99.9% finished!

Since its first test Ive fixed the loose steering head, bled the brakes and cut part of the right side fairing that was protruding. Next few jobs will be to go over the whole bike and check nuts and bolts are correctly tightened, make a foam bump on the end of the tank so it helps me sit further back in the seat. wrap the exhaust up in insulating tape, lockwire the exhaust header nuts/bolts(this is an area which im unsure of because i had to tap some deeper threads because of the broken threaded lug holes)....then add my overflow pot/tank. Do i risk messing with the jetting again?...well spose i could re-prepare my original set of carbs...been recommended getting 135 mains up from 130 original...just because of the more open exhaust. really the bike is ready for its next challenge.........to race....I can never say its 100% finished because I'll always find extra things to do.
I have a spare engine and frame just in case ..but this looks like its in the same state as when i bought the bike originally...
I have now spare set of wheels and disks won on ebay....that was a pain because the last few times ive been outbid right up to the last knockins and lost...wasting a week of waiting to that final moment to be beaten by a pound or two....this time i put a ridiculously high price and thats how i won....luckily each didnt reach that figure!.........remember i have a fireblade 954 front end and a vfr rear end.
Other tings been sorting is the trailer and ive made up a fixing system so i can bolt the bike to the trailer with some tubular stays which bolts to the bikes frame and ive made a front wheel V-support..........that it for now

bemsee open day is on the 11th Dec.....get some info, fill in forms, i think they will be running a dyno and have a weighing machine so i can work out which thunderbike class it will run in....I dont think it will be more than 90bhp, hopefully ive knocked off some kilos too.

few more pics.

These pics were taken on its first outing after the carbs were changed. Back at home I found that i hadn't squashed the taper bearing all the way home so the lock nuts under the yoke top were not as tight as they should be...silly ..more haste less speed! as my mum would tell me..there was no chance of it coming apart....bearing checked no damage..luckily...all tightened up now.
next have to pull in the fairing on the right hand side, tweak the ride height too...Also fixed a mounting bracket on the trailer so the bike can be wheeled on and clamped either side by tubing rather than tie downs.

cadwell park 20th oct!

finally the day had come!......only to be freezing in the morning(frost formed on the bike!)..............to not start.......when it did it was 3 cylinders....electrical? checked leads, plugs sparking...could only be fueling.....carbs off...replaced for standard set I brought with me (just incase my wild jetting was way out).....and it worked. by this time it was lunchtime. Afternoon, bright,sunny and warm...not many people out so it was a good test for me. The handling was superb in the corners, but the fairing was grounding out on the right side. In all im happy with the way the 02 fireblade forks and Nitron shock performed. It was very precise feeling. The riding position took some getting use, may be a tad high. A problem did occur towards the end I thought my disks were warped as i got a juddering on the brakes but the steering head became loose?...umm...something to look over the next weeks...Learnt alot from this today,+ nice chaps willing to assit ( thanks Andy and nigel from trackdays forum) with the tinkering because I was parked next to them. the engine ran sweet and the gearbox was just like new, smooth and quick. the engine sounded musically appealing, the marshals wondered what bike it was as it didnt look like a vfr...!..it pulled to 11000, didnt push it further. Think the gearing matched the circuit and the power it put out....but i do need more power!... After a long drive, getting lost, missed a morning session but Im pleased with its first debut...lots of things to fiddle with.

ready for its debut test

ok so i havent got a van....this will have to do!.....doing things on a budget! thinks its about ready though...just remembered i must make some seat padding...off to cadwell for a shake down test.

finishing small jobs

just little t'ings to do really, all the little jobs. Ive fitted the end weights to the clipons
changed the hose from the radiator to the water pump, with new clips. Angled the air duct on the nose fairing so its lining up with the oil cooler. got the temp gauge working properly.
Next job is to get the front mudguard painted, fixing holes strengthened as they snapped.
ready for a track day. Try this week if i can but my road bike is up for its dealer service so may be a bit pricey, robbing my money pot.
Need to look out for spare fireblade 02 front wheel and vfr rear if i;m going to race it next season......

minimalist graphics, got some red sticky back vinyl stuff, made some shapes on corel draw then laser cut them out. 3rd attempt ending up using the left over bits because i couldn't work out how to get the vinyl to bend round double curvatures. It works just breaks up the white. the lower half ill think of something, but i;m not going to spend ages on it as it doesn't make the bike go faster!
Got some new nuts for the suspension linkages as they were old and corroded, so been to Kempton park bike jumble to get a bag, difficult to find as Jap stuff is usually metric fine 1.25 pitch,.

bleedin brakes!

my new best friend, make life simpler to bleed the brakes, having wasted so much fluid and time and causing more mess in the past this gadget works a treat.....worth the high price...forget these cheap kits from the local car shop.