flatline

The paperwork that comes with the Yoshi cams seems to supply enough info., r.e. cam-timing, etc... seems pretty straightforward to set up to factory-spec., just need a degree-wheel, dial-gauge, etc...

Lock-Down progress; the Homebase 'Factory' chassis stand - drew it last night and built it this morning - place under 'bike, lift rear wheel 12" and roll forward.. both wheels now 2" off the floor, ideal for working on the chassis.... 32-year-old Öhlins rear-shock coming out this afternoon & off tomorrow to be refurbished..

Old Skool Suzuki - & Old Skool Packaging.....

I’ve heard that with upgraded cam’s the M head is susceptible to spitting shims??

Hi, I have read somewhere that the 1100 'M' cylinder head can be converted from shim to screw & locknut... does anyone have any knowledge of this??

Yup, Westfield are good!! Placed my order on Thursday evening, and it was delivered to me this morning

More fun.... I put the top-end together last weekend, aligned to the camshafts with the crankshaft & bolted everything down.... discovered that the camshafts wouldn't move at all - so feared the worse, and that I'd got the cam-timing wrong..?? Stripped it all down again, & as soon as I loosened the camshaft bearing caps they started to move freely. Took the cam-rockers out & installed the standard camshafts - same issue, i.e. the camshafts were solid & wouldn't move with the bearing caps torqued up..... Asked around, and no-one seems to have any idea what was going on. Then spoke to Roger Upperton, who said that it wasn't an uncommon issue... took the head to him yesterday & he checked everything, and then spent a couple of hours hand 'relieving' the camshaft caps that were tight, and then honing the lot & checking that the head was 'straight'.... I also mentioned that I thought that the camshaft bearing bolts were were made of 'cheese' & he agreed.... so I've just spent 15 minutes ordering some 'Unbrako' cap-screws from these people https://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/index.html to replace the standard bolts as a bit of insurance...

Interesting... the standard camshafts are hollow. The camshaft bearings have a positive lubrication from the oil lube system. In the Yoshimura cam’s the ends of the camshafts are plugged, and a hole drilled into both the camshaft bearing and the cam-lobe... so effectively taking the positive lube of the bearings and passing it on to the lobes .. A really good idea judging by the condition (not so good) of some of the rocker-arms I’ve seen

Wish I was still offshore, my last job was in 2015 pressure-testing the dive system on the DSV Swordfish in Galveston, Texas!! Good luck with the 'quarantine'... are you allowed to go to the bar??

An early Covid-Christmas-Present.... I bought my first Yoshimura tuning part back in 1984, when I visited Dixon Racing in Godalming.... it was only a 'Yoshi' cloth patch to sew onto my leathers, but it seemed to work!! Today I 'broke the piggy-bank' & splashed out on a set of Stage 2 cam's for for the Harris... I am basically building the 'bike that I dreamt of in my late teens... It may not be 'period-correct', but it is how I see it would have evolved in my ownership over the past couple of decades.... Still a long way to go, but each step is a step closer to the 'bike being finished p.s. excellent comprehensive installation instructions in Japanese... anyone care to translate?

Will do mate, are you still living in the same place??

Sorry mate, the pistons went straight in when they arrived!! Other than that I haven't been doing any work on the 'bike as I've had other distractions in my little world....

Progress?? Yes... Yoshi Boneville/Tornado/XR51 fairing from Spike @ https://www.raggededgeracing.com/fairings/suzuki/

Finally... arrived from Germany via UPS this afternoon; the 'replacement' pistons from Wössner Had a quick look, and they fit!! ... so project hopefully back on course... Target date for completion is before December 2023 (when I'll be 60 yrs old!!!)

I’ve been swapping e-mails with Wössner in Germany... it seems that the pistons are out of spec; they’ve said to post ‘em back & they’ll re-machine them to the correct dimensions .....

Well, the project has stalled somewhat.... I assembled the Wössner 12:1 pistons (1186cc), and before I went any further checked that everything rotated OK (Falicon rods cleared the crankcases, etc...) = all o.k. Put the cylinder-head on, and carried out the same check.... duh; as either set of pistons approached TDC things came to a halt... deffo lack of clearance between piston & cylinder-head.. put a couple of strips of plasticine in to confirm - see photo's. To my knowledge the block has not been honed/decked. At TDC the edge of the piston (aka squish-band) measure approx. 0.5mm below the dec of the barrel. In the same position the top of there piston crown is approx. 1.5mm above the deck of the barrel. Anyone have any thoughts on this?? I've contacted Wössner & am awaiting a reply.... p.s. Comtec gaskets, base & cylinder-head

FBusy with work this week; so not much progress with the Harris - However, several cups of coffee & an hour or so this morning had the con-rods/pistons assembled & into the cylinder-block.... Thanks to Nick for supplying many of the components for this engine-build :-)

Picked up from Griff’s Reality Motorworks in Bristol today - had the old powder-coating chemically removed, & then vapour-blasted :-)

DPD delivered the new Dyna ignition this afternoon, & made some good progress on the motor too.. gapping the 'rings and installing the pistons into the block....

Saturday afternoon... pleased to discover that amongst 3 cardboard boxes filled with all sorts of bits & pieces that have been moved from pillar-to-post over the years I still have all the parts to put the motor back together.... starter clutch, ignition signal generator, etc., etc... Now gapping the piston-rings, and then assembling the pistons/cylinder block.

Spike has just been round for a cuppa Yorkshire, & we discussed this very subject - I'll be modifying my bellypan to fit around the GSX-R engine & he'll then take a mould to add to his repertoire

It looks like the original Harris fairing (a Yoshimura copy?) had the same issue, with cut-outs on both sides to clear the timing/starter covers...

The fuel tank has been off to Nick at http://www.realitymotorworks.co.uk in nearby Bristol, to have all the old paintwork blasted off, and a new bush welded on to take the dual-outlet Pingel fuel -tap that I'd managed to get hold of. The original was a twin-tap setup & was pretty rough, so needed fixing. Nick also pressure tested the tank afterward to check that there were no leaks anywhere

A bit more fiddling around trying different fairing & seat units (Spike @ raggededgeracing only lives up the road) & I eventually ended up with this setup; it's a Harris F1 seat, with the 'nose' extended to fill in the gap between the original seat & the back of the 'tank, a mod that Spike had already done for his track-bike. The fairing is a slightly modified version of the Yoshimura one above, but with more 'height' around the headstock area - sorted!!! It still needs 'blisters' let into the belly pan on either side, as again the 1100 engine is a tad wider than the 750 the fairing was originally intended for....