Project bitsa..
Project bitsa..
The start of PROJECT BITSA
The aim is to try and build a bike with the least amount of parts as I can, to make it light as I can with as many bespoke parts as I can.. it should stay functional and do the job it's meant to do.. but most of all this build is to make it as special as I can to me and me alone.
With that in mind I am more than happy to accept criticism and advice on this build, as I would like to make it one of the better things I have done... I also know we all have ideas as to what is right and wrong and I am open to these ideas, in fact please give me any advice should you see something that could be better or improved... I may or may not change things according to the suggestions put forward but please give a good valid reason as to why something needs to be improved so I can understand why I am doing it rather than just telling me " I would have done it that way" with no real reason.
Anyways... here we go!
Starting point is the engine... this one:
and this is the spec of said engine, built by Roger at Revolution, the casings are missing as they have now just gone away for painting.
Will add more pictures when they come back and it's gets assembled and looks complete but thought I'd make a start on it all as it's been sitting around far too long doing nothing while I finished the road bike.
New main bearings
New big end bearing
New piston rings
Newly honed bores
New valve guide oil seals
New oil seals, all engine gaskets and oil filter
New CCTs
New oil pump
New gearbox selector forks, selector fork shafts & gearbox bearings
New Moriwaki Stage1 camshafts c/w Kent slotted camshaft wheels
Ported & Gas flowed cylinder heads.
Balanced Crankshaft
Polished OEM valves
11.6 : 1 Racing Hi Comp Pistons
Lightened flywheel
Modified crankcases.
It will be going into this frame I have here... as you can see it has had the extra spar put in at the front and the bits reinforced where it needs it according again to Roger's recommendations along the headstock and the two side cast parts. Again it will not remain in this state as it will soon go to paint when I have done the few fitting things I need to and check they fit and work correctly.
This is the swing arm I will be fitting and doing this for a few reasons..
First reason is that it should be lighter than the original one that has been braced and secondly it is also a little bit longer in the arm itself. The longer wheelbase I am hoping will put more weight on the front and help stop the front wheel climbing skywards with the extra horsies I will get from the engine. I know this will change the bike geometry etc but have plans for that so not worried too much at the moment and will come to that a little later in the thread.
To make the arm fit I have changed the bearing, spacers and other associated parts so a 20mmm spindle will still be the spindle of choice and not the 25mm standard. I know the rear wheel spindle will be 25mm at the moment and that may limit wheel choice but I am not worried about that either as I have plans for that as well should I need to run a 20mm spindle and again that will be later in the thread, just want to make sure the bits I have made work together and fit as they should. Hence the next bit....
As the swinger is longer and to retain the correct placing of the shock and bits I have had to make a new dog bone and linkage to make sure it will be where it needs to be. This is also to make sure it clears all the bits on the swing arm it needs to and the shock is in the correct place to work. They have been made out of solid billet so should be fine for the job and I machined it coarsely so you can see it's been machined (I know it's vain).
These are now going to be hard black anodised. Sadly they will be fitted in the future with all the other anodised tat yet to be made at later dates
While waiting for the bits to come back and to just press on with a few bits I wanted to get the carbs all set up ready for the lidless airbox or ram air system... So took them apart and started looking at them. First question was to see if I could make them lighter and do a few mods to help. I don't think there is a huge amount to be done with them but thought I'd do something. The idea was to take weight out of the steel bits where possible so the four bolts that go from one side to the other will have to go and the same with the linkage and side plates.
The first thing I did was to machine out a dowel location hole in each of the old location points and put a M8 thread down each hole so I can get rid of the four bolts and put in shorter M8 titanium bolts. This will put them into the right position by a positive location on the combination washer-dowels in the side plates. I put the plate to it and see if the dowels and carbs lined up right, which they did.
Then I changed all the small screws for titanium bolts... seems to be half the weight and also weighed the side plates compared to the new ones.
I also made a new linkage with titanium bushes and that proved to be a lot lighter as well...
