 I seem to have been beavering, in a rather restrained way, away for ages and not getting that far. However, things are happening even though the on-track day is getting alarming closer and closer.
I said I’d probably have to modify the pedal box again, and I’ve now done this. As you can see from the photo I’ve cut off the top corner of the box. I have checked that my size 12 race boots don’t bash into the new corners. (And, for the reader who questioned me; yes, it was the left boot.) The other thing I’ve done is added a new master cylinder which you can also see in the photo. This isn’t actually the final cylinder but a spare one I had lying around. Well, to be fair I knew I had it somewhere but it only took me about 2 hours to find it. I needed it in there, though, as when I made the engine mounting I was going to have to arrange to miss the additional obstruction. |
 As part of the pedal box issues I’ve bought a hydraulic clutch pedal for the existing OBP pedal box. This was essentially a new pedal with the bearing at the bottom and a a new bearing shaft which now extends through both brake and clutch areas. You can see the new shaft in this photo here.
I’ve now ordered a new master cylinder from Rally Design so I can probably get a good deal of this all plumbed in soon. While this has been going on I’ve arranged with Bryn Jones at Allyfab to make me a new fuel tank. It’s going to be rather more expensive than the previous carb tank was, but that seems unsurprising. I need to get the fittings I need to connect it up though. I do keep wondering about running the fuel line out of the central tunnel, if only to try and keep the fuel a bit cooler. As the central tunnel is where a lot of the hot air escapes it must heat the fuel up which can’t be good for maximum power. I had a couple of occasions this season just gone where the engine was suffering from fuel vaporisation once it had stopped and I wondered at the time if the real problem was the fuel overheating. |
 I then made the engine mounts for the other side of the engine. This is a rather spidery affair, as I made for the CBR900 engine. However, it does miss the clutch master cylinder. What I’m intending to do, when I’m absolutely sure where the engine is going to end up, it to make another small mount for the rear of the right hand engine mount. This will just go onto the top of the pedal box which, as it’s made out of seam-welded steel, is actually pretty strong. I’m not sure that the engine actually needs this mount but that’s what I did for the CBR900 and that worked OK.
I’m am, as always, worried about these new mounts as they have a bad habit of cracking. However, the only mount that I have cracked is one of the horrible abortions that Fisher themselves made. The one that I made for the CBR900 always worked fine. But, I kept on looking at it pretty carefully. I’ve bought some more POR-15 which I’ll use for painting these mounts when I’ve next got the engine out. For now, the engine’s actually supported in the chassis which is a new experience. I can’t really tell yet how much is going to stick out of the top of the bonnet, although it’s clear that the airbox is actually the biggest issue. I know that if I were to use the bike airbox exactly as it it I’d probably need a flag on top of the airbox to warn low flying aircraft. However, I’m hopeful that either me or Andy will come up with something suitable. The biggest single issue, though, is going to be getting a new exhaust system made. I’ll talk to Andy about that as soon as I can. |