Ducati Monster Forum

Got the itch to do some serious speed...  and I like my road-going license, so it'll have to be Bonneville and the SCTA for me.  

Ok, here's the cliff-notes thus far:
2003 999S frame (FL non-rebuildable title)
2004 749R motor
2006 MTS620 swingarm
2007 M695 rear wheel
2002 GSXR600 triples and forks
2005 Honda CBR125R front wheel (17 x 1.85")
200? 999S air-box, injectors, throttle bodies & a Yoyodyne (?) quick-throttle
Steel subframe

I've also got the following but no pictures as of yet:
999S Termi pipes (no muffler), but 54mm 2-into-1-into-2 system
1199 lower radiator (should fit in the 'V' nicely & I'm not running an oil cooler)
Complete 2007 S4Rs stock clutch assembly

I'm hoping to get it salt-worthy by the first meet in May and have it more 'dialed in' by the BUB meet in August.  Also, the bike will be fitted with Nitrous Oxide by the BUB meet...  [evil]

Also, for those on FB, I have a page to track the project...

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8500/8283354579_32e72134b4_c.jpg)

looks dangerous - nice  [thumbsup]

 [evil]

what class would this be run in?

MPS 750-F

Modified
Partial
Streamliner
750cc
Fuel (nitrous)

Pit Crew Member Zilbert standing by and waiting for your instructions sir!  [evil]

You need an extended swingarm

To remain in the 'M' chassis class, I can't exceed a 10% increase in wheelbase over stock.  I can rake out the front or extend the arm, BUT the MTS620 arm is already longer than a 999 arm is (~ 1.5").  I'm on the fence about how to make up the remaining ~4" of wheelbase increase.  I'm leaning toward raking out the chassis (some) as the increased rake will make it more stable @ high speed...


Can you get your arse to Bonneville in August?  ;D

All I know is that bikes are always better with an extended swingarm.

If I do extend it, it'll give me more volume to fill with lead, so that's good...

Can I ride this one too?


Just around the block

15' from center to the steering locks.  25' max lean angle.  NO front brake.  NO exhaust muffling of any kind.

If'n ya want to...  I'll be in El Mirage in May...

Cool.  [evil] How fast are you hoping to go?

Record stands in that class @ 197.xxx...  I'm looking to move it up to ~205-210 but that may not happen this coming season.

BTW, here's another shot w/the adjusted stance:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8491/8284418571_f7716b6375_c.jpg)

MUCH MO-BETTA!  [evil]

Does a bear shit in the woods and wipe with bunny rabbits?!?!  [Dolph]

Hmmm...how convenient that DITR falls around the same time... *must contain evil thoughts...

Wilkommen!  [bacon]

You need that flywheel lightened up?

So, if I'm reading that right, you're saying "Sure Big, you can borrow it to ride to Zeitgeist sometime, after all - how much damage could you do to an Australian driving license in California!"

;-)

big (August you say??? When in August?)

August 10-16.

beyond cool  [drool]

Why?


I'll have to get a different flywheel to lighten. The 749R has the flywheel with the 2nd set of timing pick-ups on it. (Rare...)

wouldnt you want the heavier flywheel? you're not shifting up and down for corners, etc.
I would think the heavy flywheel helps the momemtum build and stay wiith the higher RPMs and tq you need

That's the SCTA Bonneville event.  The BUB (motorcycles ONLY) event is the week of August 26th.

I'm undecided on which I'll be doing in August as I can only afford 1 trip.


From what I've read (haven't done this before so no FHE), the lighter the engine internals and heavier the bike, the better off you are.

So were you serious about filling the swingarm with lead?

I get that at high speeds most of your power goes into overcoming aerodynamic resistance, not rolling resistance, but I'm having a tough time wrapping my brain around the advantages of substantial extra weight - I'm looking forward to learning something new!

It's not at all uncommon to have wheelspin @ 100+mph...  Slippery surface that salt.

that's why i'm confused about the lightweight flywheel.
the smoother power of the heavier powertrain would seem to make sense for better traction

Bonneville and El Mirage are one of the few racing arenas where weight is usually your friend.

Ballast should be on the bike, though.

Lowest possible unsprung weight is always preferable.

Nice, Stu.   [thumbsup]  

You involved in this lunacy, too, Speeddog?  Talk about right up your alley.

(http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12135.0;attach=38199;image)

 [laugh]

Yah, in an advisory capacity.  [beer]

 [drink] HIgh-speed stability is a good thing  [thumbsup]

Stew, let me know which week we are planning on so I know which to ask for off.
I, too, can only afford one trip.  [beer]

maybe I'll make it a cross country road trip

At this point, I'm leaning towards the BUB event as it is ONLY motorcycles and motorcycle streamliners. 

(subject to change, but doubtful)

Ok.  I'm dialed in now to your thread.

 [thumbsup] [thumbsup]

 [popcorn]

I'll be in Bonneville August 10-16th for the SCTA event.  Plan accordingly.  [thumbsup]

Also, I managed to score some 45mm clip-ons for the GSXR600 front-end.  When they arrive, pics will be posted w/me on the bike to determine maximum aerodynamic effeciency.  (Or as close as I can get...)

how tall are you and how much do you weigh?

by the way, if needed I have an 848 showa rear shock

5'9" & ~160 lbs...

848 rear shock is about 2.5" too long w/the lowered chassis...

ok good just making sure I'll fit the bike  [evil]

Cool.  Per our previously discussed arrangement, you can ride the bike...

As far as the rear shock goes, I'm probably in the shock height range of a Suzuki TL1000R (but w/o the rotary damper crap).  I'm leaning towards a Hagon as they're good quality and ~$400-$450 new.

Suzuki TLR shocks are 9.38" eye-to-eye and are direct acting which is what I have on my chassis now (no suspension link).

Wait...

Do you need more pit crew?

PM sent...  8)

Quentin is good people. I will vouch for him. He stayed with us at Ouray and he only tried to steal my virginity 3 or 4 times.

and I really really really believe in salt :D











And care about things that go fast.  [thumbsup]















and mostly don't care how Stu uses me...  :D

Me too!


Me too!


Careful what you wish for...

Alright, it's on. 

I am all vacayed and ready to do things.

(this thread should stay at the top...)

It turns out the best way to learn about riding in snow and ice is not on a fully loaded, two-up V-Strom... I got re-passed by the loser Honda Civic I passed for doing 35 in a 55.

Thread stickied!

Photos of the bodywork on the bike should be up by this weekend.

SCTA / Bonneville 2013:  I'll be there!

you owe me a sneak peak ;)

Got some clothes on my high-speed gal this weekend...  So far, the height needs to come up ~ 3/8 - 1/2" and the wheelbase needs to go longer by 3".  The clip-ons in the 1st pic are just attached to the fork.  2nd pic shows a 3 1/2" (yet to be built) extension to the front which will help keep my hands within the width of the fairing as well as provide a more comfortable position.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8494/8424483332_aa22e93164_c.jpg)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8424491432_2f7b0dbc2c_c.jpg)

(Yes, the hat to the back is worth 3mph...)

[thumbsup]

Lookin good Stu, coming along very nicely [thumbsup]

Looking good!  [thumbsup]

 [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool]

thats looking amazing!  Nice front wheel  ;), it must be Canadian eh???  LOL!!!   [beer]

LOL! It is...  Thanks again man! They don't sell CBR125's on this side of the fence...

YES!!!

PJ's Triumph / Ducati has signed onto the growing sponsor list!

They'll be helping out a LOT with engine re-build parts & labor.

 [bow_down]

Badass!

Congrats...

Swingarm got dropped off @ my fabricators to be extended 3.25" this weekend...  Should have it back by Wed or Thurs...

Logo & yet-to-be-named Mascot:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8332/8447007445_f35ea3f092_c.jpg)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8352/8447007807_fc7504bbc7_c.jpg)

There's a contest on FB for naming the mascot.  Winner gets a Team Unorthodux T-shirt!  (If you're not on FB, just post up here & I'll relay the submission onto FB for you.)

Anatrasale

 ;D

He looks disgruntled

Salty Duck?

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8246/8454188396_463b20bae8_c.jpg)

Thoughts thus far on bodywork & colors...

I like it  [evil]

Me three

 [thumbsup]

Can't go wrong with grey w/ red wheels. 8)

Me 4

I don't have the current rulebook, but IIRC the regulation size for numbers was rather large.

"Where used, number plates with rounded corners shall be a minimum of 6-inches high and 8-inches wide and the numbers are to be 3-inches high and 1-inch wide."

Yeah, it's likely that the team logo beneath the rear number plate will have to go away in favor of a larger number plate area, but for now...  It's close.  The evolution of this project's colors & paint is going swimmingly!

Thanks again Raux!  [evil]  [thumbsup]  [drink]  [clap]

The bike's stance has real intent.
A purposeful look where form follows function.
Mean as sharkshit. [evil]

Muscovy
Disco
Howard

Ken 'ard

Gonna have video of the run?

Are the foot pegs really that far forward?

Foot pegs are yet to be determined as the longer swingarm has changed the bodywork & my position as well.

There will be an on board camera, but it won't be a live feed...

Crap dude, I can see why you might have wanted some red wheels for that thing. Damn.  [bang]

S'alright.  Actually, they were going to be for my fiancee's '03 M1000S (grey w/red 3-spoke wheels).

I'm not on facebook...but I would name the duck Tim.

I am not on FB often...hence why I lodged my votes here earlier in the thread....

Zero Gravity just signed on as a sponsor! W00t!  [thumbsup]

Also, I picked up a 2000 Dodge B2500 van for moto-hauling duties.  It's nice! (except to my wallet when it comes time to fill it up...)

nice!

 [thumbsup]

Stew...gonna see if I can get the local Duc dealer on-board. He is a land speed guy (fan not participant) and I mentioned your efforts last time I was there...He seemed very interested.

I will let you know what I find out.

PM sent.  8)

updated the tail number and a few new sponsors onboard

(http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/859649_170234383125400_1105339588_o.jpg)

Looking great, Stu...

But, won't those sponsor's names get covered in salt after the first quarter mile?  [evil]

>:(

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8518/8527942011_06c02fb64a_c.jpg)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8096/8527942045_b0222144f1_c.jpg)

Got a chance to build my subframe this weekend and get it outside for some photos.  Rear-sets are next and I've got to find a 749/999 fuel tank.  (Amongst ~1,000 other things...)

The red wheel stand is a 'Bike-Grab' supplied to us from www.lifts-and-stands.com (http://www.lifts-and-stands.com)

Works great!

:-*

I take it from your attitude you'll be there to help wash it for photo ops? :-*  :P

MY attitude?  Wasn't me who posted the scowling reply.

A little levity, boys, this is supposed to be fun, not the Lord of the Flies...

Sorry, the joking tone didn't come across...

It was intended to be levitatious.

 [evil]

sometimes i win without trying

Picked up a 749 fuel tank, a white GSXR front wheel (the super-skinny Honda wheel will go on later this season), an 848 cylinder head for air-flow research (2014 season) and a fiberglass 'Busa fender which will be easier to mod than the plastic OE fender we have in the photos thus far.

CLOSER....  & closer still!

Whats the plan with the exhaust? 749/999 OEM is under tail isn't it? It's Looking good!  [thumbsup]

2x 50mm head pipes merging into a single 66mm pipe heading into a reverse cone megaphone exiting low mount on the right side.  Along the way, it picks up a wide band O2 sensor then a small pipe to scavenge windage from the crankcase.  The undertail OE design isn't needed for the ground clearances of salt flat racing so we ditched the OE style & all the additional bends...