So far saved around 300 grammes without weighing the four long bolts compared to the 8 titanium bolts I will be using so if I can get a another 100 grammes it will be close to a pound in weight I may have lost from the carbs?
and again half the weight of the bolts saved
Time will tell if this is a good mod or not... although I know others have done the carbon side plates I just wanted to change the way they are held to the carbs and save weight with the bolts and linkage as well.
Here is a finished pic and final weight of the carbs... against a standard set it appears I may have saved around few hundred grammes or so... or at least a lb in weight in old money. Wished I remembered to weigh them before I started
The aim is to try and build a bike with the least amount of parts as I can, to make it light as I can with as many bespoke parts as I can.. it should stay functional and do the job it's meant to do.. but most of all this build is to make it as special as I can to me and me alone.
With that in mind I am more than happy to accept criticism and advice on this build, as I would like to make it one of the better things I have done... I also know we all have ideas as to what is right and wrong and I am open to these ideas, in fact please give me any advice should you see something that could be better or improved... I may or may not change things according to the suggestions put forward but please give a good valid reason as to why something needs to be improved so I can understand why I am doing it rather than just telling me " I would have done it that way" with no real reason.
Anyways... here we go!
Starting point is the engine... this one:
and this is the spec of said engine, built by Roger at Revolution, the casings are missing as they have now just gone away for painting.
Will add more pictures when they come back and it's gets assembled and looks complete but thought I'd make a start on it all as it's been sitting around far too long doing nothing while I finished the road bike.
New main bearings
New big end bearing
New piston rings
Newly honed bores
New valve guide oil seals
New oil seals, all engine gaskets and oil filter
New CCTs
New oil pump
New gearbox selector forks, selector fork shafts & gearbox bearings
New Moriwaki Stage1 camshafts c/w Kent slotted camshaft wheels
Ported & Gas flowed cylinder heads.
Balanced Crankshaft
Polished OEM valves
11.6 : 1 Racing Hi Comp Pistons
Lightened flywheel
Modified crankcases.
It will be going into this frame I have here... as you can see it has had the extra spar put in at the front and the bits reinforced where it needs it according again to Roger's recommendations along the headstock and the two side cast parts. Again it will not remain in this state as it will soon go to paint when I have done the few fitting things I need to and check they fit and work correctly.
This is the swing arm I will be fitting and doing this for a few reasons..
First reason is that it should be lighter than the original one that has been braced and secondly it is also a little bit longer in the arm itself. The longer wheelbase I am hoping will put more weight on the front and help stop the front wheel climbing skywards with the extra horsies I will get from the engine. I know this will change the bike geometry etc but have plans for that so not worried too much at the moment and will come to that a little later in the thread.
To make the arm fit I have changed the bearing, spacers and other associated parts so a 20mmm spindle will still be the spindle of choice and not the 25mm standard. I know the rear wheel spindle will be 25mm at the moment and that may limit wheel choice but I am not worried about that either as I have plans for that as well should I need to run a 20mm spindle and again that will be later in the thread, just want to make sure the bits I have made work together and fit as they should. Hence the next bit....
As the swinger is longer and to retain the correct placing of the shock and bits I have had to make a new dog bone and linkage to make sure it will be where it needs to be. This is also to make sure it clears all the bits on the swing arm it needs to and the shock is in the correct place to work. They have been made out of solid billet so should be fine for the job and I machined it coarsely so you can see it's been machined (I know it's vain).
These are now going to be hard black anodised. Sadly they will be fitted in the future with all the other anodised tat yet to be made at later dates
While waiting for the bits to come back and to just press on with a few bits I wanted to get the carbs all set up ready for the lidless airbox or ram air system... So took them apart and started looking at them. First question was to see if I could make them lighter and do a few mods to help. I don't think there is a huge amount to be done with them but thought I'd do something. The idea was to take weight out of the steel bits where possible so the four bolts that go from one side to the other will have to go and the same with the linkage and side plates.
The first thing I did was to machine out a dowel location hole in each of the old location points and put a M8 thread down each hole so I can get rid of the four bolts and put in shorter M8 titanium bolts. This will put them into the right position by a positive location on the combination washer-dowels in the side plates. I put the plate to it and see if the dowels and carbs lined up right, which they did.
