Some of you may be aware that I managed bugger a perfectly good gearbox on the last Dalgety run 
Still managed to make the pub and so all was not lost.
Anyhow, on getting back to sydney, got in touch with Red and straight up he said, right we will put in a slippery coated gearbox, billet 4th gear and a new outrigger bearing case, done plenty of these on the race bikes, don't worry we will sort it.
So a plan was devised and another road trip North was in the making.
Dates were set, and Red sent a set of gears off to be slippery coated including the longer 5th gear for the outrigger bearing.
Funnily enough the perfect timing turned out to be the weekend after I dropped my wife of at the airport on her way to Kathmandu......
So last Sunday, at 3 in the morning (that's 2am Queensland time) I fed the cat and set off, oh nearly forgot, had to drop the engine out of the Jota the day before cause that needed to go up there as well, so that along with getting Choedon off to the airport meant it had been busy.
Had a good trip up there, fair bit of rain, stopped in at Little Italy of coarse
and ended up at the Redax Rainforest at 2.30,so a 12 hour trip.
Paul and Cosi were there so we unloaded the Molle, up on the lifter and got straight into it.
Everything was going just swimmingly, engine nearly ready to lift out when Red wanders over, has a look and goes, fuck, that's not good, and points out a neat crescent shape crack in the case
Had been hiding under the breather, never saw it and never heard it happen.
So that was definitely a hiccup in the plan, only thing I could think of was I was heading home without an engine and now Red had a shit load more work, basically a simple gearbox swap had turned into a full strip and rebuild.
Anyhow, pretty soon the engine was out and up on the bench, already Red had sent Ollie a message asking if he could weld up the case in the morning?
Ollie came back with a "no worries, just drop it over in the morning", which was astounding as he is always busy.
Once the cases were apart it was apparent that the 4th gear had shat itself, not uncommon, Nick G did one last year pulling out of a servo.
One of the broken pieces had then wedged itself up and over the lay shaft , splitting the case, and all at about 7000 RPM
Amazing I never heard a thing...
Now that the pressure was off and we knew I could still take a full bike home, it was time for a well earned drink.
Another top night of food and drink followed, many stories told and way too many belly laughs, Max of coarse had us dining out on oyster shooters followed by oyster kilpatrick, wow, just perfect, and to top it off Moto GP.
So next day, same old story, there's cases to clean and once again the small scraper and the scotch bright are my friends.
The split case was heated up and the raised section hit back into place, Red then chased out the cracks ready for welding.
Red and I dropped the case over to Ollie, who is about two blocks away, in another slice of Camira paradise, large block facing North, with another absolute killer shed out the back.
Awesome guy Ollie, by 11am he dropped the case back to Reds on his way out with his misses.
Repair was perfect!
He had to chase out further cracks that became apparent when heat was applied, but the end result
Oh My god...
It should be noted that by the time Ollie droped of the repaired case, there were one of our team who shall remain nameless who was still asleep....
I know right..... go figure
Anyhow...
More cleaning of cases and then the engine was ready to be put back together.
Billet 4th gear replacing the original.
Meanwhile Paul and I switched our attention to the Gelati.
And that was progressing nicely.
Cracker of a bike that one of Cosie's, first Laverda to get the full blown Redax treatment
Thanks Cosie for paving the way for all us hangers on
Anyhow... by 4.30 the motor was back in the bike and Paul and I set about hooking everything up.
520 chain conversion took a bit of work.
But by 5.30 we were shagged, still had about 2 hrs of work to go so fuck it, its beer time.
Bloody hell... what a day!
Just as we are settled into a few beers, Wazza turns up with a brand new 520 hard anodised rear sprocket, wow that is a thing of beauty.
If he had been an hour earlier it would be on the bike, never mind, it will get there soon enough.
That night we went out for dinner to celebrate Mark Muir's 65th birthday, great little Italian restaurant, great food and great company , just perfect.
So next morning, early start as usual and by 11 we are ready for a ride.
Paul and I head out to some pub, sorry Paul I forgot the name, for a counter lunch.
The Molle is running so fine and I am just one big smile....
Such a great feeling to have it sorted again, and in such a short time, thanks Red.
Truly outstanding.
Then it is back to the shed, I did get lost but only briefly so doesn't really count.
Dropped the oil, put a fan on the cases and pretty soon we are ready for a re torque and shims.
Few minor adjustments to the gear selector, another test ride and we are done.
Wow , what a massive 3 days, seems like it's been a week...
As always, a trip to the Redax Rainforest is like some sort of strange holiday.
You work your ass off, never stop, have a fat time, drink and eat too much, laugh way too much and at the end of it you are shagged but
just want to go riding.....
Perfect.
Next stop was Paul and Belinda's place in Kooralbyn, bout an hour and a bit from Red and Max's.
Arrived there as it was getting dark.
Just another piece of Queensland paradise...
Simply beautiful,
Cheers Paul, that was a real treat
Of cause we had the obligatory start up of Rosie....
FFS, that is an awesome bike, well done Paul,
Sexual Chocolate!!
Anyhow, next day was another 10 hr drive home.
And that is that.
Was a truly special couple of days.
Thank you to Red and Max, love you guys.
Thanks to Paul and Cosie for all your help, and to Ollie for his beautiful work, legend!
And to Mark for letting us celebrate his birthday with him.