Besides...LSR bikes are required to be obnoxiously loud.  [evil]

I guess with that exhaust set-up, you shouldn't experience any issues of restrictive flow on WOT at the top end then?

the run up distance is long enough and the traction low enough to not have to worry about low end tq losses and be able to tune the system strictly for high RPM operation.

hey Stu, when you get to Bonneville, you should try and get an upclose look at this -> http://www.bikeexif.com/custom-indian-motorcycle?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Bikeexif+%28Bike+EXIF%29 (http://www.bikeexif.com/custom-indian-motorcycle?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Bikeexif+%28Bike+EXIF%29)

Mind explaining this part?

High velocity exhaust creates a vacuum which sucks out the aerated oil from the crankcase. That negative pressure allows the pistons to move around more freely.

Can't run that on a street bike as you're sucking aerated oil into the atmosphere. Road racing won't allow it either. Legal @ drag racing & Bonneville. 

Totally not worth it in a street bike as I suspect it's only worth 0.5-1 HP at a maximum. 

(if that much.)

it's enough for the panigale to have a positive crankcase suction

Every bike with a breather connected to the airbox has that...no?

To an extent, yes.  This is just amplified a lot...

up to 11 ?!?!?!

I understand the amplification of the exhaust suction.

I was curious as to what the Panigale uses over and above the typical PCV system that Ducati has been using...forever.

maybe i was confusing the air induction pump system into the exhaust gases

Not to jack Stu's thread...

ahh...a smog pump.  ;D

That's probably to reduce emissions while still running a map that will make power.

Ah yes... it turns out the Panigale has a PAIR system.  Not for better engine performance, but for better emissions performance.  Apparently Ducati was finally required to catch up to the rest of the performance bike world by the inexorable march of the green people.

Oh I see, interesting. Thanks for the info.

Got the tank installed, but it's too dang big... 

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8552365218_6c0a02dd32_c.jpg)

Fortunately for me, it's Ducati's last steel tank used on a superbike so I can cut & weld it as needed.  Here's the projected first cut (just above the blue tape):

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8370/8552365292_cfdd18b7e1_c.jpg)

From there, a new bottom plate will need to be water-jet cut and welded in.  Going to run a later model Ducati in-tank pump as they're cheaper than the 749/999 units & flow more fuel.

Does this actually do anything?  Id buy it if it were on a single but on a 90° twin when one piston travels down the other moves up and there's a balance of air pressure.

No?

If it were a boxer twin, then you'd be right. Because it's a 90' twin, there is some overlap where they're both coming down.

Honestly, I doubt it'll do much. But, ram air @ 190mph going into the air box will be creating positive pressure so this is my fix...

190 mph solves all kinds of problems :D

Actually it would work better on the BMW boxer.  They are 180 degree cranks.  If I ever get another one, I'm going to re-phase one of the cams to make a big bang engine.

From looking at the side view of you on the bike, I'd say you'll need to channel/section that dude about 3".

Is there a reg on tank size?   Couldn't you fit a smaller tank just for enough fuel?

5 liters.

not a lot, but more than just enough.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8238/8554225259_aced189514_c.jpg)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8250/8554225093_460276a375_c.jpg)

I may slice the tank side to side above the vertical head and lengthen it back towards the seat for add'l fuel capacity and the ability to add the pump flange behind the head.  I may not...

 OOOOh!! I'd ride that!

 [evil]

(http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/s480x480/733747_184991481649690_1904216850_n.jpg)

Lookin' good Raux!  I think we've settled on the paint scheme...  :D

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8395/8630645137_538b69e8bd_c.jpg)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8125/8630645183_90d1ff4c37_c.jpg)

Got some free time (pure luxury these days) this weekend and pulled the motor out for it's rebuild.  In the 2nd shot, you can see the casting designation of the 749R head as well as the 6mm titanium valves.   [evil]

Come on Stu, it's been 3 days... Update?  ;)

No pictures on this update...  BUT, I did order up the SpeedHut gauges and a MicroSquirt ECU today.

260mph GPS speedo 2 5/8" face
12K rpm tachometer 2 5/8" face
120'-260'F coolant temp 2 5/8" face
and a small shift-light

I was really happy to know that SpeedHut was able to make the 260kph speedo into a 260mph speedo for free.   ;D

Only 260?

Setting the bar a little low, dontcha think?

;D

This

LOL! Yeah right...  The power required to go 210 is way more than 200 and after that it goes up and up and up.

Pressurize that focker :D

Come on!! The duck on the front fender has flames shooting from his arse! That's worth at least 20HP.

change the design where the flaming arsed duck is sucking on a turbo like a pipe and you can add a couple more ponies to that at least!

749R w/nitrous this year.

749cc Duc twin on alcohol & a turbo is next year...

BTW: the turbocharged 749R drag bike of Australia makes 234rwhp.

Plugging 234hp into some conservative speed calculators nets 221mph.  We're shooting for ~180hp this year on nitrous and that nets 202mph.  A stock 749R motor at 120hp would net 176mph...

So, plugging in 260mph requires 383hp...  I think the bottom end would give out first!

Lighten up the internals, balance it well and spin it to like 14,000

Make your HP that way ;)

Boulder motorsports ran a 749R up to 13,200rpm @ Daytona some years back knowing full well that the rpm was KILLING the lower end of the engine (longevity: 1 race, maybe).

Rider said: I want more! RPM ceiling got raised to 13,300rpm. Motor broke a rocker arm @ 13.3K rpm down the front straight...

There are limits to our Duc twins...

(Not that we aren't working on a way to make MASSIVE power out of a Duc twin...  Just that there are limits.)

Perfect opportunity to design a stronger, billet, rocker :D

Perfect opportunity for someone with a machine shop :D

:D

Get'r done..

All engine internal parts are here.

Lower end of the motor is apart and I'll be boxing and shipping the reciprocating assembly to Ben Fox this Monday.

I got my SCTA/BNI racing license this week!  [thumbsup]

That's about it...

 Remember when Cycle was racing the Duck with Nielson? They had to fab a whole buncha parts to keep that sucker together!

Well, updates have slowed down some...

Got some personal things going on this weekend which preparations have taken a lot of my free time.

That, and the 749R crankshaft looks to have some terminal damage.  It's out being assessed.  We also have terminal engine cases so we're on the prowl for some deep sump 749/999 cases to rebuild the 'R' internals into.

Gauges showed up, but since I don't have pics, no they didn't...

Well, the verdict finally came in yesterday:  The 749R crankshaft we have is usable.  ::Whew!::  Trying to find a replacement that wasn't damaged was proving difficult.  The connecting rod bearings were within 100 miles of catastrophic failure when the motor came apart though (which would've taken out the crank & the titanium connecting rods as well...).

Our pistons and engine cases, however, are not fine.  So, some low-mileage used pistons were located out of London and we managed to score a pair of *BRAND NEW* engine cases off Flea-bay.

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7403/8720752780_705837042c_z.jpg)


The project continues...   [evil]

updates?....I mean...I know you are honeymooning and all...but I had to ask...

Ok, here's the haps:

The 749R pistons we had were too badly scuffed for use.  We have secured a pair of much better 749R pistons out of London.  They ship tomorrow.

Ben Fox (BenFoxPerformance.com) has finished re-conditioning our 749R crank and Pankl Ti rods.  They're shipping out tomorrow.

The brand-damn-new cases we bought are due in any day now. 

We will be sending the 'new to us' pistons and 749R barrels out to be re-nicasil plated to ensure the correct bore to piston spacing and to clean up the couple scuffs in the barrels.

We have adapted the lenghtnened MTS620 to the 999 chassis and put a Honda cruiser shock on the back.  It's nice & low now.

For 2013, we will be running the 17x3.5" Suzuki front wheel.

Final chassis positioning is completed and we have a LONG to-do list ahead of us, but it's looking more do-able to be rolling to break the 197.xxx current record in August.

www.unorthodux.com (http://www.unorthodux.com) just came 'on-line'!  [thumbsup]

Looking good Stu!! [thumbsup]

A HUGE HI5 to Jerry for stepping in when my own personal issues prevented me from stepping up.
Excellent work on the site Jerry.  [clap]

Ok, an update at long last:

I bought a pair of used CRG shorty levers off Ebay for the Aprilia-spec Brembo radial masters that Yoyodyne was happy to help out with (THANKS FRED!).  But, the clutch lever pivot was broken.  Called up Matt @ CRG and for $26, I got me a replacement unit.  Spent some time last night getting all that sorted & mounted up.

Finally got the crank/rods back from Ben Fox last week so they'll be going into the BRAND-DAMN-NEW engine cases that we scored.  We're now awaiting some great condition used pistons out of London England (ours were scored up pretty bad) and then we'll ship the pistons & barrels off to Millenium Technologies for a re-plate of the nicasil that will match the new pistons.

Cylinder heads are off and disassembled.  They're going to the head guru this week.

Chassis is approaching final completetion and test-fit before it comes apart for powdercoating.  Just a couple more mock-up pieces to fit before that happens.

At that time, the forks will get modified to reduce travel and the swingarm will be coated in black and then filled with lead.  (I do NOT look forward to mounting that sucker!)

We have found tires that will fit our rims and be legal to ~225mph so that is a huge plus.  Now to move forward with some parts acquisitions and some chassis stripping.

More later!

So looking forward to meeting you at Bonneville. I'll be there taking notes and asking questions for an attempt at the 100cc record in 2014.

Piece-o-cake!  ;D [roll]

My 1993 Honda RS125 with a wet Kawasaki KX100 motor.  [evil]
Should be about 150lbs when ready.

(http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg623/sofadriver/100_0341-Copy-Copy_zps1e6405ec.jpg)[/URL (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/sofadriver/media/100_0341-Copy-Copy_zps1e6405ec.jpg.html)

Looking forward to meeting you as well!!

We're getting pumped about Bonneville.  REALLY pumped up.

Been making some engine and chassis progress, but nothing photo worthy of yet.

time is getting short
updates plz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss3FpDy3bD4#at=243 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss3FpDy3bD4#at=243)

a little bit of inspiration for ya....

Working on final mechanic test fitting and exhaust build,  and bodywork fitting.

(http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/1004489_223987511083420_1526512412_n.jpg)

Neither myself, nor our project are dead...  I took a minor motorcycle spill which left my right forearm in a cast for 5 weeks total.  NOT recommended and NOT a good time for it to happen, but it did nonetheless...  dammit.

Anyways, here's some shots from the past however-many-weeks:

Frame prepped for motor installation:
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2814/9359458769_90d54ea856_c.jpg)

Short-case of motor installed (local dealership mechanic did the work as I couldn't...):
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3694/9359458829_1a13fb697c_c.jpg)

Alternator side coming together:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3766/9359458873_9d6d5f9bec_c.jpg)

Clutch side nearly completed:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7444/9359458935_1a4a12c878_c.jpg)

Bodywork *just* before going off to painter: (note: I had to notch out the 'fuel tank' to lower it over the vertical head...  Kinda cool I think...)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/9359458967_a63501a68f_c.jpg)

Alternator cover together and I'm curing the loc-tite for the cylinder barrels & heads to be installed by this weekend:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/9359482015_edc6315fa9_c.jpg)

I take it the "local" mechanic was Cloner?...looking good...and BTW...what is the $$$ of paint versus say a shrinkwrap graphics job?...and how the hell did you bonehead your arm into a cast?

No local mech for motor work was done through a team sponsore PJs Ducati/Triumph

I boneheaded into a cast by applying too much front brake whilst slowing for a stop light and riding in the dead center of the lane just after it rained...  Oily asphalt, recently upgraded front brake and a lapse of reason.  I broke the middle bone of my right pinky finger.  :-/

Cost of paint?  A local painter offered to shoot the silver for the cost of materials.  Just can't pass that up!

