Last Post Wins - V3

[peteGS]

Yes indeed Yama! Gotta get these things sorted before on road stuff is done! The only reason I want it to be off the road after that is the new rear tyre, servicing, and then the rebuilt cylinder head when I can afford to get that done... otherwise I will want to ride!

Glad to hear you're still following along Showbiz

So in theory I have just over a month and a half to on road time... some little things to tidy up while I'm on leave from work this coming week as well as hopefully the next start which will see the oil cooler in play. I should also be able to ride it up the drive way to make sure the clutch is functioning properly.

Fingers crossed!!

[Janx101]

On a hobby farm in Mudgee, NSW Australia for the easter long weekend... I'm likely to remain scarce... Bike is still off the road... Debts are getting closer to being paid off...maybe bike works this year but who knows.... Driving a Concrete Truck for work.
Hope all are well!

[peteGS]

He's alive!!! Glad to see you checking in Mr Janxy! 

At least you're getting away for the long weekend for a break, good to hear! And debts getting closer to paid is awesome, glad the new job is paying off for you (pun fully intended  )

[ShowBizWolf]

YAY hi Janx!!!! I'm super glad to see ya post! 

[cbrfxr67]

Janxy!  Great to see you post!

[peteGS]

Well I was planning on posting a video of my first ride up the driveway but no such luck just yet. I do at least have an understanding of why I can't get the Kat to idle at least though!

I borrowed a mate's AFR gauge which showed too rich on the needles at that 1/8 to 1/4 throttle mark, so I've dropped the needles a notch to the middle position which has moved the readings into the 12 to 13 range instead of 11's.

The pilots are a different story though and the gauge is showing up to 15 and 16 when I try to let it idle and it just stalls out, so the 17.5 pilot jets are obviously way too small. I even tried the air screws at 1/4 turn out but no noticeable difference.

I've got some bigger pilots from when I tried to sort the stock 450 carbs out, but of course I only have those in pairs so to get an idea of the right size I'm going to have to try 27.5's in carbs 1 and 2 with 25's in 3 and 4 and read the plugs to see which is better. If they're too big I have 22.5's to try as well.

On the plus side, no smoke! A puff on the initial start but that was it, so I'm really happy about that!

[cbrfxr67]

afr gauge sounds really useful,...can u post a pic of it pete?  maybe i should pick one up

[peteGS]

Yeah very handy indeed! I'll try to get a pic today for you, it just sits in a dodgy handlebar mount at the moment.

I'm planning on getting my own once funds allow as they're not the cheapest in the world (~$AU300+) but I found a semi DIY one which I'll probably go for: https://www.14point7.com/products/sigma-lambda-controller-free-2

[peteGS]

Ah! Just realised I didn't get a pic of the AFR setup, will do so today or tomorrow.

I did however get the Kat to idle! 

Too rich now so I need to drop the 27.5's to the 22.5's as I suspect the 25's are too big also. My gut tells me that will get me to a close but too rich scenario which means I just need another pair of 22.5's, will try that tomorrow.

Video of the driveway ride is in progress 

[peteGS]

Here 'tis! You can hear the high idle while it's out of camera view and I have to wind out the idle screw a little. Excuse my house mate...

[peteGS]

So is this what's called winning then?

[Sandgroper57]

Absolutely a win.
I have been quietly following this thread for some time now.
Love your work. 

[peteGS]

Haha cool, glad to have you along for the ride! Everyone else has gone oh so quiet...

I've learnt a valuable lesson on VM33 smoothbore carbs... they must be mechanically sync'd! I'm too used to CV carbs that need to be vacuum sync'd.

To start with, 1 and 2 were pretty much closed while 3 was a little open and 4 quite a lot:

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

I smoothed the end of a straight bit of wire and set to balancing. Number 3 is the static one on these carbs, and now all four are set the same.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

The difference is night and day! Instantaneous improvement to the idle where it was stable, although kept climbing as it warmed up and got richer and richer.

Now they're too rich full stop, ended up with the AFR at ~12.5 with the air screws a full turn out, which tells me I likely never needed to go up from the 17.5's in the first place so I'll go back to those and start with the air screw 1/2 turn out.

Unfortunately I have an oil leak to deal with yet, but I feel like the Kat is finally very very close to being road ready!

[Sandgroper57]

Nice one Pete, hope you can fix the oil leak without too much surgery.

[peteGS]

Me too! I did a dodgy last night by jamming some thin neoprene rubber sheet behind a thin bit of steel with a bunch of threebond, then put the retainer back.

I also realised that I started the motor well within the 24 hour curing period for the threebond, so I'm actually wondering if it would've been fine if I waited longer... the threebond that was there rubbed off real easy whereas fully cured it requires some effort to get it off. Fingers crossed I can find some time this coming weekend to find out!

[peteGS]

Things are very quiet here... Yama you all good?

Looks like I finally fixed the Kat oil leak and I now get low 13's on the AFR gauge with the 17.5 pilots and air screws 3/4 of a turn out, so time to leave it alone until I can tune them on the road properly.

So, aside from needing hand grips, it's ready for import compliance, safety certificate, then rego... all of which need to wait 'til next pay and probably the pay after. Man it's gonna be hard to be patient!!

[ShowBizWolf]

That is soooooooooo fantastic Pete!!!!!! I can't explain how happy I am for you

I'm gonna feel the same way when I finally get my Spirit done

[peteGS]

Hahaha cheers Showbiz!! 

It's exciting times alright! Really going to be difficult waiting another month but knowing I'm so close is fantastic!

What's left to do on the Spirit and how far away is it??

[ShowBizWolf]

The last time I got to work on the Spirit was in October. I was searching and searching EVERYWHERE for rear brake backing plates for it. I cannot find them anywhere (which is understandable)... so the list is this:

Underneath and Exterior:
-install all new hardware, shoes, drums, etc in the rear brakes
-paint the front bumper, grille and roof (it's primed now)
-fix some cracks in the fiberglass door bottoms
-install the new turn signal and side marker lenses with new bulbs
-finish attaching and painting a section of one side skirt
-install the muffler and specially bent tail pipe to go out under the rear bumper flaring I made

Interior:
-everything LOL

Seriously though, all the interior plastic pieces need sanded and repainted... the door panels need cleaning and repainting and some new fabric... I need to put a headliner up... I need to buy the new carpeting... recover the dash... figure out what stereo I want and buy it and install it... make my seat covers... figure out how to carpet and finish the trunk... install the sub and amp... install the blacklights... then try to remember how everything goes back together (seats, seat belts, trim pieces, etc) !!

Owning my own home, being employed full-time, working on my van, and until last year, working on my bike too... it's just sooooo much for one person. Plus, my dad's garage doesn't get very warm in the winter so he prefers that I work on the car when it's nicer out. But I hope to have everything done on the Spirit (except the interior) by the end of this year.

[peteGS]

Wow that's a serious list! Yeah that's a whole lot of stuff to do for one person... I've got some things to sort on the house I need to get done this year, will definitely be easier now the Kat is all but finished

All I can suggest is get yourself a list (I use some online software called Trello for my stuff to do), break it down into little manageable chunks of work, then start knocking them off one at a time.

That way, you won't forget something, but you'll always have something you can do if you need to wait for parts or whatever... definitely makes the overall project far less intimidating!

Sounds like you also need to tell your dad to get a heater