April 30, 2009

Today’s test was a washout! It’s raining cats and dogs here. I heard on the news it’s been one of the wettest months ever. It rains a lot out here in Indiana in the spring. So today was a good day to work in the “man cave”

I got the Dzus fasteners on the fairing today. They look good and work like a charm. I got these on a site called  kurveygirl.com  She has very good prices on these fasteners. My last fairing bracket came in and I put it on tonight, so the fairing is secured real good. I shouldn’t have any problems getting thru tech inspection (I hope) The last thing I’m waiting on is the mean eyes. LOL I’m going to put them on the rear tail section. Ye all must fear the “mean eyes” LOL . So that’s about it. When I receive the eyes I’ll take one more picture of the “project”. After I wrap this up, I’ll be changing gears to my racing exploits. Here are a few pics of the Dzus fasteners installed. I’ll be back!

April 29,2009

Let me start off by saying  “I’M DONE”!  With the tuning anyway. I think the little beast is ready for the track now. I have to do some high speed testing tomorrow, but if all goes well Putnam Park here I come! I have one lower fairing bracket coming in, and of course the mean eyes. I’m really pleased. and I don’t get pleased like this very often!

I want to give a shout out to my brother in England, Dave B. Happy birthday Wild Mono Man Dave! I hope you get this in time. I think there’s a 5 hour difference. I hope Claire give’s you the “works” LOL  Thanks for all you’re support Dave and encouragement. It means a lot. It’s really weird how much we both have in common. Someday I’ll get across the pond and see you. Maybe get to ride that rocking bike of yours. Tell you’re boy Ash he better keep her in one piece. LOL  Have a great B-Day.

I’ll do another update tomorrow after the high speed testing, Gosh I wish I had a dyno……………………. Until such time…   

April 28,2009

I think I may have the little beast sorted out. The fuel pump I bought off E-Bay seems to be defective. The pump runs all the time instead of 30 seconds like it’s supposed too. I put the old pump back on, and the engine runs much better. I still have some fine tuning to do on the carbs.

The guy at Factory Pro   http://www.factorypro.com/ told me what to do next. It’s the air fuel mixture screws now. Mid-range and top end feel good. The set up seems to work, but I’m not claiming victory yet. I’m getting close, and I feel pretty good about the way the bike is now running. I got my “Powered by: Pugsley & Little Pugsley” on the body work. Davey B Racing was just a tad to big. Oh well, maybe on next years TZ fairing. Holly and Dedra have been a big support to me. Dee’s been helping me with all the jetting changes :) the kid’s got talent! LOL. Just one more decal for the back. The “mean eyes” LOL!  I’m about ready to wrap this project up. One lower fairing bracket, the mean eyes decal and the last minute carb tuning, and I’m DONE! I may run a few day’s into May, but all in all I’m pretty much on schedule for the end of April. When I’m done with the project, I’ll be switching gears to the track.  It’s been fun, well most of the time anyway, :) Now I can watch my friend Dave over in England’s, Mono build.  Yahoo….

As always a couple of pictures, until such time……..

April 26,2009

Well I almost gave up but………………….something wouldn’t let me. I went back out after I got back from an early morning ride. Sorry about you’re bike Jim, but there’s always  next time. I came back home after about a 70 mile short ride and went back at it again. I looked at the jetting set up sheet from the previous owner, and I saw that he was running the needles at the 2nd from the top position on the needle. I pulled the carbs off and tried that. It worked. Now the engine isn’t being over loaded with gas. I took it up the street real quick, and it ran like a banshee. You talk about loud. Man when that thing spooled up,  it sounded like an F-1 car. These 400 engines scream………… I think I may have it finally solved. I’m going to put the bike on the trailer and bring it over to Holly’s Moms house to do some high speed runs. Out there in the country, no one will call the cops on me. LOL I don’t want to push my luck with my neighbors. LOL

My namesake in England had some bad news. When his engine guy went to install his engine main bearings, he found a crack in the case. Dave has got to get another case and have it machined out. Bummer, hang in there Dave, you’ll get it. Dave ‘s  got a real sweet machine. I wish I could take it for a ride when he’s done. Maybe someday we’ll finally meet, and he’ll let me give it a go! LOL. I’ll be routing for you Dave!

I took a picture of both 400’s today, twins. I think I’m going to take the “white whistler” out for a ride this afternoon. I’m getting my new leathers broken in. Their starting to feel better.  I still have a few more things coming this week ,but now the bike seems (seems) to be running right, I should be ready for the track and RR school in a few weeks. I’m really hoping the CCS gives me the number 154 so Dave and I can still joke abut it.  Until such time…….