(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5531/9394115001_26864b1762_c.jpg)

There's something just 'right' about this photo...  :evil:

Nitro related?

Got it in one!

oh... keep your credit cards on the ready. your chance to support the team and wear some Team UnorthoDux gear is coming soon

perhaps upper level supporters could be enticed to donate a touch more if they had the opportunity to have their name on the bike ?!?!?!...stenciled in list of supporters in various places with the sponsors taking billboard roles of display.

just a thought....

We were planning names on the bike in exchange for support but... we ran out of time for this year largely due to my asphalt-surfing incident.  Perhaps next year!

When in August is this?   [evil]

Aug 10-16, Wendover, UT...

Coming?

aw shit thats a little too soon  ;D

It's 717 miles to Wendover,
I just got my piston rings,
The bodywork is off to paint,
I just ordered my sponsor decals,
(somewhere) It's dark out, and
(someone) is wearing sunglasses...

HIT IT!

Lots left to do but we remain confident that all will come together in a furious whirlwind of caffiene fueled nights, overnight shipments and luck.  Lots, and lots of luck.

We'll be there in 9 days time with an open-piped, nitrous-huffing, desmo-valved bike...

On board video, right?

:D

I feel the need....the need to support your awesome nitrous duc! I will definitely grab a t-shirt raux.....

all you need is leathers that look like a black suit with black tie and white shirt...when not on the bike, put on a black fedora and call it "awesome"

 Don't forget the half pack of cigs!

I'll be down mid Sunday and will help out any way I can. Also, my trusty little Honda Spree scooter will be available for use (great for when the shitter's really, really far away!)

How are you starting this thing, anyway? I'm sourcing parts to build a 12v, one-man starter roller.

Turns out it's easiest just to run a full electrical system, so stock starter and all.  We actually need the weight on that surface...

Will be great to meet you!

As far as wiring goes, that would be the case if we were running a stock ecu.

Oh, yeah... personality isn't something I do very well... what Stew said....

http://stitchesnink.com/Team/unorthodux.html (http://stitchesnink.com/Team/unorthodux.html)

Get your shirts now!!!!

I'm holding out for long sleeves. ;D

tonight or tomorrow so keep checking

buy two, we need some sales

Still not available.

buy a short sleeve for yourself, get the ball rolling.

 [thumbsup]

How long till the work shirts are ready to roll?

Our Sponsor is firing up the press with your requests. (well sewing machine for the embroidered stuff)

I'd be in for the work shirt and T-shirt. I'll hold off till they can ship together

I'm pushign i'm pushing

what?...no hoodies?

just standing up the production lines. they're coming
along with the black line

but you guys should stop complaining and start supported with you wallets ;)

Shirt ordered.  [thumbsup] Good luck!!!

I'll get a hat too, as long as they're not flat-biller style.

THANKS!  [thumbsup]

Also new gear added, people, check it out

http://stitchesnink.com/Team/unorthodux.html (http://stitchesnink.com/Team/unorthodux.html)

(http://stitchesnink.com/Team/images/White_T_V2.jpg)
(http://stitchesnink.com/Team/images/Workshirt_V1.png)
(http://stitchesnink.com/Team/images/LongSleeve_limited.png)
(http://stitchesnink.com/Team/images/Hat_V2.png)

http://stitchesnink.com/Team/unorthodux.html (http://stitchesnink.com/Team/unorthodux.html)

Ordered a couple shirts :)

Thanks

oh, and hopefully we'll see the some great new photos of the bike tonight

(http://sphotos-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/1001113_230024697146368_692127328_n.jpg)

(http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/998095_230178147131023_751680374_n.jpg)

I'm having flashbacks.  :P

I like the "GOOOOOOO!!!!!!" button...reminds me of a certain other bike....

(http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT_MOf5oFOPltD--BElwTKRYh38nSsjvWto4aVLUrI1a_vfIce7tSA38yJm)

Well of course Stu is gonna hit 200mph...he already has a 40 mph head start at a standstill!  [laugh] [laugh]

I know it sounds like begging, but a lot of the funds for this effort came out of just a few pockets since we have no major underwriting sponsor.

http://stitchesnink.com/Team/unorthodux.html (http://stitchesnink.com/Team/unorthodux.html)

Get some gear!

(http://sphotos-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/563300_231551583660346_1292386056_n.jpg)

looks great!
i'm surprised you made it so soon.
see you guys on sunday.

neato....now where's my shirt?



 :P ;) [beer]

did you order one?

pm me

me always support Stu with shirt. I ordered the extremely rare long sleeve.

I know, as part of the team, even I don't get one free. so I have to put my order in before they are all gone  [thumbsdown]

http://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10201810259036924 (http://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10201810259036924)

(http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/998442_232201673595337_2014677386_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/16271_708090845873589_1436565832_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1146656_232193500262821_1094510198_n.jpg)

where is the durned like button?!?!?!?


looks awesome!

Well, good morning from Bonneville!

We're psyched for today's prospects for speed...  "Lucky" nearly passed tech inspection yesterday and it's only a short matter of time before we're ready to get the last few things signed off on today.

Temperature hasn't been too bad this week, staying in the upper end of double-digits.  Humidity is next to nothing so that helps too...

A *BIG* shout-out to everyone who has supported us thus far!  Salt time comes today and we're very excited!!!

Good luck and stay safe!

update: Stuart has made his first licensing run and is good to go.

Bike was running slightly off & I managed a 104.xxx mph on my first pass which lets me remove the large 'R' sticker from my helmet indicating that I was a rookie...

We're doing more test-n-tune this morning looking for smoother power...

More details as they come in!

OK... I got ma shirt... nows I is a crew member. where be the results?

Bike has ran as fast as 130.733, and backed that up today with a 126.353.  Both riders got qualified for thier 'D' license.  We're trying to get the 3rd rider thier 'D' license now...

neato [thumbsup]

So are you only allowed to run certain speeds in order to get licenses for the next level? Prove you can safely run at 130, then next time out you can go faster?

Got shirts.  Nice pictures from the salt flats.  Stay cool and have fun.

Yup!

Well, here's the recap for Bonneville SpeedWeek 2013:

We arrived on Thursday evening August 8th with a non-running bike.  Just wasn't enough time in ABQ to screw with all the required bits to make combustion happen.

By Friday evening August 9th, we had sorted out that the ignition coils had been fried (by an assumption in my wiring) so alternatives were sourced (non-Ducati coils and some automotive spark plug wires) and we made fire that evening!

We sorted some of the tuning out on Saturday and Sunday.  By Monday, we had it running well enough to run it by the tech inspector types.  We nearly passed, but it required some more fabricating to get it all dialed in which meant Tuesday morning it passed tech. (YAY!)

"Lucky" (as the bike has been dubbed) made it's maiden voyage down the salt on Tuesday afternoon with myself aboard to the tune of 104.667mph and netting me a clean 'Rookie' pass.

Wednesday morning was cooler and with L'Scott aboard, "Lucky" blasted off a 130.733mph.  With Dirty Duc aboard that afternoon, "Lucky" clocked off a 126.563mph.  Both of those passes earned the rider a 'D' class SCTA license.    We did more tuning and testing on Wednesday and Thursday also (13 passes on Thursday alone) but were unable to best 125mph again.

Had a safe drive back & all the team is ready for SpeedWeek 2014!!

And now we're on Youtube!

Lucky on Course 1 Bonneville Speed Week 2013 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IwJ3OGdTY0#)

Team Unorthodux Bonneville 2013 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7-o-hdwaAk#)

[thumbsup]

And in case anyone was wondering how pissed off a 749R sounds with no muffler
Ducati 749R free rev open header (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP_pewVTF5U#)

So what's on the agenda for next year?

My RS125(100) is coming along quite well. Completely changed since you guys saw it.
It's been stretched & lowered.
Full APS body is coming along nicely. Another 30 man-hours oughta' do it. [roll]  It's going to be a slippery little sucker for sure.
I'm keeping the stock KX100 motor for testing and shipping motor bits to the race engine builder in Oklahoma as they pop up on E-bay.

I'll send you some pics (eventually)

I wish us luck!  [thumbsup]

Mike in Tacoma

Good luck wished!

So far, the to-do list looks like this:

First:  re-do the exhaust system to incorporate proper diameters, proper lengths and a proper distance from the exit for the lambda sensor so that it's always bathed in exhaust gases.

Second: Tune, tune, tune & more tuning.  We need to get proper A/F ratios and ignition curves dialed in as a naturally aspirated motor.  THEN, we get to play with the Nitrous Oxide.  I think we'll set up for a 25hp map, a 50hp map and then a 75hp map.  That'll give us flexibility should track conditions or whatever arise.

Thirdly: We need to seriously look at aerodynamics.  We did great for a 3-week build time this year! But, honestly, we left too many aero-advantages 'on the table' and need to address many different aspects of our bodywork for 2014.  Chief amongst them being a taller riders seat to keep the riders back flat and provide more room to tuck the riders knees out of the windstream (we weren't really able to do this much this year).  Our tailsection is going to require a complete re-think as well.  (plus many other mods which shall remain undisclosed...)

Lastly: We need real seat-time for the riders at speed.  The El Mirage, CA meets are more frequently throughout the year and may provide the best opportunity to do real-world racing outside of Bonneville...

Mike:  I know I speak for the whole team when I say: We'd love to see some more pics of your bike!!!  [thumbsup]

+2 to what Stew said!

I'll send some in an email.
I cant get pics to post here.

From Mike (if I got the order wrong, let me know):

 First layer of glass on. Tapered sticks give a perfect shape when bent around wooden ribs. Front fender turned out great but suffers from a failed paint experiment. Tail will be cut 9.5" behind the rear tire. No air will enter the front of the bike except for minimal slots under the fork trees to allow for turning.
(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Mike%20Bonneville%20bike/20131005_181954_zps96cf2d36.jpg)

Seat glassed in and basic position established. Ill have my gut/chest on the flat area.
(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Mike%20Bonneville%20bike/20131013_173247_zps3973405e.jpg)

Starting point.   Note; plumb, square and level - VERY important.
(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Mike%20Bonneville%20bike/20130917_204015_zpsac239994.jpg)

 Pic from the loft.
(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Mike%20Bonneville%20bike/20130925_185855_zps60ddfdff.jpg)

Cut down a race windsheild to try.   Fail!
(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Mike%20Bonneville%20bike/20131027_102754_zpse1ac32ce.jpg)

Made a separate small fairing to accomodate my helmet. Ill glass it tomorrow. That started as a 2 x 2ft block of foam! Lots of carving.  A full sized speed hump on my jacket will relieve the low pressure befind my helmet. Note rough cut leg and arm openings.
(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Mike%20Bonneville%20bike/20131027_171659_zpsf1215b56.jpg)

You guys/gal are nuts, I love it. [thumbsup]

I'm thinking you should come see us at El Mo... it's closer to you.

First membership card arrived...

About to buy two entry fees...

bought one the other day - OUCH!
 
still have to buy another at the salt, too - OUCH OUCH!

i pre-registered in the open class (A). figured it would be easier to do a bunch of tuning with the APS body off. they have policies in place to protect me from myself (they only allow pre-reg in one class. if it won't run worth a darn in one class it won't run any better in another class. who knows - they might be saving me a 2nd entry fee)

my bike is 98% complete (unless you count the motor). got the brakes brake hooked up and bled today. kill switch and tether switch are on the way. that's it !

the motor's a whole different story. had this great "2 stroke guru" in Oklahoma who blew blue skies and sunshine up my butt for almost 6 months and then sent the motor back without ever even opening the boxes. what an effin a-hole. so i had to start all over at the end of march. found a 2stroke guy with a full machine shop and a dyno who's fairly close. got my fingers crossed.  AUGHHH - THE ANXIETY! engine's supposed to be done at the end of the month and then i'll run down and drop off the bike so they can build the all important pipe. then back again a week later for dyno tuning.

of course, none of this will actually happen in that timeframe. i'll probably be working on it while trying to pack.

it could be worse. i know these guys who were assembling their bike in the back of the van while driving to the salt flats!! oh, wait! - that's you guys!

how's progress on your end?