Here are a few pics.
Still managed to make the pub and so all was not lost.
Anyhow, on getting back to sydney, got in touch with Red and straight up he said, right we will put in a slippery coated gearbox, billet 4th gear and a new outrigger bearing case, done plenty of these on the race bikes, don't worry we will sort it.
So a plan was devised and another road trip North was in the making.
Dates were set, and Red sent a set of gears off to be slippery coated including the longer 5th gear for the outrigger bearing.
Funnily enough the perfect timing turned out to be the weekend after I dropped my wife of at the airport on her way to Kathmandu......
So last Sunday, at 3 in the morning (that's 2am Queensland time) I fed the cat and set off, oh nearly forgot, had to drop the engine out of the Jota the day before cause that needed to go up there as well, so that along with getting Choedon off to the airport meant it had been busy.
Had a good trip up there, fair bit of rain, stopped in at Little Italy of coarse
and ended up at the Redax Rainforest at 2.30,so a 12 hour trip.Paul and Cosi were there so we unloaded the Molle, up on the lifter and got straight into it.
Everything was going just swimmingly, engine nearly ready to lift out when Red wanders over, has a look and goes, fuck, that's not good, and points out a neat crescent shape crack in the case
Had been hiding under the breather, never saw it and never heard it happen.
So that was definitely a hiccup in the plan, only thing I could think of was I was heading home without an engine and now Red had a shit load more work, basically a simple gearbox swap had turned into a full strip and rebuild.
Anyhow, pretty soon the engine was out and up on the bench, already Red had sent Ollie a message asking if he could weld up the case in the morning?
Ollie came back with a "no worries, just drop it over in the morning", which was astounding as he is always busy.
Once the cases were apart it was apparent that the 4th gear had shat itself, not uncommon, Nick G did one last year pulling out of a servo.
One of the broken pieces had then wedged itself up and over the lay shaft , splitting the case, and all at about 7000 RPM
Amazing I never heard a thing...
Now that the pressure was off and we knew I could still take a full bike home, it was time for a well earned drink.
Another top night of food and drink followed, many stories told and way too many belly laughs, Max of coarse had us dining out on oyster shooters followed by oyster kilpatrick, wow, just perfect, and to top it off Moto GP.
So next day, same old story, there's cases to clean and once again the small scraper and the scotch bright are my friends.
The split case was heated up and the raised section hit back into place, Red then chased out the cracks ready for welding.
Red and I dropped the case over to Ollie, who is about two blocks away, in another slice of Camira paradise, large block facing North, with another absolute killer shed out the back.
Awesome guy Ollie, by 11am he dropped the case back to Reds on his way out with his misses.
Repair was perfect!
He had to chase out further cracks that became apparent when heat was applied, but the end result
Oh My god...
It should be noted that by the time Ollie droped of the repaired case, there were one of our team who shall remain nameless who was still asleep....
I know right..... go figure
Anyhow...
More cleaning of cases and then the engine was ready to be put back together.
Billet 4th gear replacing the original.
Meanwhile Paul and I switched our attention to the Gelati.
And that was progressing nicely.
Cracker of a bike that one of Cosie's, first Laverda to get the full blown Redax treatment
Thanks Cosie for paving the way for all us hangers on
Anyhow... by 4.30 the motor was back in the bike and Paul and I set about hooking everything up.
520 chain conversion took a bit of work.
But by 5.30 we were shagged, still had about 2 hrs of work to go so fuck it, its beer time.
Bloody hell... what a day!
Just as we are settled into a few beers, Wazza turns up with a brand new 520 hard anodised rear sprocket, wow that is a thing of beauty.
If he had been an hour earlier it would be on the bike, never mind, it will get there soon enough
.That night we went out for dinner to celebrate Mark Muir's 65th birthday, great little Italian restaurant, great food and great company , just perfect.
So next morning, early start as usual and by 11 we are ready for a ride.
Paul and I head out to some pub, sorry Paul I forgot the name, for a counter lunch.
The Molle is running so fine and I am just one big smile....
Such a great feeling to have it sorted again, and in such a short time, thanks Red.
Truly outstanding.
Then it is back to the shed, I did get lost but only briefly so doesn't really count.
Dropped the oil, put a fan on the cases and pretty soon we are ready for a re torque and shims.
Few minor adjustments to the gear selector, another test ride and we are done.
Wow , what a massive 3 days, seems like it's been a week...
As always, a trip to the Redax Rainforest is like some sort of strange holiday.
You work your ass off, never stop, have a fat time, drink and eat too much, laugh way too much and at the end of it you are shagged but
just want to go riding.....
Perfect.
Next stop was Paul and Belinda's place in Kooralbyn, bout an hour and a bit from Red and Max's.
Arrived there as it was getting dark.
Just another piece of Queensland paradise...
Simply beautiful,
Cheers Paul, that was a real treat
Of cause we had the obligatory start up of Rosie....
FFS, that is an awesome bike, well done Paul,
Sexual Chocolate!!
Anyhow, next day was another 10 hr drive home.
And that is that.
Was a truly special couple of days.
Thank you to Red and Max, love you guys.
Thanks to Paul and Cosie for all your help, and to Ollie for his beautiful work, legend!
And to Mark for letting us celebrate his birthday with him.
Here are a few pics.
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