 

April 25,2009

I’m real bummed. I got the larger jets today and installed them, but the bike runs far worse than before. I’m going to give  up on the pods for now because from what I hear it is extremely hard to tune the carbs when you’re running pod filters. That’s at least what the guy’s on the 400 club say, and a lot of these guy’s race 400’s so I’ll take their word on this one. It’s more hassle that it’s worth at this point in time. I may try and get a hold of Brian Cook to see if maybe he can help me down the line. So with that said I’m giving up on a few extra ponies and settling for some usable power. Tomorrow I’m going to go back to the 87.5 and put the stock air box on and see what happens. The guy’s in the club say you have to run the air box if you want it to run right. I’m going to give it a go. My 1988 400 runs perfect with the stock set up. I can’t ride the bike the way it’s running. I’d rather have it run like my other bike. I can race that.

I got all three bikes out today for a photo shoot. It was a nice day but I spent a lot of it screwing around with the jetting. I don’t give up easy, but this one has me stumped. Maybe I should have got another RZ, LOL their a lot easier to tune. LOL. I’ll be back tomorrow I hope with better news.

 

April 23,2009

I’m 95% done, with a week left in the month. I temporally put all the body work on until I get all the pieces that were missing delivered. I’ve got parts coming from all over the place. Just small odds and end stuff. I’m pretty much done with all the hard stuff. All I have to do mechanically is get the jetting set correctly. This has been very elusive for me.  I think the guy at Factory Pro got me on the right track. I went very much fatter on the mains. I’m hoping that this will be the end of the tuning nightmares. Dave B. also turned me on to a good card tuning site that reaffirms my theory about being too small on the main jets.

  I got some of the product stickers on and I’m picking up my Davey B. Racing stickers for the main fairing tomorrow. So it’s not quite done yet……………….but I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. I hope my namesake in England has an easier time getting everything to fit. Good Luck Dave!  I’m cheering you on brother! Here are some pictures of the fairing on. Next year I plan on using a TZ fairing. Dave has got a nice set up on his machine, so I’m going to copy him. LOL. I’ll be back this weekend with another update and more “project” news. Until such time :)

April 22,2009

I got the rest of the bodywork back today. I rushed home and started to put it on and right away. I ran into problems right off the get go. Brackets missing, broken. bent. It’s quite a mess. It will take me several hours to get this mess figured out. I did get the right side mounted but it’s not quite up to my standards. I want to get it mounted and looking tidy. I hate it when things don’t fit together right. Oh well, I’ll be doing more custom work. I hope I have this done by the weekend. The new jets are coming from California Factory Pro and I hope to have them tomorrow or Saturday. Here’s a picture of where I’m at so far. Until such time..    

April 18, 2009

I got the tank mounted and the fuel pump fixed today. I took the other 400 and the 1000 out today as well. I did about 100 miles.  I installed the new throttle cable and got everything tidied up. It looks pretty good. I can’t wait to see what the little bike looks like with all the new bodywork installed. Danny Mc said it would all be done Monday.  I still have some jetting issues to deal with. I need to go even bigger than what I have. Dave B. over in England is going to send me a carb tuning book that he’s say’s is outstanding. I’ll  have to buy some jets as I have run out at 90. I suspect I need 110’s or bigger. I got my leathers back, Lizzy did a great job. Check them out. I also took some pictures of the bike outside today. Of course Dedra wanted to get into the act. :) My rear stand and Yamaha decals should start arriving next week. The bike is pretty plain Jane with no decals. I’m about 85% done, so it’s getting close. Here’s some pictures.

  

April 16,2009

Well I got my tail section figured out. I got the rear number plates and numbers on. I should have my mid and lower fairings by Monday. I actually took the bike up the street tonight. It seems to be running good, but I really didn’t get into real hard. The full race Yosh pipe sounds good. I really don’t like LOUD bikes, but the 400 has a nice exhaust note to it, especially when it hit’s about 14 to 16 grand. I have a few more small things to take care of, like mounting the tank. I STILL haven’t got my new throttle cables yet.  This is the list: Leathers still have to come, Yamaha decals, cables, rear stand. All in transit, but don’t know about my leathers. I may call her tomorrow. Here are a few pics with the seat on.. Yeah!

April 15,2009

This day was pretty much a write off out in the shop. I got my gas tank cover from Danny Mc all painted BLUE! Sometimes I wish I wasn’t such a perfectionist! I spent 3 hours on the back seat cowling trying to get it centered and mounted snugly. What a pain in my ass. It’s still not right, so I figured I’d just call it a night until I can think of something that will work. Looks like I’ll be making some sort of custom brackets. It’s got to be right. I can’t put the rear number plates on until I get that fixed. At least I got the front fairing done. How do you like that number Dave B. LOL. I’ll be back at it tomorrow until I get it right. Time to kick back and relax for a little bit before bed. Here are a few pictures. The yellow is almost gone now. I’m not real worried about the wheels just yet.