We are slowly ramping up.

There should be some more interesting updates coming out soon.

At least the pre-entry fees are largely refundable.

 ??? updates please..................

Updates...

Well, I have no pictures and it all sounds pretty farfetched on the interwebs.  4960B is coming from AZ.  We think the record is maybe a little soft.

I would estimate progress at... a solid 65%.  We've been having some learning experiences, but it should be interesting.

Looking forward to seeing you there! 

Where?

When?

This year, events have overcome our plans to participate in the El Mirage events prior to Speedweek.

There are still three events left this year:
Sep 14
Oct 19
Nov 8-9

But I don't know yet if we will be participating (little things like air filters mean more fabrication work... El Mirage is dustier than Bonneville)

However, with the pile of chips I made yesterday, I am upgrading to an assessed 75% complete status.

And I think we can safely call it 92% complete.

Pics tomorrow.

https://plus.google.com/b/101563515072989515797/photos/101563515072989515797/albums/6044306899818397665?authkey=CJKmlcr_tvzz7QE

Maybe that link works?

Still a hot mess, but I'm calling it 95% complete.

Rain delay for one day.

And the event is cancelled.

I'll just leave this one here...
this bike should be at World of Speed...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiJ3FutBPn4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiJ3FutBPn4#)

Duuuuude....  4960B.  Nice!  [thumbsup]

Early report:
A greatly reduced Team UnorthoDUX is at World of Speed.

We passed tech yesterday, and discovered that starting on event gas did not work as well as the locally purchased stuff. 

Sorted that out this morning after the drivers meeting, and stood n line for about 8 hours to get in one run. 

Maiden run of Sodium Strega (4960), flying mile at 83 mph... Not bad for a piston supercharged single cylinder 500ds.

Not the first time for that nonsense.
One year I was there they had a new fuel vendor, showed up with some real swill.
The guy that melted half the pistons in his Cosworth V-8 on his first run was pissed.
Lotsa other folks too....

Good to hear you got it sorted.

So proud Dirty Duc of your efforts to get a 1/2 1000DS engine'd Ducati into the record books.  Sorry I couldn't be there this year...  2015 will be different.  "Lucky" will return to the NaCl with vengeance...

All right.  We didn't set any records, but we did get a bunch of data, and we identified our next angle of attack.

Sodium Strega is a piston-supercharged 500cc single made from half a 1000DS engine.  Why?

To make it fit in a class that seemed to have reasonable goals.  It's hard to compete against turbocharged, water-cooled 650cc I4s.

We ran against a 118.674 mph record, and our best time was the first. 

Development plans: intercooler, water injection, and some more stuff to be able to minimize the frontal area.
(http://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10540852_1484758195127261_8039006608551420774_n.jpg?oh=ab84f96fc92750c5241cca30e6acc10d&oe=5493CFA4&__gda__=1419344846_74611b21e8ea35d922c4a154a4ce93b6)

So sweet. Maybe I missed it, but any other details on the 500DS?

It's an SS frame with a GSX-R600 (I  think) front end, powered by a Megasquirt ECU.  Fuel is delivered by bits of standard Ducati parts with the high-flow fuel pump from CA-Cycleworks.  Boost is managed by a blow-off valve and a selection of springs, fuel pressure is similarly managed by an adjustable regulator off the fleabay.  Rear brake only, activated from the handlebars.  Tail cone/seat is aluminum and rivets with a piece of foam.

What else do you want to know? :D

You're using 2-stroke reed valve assemblies on the compressor, so you get 2 compressor strokes for each (power cylinder) intake stroke?

Yes.  There's plenty of boost available, but it adds a lot of heat to the charge.  A power-limiting amount of heat.

Motor is an '03 DS1000 with unknown mileage but seems to run well.  Front end is an '01-'03 GSXR600 unit b/c it was cheap and is the same that the 749LSR runs (to keep parts the same between the bikes).

Due to work and other life-demanding BS, I was completely unable to lend a hand this year.  That will NOT be the case in '15...

There is also talk of a 3rd Team UnorthoDUX bike.  This time in a Monster frame...

Is the blowoff valve opening?

Yes.

It's managing the boost properly, but either the design of the blower or the amount of boost is really demanding.  With the "little" spring, it just doesn't make power (~66mph on the last day).  The first pass was "big" spring only with fixed advance and the wrong dwell.  With both springs, MAT was about 200 degrees at idle, and went up from there (~80mph passes in between first and last).

Results at www.saltflats.com (http://).

We need to talk about your blower system.

What bike configuration set the existing record?

http://bikesbuiltbetter.com/about/foil_hat_racing.php (http://bikesbuiltbetter.com/about/foil_hat_racing.php)

Looks like a turbocharged VFR500.

Are they still running on the salt?

They're not in the Speedweek program, and I didn't see them in the World of Speed entry list. 

I didn't actually look for the team until you just asked the question.  I was pretty sure they weren't doing what I was doing, so it didn't seem relevant.

Give me a call when you've got some time to talk.

(https://z-1-scontent-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10959786_456820044466831_6826016141815345266_n.jpg?oh=c6d3669462b5dd0dce13c91ac7b6a53e&oe=55494B0A)

This may have been part of the problem...

So, an update to the plan for this year.

4960 - Single Supercharger gets a new blower head and some fiddling work like a new gas tank that doesn't get in the way of laying down, new exhaust, some lowering and some other bits.  And goes to methanol.

7490 - 749LSR gets new exhaust, some bodywork, and a few tweaks I'm calling part of the learning curve.  And goes to methanol.

(https://scontent-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/t31.0-8/11075254_474843985997770_5066119163609555742_o.jpg)

Hello Mr. Minimized-frontal-area!

Damn do I want to ride that thing on the salt....  [thumbsup]  [evil]

You can ride it on the salt... you can also ride it on what I'll call my "test track" [evil]

vid please. [laugh]

Sent...

There may be another team member joining in for 2016.

(https://scontent-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t31.0-8/11187408_489865967828905_1968517897396807326_o.jpg)

Parts.

They keep arriving at my house.

Feeling itchy.

 [evil]

Rite Aid sells a cream for that. Needs new shirts for 2015

We will look into new shirts for 2015.

The itch?  Sorry, only cured by runs on the Bonneville salt flats.  Nothing else will suffice.  ;D

And an exhaust for the supercharged single!
(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Team%20Unorthodux/KIMG0063_zpse5ggzmw3.jpg)

Yes, that is the dining room table   [evil]

Mrs. Duc is very understanding...  ;D

There are no local cures for salt fever... unless you live in Wendover.

749R, 749S & standard 749 cams are in my possession.  [evil]

(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Team%20Unorthodux/KIMG0068%20-%20Copy_zpsblbedr7y.jpg) (http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/mergatroyd/media/Team%20Unorthodux/KIMG0068%20-%20Copy_zpsblbedr7y.jpg.html)
Fuel tank for the blown 500.

Crank?    Check.
Rod?       Check.
Piston?    Check.
Cases?    Check.
Barrel?    Check.
Cams?     Check.

Lining up the frame and other bits....     

https://www.facebook.com/grant.fuller.56/videos/10204694142338129/ (https://www.facebook.com/grant.fuller.56/videos/10204694142338129/)

sorry about the devilbook link, but it is video... taken today... of a boozy 749R.

And I hate waiting for parts...

That 6 minutes of running killed the fuel pump.

the blower bike is waiting on machining....

And Speedweek is officially cancelled per the SCTA. :( [thumbsdown]

We are now planning for the World of Speed event scheduled for 12-15 September.

Rainstorm chased me inside, but we are back running on two cylinders!  Among other issues, a chunky had found it's way into the horizontal fuel line...

Fuel pump, check.
Methanol pressure regulator, check.
Methanol fuel filter, check.
Chunky blown out of fuel line, check.
Swap fuel lines on FPR so it works [roll], check.
Make noise.

I was going to ride it, too.  Feckin rain.

Ducati on methanol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX66gA62h6A#)

With the Bonneville salt flats on a long-term hiatus, I think I'll be putting my 350cc build on a similar path at least for now.

[drums fingers on desk]

whats happening that its on hold?

Due to weather, mud flow, and salt depletion from the nearby mining company, all the events have been cancelled this year except for what amount to private events hosted by Mike Cook.

Most events were cancelled or at least affected by weather last year.

We're hoping (as so many people are) that something will be happening in 2016...

Things are looking up-ish for 2016.  We'll see how it goes.

Picked up some new clothes for Lucky while on vacay... Supercharged Ape took them to just over 200 with a little wet shot of the good stuff at the Maxton Mile.  Should be slippery enough for our needs. 

The discount from new was totally worth the look I got while I shoehorned them into the back seat of the wife's car. :D

(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Ducs/DSCF0654_zpscmd2rfxv.jpg) (http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/mergatroyd/media/Ducs/DSCF0654_zpscmd2rfxv.jpg.html)
(http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k519/mergatroyd/Ducs/DSCF0655_zpsti79atjx.jpg) (http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/mergatroyd/media/Ducs/DSCF0655_zpsti79atjx.jpg.html)
Plenty of room to spread the bars out and make the low speed handling less scary.

I wish they were still racing there.

That place was a lot of fun.

 :-\

There are a few other options depending on where you are located.  In fact, the SCTA is trying a Mojave Mile next month.  With certified records.

If you like a fast and loose environment, the US Mile contingent seems to be the fastest growing LSR group... for a definition of "fast" in a pretty esoteric motorsport.

Alright.  About to send off my entry for this year.

The SCTA has two rain-out options set up, so chances are presumably better.  The race team currently equals two, so I'm just registering one bike as I don't feel like enlisting a chase driver on the salt.

Even with one bike, still plenty of opportunity for A&R (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

This year they changed the leathers rule so normal race leathers are acceptable.

 :D

New clothes mounted. The paper nose-cone is pretending it will be a pattern for an aluminum addition to fill the aerodynamic hole in the front.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cGkGHwQVUrI/VzfPvwwdK9I/AAAAAAAAAfc/mU_b5xcLXgwtrRh1XeUDXXw-hppjdrq6A/w426-h320/16%2B-%2B1)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WqAv575RbNg/VzfP4vEdTCI/AAAAAAAAAfg/LBvKFHZfhps9sefP4WfbjD4KwT3H4Xb5w/w426-h568/16%2B-%2B1)

How's the fuel swap & tuning coming along?

The fuel swap I'm considering 90%.

Tuning... is on hold. Along with honey-dos, I spent an inordinate amount of time obsessing over the bodywork last year, and forgot to drain the water out over the winter it found it's own path to the floor through the side of the horizontal cylinder.

Next on the to-do list is the cylinder swap and finish installing the datalogger (linked tasks).

Hopefully, I've solved the ignition pick-up problem that gave us the phantom rev-limiter... the ECU seems to be very susceptible to EMI in the hall effect cable... maybe I'll just wrap it in tinfoil.

Then tuning should be a rinse, lather, repeat with EGTs and acceleration calculated with weight of the bike. :D

You could try swapping out a different set of timing gears to something less aggressive of a signal.  The 48/2 gears have got to wreak havoc on that input module for the ECU...

