Fly Wheel lightening ?

[Varastorm]

Puller arrived.
Unfortunately the transalp taper is different, so it's not going to fit.
Back to the drawing board

Well, very disappointed in that, sorry if I miss lead you but I was certain it would fit.

Thanks for taking the plunge though it looks as if I will have to machine my spare flywheel on the lathe too.

I like the way you cut your flywheel, very similar to the Transalp one

[Varastorm]

Finally got my act together & cut the Varadero flywheel & fitted it today.

I haven't been for a ride with it as the weather changed from cold & sunny to Freezing & raining in the hour it took to fit

Cut the tail off with a 9” grinder with cutting disc, crank was held/strapped to a Chimnea (super secure)






Crank tail placed in a 3 jaw chuck & DTI gauged to zero run off, took over an hour to set up.

Lightened flywheel to 116mm outer diameter did not touch the basket. 116mm = 5lb 5.6oz



Biggest job was removing the swarf from the magnetic basket & removing the generator cover.

I used a large open ended spanner to grip the inner flywheel flats which was then held/resting on the foot peg.



To release & to fit the flywheel bolt I used a ½” Roebuck torque wrench with long extension bar & Re torqued to 156 Nm.

It behaves & sounds just like it did before, no adjustment of the idle was required, just hope I feel the difference on the road

[youtube][/youtube]

Got to get a grip with inserting picks' clips. Harder than playing with the bike

Done it, Carl your a star

[Jamoi]

Judging by the video clip, it seems to pick up and settle very quickly! But I didn't see how it behaved before...

Does your vara have Fi?

[templ8]

Sounds a bit more revvy, should be better on the road

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Varastorm]

Hi Jamoi, Item number #18 arrived by the way, Thanks for posting, jeeps their heavy

Does your vara have Fi?

No Fi, its one of the first carb models. Similar engine wise to the VTR, but slower

Its getting closer though, need to save up for some manual cct next & fit the low mileage VTR cams I have sitting on the shelf.

[Varastorm]

Sounds a bit more revvy, should be better on the road

Have you braved the cold & salt covered roads & tried it out?

How are you finding it?

I should be out on mine in a day or two & will update

[lloydie]

You will notice a big difference in the way it revs up on the road

[Varastorm]

u will notice a big difference in the way it revs up on the road

I hope the weather is better tomorrow, can't wait to give it a go.

Thought I would post a comparison of Varadero & VTR flywheels together

[VTRDark]

You will feel a huge difference on the road, especially when your out cruising at higher speeds and slowing down on dual carriageways/motorways.

posting pics and video

(:-})

[Varastorm]

Firstly, Big thanks to Carl for the posting the pic's & vid's link, top bloke

Braved the cold & ice today and went for a spin around Anglesey to test the modified lightened flywheel out.

My first impressions whilst setting off on the bike honestly felt like I hadn't changed a thing, also what am I doing out on the bike in this temperature.

Zero surprises, no stalling when setting off from standstill, no "severe" engine braking felt when closing the throttle & it ticks over as sweet as it always has.

TBH, I was a little disappointed with the bike not showing any of the above symptoms whilst threading through 30mph zones to get onto some open roads & thought, what a total waste of time & money.

Once I hit the open road I immediately felt the difference, so eager to accelerate, any gear any speed.

I didn't go bonkers testing though, the road in places was grim to say the least & lost count of fresh holes in walls

I can only describe the performance increase similar to the bike having had a pillion on it all the time & machining the flywheel has removed that weight/pillion off the bike.

Or having towed a caravan for miles, you get to your destination & unhitch & feel the car has so much more power again.

I feel that there are no down sides, none. Apart from the fact you have to do it yourself.

I might have a go at cutting the spare VTR flywheel in a day or two, see if I can beat Carls super light weight one

[VTRDark]

Yeh lower speeds around town is not a vast difference but when you get onto the open roads it's noticeable. I guess you noticed the engine braking more so at those speeds too. It helps greatly when approaching speed cameras

see if I can beat Carls super light weight one

Not mine, GL_S_R deserves the credit there and you wont get any more off than he has, trust me. He's done all the testing and taken as much off as is possible. It was cut on a multi million £££ machine which will cut as close to the nearest thousand of of inch or thousand of a mm as possible. The only place left to cut on yours is the outside circumference around the magnetic part which holds the magnetic flakes (iron particles) inside. You go too far and they fall out I'm not sure what depth you can go to before that happens though. The other area you can take some more off is at the rear, you could taper that off.

Get those VTR cams in too

(:-})

[gl_s_r]

Yeh lower speeds around town is not a vast difference but when you get onto the open roads it's noticeable. I guess you noticed the engine braking more so at those speeds too. It helps greatly when approaching speed cameras

see if I can beat Carls super light weight one

Not mine, GL_S_R deserves the credit there and you wont get any more off than he has, trust me. He's done all the testing and taken as much off as is possible. It was cut on a multi million £££ machine which will cut as close to the nearest thousand of of inch or thousand of a mm as possible. The only place left to cut on yours is the outside circumference around the magnetic part which holds the magnetic flakes (iron particles) inside. You go too far and they fall out I'm not sure what depth you can go to before that happens though. The other area you can take some more off is at the rear, you could taper that off.

Get those VTR cams in too

(:-})

Not quite that amount with the machines though lol... they are several hundred thousand but that was just done on a manual lathe like all the others.

There is more to take off should you want but the basket is as close as I like to the magnets and the back could have more taken if you want, replace some of the parts for other materials etc but where do you draw a line?

[Varastorm]

There is more to take off should you want but the basket is as close as I like to the magnets and the back could have more taken if you want, replace some of the parts for other materials etc but where do you draw a line?

Hi gl_s_r, quick question.

The crank end was "dti'd" with zero run out using the taper section behind the key way.

When the flywheel was bolted on to the crank end (in the lathe) it was then dti'd again, this time using the outer flywheel weight ring & that had zero run out also so we decided it was good to go.

Out of interest though I dti'd the basket & that was a bit off, did you find that out also?

Thanks for all the help guys

[gl_s_r]

Yes the basket was out but i skimmed that up as part of the job anyway to make sure it wasn't a problem when removing any balancing holes..

[Varastorm]

Yes the basket was out but i skimmed that up as part of the job anyway to make sure it wasn't a problem when removing any balancing holes..

Ok, I think my mate still has the Crank tail in the lathe, so it should be ready to go again once I mount the VTR flywheel.

I used the drilled & centred VTR bolt to fasten the lightened flywheel to the engine, which frees up the (virgin) Varadero's crank bolt.

I'll set it up again (when I can get hold of him), but this time I will have a go at the basket too

Did you use the same specs as the pic Lloydie posted on the late benny's dimensions? 136mm basket diameter.

Or did you go with what you felt comfortable with?