Then I changed all the small screws for titanium bolts... seems to be half the weight and also weighed the side plates compared to the new ones.
I also made a new linkage with titanium bushes and that proved to be a lot lighter as well...
So far saved around 300 grammes without weighing the four long bolts compared to the 8 titanium bolts I will be using so if I can get a another 100 grammes it will be close to a pound in weight I may have lost from the carbs?
and again half the weight of the bolts saved
Time will tell if this is a good mod or not... although I know others have done the carbon side plates I just wanted to change the way they are held to the carbs and save weight with the bolts and linkage as well.
Here is a finished pic and final weight of the carbs... against a standard set it appears I may have saved around few hundred grammes or so... or at least a lb in weight in old money. Wished I remembered to weigh them before I started
Last edited by gl_s_r on Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:50 am, edited 10 times in total.
Why ask... sometime you just go to do it and find out?
Re: Project bitsa..
Well that's a reserved post if I ever read one
Look forward to seeing what it is your up to
Look forward to seeing what it is your up to
Re: Project bitsa..
I`m hopping from foot to foot like
a giddy school girl !!!
its bound to be as your bits
oooooze .
cant you give us a little preview ??
Please
YETI..
a giddy school girl !!!
its bound to be as your bits
oooooze .
cant you give us a little preview ??
Please
YETI..
Re: Project bitsa..
It'll be nothing like what you have tucked away in the den...YETI wrote: cant you give us a little preview ??
Please
YETI..
Why ask... sometime you just go to do it and find out?
- agentpineapple
- Posts: 15124
- Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:16 pm
Re: Project bitsa..
I have a disturbing mental image of Ian dressed as a school girl with pig tails....
HEY YOU GUYS!!!!!!
Re: Project bitsa..
Why'd you have ta... Never mind...agentpineapple wrote:I have a disturbing mental image of Ian dressed as a school girl with pig tails....
- lloydie
- Posts: 20921
- Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:16 pm
- Location: In the garage somewhere in Coventry
Re: Project bitsa..
no anodized tat please
Re: Project bitsa..
That means that about 65% isn't going to get built then
Am I allowed the other 20% in titanium and carbon?
Am I allowed the other 20% in titanium and carbon?
Why ask... sometime you just go to do it and find out?
- lloydie
- Posts: 20921
- Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:16 pm
- Location: In the garage somewhere in Coventry
Re: Project bitsa..
Yep and if you've made it I'm sure it won't be tat !!gl_s_r wrote:That means that about 65% isn't going to get built then
Am I allowed the other 20% in titanium and carbon?
Re: Project bitsa..
If you need a parts testing mule, then I'll gladly be the donkey! I'm chomping at the bit to see this develop
Jamie
- lloydie
- Posts: 20921
- Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:16 pm
- Location: In the garage somewhere in Coventry
Re: Project bitsa..
Oi step back he's mine !!Jamoi wrote:If you need a parts testing mule, then I'll gladly be the donkey! I'm chomping at the bit to see this develop
Re: Project bitsa..
But the parts need to be tested on a full power, fast black onelloydie wrote:Oi step back he's mine !!
Jamie
- lloydie
- Posts: 20921
- Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:16 pm
- Location: In the garage somewhere in Coventry
Re: Project bitsa..
Yep mine is under the green :-)Jamoi wrote:But the parts need to be tested on a full power, fast black onelloydie wrote:Oi step back he's mine !!
Re: Project bitsa..
Boys, boys, boys, I have to say your bickering is appalling. Now each of you stand in different corners and think about how You've let yourselves down and the group down, whilst I discuss with Mark testing out the goodies!!!!!
Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero
F3, 954 USD front, K Tech springs, Braced swinger, Penske shock, Six spoke Mockesini wheels, Harris rearsets, QaT, Flywheel diet!, A&L stacks, stick coils, K&N, FP Ti jets, lashings of Ti & CF
F3, 954 USD front, K Tech springs, Braced swinger, Penske shock, Six spoke Mockesini wheels, Harris rearsets, QaT, Flywheel diet!, A&L stacks, stick coils, K&N, FP Ti jets, lashings of Ti & CF