It really seems related to the shielding on the sensor line or something. On the blower bike I had to make sure the spark plug wire was far enough away from the sensor wire or I got all kinds of interference.

The ECU is usually used to read a 60:1 trigger wheel at crank speed. 48:2 shouldn't be that bad at cam speed.

Today was mostly good. Lucky is running after a few hours of cleaning methanol-chewed aluminum out of everything... i even took video, but the power is out and the camera battery died so i can't post it.

Note to self, run gas through the system at the end of the day.

Later tonight, video will be available at:
https://youtu.be/qsHPVvfSl04

I spent the day troubleshooting fuel problems... the pump would randomly drop pressure for no apparent reason. Checked the voltage and it followed the battery/regulator expectations, so I swapped it to an external setup I had laying around. No video of that because I am out of the appropriate fuel.

It was a bit disconcerting when I realized the clipons hadn't been tightened enough... I remedied that forthwith.

So most of the weekend was spent on non-bike projects... but I did build two new brackets to steady the fairing in the middle.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a29864/2016-bonneville-speed-week/ (http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a29864/2016-bonneville-speed-week/)

Yeah, the news has been cautiously optimistic over the past month or so.

Note the plug for the mining company's efforts... got to keep the message positive, more flies with honey, etc.! :D

I know right?

There's still plenty of riled to go around, though... can't go too far on the topic without bumping into the "P" word.

Bought some materials on Tuesday to make a more controlled testbed. Almost all of it in my possession, but fabrication hasn't started yet.

So, anyone from here going to be out there this year?

It's crunch time!

Things left to do:
Front fairing filler - aluminum
Rear salt spray deflector - stainless.
Tuning - build dyno
Front fender "wrapping" - aluminum
Pack the trailer
Drive a bunch of miles
Race
Drive home
Unpack
Clean salt off

"Build dyno"? :D

The dyno... kind of redneck, and initially won't really give measurements. I will be using the datalog/computer hookup to do the analysis. Tunerstudio comes with some pretty powerful analytics if you can plug it into the vehicle under load.

In a car that kind of means sitting in the passenger seat while your buddy drives it around for a few weeks. Hard to do that on a motorcycle, especially one not legal for the street.

So, about an hour away (in the nearest thing that passes for a city) there is a  scrap metal recycler that resells stuff for not much more than scrap prices. They don't keep any kind of formal inventory, and they won't hold anything unless you pay for it.

We drew up tentative plans, and went and wandered around their yard for about an hour looking for likely bits. 96 feet of 1 1/4" square tube, about 24 feet of some kind of fancy ramp material, and about 24 inches of 13 inch ID 1/2" wall steel pipe. Now I'm just waiting for the last bits to follow my brother in law down from CO on Monday. A couple of manufactured home axles with two-piece wheels and electric brakes.

Which puts me into this contraption for under $200 (not counting cut-off wheels and welding supplies)... That's about a hundredth or two of the price on a regular inertia dyno, and mine will have (an as yet undetermined) capacity for loading/steady-state.

Very cool.

Mobile home wheels ruthlessly butchered in service to a greater good... Hopefully ready for welding tomorrow afternoon. I'll start building framework in the morning.

Start with this:
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tyalg5V_jyU/V5WMw7Iqc1I/AAAAAAAAALk/l2CnUyH2Wa8wdph6xQCh0UkIzcgw3cNBgCL0B/w629-h354-no/DSCF0693.JPG)
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IKXxVIeYc_Y/V5WMwYi8evI/AAAAAAAAALg/WZdqW189AE0du7UJ_co76nb4IhkhkF_yQCL0B/w629-h354-no/DSCF0694.JPG)

Butcher this:
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-de1CBzhfdJs/V5WMw_hdOFI/AAAAAAAAALo/m2URaMdoBQITzmP6Q5U2CyiFijpQs63hACL0B/w629-h354-no/DSCF0695.JPG)

Build this:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EGKo76jH3iI/V5WM8sjzggI/AAAAAAAAALs/afm5Tl2Wia8dMic5C910E9zyk40EGjmuwCL0B/w295-h524-no/DSCF0696.JPG)

Do a lot of this:
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YlmU5XCphqs/V5WM-DneYCI/AAAAAAAAALw/5V3Vp7IiF506bfKoPMEAHw2Pcw3NwXdZQCL0B/w629-h354-no/DSCF0697.JPG)

End of the weekend:
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jzJno3CFGUU/V5WM-DK264I/AAAAAAAAAL0/Euaqld7GL7UAWD6usZf6uGQNRPYHkzMLACL0B/w629-h354-no/DSCF0698.JPG)

Uhhhh, ok? What is it?

And is that axle bent or is it just the camera angle?

The axle is bent. I'm only using less than half of it.

I need a way to put some load on the bike with the laptop hooked to the ECU. Dyno-like capability without the fancy readouts.

Got it. So the wheel is going to contact the tub you welded on...

Great stuff [popcorn].

Although I wouldn't define it as a tub, I can see where you get that. That's the idea... a bit of inertia, plus the electric brakes should at least give me enough capacity to troubleshoot the details of some of the problems.

The end result has the axle cut off and bolted to a subframe bit not yet added to the main support frame (the rectangular construction), and the ramp-looking galvanized pieces attached to the top. About 1 inch of "stickout" for the roller, and Bob might indeed be somebody's father's brother. A little bit of wire, a spare car battery, maybe a mount for the brake controller, and maybe a place to put the laptop...

Are you going to use an idler roller to trap the tire?

Not according to current plan.

The roller is 14" OD. I have enough pipe, and another hub to add/tweak as necessary.

Upon further investigation, those axles are purposely bent to take the load that is significantly higher than the tire sidewall or the rim allowed.

I suppose as long as you position the wheel chock carefully it wouldn't be necessary.

I'm thinking I'll need to do a lot of things carefully ;)

It's coming together some more, but the monsoon just chased me inside before I could get pictures... Or finish the current stage of the project.

Grip tape on the drum?

What about balancing?

I've seen pictures of the grip tape coming apart in pretty short order. Some industrial stuff might work, but I haven't sourced any. I'm assuming I'll get a nice line of rubber in the center with some use.

Balancing... Wheel weights on the inside as necessary. Still need to grease the inside bearing so it spins well enough to tell.

Considering the weight of the drum, the fact the load is placed so far from the bearing center line, and the load itself, I might consider replacing a bearing that didn't spin well enough to tell. ;D

The outer got a lot better with grease from this decade. I also need to back off the brake adjuster so the shoes aren't dragging.

I'm not really very far off the bearing center line... The center of the roller is between the bearings. The roller probably weighs 60lbs or so on a set of bearings rated for 2600lbs.

I really couldn't tell where the hub ended up after it was all welded up. It looks farther out.

In that case...

ignore the peanut gallery. ;)

The early pics were from a provisional installation that proved untenable... :D

'Splain's some stuff. ;D

I don't have any pics of the phase that ended yesterday evening when I decided plan B wasn't working either.

I made progress today, though.

(http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7mw-gylBcJI/V56PGFY17II/AAAAAAAAANk/zehod6q3zOgPL-I52UzZR5nKIOuCzUJfgCL0B/w1538-h865-no/DSCF0699.JPG)
(http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_AOT4U5fa4Q/V56PF905jiI/AAAAAAAAANc/OAWgA2zTQLYbhYIYQHu7FH1t78-UjOU6QCL0B/w1538-h865-no/DSCF0700.JPG)
(http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--tvRbx8TzS0/V56PGPm3aCI/AAAAAAAAANg/4ha2ovzKCpEfTk9oEmnypgpp3CSLrUG4QCL0B/w487-h865-no/DSCF0701.JPG)
(http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6XvJV-y8Tqc/V56PLImPDDI/AAAAAAAAANo/xHbUDmwjA94iFhOoxZG87LgL3xbDW5jjACL0B/w1538-h865-no/DSCF0702.JPG)

I need to add some gussets, etc. to those tabs on the inside to provide a little more rotational strength.

How much resistance do you think that electric brake will provide...and for how long?

Some, and for at least 10 seconds... I'm not planning on 100% duty cycle here.

I'm basing feasibility off of the original axle's 5200lb rating and some wild assumptions about how much a mobile home weighs. They put three or four axles underneath them, and appear to be successful in stopping half a house.

I'm sure the reason real dynos don't use them is the variability introduced as the brakes heat up. I'll at least be able to watch them fade and maybe use that info when towing a trailer... :D

Well...according to the internet a double wide weighs 33K and a single is 14K.

So a single brake unit from a 4 axle trailer should be able to handle 4K.

Should be able to snub up a motorcycle engine for a bit. [thumbsup]

You going to use a brake controller or just a rheostat to control brake voltage?

I've got a spare brake controller (or two, although I can only find one) laying around. I'm thinking I'll use that and the battery from the LeMons car with the battery charger on it... Tentative future plans might include an alternator on the dyno to do some regeneration.

Alternator could be used to add load also...if it was big enough. ;D

Got a line on an alternator "big enough?"

I'll keep my eyes open. :P

A quick google found a 250 Amp alternator.
Assuming that rated output is at 12VDC, that's ~4HP.

Of course, one must have somewhere to put those 250 amps.

A water pump for irrigation may be a route to explore....

so, I only need about 25 of those to make a useful difference. :D

Can't irrigate, but I can charge the neighborhood's battery backups.

You can pump water in a circuit to/from a 55 gallon drum or the like.

Since I don't expect to see many of you on the salt, you can listen here.
http://www.scta-bni.org/live-streaming.html (http://www.scta-bni.org/live-streaming.html)

I would really appreciate it if someone would come pick up this batch of "stray" thunderstorms we've been having. They're holding up progress.

Motorcycle test bed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6of2eNBQSFU#)

This is actually the third pull... the first one before the camera came out, the second one didn't record. The table wasn't a very good cameraman.

We'll be using up sets of shoes like some people go through motorcycles.  [Dolph] [drink]

(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BbArKCkvWXA/V6a65yT94TI/AAAAAAAAAO4/KY3v19qc3gUEZ3lVkdrGm8PfUI3FuRNJgCL0B/w988-h556-no/DSCF0703.JPG)
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OsoPfsEg6ck/V6a655VU2bI/AAAAAAAAAO4/DRkZ8b0J_qgoC75_ceO4lJQmjIzxbY6rACL0B/w988-h556-no/DSCF0704.JPG)
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ivc7pey91FU/V6a656HLI8I/AAAAAAAAAO4/G90_V-tKM_AkTtMPqmzbyZPlSgsp1zmYQCL0B/w988-h556-no/DSCF0707.JPG)
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Sv84wdHAdBw/V6a67LzEskI/AAAAAAAAAO4/igi96jg41esTwhaYkpGn7eryEFXNBOpmACL0B/w988-h556-no/DSCF0708.JPG)

The hinges are so I can service the brakes and bearings, etc.

The bike is my dad's rat Monster. Don't hate, that bike gets ridden.  ;D

Nice work!

Thanks!

Still working out operating procedures. I couldn't see the display for the controller, so I didn't know what was happening. It is on an adjustable ramp, so if you can watch it you can tell what you are doing with the throttle.

Hopefully the datalog will be helpful today.

All your dad's bike needs is a few dents to be perfect. [thumbsup] [thumbsup]

Dammit! :( The fuel return line is plugged... again. And I followed proper procedure with gasoline after running it last. What a pain.

All right, the fuel problem was in the pressure regulator. Apparently it wants to be pulled off and fondled every time the bike is run.

That worked ok as I ran it to get the gasoline out of the deadhead part of the fuel system... until the make the beast with two backsing ECU developed a short. Apparently it didn't like something.

If it isn't one thing it's some damn other thing. Here's hoping I can get that thing expedited over here.

