Monthly Archives: September 2015

Turbo Kits and Performance Parts

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loopy pic 1Fancy websites and a huge social media profile are all nice and dandy but the real recommendation for a craftsman’s work is in the examples you see, hear and touch and … if you’re really lucky maybe even experience. When it comes to the FastByMe HQ, there is no shortage of examples at varying stages of turbo-ness in build state, power and career path to get a good feel for what performance enhancement is right for you. The enthusiasm and downright bloody-mindedness that can’t see any reason why all motorbikes shouldn’t have one radiates from the King Pin of the operation Dave Dunlop who is supported by his ever patient wife, Samantha.

Tucked away in the now not-so-quiet confines of a sleepy Rutland village, Dave can be found slaving under the Fast By Me banner as he has done for many years. We’re not quite sure how many exactly, but the doctor’s note was issued before word processors. Long enough is a good answer.

Dave predominantly creates custom turbo solutions but extends his offerings to other performance parts including billet big blocks and cam oil feeds as well as a range of tshirts and hoodies to wear when you’re going really fast. For more information and a range of live action videos, check out the website www.fastbyme.co.uk

 

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loopy pic 5Dave will be offering a 10% discount to OSS members for complete turbo kits so don’t forget to mention the site when asking for a quote.

As an official introduction on the site, Sam is offering a Fast By Me hooded sweatshirt to the person who can identify how many times FastFurby can be found on the website www.fastbyme.co.uk

Send your competition entry over to terriblethunderlizard@gmail.com – closing date 30th September – get counting!

Fitting a 916-style Steering Damper

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By Banoffee.

My slabby has a lively front end, so I’ve been wanting to fit a steering damper for ages. I even acquired the period Daytona fitting kit and damper however couldn’t get that to work with my USD front end. So, seeing as I wasn’t keen on modifying the frame to take a bolt-on side mounted damper the only option left was a 916-style fitment. Seeing as I’m running an Ohlins rear shock, the damper had to be Ohlins to match of course!

Basic theory:
Whilst steering damper manufacturers don’t list fitting kits for oldskool bikes, it’s actually a simple matter of taking the measurements and then doing some research to find a suitable kit (or parts from several kits).

The measurements: (Note – some measurements are taken with internal vernier edges, some external. These are just shown to illustrate, you should of course check your own measurements carefully!)

A: Yoke nut centre to tank front mount centre

AB: Top of tank mount to top of top yoke

BC: Between centre of tank front mount bolts

CD: Between LH lock and centre (then multiplied by 2)

DThe research:
I took a tape measure with me to bike meets, bike shops etc to measure up more modern bikes (with owners permissions of course when they were about!) and also bothered a few people selling kits on ‘that auction site’.

My bike:
(750G with 400gk76a USD front end)
A: approx 50mm
B: approx 60mm
C: approx 50mm
D: approx 60mm

Things to note:
On my slabby, the damper is quite close (5-10mm) to the tank. Double, triple check all measurements to ensure it won’t foul anwwhere.
Source the fitting kit before buying a damper so that you can mock up and modify if necessary. Setting a good search on ‘that auction site’ makes this surprisingly easy and cost-effective.
For the damper stroke, obviously err on the side of slightly longer but not too long as it will look unbalanced.

The result:
I picked up a 2000-model H*nda Firebl*de Harris fitting kit from ‘that auction site’ for a whopping �20. Measurements were near-perfect as a 1-2mm on the tank mount, etc. is just fine. Only slight drawback was 30mm lower ‘B measurement’ so I acquired a 30mm tubular spacer.

EMy ‘D measurement’ (remember to multiply by 2 of course!) meant an approx 60mm stroke damper so I ordered a 63mm stroke Ohlins damper from BikeStuff (cheers Rich!).
In the pics below you can see the finished result. I’ve lost a tiny amount of right-lock, however, eventually I’ll get a spacer made up to under the tank-mount part which will solve that. All-in-all I’m well pleased!

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Bike of the Month September 2015

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BOTM-Sep15As a sub-genre of an elite group of motorcycles, the Turbo ET has come into its own in the past year and one in particular stands out from the crowd.

This month’s Bike of the Month award goes to the busiest, most social of all the ETs in the gang – stand up and take a bow Paulm. The ‘company demonstrator’ has a lot to answer for.

To discuss click here