Markz9

Part of the problem is the carbs are so old and worn its not worth trying to refurb them i would go for a new set of rs34 or 36 you will notice immediately the improvement worn slides is a problem with all flatslide carbs its not just the slide itself that wears but the alloy body as well, if this was a race bike it would be minimal difference since you should have it pinned open anyway but a road bike is much harder to live with so i would recommend a new set, i just bought a new set of rs40 for £606.00 from orient express but i am working in the usa so that helped keep the cost down the push pull trottle is easily resolved with different right hand throttle casing, venhill will make any cable fittings and any length you require

All off the pictures, are of my bike except the last one which shows another way of fixing to bike as you need to keep a means of using the clutch lifting mechanism, the battery box will need to fit beyond that although I have also used a cover off a gsxr750m and used that clutch lifter system, it’s the same as gs1000 it’s not a simple mod but means battery is now the sprocket cover so tighter fit Dupersunc actually made both size bat boxes for me they are pretty straightforward to fab

if racing and or sustained hi revs dont go over 1085cc ive tried bigger and the liners start to oval as too thin, the yanks sold an 1100 gs 2 valve eng (think that was shaft drive bike but i am guessing) they can be bored out to 1135cc and a modified wiseco piston from a totally different bike is used this is a mod grumpy does but you will have to get him to buy the pistons and modify them for you, should say this is a successful race mod but will need maintenance new rings etc obviously you will have to open the block to take bigger liners but there is enough meat left so they dont distort 1260cc need a gorilla /ape block avoid this, i know a lot of people that have tried this mod they leak oil constantly, need stripping all the time and the casings will need to welded and widened etc massive ball ache

Bit of an update on the rickman cr the full fat race engine is in, and I have had it running the exhaust going to need a bit more work as its leaking like a sieve and popping managed to find a pingle fuel tap and fitted to the rear of the tank that is also accessible with gloves on originally I had decided it was all black with gold rickman pin stripes but I think I might not paint the tank now also possibly British racing green and gold I also have two options depending on the class I race in 18 inch wheels 37mm forks 2 pot brakes etc or 17 inch Astralites and 43mm forks 4 pot brakes not going to be ready for chimay but getting there slowly

He has a wooden former he uses for the sections of the tank i have seen something posted on faceache or youtube of him (ETTO) making a gs1000 tank

any more update on this, i have my srad 750 and slabby 7/1216 race bikes to stretch their legs at cadwell

The later cr had that setup the tank is just a cover over a steel tank

Hi yes it’s an original fibreglass tank it is possible to get it lined I’ve found a chap in reading who does it and pressure test after

The down side of several projects on the go at once means I have long gaps between updates so to make sure I got the back wheel in alignment I dropped the bike over to Debben performance as they have a lazer alignment I had already sorted the front end with a new spindle Sam made for me at this point it looked the frame was bent as the rear wheel would not align then we discovered the disc used on the swing arm pivot was a 6 and a 9 which meant the swingarm spindle was skewed pushing the arm out

For the Harris and rickman I’ve had a few parts I could start getting made up so I cornered rsvfletch at the Suzuki Cadwell meeting and persuaded him to alloy weld the difficult parts as usual he has done a great job and are ready to collect at Stafford show the oil catch tank will fit inside the rear of the Harris seat sub frame, so I sent a bag of bits and Steve made something useful out of them the sheet is 1.2 mm so nice and light not so easy to weld couple of clutch covers fitted with secondary breather outlets and the bandit 12 arm is an alternative for the rickman but need shock mounts fitted

Little bit of an update the rickman has had its full fat engine put in, a few issues with lining up the rear upper engine mount and the swingarm pivot currently lining up front and rear wheels with the associated sprocket and chain alignment Ray Debben performance is helping with this as he has a lazer alignment tool over the years I’ve some horror stories there where owners have come in and asked why the tyres are wearing a bit funny or it doesn’t like left hand corners, bike fitted with a 6 inch rear wheel which shouldn’t be possible and isn’t as, wheels out of true by a 100mm and they rode the bike there!

Had the additional bracing added to the headstock of the rickman plus some repairs etc although I have since found out that part of the problem is the different materials used between the frame tube the headstock ie it’s not all chrome moly john is very good one of the best I’ve seen

Hi no it’s def brazed the def of welding is ‘join together metal parts by heating the surface to the point of melting’ since the tube in Harris and rickmans is chrome moly with a melting point of 1429 deg c and bronze filler rod is 890 deg c it’s not welded but joined by filler braze obviously you only heat up the filler rod till it melts another reason is at the point of melting chrome moly tube (for building bike frames) you actually turns it back to mild steel for approx a 3rd of the length so a very triangulated frame such as a Krauser bmw might as well be made of mild steel tube I did chat to john on Saturday in fact he does use an inline flux pot, I will get some better pictures when collecting my rickman frame and I will try and find the article you have mentioned.

Hi all the rickman and Harris frames are brazed as they aren’t melting the tube and use a bronze type filler rod apparently it’s the type of flux that makes a big difference and the manufacturers keep changing the chemicals as elements get banned by the eu etc both John and wasp dip the rod rather than flow the flux in the acetylene gas which I am pretty sure Harris do i can do it my self but not neat enough to be in show !

This is the rickman as it currently is and these are the additional curved braces that were added on the very last production cr and also retro fitted although I am getting these brazed rather than welded