The new ECU should be here tomorrow... just in time? We might not leave until Friday or so.

I could have kept up with firmware updates, but chasing those on a one week a year bike seems kind of pointless to me. Hopefully the learning curve isn't too steep.

The learning curve was not too steep... but the residual life of the coils was. The fuse requirement went from 10 to 15 to 20 to more throughout the day, with what should have been reasonable dwell.

Still haven't left. The plan is to finish welding intake shit together that would have been done if everything electric hadn't taken a shit over the last week and try to hit a go-fast shop on the way through Phoenix that will have a set of coils... don't need much, just a pair of ignitor-included ones.

Don't care make or model they came from. It turns out that LS1, LS2, and possibly some Ford stuff will fit the bill.

No point stopping to figure it out in Phoenix, so on to the salt. Hopefully going through (and passing) tech on Sunday.

Best of luck to ya!

Sometimes the pre-race gremlins are all there is, and you can have a productive event.

Thanks!

Here's hoping all this sorted the problems.

It turns out that with methanol I am basically committed to rebuilding the fuel system every day... and I forgot to do it before I put everything away for the night because it was dark.

Hopefully the switch is worth it.  ;D

You may be able to find some friendly old-timer car guys to give you some pointers on how to keep your system from going bad from the methanol.

Go find these guys out on the salt:
https://www.facebook.com/Target-550-Land-speed-racing-streamliner-project-183427418340703/ (https://www.facebook.com/Target-550-Land-speed-racing-streamliner-project-183427418340703/)

Marlo Treit and Les Davenport.
If you can catch them when they're not thrashing on the car....
Tell then Howard and Ann Bradley and Cal and Nick Larson wish them luck.
And then ask them if they've got any tips on dealing with the methanol.

Well, we are on the road. Will pick up coils in wendover. Apparently ls1s with fuel injection are not popular enough in Arizona for anyone to stock coils. [Roll]

Oh look... A rest stop in scenic Phoenix.

Somebody should have checked the torque on those trailer wheels...

We made it, but the coils I ordered are still in the warehouse until tomorrow...

Good luck Q.

The bike and racing part of it are looking better... But our tent had an attack of the wind.

Picked up coils at two, bike started making what sounded like running noises by 5.

Need to pull the (stainless) injectors and wash the rust (there is no mild steel in the fuel system) out so it will reliably run on two cylinders. Then to finish tech and make a few dyno pulls, then racing!

You brought your dyno?

Sure, why not? It doesn't do me any good a thousand miles away :D

Rock on then!  [beer]

Welcome to the hair-pulling slugfest that is LSR racing.
It's a brutal grind.
And you're a second-class citizen 'cause you're on a bike.

I saw a rookie team that showed up with a brand new turboed nitro-burning twin Vincent powered streamliner bike with a rider that had never ever been in a streamliner or on the salt.
And expected to get a record first time out.
That package was a decade of work to get what they expected, not a show-up-and-bag-a-200 club-T-shirt-in-a-week.

Be methodical, take comprehensive notes, and drink lots of water.

I've got the water drinking part down... I've just been plagued by bad decisions or bad parts or a combination thereof...

Blew up the fancy LS2 coils because I picked the wrong side of some conflicting info on the interwebs. LuckLuy Mike Crawford (mayor of wendover, and owner of the only parts store in 150 miles) is a Corvette guy and while we were talking to him about what we were doing he mentioned he had some old coils off one of his vettes. Gave me a pair, I soldered the wires to the pins and it runs!

Went and passed tech, should be racing tomorrow. They've been pretty good about the radio/live stream this year.

Ah, making progress, taking advantage of good fortune.
Excellent!

Hang in there DD [thumbsup].

I don't know who to attribute for the quote, but "if problems are a sign of progress, we're making a lot of progress!"

This bike has taught me more about coils than I ever thought I would need to know.

And we are in line for our first run of the week.

WooHoo

so........?

So... It looks like the regulator is bad. I didn't have a full charge on the battery. So it got to the start line and choked. headed back to the pits to charge the battery.

It was like my high school prom, all dressed up but no action.

Total loss system now. Ram those amps in!
 [popcorn]

So the plan tomorrow is to run total loss. I'll put the generator and charger in the back of the truck and charge the battery while waiting in line.

Which bike?  The blown 500, or "Lucky"?

Also, good luck today!  [thumbsup]

Lucky. I was thinking before I left that I should grab the regulator off the blower bike... But there were a lot of things I meant to bring.

Well damn. Good luck today!!!

It's a little after 10 on the salt flats, we have a full tank of fuel and a generator in the back of the truck. In about an hour we should be up to the front of the line and we'll hit it.

We expect a full report. ;D

 [popcorn]

The salt is so bumpy on the access road it broke the fairing stay.

Welded back together. The trip to the combo course I'd shorter... Added weld gussets.

The first run was... Disappointing. That tune is so far from where it needs to be. 

It blattered up to about 60, and didn't want to go much faster.

 [bang]

Ideas?

I'm thinking way to rich. Threw in a bunch more fuel and it got worse. Took some out and keep blowing off the horizontal throttle body.

That would be my first thought too.

What do you mean 'keep blowing off the horizontal throttle body'?

Sometimes when trying to start it, backfires through the intake... Throttle body comes out of the boot just enough to send me chasing my tail with the mixture.

Pulled fuel out, ran worse yet. I'm thinking back to fuel for the first run and add more advance. I'm triggering of the back side (falling edge) of tooth 18 (330 degrees of 720).

It wouldn't rev over 6k out so until I gave it more advance (33.7 @ 6, 35.2 @ 7, 36.2 @ 8).

And that's a wrap. It's not getting figured out in the next hour for damn sure. Next year...

 :'(

That's racing... I'll get it figured out next weekend...

Bad luck man.

:(

All right, photos... finally.
(http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xs6TmrKKgWg/V7k_DZRtLwI/AAAAAAAAAQA/MZ-Eoy3G8v0NmmlRI0rzoKZx6rqOuMeFACL0B/w1538-h865-no/DSCF0734.JPG)
(http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-BSCkQoJsQbQ/V7k_DVkw2lI/AAAAAAAAAP8/9ynuMbgx4Mktp8L-1deqkFOSlDdvO0KJQCL0B/w1538-h865-no/DSCF0735.JPG)
(http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Tn2bV97-yh8/V7k_DyKECRI/AAAAAAAAAQE/Z-w_-PtQwhwi-x-puluWLEJFF3uVViz6gCL0B/w1538-h865-no/DSCF0736.JPG)
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pcVACJ8tJhI/V7k_R_VnWVI/AAAAAAAAAQM/gBtcWULzQ40IPK3GPRQIdmDMSWZWJL4TwCL0B/w1153-h865-no/DSC04567.JPG)
(http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NVNgG2F9Lbw/V7k_R_pHGbI/AAAAAAAAAQI/5yEUaVjdGW8atJIy5ZHc5bpC4a9tx3wYwCL0B/w1153-h865-no/DSC04580.JPG)

I fell over pulling it off the dyno once... that was 45 minutes or so of welding/repair.

Also, it turns out that if you intend to bump start the bike from the spinning dyno wheel that the bike should be tied to prevent movement in both directions.  :o

Lucky's lookin' good DD!

Best of luck in '17

Shit...

The blower bike needs a total re-think. Somebody just bumped all the blown 500 records up over theoretical max speed.

Which classes?

SCTA doesn't show any records set this year on their website.  ???

Link?

M-BF 500 - 181.xxx
M-BG 500 - 166.xxx
MPS-BG 500 - 172.xxx

And I think MPS-BF was bumped whenever that guy was out last... World of Speed 2014, maybe?

Records set during Speedweek came out in the BNI newsletter in my email today.

It's based on a 1000DS, so long stroke, not so many RPMs. I think it would take a fair amount of nitro to make that kind of speed on the tall gears I'd need for that.

Paul Hodgson's bike is based on an FZR600.
I don't think you have enough cylinders to get the job done against an I-4.

My records with a Nitrous boosted Yamaha V-Twin got caned by I-4's.

748 heads, jugs sleeved to 87mm bore, 749R crank gives a 642cc L-twin.
Blown by whatever you like, roots, centrifugal, or turbo.
But it'll have to be capable of 200+ to get the job done.
It'd have to be ~120HP and absolute minimum frontal area with a body like Hudson's bike.

Combine my bike's low frontal area:

(https://c6.staticflickr.com/4/3281/2830750541_f1678b42fc_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/5j9kvP)

With a tail like Hudson's (which we couldn't run back then, it'd have made it heaps easier and faster):

(https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8317/29338461511_a686cafb35_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/LGxhti)

Yeah, pretty much my thoughts.

He can't have used that tail in M, though... Altered only for the long tail bikes.

 And I'm not talking bottle, but juice. :)

In the final analysis, I don't think it matters much whether it's, blown, bottle, or juice.

We chose the bottle.
Juice seemed to be a difficult path, as all of the mechanical fuel injection stuff was made for much larger motors.
And turbos and blowers seemed to be more suited to more cylinders than we had.
The plumbing for a turbo is obnoxious for a v-twin, and a drive for a blower really isn't so easy either.
Packaging is a major dilemma on a bike, the only aggro with the bottle was finding a spot for it.
Procedures to get the bottle consistent were a bit of a puzzle, but we got it sorted.

With any of the three, you can dial the 'boost' up to whatever the motor can handle.
You just learn different techniques to get it to cooperate, and learn which stuff it wants to break.

With the current tech of electronic fuel injection, juice may be a more attractive choice than what it was for us in the early 90's.

My dad and I were 'The Team', and we're both degreed Mechanical Engineers.
So there was some solid tech thinking brought to bear on the task.

You're not likely to make much difference on rolling resistance and driveline efficiency, everyone is pretty much on a level playing field there.

So, power and Aero drag are the areas that you can attack in pursuit of speed.

The fundamental important equation: Velocity = cube root of (2*P/(rho*Cd*A))

Rho is air density, out of your control.

For example, if you DOUBLE P, the power, speed only goes up by cube root of 2, which is ~1.26.
So, all else being the same, doubling the power gets you from 100mph to 126mph.
Power is difficult, time consuming, and expensive to get, and difficult, time consuming, and expensive to maintain for long enough to get a record.

Cd is drag coefficient, and A is frontal area.
Low Cd and low A can be a bit difficult to get, and at some expense.
But once you've got them, maintaining them is very very low cost and very very low effort.
If you focus on those, it reduces the demand for P.

So it is entirely possibly that the interaction between the fuel tank and the fuel killed the fuel pump slowly, leading to at least part of our troubles. The fuel pump is locked up.

The plan is to build a new tank out of steel and apply a new fuel pump to the equation.

I borrowed the fuel pump for the LeMons car, and it ignored me and got warm... without any pumping action.

Roger all.

The bike is a system, and I have to apply my rudimentary project management skills to making it go fast... I've decided that running usefully is more important than aero.

Next year I'm going naked, not because of any perceived competitive advantage (although the record is way lower) but to simplify the build.

Totally logical conclusion.

Running the bike effectively for nearly a whole week at Bonneville is difficult, but it's a necessary skill to master.
Before that, you need to at least arrive on the salt ready to run effectively for at least a day.

We used the 6 events per year at El Mirage to develop a machine and infrastructure capable of running more or less consistently straight off the trailer at El Mirage.
That got us close enough that we could adapt to the differences of running at Bonneville.
It took us 6 years to exceed a 185-ish record and push it to over 200 at Bonneville.
If we had only run Bonneville, that approach would have taken ~36 years, from 1991.... to 2027.
That would be the textbook definition a herculean effort, my dad and I never would have made it.

So, the plan is this.

