenting and experience mesh is not very good at letting air through, especially when not 90% to the air flow. So I knocked up some ally vents and here they are.
Click to expand...
I would love to see how the local TÜV guy looks like when you role that into their hall's of "No exceptions, no alterations!" They might get a stroke or heart attack though... :sneaky:


:giggle: Looks amazing though!
 
The perforated rims raised my eyebrows - but why not ? That web is in compression and the holes shouldn't make it any less stiff.

I suspect you've made the same mistake I did on a project build. My build took so long that the new tyres fitted at an early stage were dated and in need of replacement when the bike was finished.
I've learned from that to leave old tyres on during the build and only fit new at the end.
 
GregT said:
The perforated rims raised my eyebrows - but why not ? That web is in compression and the holes shouldn't make it any less stiff.

I suspect you've made the same mistake I did on a project build. My build took so long that the new tyres fitted at an early stage were dated and in need of replacement when the bike was finished.
I've learned from that to leave old tyres on during the build and only fit new at the end.
Click to expand...
I have some 30 year old brand new Metzeler Comp K.
Lovely tyres.
The bike needs a functional engine.
Paul
 
lavgert said:
Lothar, no fucking TÜV needed. We are talking a race bike here! Ciao, Gert
Click to expand...
Gert, I know and understand that very well. It was not meant to get TÜV approval but to make fun about them!

Bringing that to a TÜV-station in Germany that even refused to approve just polished rims or had issues with the polished frame on a 750 S Formula, had issues with the distance of the turn signals on my bike or many other really minor changes, and seeing their jars drop to the ground when they see the finished bike with the holes drilled into the rims, brackets and many other things they can not match with the StZVO (the german book of regulations for vehicles on public roads) would be absolutely priceless - and a good revenge for all the endless discussions and waste of time I had with them....
 
Thanks for the comments all,
I did take Lothar's comment as a giggle and he would be right, one of my guys just had his BMW M power hot hatch failed for polished rims only yesterday. Unreal !!!

Greg the racing rules in my category state that no rim modification allowed, only as factory supplied, So now the factory invoiced me for the rims "With holes" so my rims have "loop holes" now :D:D They are as supplied by the factory and here is the invoice sir.
But I mentioned to Rob before that if they complain I will machine the lot off, I am 100% sure they will be strong enough without the flange anyway.

Tyres are std road tyres for mock up but the same size and make as the racing tyres I intend to use when finished. did think of that but still not sure how long the tyres will last, maybe by the time I'm finished the rubber will be dust :(:(:rolleyes:

J
 
julian said:
Thanks for the comments all,
I did take Lothar's comment as a giggle and he would be right, one of my guys just had his BMW M power hot hatch failed for polished rims only yesterday. Unreal !!!

Greg the racing rules in my category state that no rim modification allowed, only as factory supplied, So now the factory invoiced me for the rims "With holes" so my rims have "loop holes" now :D:D They are as supplied by the factory and here is the invoice sir.
But I mentioned to Rob before that if they complain I will machine the lot off, I am 100% sure they will be strong enough without the flange anyway.

Tyres are std road tyres for mock up but the same size and make as the racing tyres I intend to use when finished. did think of that but still not sure how long the tyres will last, maybe by the time I'm finished the rubber will be dust :(:(:rolleyes:

J
Click to expand...
No, no please don't machine them off Julian! I could be interested in a pair of these rims....
 
Don't worry, I won't machine them off (yet)
They conform to the letter of the rules so they should not be able to complain but you never know. :rolleyes:
They are a treading on the edge of the rule book but that's racing isn't it? 😁
Anyway, it won't be ready for a while yet.

J
 
Still - one of the most entertaining and amazing threads on this forum, really enjoy reading and - even more than that - seeing pics of your incredible work! And thanks for taking my comment as a giggle - that's exactly how it was intended. 😉

BTW: second comment was also just to clarify. I only have street legal machines as I have no intention to race them (though I took the Jota on some race tracks, but just for fun and at my speed and with my limited abilities, more for "touristic trolling" around the course). Still, I have changed a lot on these bikes, most of which needed TÜV-approval. We have other organisations meanwhile (thanks to EU and the fact that the monopole of the TÜV has finally and thankfully ended...!!!!), but for 20+ years, I had to fight with these bureaucrats at the TÜV to get my bikes just MOT'd... I could write a book with all the things that happened and all the stupid, senseless discussions I had. The many times I had to teach them what the rules are and proof it, the unkept promises they made ("No problem with the Suzuki rims, we'll check them and if there is enough clearance, we have NO REASON NOT to accept them..." - 3 months later, they told me that they can not approve it because they do not have an engineer locally that is able to check it... :oops: WTF?!?!?!) or the wrong entries in papers they did.

Will never forget when I called another TÜV station in a different town close by on a friday because I wanted to ask what papers they need when I come with a restored 750 SF to get it MOT'ed for getting it registered on my name (it sat 30 years unregistered, but I had all the old papers...). They told me "Oh - don't come today, please, we are completely full today, there are 3 lines full of cars and bikes already queuing up - no chance to get you MOT'ed!". He did not know that was looking at their webcam, which showed a COMPLETELY EMPTY station... Put the bike on the trailer, drove over. 1 bike before me plus one car... When I walked in and told them what I wanted, he said: "Are you the one that called earlier today? I TOLD you we are FULLY booked!" I looked at him, looked at the 3 empty lines, looked at the 5 guys behind the counter that were just drinking coffee and looked back to him. "Yeah - I can see, sorry. It's just that I have an appointment on Monday with the registration office, took the day off today to get the bike MOT'ed and need that for the registration on Monday... Any chance you can maybe help? Bike is fully restored, all original, no modifications, all papers there."

I was next and 15 minutes later, the bike was MOT'ed. Still NO OTHER VEHICLE ON THE GROUND!!!

And that was just a very short version of what happened and just one out of maybe 50 - 60 situations...


Oh - btw.: The webcam is not public anymore on this location. I wonder why... :ROFLMAO:
 
Bureaucracy can and often does go completely insane. I was freaking about getting the SFQ RWCd and registered (eq to MOT'd I think). The reality was a very quick and painless exercise - common sense prevailed ... 'the bike is safe to ride on a public road'. Queenslanders seem to be able to get anything through. Hopefully this situation endures - maybe when you have an old beast dating back well into the last century there is a willingness to compromise.

By the letter of the law every minor mod (like converting an SF to rearsets or reangling rear shocks) we do would probably require an engineer's bloody certificate. So glad it's not the case - yet!

Polished rims???!!! FFS ...
 
Sometimes we get wankers here who nitpick every little detail, but far more often it’s just a case of spending time yarning to the inspector about the old days and the bikes he’s owned 🤣
One inspector said to me once “Look, you’re doing fuck-all miles and you’re mechanical enough to keep the old girl running, obviously you’re not going to turn up here with a duff machine!” I didn’t point out how many miles I was actually doing 😉
 
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