April 13, 2009

I got the tail section and seat cover today. I put it on as you can see. It looks very plain right now but I expect my yellow number plate material to be here tomorrow. That will mix things up a bit. I won the throttle cables on E-Bay, and I got an e-mail saying they were shipped. I have to start getting the Yamaha stickers for the fairing and bodywork. I’ve decided to go with white as the second color. The tank cover should be ready buy Weds. It’s slowly losing the yellow body parts. It looks very blue right now but it’s still a work in progress. Until such time……………..

April 12,2009

Happy Easter everyone! I got a few small things done this weekend. I finished up the bar ends with my new  blue anodized bit’s. I got the K&N pod filters on. I re-jetted the carbs and bumped up the mains to .90’s. It seems to run better but I need to run it down the street and see what the top end feels like. I may have to go even bigger on the mains.  My new tank and fuel pump came in, but like always there is a problem. The fuel pump leaks. I figure it’s a bad seal inside the pump. I hope I can fix it.

I found another little nasty surprise when I took my throttle off. The throttle cable has two strands holding it. Time for a new cable. I’m bidding on the cables on E-Bay and I hope I win. I’ll know at 8:00 tonight. I’m still waiting on the body work and my leathers. I hope I get them back this week. I’d like to get them broken in before I go to the RR school. That’s about it for now. I’m just waiting for parts now. Until later…………………

March 7, 2009

I got my front fairing and front fender from Danny Mc. It looks good. I got the pieces mounted and I think it looks like the “Dog Swingers” (some British slang for you guy’s, from my new friend Dave, Ha Ha ) It looks really blue……………. I haven’t decided yet what the second color should be, white or yellow. I’ll ask Holly and Dee to help me decide. All I know is that purple front wheel has got to go. I’ve had a few of the guy’s bust my stones about it. :)

I’m waiting for the new K&N’s and the new tank and pump. I asked Danny to paint the rear section so I can get the number plate background and numbers. I’m going to run the number 154 on the bike for the RR school. I won’t get my real number from CCS until I show I have a valid RR license. You still have to have a number for the school so I’m going to run my new friend Dave’s number but with a one in front. We Bennett’s have to stick together you know. LOL So I’m waiting for parts again. We’ll be putting on more this week I hope.

 

April 5, 2009

Today I messed around some with the tuning. I took the bike up the street and it seems to be really loading up on one of the cylinders. The number 4 carb looks to be pumping more gas in, as opposed to the others. I may have a float issue in that one carb. I noticed when I got into it, the engine backfired a little bit. Humm………….. Then I got another nasty surprise. The front brakes seem to be leaking brake fluid. Lucky for me I bought a couple of R6 calipers a while back for my other 400 but they didn’t fit. The fork mounts were different on the 88’s than on the 90. Oh well no foul. I started to bleed the brakes, what a pain in the ass. I tried doing the reverse method and that worked like s**t. Maybe I was doing it wrong. I went back to the tried and true method, pumping the master cylinder. I finally started to get some back pressure after about 15 minutes. Geez.

I’m pretty wiped out from working in the yard this weekend. I gave up on putting the trampoline together. I think I’m missing some pieces. That’s about it for now. I hope I start getting my body work back this week. My K&N filters and new gas tank and pump are on their way. I’m going to sell the tank because I don’t need it. Just the pump. It’s going to rain and be crappy out so I’m just going to chill this afternoon. Until such time………………. 

April 2,2009

I’m getting restless now about finishing up the bike. Danny McDermitt told me it would be next week when the body work is ready. I know I’m going to have to screw around getting it all mounted up. The stock bodywork is pretty dated. I did get a hold of a racer out in Utah that also raced a 400. He had a 2003 TZ 250 tail section that looked “sweet” Check out the picture.

 

He was a real nice guy, and told me a few good “tid-bits” I’m going to put this tail section on my bike soon. I’ve been meeting some really nice people in the process of building this bike. I met a Bloke over in England. His name is Dave Bennett too. LOL  He’s a real nice guy, and we have a lot in common. He’s building a Yamaha Super-mono bike that’s the “cats ass” He’s been racing for over 25 years, so I bet he’s one hell of a good rider. Check out Dave’s Blog. http://yamatax640.blogspot.com/ 

Say Hi to Dave and leave him a comment. He’s a super nice guy.

I ordered a set of K&N filters today and a pair of blue handle bar ends. I just have little stuff now to finish up. I may have to play around some more with my steering dampener because I don’t think I’m getting full wheel lock. I may need to get on the mill and make something up. I’m still struggling with the fuel pump issue but I have a bid on one that is actually a 400 pump on E-Bay.  More later………….