Buy a new fuel pump. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/avm-50-1005 (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/avm-50-1005)

Make a stainless steel fuel tank.

Use 2-valve fuel injection hats as opposed to the long 4v "dead-heads."

Use new-found knowledge (thanks Pepeducat!) to fix ignition problems.

Tune on dyno.

Take to salt.

License up again.

Go fast.

That sounds like a good plan.

That Summit link is FUBAR.

Whatever the hell viglink is has hijacked it and redirects to broken. I don't know enough about that to fix it.

It looks like this
(https://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/mediumlarge/avm-50-1005_ml.jpg)
and says it is good for alcohol.

Space for this project continues to be good... but I am attempting to transition careers again. I don't think I will have a coordinated vacation spot for anything useful to race on the salt this year.

And it's a fact. No Salt for me this year. New job starts next month.

You guys all have terrible priorities ;D

Well, I'm open to sponsorships 😁...

I just don't have the inclination for marketing hustle it takes to turn pro team manager guy or whatever the job title is that gets to go race for a job... Then I would have to have a team on payroll... That's all work, and takes away from building and racing :-D

So, on second thought, maybe not so open.

(http://i.imgur.com/MYp4RX3.jpg)
The new to me race rig...

It's so ........... *small*

I'm compensating for something?

Actually, I think I suffer from requirements creep. But it's diesel, has 10 speeds, five beds (two queens), can fit a racecar and tools or as many bikes as I want to take to the salt, and doubles as vacation lodging/transport.

Tell me more about that truck..

91 F800 with an F350 body swap. 7.8l 6 cylinder, turbo, intercooled, RT 6610 with 4.10 in the rear, running on 22.5s. air brakes, horn, and seats.

Pretty cool [thumbsup]

I dig it. It shifts like a dream, and I'm unlikely to hurt it pulling weight. I am swapping the bed with a flat deck so I can drop the hitch down a little. I want the trailer level when hooked up so the fridge works right.

So, despite distractions, the project plan remains about the same as last year. Fuel pump, steel tank, cleaned up injectors, relocate some electrickery out of the airstream and hopefully some of the salt, and tune.

The fuel tank is ugly but almost done. The injectors are clean and matched. The fuel pump is boughten. Now for some plumbing and bracketry...

I'm calling the fuel tank done. It might get some paint if I have time.

The seat is mounted.

Tomorrow is finish bracketry and wiring changes as appropriate (I moved most everything electric under the seat, so some of the wires are tangled).

This update makes me happy. Was really hoping the project was still going  [beer]

https://youtu.be/OWi9ZIkS8sQ

Running, but still a few issues.

It seems to want a lot of fuel when cranking. And I have what I think is EMI screwing up the computer at about 8k RPM. It won't idle yet, either.

Still, two weeks to go.

Today's "progress" report:
Moved the coils as far from the ECU as possible, and put a 56k resistor in the crank sensor wire to clean up most of the noise...

Unfortunately I seem to have killed yet another sprag gear. Tomorrow the plan is to make a roll starter.

Well, today did not go as planned.

No roll starter, as there was a miscommunication about who was doing what part of which work... That's okay, I got a spare sprag installed. Note to self, there are at least three variants, and while they are replaceable as whole chunk, none of the pieces interchange. At this point I have no idea which bikes any of them came from... and I still have one good spare. Cleaned out as much debris as possible and inspected/cleaned the oil pump screen.

Once we got that sorted, we spent a little bit of time making noise... and it banged the rev limiter at 11k! This is exciting because I've never had it fire up and rev like that. As we excitedly revved the bike, the fuel washdown made itself known... there were flames out of the breather! Found the acceleration enrichment (the EFI equivalent of an accelerator pump) was a little agressive. I toned that down, and it seemed much better.

All this time the bike has been strapped down on the homemade dyno in anticipation of doing a few pulls. Suddenly, in the midst of a run up the RPM range (still no load), there is a bit of a bang, and the glory of a short-piped, flame-throwing 749R is silent. But the rear wheel moved.

It turns out the bike was in a false neutral that allowed it to fall into probably 3rd at maybe 8k on the way up.

It also turns out the weak point in the driveline is the chain tension adjuster in the swingarm (as you may have seen from my panicked plea in the GM forum). Clean everything up, lament missed deadlines and promises to spouse, search eBay... and there is one in Santa Cruz. It should be here latest Friday. If the ECU issues don't gang up on me on Friday (I suspect it isn't really capable of running a fuel pump despite literature to the contrary, and I think failing to properly manage the fuel pump was the first indicator of the last one going bad).

Anyway... The problems seem to have decreased in scope. I'll know more once I can put the rear wheel back where it belongs, but I haven't given up yet.

 [popcorn]

It turns out the chain tensioner from an st4 is a pretty damn close fit. I forgot about that neglected bike in the family.

Further reflection on the fuel pump issue... We had a hell of a monsoon beat us down mid afternoon. Maybe water got where it shouldn't and caused problems?

Tomorrow we'll unplug the plug and inspect/add dielectric grease. If nothing obvious presents, we'll open the ecu box and inspect/dry/reseal/hope.

The new adjuster got here yesterday (two days early!) and I fired Lucky up real quick. No problems except forgetting that I am sticking foam tennis balls in the intakes to keep the dust and birds out. A quick blip of the throttle to terrify the dog and shut it off.

Spent some time this evening after work wandering around picking up tools. I'm pretty terrible about picking up after myself, and the last year has been one mad sprint after another to wrench on things... my tools were everywhere. I think I've found most of them, but there are still a few hiding under intake manifolds or something.

We'll pack tomorrow and head out on Saturday. All we're really missing is a day of waiting in line.

Good luck!  [Dolph]

Wendover weather report looks good.

Warming up for the local test run.
https://youtu.be/Q0l1Sa1dTPo

So it turns out that at about 11k, the oil comes out the little breather filter...

Time for a catch can.

Part of the problem is the stock style with the reed valve in it holds the oil. Swapped it with a through hole style and added some hose.

Second test run went much better, with a strong pull through first and up to about a ton in second.

We made it to the bend late last night, more to follow after seeing up pit and attempting tech.

Tech was a breeze once we found the right people. Heading out for a first pass.

Hope it went well.

First run off the trailer 128 and change.

Good work, keep it up!  [Dolph]

Only got three runs in today. We were waiting in line for a fourth but somebody apparently had a yard sale on course 2, while concurrently somebody had a redneck moment at the bend, tying up all the ambulances and life flights.

The second run was terrible, but the last one was awesome. Must have gotten pretty close to good enough, because it surprised me by lighting up the tire pretty violently on the good salt, in first, a little wheelspin in second, and straight up to 130 about the first mile for an average run over mile 2 at 133. It was the super short rookie/tuning course, so we grabbed the time slip and headed for a longer course... But ran out of race day.

Back at it tomorrow!

Good progress [thumbsup]

I've lost a bit of the plot, what class are you running in?

Well done.

Modified fuel 750.

Nekkid 749r on alky. It will run with a wide range of afr, not so much timing.

Today did not go as well. This morning ran the same tune that was good yesterday in nearly the same conditions. Flat, no power, wouldn't pull.

Pulled timing, nothing. Pulled fuel, nothing. Added fuel until it got worse, then it got too windy and we called it for the day. Drilled a for real vent in the gas cap, because I'm not sure it was really vented.

Did it drop a cylinder? Or just go flat on both?

Fuel pressure lost?

So for the fast, gangbusters run yesterday, wheelspin in first and second.

It sounds to me like two cylinders, but just flat. When rich made a difference it was like 20% over a 5.3 stoich, and it feel even further on it's face.

Current plan for tomorrow is to base the map entirely on tps, set for 100% stoich with 100% tps, etc. Probably not great for real world driveability, but it takes fuel out of most of the map and I still have 25% available in Accel enrichment.

Okay, speeddog had the right hint. The horizontal cylinder want firing due to salt bears. Moved the ground from the salt spray, and I have to cylinders again.

So after moving the ground, we were back to intermittent good running... I blamed the coil, and cadged a couple of spares from the mayor of Wendover.

Once the offending coil was swapped out we discovered the hypothetical map did not work.

No worries, as I hadn't thrown away previous maps. While still far from perfect, certainly a decent starting point now that the bike runs.

Next run was back up in the 130 range, but still missing some top end to get it over there aero hump.

Started playing with timing a little, and then the day got called early for wind.

This morning, I bumped the rev limiter to 12500, ran the extra timing from yesterday afternoon, and went 140 and 142 over the two measured miles of the short course. The morning line took forever, but then everything died down.

I bumped the timing again, and started to get funny running. It seemed to get better if I gave it some accelerator pump, so I bumped the fuel. Same thing. Dropped the timing back to the fast run, same thing.

This is a familiar operating mode that eventually ends up with a totally toast coil. So I swapped the other one out with the second of the recent acquisition.

Wind came up, and we called it a day before it was official.

Why is it burning up coils?

I'm not sure. Current theory points to dwell (3.0 ms doesn't seem out of line for internet lore on Corvette MSD coils) or rpm.

I am currently leaning toward rpm being the problem right now. The plan is to pick up a couple of pairs of panigale coils or something along those lines that can deal with rpm.

OEM 'Stick' coils are no good?

We've been chasing so many issues, I'd forgotten that was an option.

Are they available for a less than unreasonable price?

~ $210 ea brand new, same unit for 749, 999, S4Rs, S4Rt

Do they publish dwell specs or do I have to guess?

I've not seen any dwell specs, but I haven't been looking either.

I bought a used set of 848 coils, cuz they were the cheapest, and a cheapo digital o-scope from Amazon. notionally, that should be enough to crack the code.

And the new season begins. https://photos.app.goo.gl/k2yussPqFhHkmgEi8

New fuel tank, new seat, new front end, new water tank, airbox back on...

Looking forward to seeing how the mods go👍

How about wiring? I have three wires, red, yellow, and black, but only one connector...

I would assume red is hot, yellow is command, black is ground?

#3 is signal, #2 is ground and #1 is V+

Wiring diagram doesn't show colors for components, only the harness, at least there.

I should be able to pull numbers off the one connector.

Thanks for the help!

Interesting. Signal is red, ground is black, 12v is yellow...

(https://i.postimg.cc/dVvk0Dsb/IMG-20190622-172732632-Copy.jpg)

For the record...I'm wearing a Team Unorthodux long sleeve shirt at this very moment.

I could use more.  ;D

Are they available?

Not yet...

Since I'm pretty sure you're an entire fifth of the audience, I'll make that happen this year :)

Get a few ;D

So that's: ducpainter, Koko, speed dog, stew, and my wife. Any body else?

You guys want long sleeves or short?

Also, this is the year of the funny front end experiment.
(http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hjCmVDKEErxsIuMoWPIOCcqduEXHcz1qk86gXy0OhBNwcCK6O5U-5hWSl8D13Fq3m7yRAfzXSxDDirfirF866G-vEpYHzv6l_N5mILLQPj35LBFcBjDRYWyhrzU2j-sx8j8q3wcoe54U85A73m1psfrqINkcYA4anZVx3OkPtAsTDGNp08xxpRksCU3NYSNH4iV51Gq6k3Jc2fDcojjxvM8I62YZId_N7tchoQZ7tjDdRqYru9ZumcsR9FVJNpUPVCkLhzG0aBis1_i-EcorBxR03m806ETbuKb9FVokw3I21Qg0n-vYIZsw9aY7qCMinRVF1ivK3IijhzFqYtEyaFXjAx8DQeFpme8lFo7GjkenTuEpg2h2HfQfgSh1RIKRgbfXiTzPdZrBkRxlFOpIT5BigrnAhaqbYYNVZrP4U1zHxrB3MT_AtZpIRYCf6JtyXsXdyNZYvvr7d-fcV37lr4VzW8sxt-LNpRI4dY2u5vJJCrOFWF6lHTIrK3LmSziVY2mgXbuFhgdGUl8iBYQj1a0uyFA4bPR7EAqcJDB4UUKhFVCgk8ablioCbDO_9B0CUSotk105NOFeQr4BgbC3b62kvBGz0lNKZ35PMnyCizDjKTMXJqgFQyP1c-Z7ltdiHgsssPA90doHbRkA0dvMZ_zkHbV8xB6rkiCjRKFWZpSMgsJAnajVgOz6WQ414GyxnDf7PhWMykCndjHV1NSgIHTT=w1227-h920-no)

I'll try to figure out the embedded pic on the computer later.

Very cool. Better stability?

Long sleeves for me [thumbsup]

The ffe gets it lower than I can any other way. That reduces frontal area, and increases the amount of bike I can hide behind the front fender.

I spent some time last year looking at the competition, and one of them was happy to point out the tricks he was using.

Long sleeves would be good, but I'm not picky.

I'm not picky either. I have a long sleeve now, and I like it.

Do they wear long sleeves in AZ?

This isn't Phoenix. And we got what for us was an obnoxious amount of snow this year.

I'm working shirts, and bike.

Some guy in Hong Kong can make and paint tanks faster than I can. I'll cut the bottom so it fits better over the rear wheel, weld on some mounts and bungs, and call it good.
(https://i.postimg.cc/85qsgzXn/IMG-20190628-114710874-Copy.jpg)

I also think I've fixed all the pics so they show... at least on my computer.

Tank cut to fit
(https://i.postimg.cc/PqVPK4WH/IMG-20190629-183630301-Copy.jpg)

And work on the front end
(https://i.postimg.cc/0Nyzp3JZ/IMG-20190629-183617609-Copy.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/637TPvcv/IMG-20190630-180751248-Copy.jpg)

Im not seeing 'em Q. Others might.

How about now?

using the ever problematic google sharing since it is integrated with my phone.

Big fat nope on the pics

Nope on the pics here too.

This site can help most of the time... https://ctrlq.org/google/photos/?_ga=2.30359100.2054658367.1524554495-1970507374.1524554495

How about now? I quit trying to bend the behemoth to my will.

 [thumbsup]

(https://i.postimg.cc/tRVQCWjH/image.jpg[)

Whoa! Mad Max prop. [thumbsup]

Mocked up the bottom shock mount
(https://i.postimg.cc/vB8xJSGL/image.jpg)

Things you can get away with while the wife is out of town:
(https://i.postimg.cc/wvWRgcvK/image.jpg)

It's actually finish welded, but it got dark on me so no pics today.

 [thumbsup] ;D

Great to see how it feels on the salt

And here it is
(https://i.postimg.cc/hj3YmKW5/image.jpg)

(https://i.postimg.cc/vTgNLCGH/image.jpg)

I've had it out and bounced on it... it's pretty stiff. Good thing, I think, since it's pretty low.

So, I fixed the hideous welding.

Got to the salt today for the weather delay. No big deal, then, that the fpr was clogged and then tore the little o-ring on the way out.

No racing until Monday anyway, and the parts store will be open in the morning.

Bike is running and passed tech.

They moved the start of racing to 0730 Tuesday morning. One course only, long course is through the 4 mile, with a dire warning not to go past the 6.

Cool.  [popcorn]
Good luck mate.

They found room for a very short rookie course, so the test and tune / licensing folks have a place to be out of the way. I still anticipate long lines.

Audio stream from the timing booth here http://webca.st/154607

Racing starts at 0730, but I assume the announcer will start nattering on sometime before then.

Meh.

The course was terrible, waiting in line for two days sucks, and I have a bunch of things to improve.

There's only a day and a half left, I was planning on skipping Friday anyway, which leaves me with not enough time to fix things, even if I fixed everything in line.

Frustrating turn of events.

Yeah, if there were more courses, and if we hadn't lost three days of racing, it would have been different.

Many people were unhappy with how it turned out.

I feel for you.

Next year?

Appreciated. Nothing to be done, though.

Many also struggled with matching previous speeds... to the tune of 20-40 mph. So 124 wasn't that bad in context.

List for next year:
Make front end have better geometry.
  The course was super bumpy, and the springs were mighty stiff. It also felt pretty flighty, like maybe I need little more trail, but that could have been a side effect of the stiffness. There was a whole lot of shakin' going on, and keeping it in a straight-ish line required some concentrated relaxation and body positioning.

Fix the shifter.
  I  screwed up the geometry on that, but didn't have time to re-engineer. Bodged it together, but it didn't work well.

Fix the tank.
  The tire grew at speed and touched part of the inside. Not good.

Spend some time on a dyno to get the tune closer to square.
  Many changes to the intake meant I probably have way too much fuel going in. I kept bumping it last year in an attempt to compensate for it blowing away in the breeze at 140-ish. It's probably way too much now.

Front fender.
  This was on the list for this year, but the demon thief of time came along and made it not happen. The rules allow what for this bike is a fairly liberal definition of "not-streamlined" front fender.

Well, assuming I can figure out what youtube is doing... there should be video soon.

https://youtu.be/O9MlkKDnglY
This should do it.

Thanks Q

No problem.

You also see me looking for the footpeg that I couldn't remember where I put... that was the first time in this configuration. It was fine once I found it, but I just couldn't wrap my head around how far back it was.

Was wondering about that. They gave you plenty of time to warm up.

I cut out about half the warm up time on the video. Really you can start warming up whenever you want. I was trying to get at least a little heat into it before I started, because the alky cools down so much.

I probably shouldn't have had my dad put it in gear so soon...

So, at this point Speedweek is still on, but the two major events after have cancelled.

This seems like one of the few risks I can manage by myself at the moment, and seems increasingly risky. Add to that several other impacts, and the "crew" is definitely well into the high risk area. I decided last month that we aren't going this year.

Progress: Picked up an air cylinder to make into a shifter. Been researching spring rates. Making plans.

Assuming the world isn't in a similar state of disarray next year, we'll be back.

Sorry to hear mate. Seems the bug has taken off in your state. It's hard doing meets on your own.

Stay healthy and keep us updated  [thumbsup]

How's it goin'? Any updates?

Updates: We're going racing (assuming the weather works out)!

Started prepping for this year. Sent in my entry a couple of weeks ago! The team has all got their shots, so that risk is managed as well as possible.

Plans:
Front suspension - I'm keeping the basic design for this year, but going with some usefully tunable shocks/springs.
Fuel tank - Make a etter one that doesn't have sharp edges near the tire.
Tires - Dunslops because I can get them in Daytona medium+ compound and they aren't impossible to order.
Exhaust - Add some megaphones so it isn't blasting my feet.
Shifter - Something that isn't what I did last time.
Maintenance - Injectors cleaned, fuel line replaced, 5 gallons of oil, etc.
Logging - Added some tiny tech to bluetoothily log some info on my phone, maybe add either EGT or O2 sensors.
Maybe a front fender...

Put the bike in the back of a little truck to tow up and be the chase vehicle...

Great to hear mate. Keep us informed. Maybe Lake Gardiner one day. [thumbsup]

New shocks and springs seem good. Once I get the tires on, I'll talk more about that situation.

 [thumbsup] [popcorn]

Okay, so we passed tech with our brand new pressure regulator yesterday, had to do a quick fix for something they just noticed. No big deal, and we'll have a real fix for next year.

Once I figure out how my phone works I'll post pics.

First run today went mostly okay... Until about the 3/4 Mile marker when it just went flat and had no power and wouldn't stay running.

Barely got it clear of the course.

Speedo stopped working, got to about 9k in second, shifted to third and everything got worse, so I turned out.

Took it back to a place to look it over, and noticed the nut was missing from the horizontal coil. Put one on, but there was still a bunch of salt in the area.

Noticed the oil was pretty milky, so decided to go back and make a pit again to troubleshoot and deal with the water oil.

Find the culprit?

Fresh oil. Swarf on the cam sensor was causing issues with the sensing.

Got that mostly sorted except for the gasket goop for the water pump housing. Pick up some of that in the morning, give it an hour to cure, add water, and send it.

(really check that I fixed it, then wait in line for a long time, then try to send it)

 [thumbsup] ;D

Ugh. Sending was not in the cards.

I don't know why that ve map is the one that I loaded. I had to start over from where I started in 2018. I really should have added o2 sensors and exhaust length.

Luckily I seem to have fixed all the mechanical problems.

We'll keep trying until it's time to go home.

Well... let's see. A bit of weinerstomping while loading the bike at the end of Monday ended with a hole in the oil filter. Ordered one at the local carquest, then drove to SLC (1.5 hours each way) to get one.

Fresh oil and I start playing with the computer trying to get it to run right. Oh look, the fuel pressure is inconsistent and starts going away as the pump gets HOT to the touch. Back to the phones, and we find a pump in SLC. Head out in the morning to pick it up.

The fittings are the wrong size. Surely I could go to a hydraulic store or a performance store and just pick up an appropriate adapter? No. M10 to AN-6 is non-standard for hydraulics so they were 4 days out, and the only place in all of SLC that sold performance parts got bought two weeks ago and no longer sells go-fast goodies.

Fine. We head back to the salt to try cleaning and lubing the pump to get at least one full run out of it. No dice. Maybe we can jam a 5/16" hose barb into this 1/4" hose? Nope. Packed up and came home yesterday.

Not a total bust. I think I have fixed the front suspension, it worked well over the crusty salt when I turned out the first run at about 80 or so. Got through tech pretty swimmingly. Met the guy who just set up a dyno shop in town.

Things to do for next year: front fender, megaphones and O2 sensors for the exhaust, install a real front sprocket cover, dyno time.

Arriving on the salt
(https://i.postimg.cc/R0D49fNS/IMG-20210807-080949215-HDR.jpg)

First pit setup
(https://i.postimg.cc/Z5jJ7Xmy/IMG-20210808-152409831-HDR.jpg)

Oil filter carnage
(https://i.postimg.cc/fbLD65Wq/IMG-20210810-102604533.jpg)

Obligatory start line shot
(https://i.postimg.cc/0y98CPTs/71735.jpg)

Obligatory shot with crew chief
(https://i.postimg.cc/KvPGLRsf/71736.jpg)

Obligatory empty salt shot
(https://i.postimg.cc/MTVwRm79/72013.jpg)

Bugger. [bang]

You're gonna love that local dyno shop. It will be money well spent.

Yeah, it'll be nice to solve some problems before trailering for 850 miles. We did have tasty  [bacon].

Dyno day is May 28th!

To-do:
Fuel pump
Extend the exhaust
O2 sensors
Rear tire (change it to a throw-away)
Different gears
Get fuel

Anybody hiding a stash of Champion RG59Vs?

It's been a busy month. Dyno day was mostly successful... but it needs more work to optimize. Need to switch to a dual map setup (one for each cylinder), and clean up a bunch of half-done and bodged together stuff.

The battery died the night before and it was a tiny lithium, so I cobbled together some wiring to run it off a car battery on the floor. Figured out the battery issue eventually, but I've had a few other things get in the way in the meantime.

No video, but you wouldn't have been able to hear anything anyway. It may not be the loudest thing I have ever heard, but it's very loud.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GrzZSK37TWCEHker6

They look loud enough [thumbsup].
Tuning each cylinder will be sweeter for sure.
Hope you're well mate.

Very soggy track, storms dumped all over last night. I'm glad I delayed my travel. I'm betting we are cancelled this year.

And the event is officially cancelled due to weather.