The Raven

[16v4nrbrgr]

Thanks Robin!

I gotta figure out my fuel storage situation, the vented fuel bottles must be in bottle cages upright, which won't really work with thtis bike so I might use the water bottle with a vent hose in the cap so I can use it like yesterday, stored next to the saddlebag. I need to be able to do about 25 miles round trip without running out of premix, and only have the 2L tank leaning at a steep angle on the top tube. I would like to find out if a gallon peanut tank would fit under the fairing, but not at the expense, so right now I will carry fuel, I have a red bottle I can put in my backpack too. I thought I could carry a whole gallon can in a backpack, but second thoughts say DANGER! lol

 

[robin]

I use the 1 litre aluminum camp fuel bottles about 10 - 15 dollars -- they are quite safe -- fairly thick aluminum
I bettcha that beast is thirsty. Love to try it !! Have fun !

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Yeah, I have one of them I can carry in a backpack but theres no place to stick it on a bike, so today I drilled a hole in the cap of my stainless water bottle for a spray can straw to serve as a vent tube. This bottle will be vented so it can lay on its side under the seat and not leak out.

I was gonna take a ride but it has been cold and windy and I don't like those conditions for riding or for the carb tune, in my town the air temp can vary by as much as 30 degrees with a gust of wind off the coast. So I took a nap instead lol.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Today I went for a ride in the hills and I noticed some stuff I gotta take care of;

The muffler bracket support is bending so I need to make a new one.

The speedometer drive makes it a pain to get the front axle nuts tight because it is plastic and squashes in there, so I gotta get a washer combo in there to stop that, so the wheel doesn't surprise me someday.

I have a misfire that's occurring unless I clear it out before accelerating, it happens right before the powerband, and it makes it so that the bike won't accel sometimes because its misfiring right on the edge of the clutch takeup rpm. It could be the mixture, could be coke in the cylinder, could be the 40:1 oil mix, I've heard KTM50's like 50:1, it could be that they oil well and the excess is fouling the plug, which is what it acts like.

Tonight and tomorrow I'm gonna try and get the bike up to 100% and maybe figure out this analog tach, which might require a 12v battery to operate.

My meat thermometer needle finally vibrated off the head of the needle, so I'm gonna stick a digital one in there that I can turn off when not in use.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

So I found a couple things that could cause the misfire;

Its too rich, something that might be caused by:

The exhaust packing getting plugged up - I'm going to run less next time because I don't want to clean it out every 2 gallons of gas

Screw settings - I found that I was way out leaner than the 2 turns out on mix and air, so maybe less backpressure is needed to have the a/f right through the powerband with the intended settings. I bet it will be better with less packing, I'm just gonna have to like the noise.

Spark plug connection and gap - I brought the gap down to about 25 thou from 32, still within spec and it should fire easier.

The exhaust seal silicone was burnt and leaking a bit - needs a new o-ring inside and new silicone, prolly more of it too. The inside of the pipes are black, and so is the combustion chamber. The plug was dark so I'm not too worried about a lean condition, especially with the reeds. Its a problem needing a solution though.

I also found a couple things worth noting;

Found a tight link in the chain and loosened it up, where I had joined two 415H chains for a long engine chain.

Lost a bolt from the rear floating rotor, obviously I need different fasteners there or some more loctite.

The front brake fluid has turned brown really quickly, and there was a bubble in the caliper when I bled it. I think I'm gonna do another flush and check the condition of the fluid, it could have been from a rubbing problem on the bracket from that stupid plastic speedo sender which made the whole axle stack shift. That's gotta get solved too.

I also gotta find a hose routing for the carb that works, the peanut tank outlet is simply directed wrong no matter what,so I'm gonna have to live with an extra length of hose to keep everything from kinking because this new fuel resistant hose is like macaroni. I don't trust it right now, fortunately it has been on the rich side but this is one motor you never want to run out of fuel unexpectedly. I'm glad the small kinks today didn't cause issues.

Gotta revise the support structure for the rear section of the exhaust, it needs to be more robust to deal with bumps, the dirt road I hit today killed it.

One of the idler wheels for the pedal side chain has developed an interference with a nut, so I gotta fix that minor aggravation too.

Even with all those things wrong today it still ran like a bat outta **** and I prolly went about 45 on it, I'm having problems utilizing the peak powerband, and I think it's because I strangled it down too much, and have been adjusting the mixture to compensate. With much less packing in the muffler hopefully I'll unlock a whole lot more power and speed tomorrow.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

The chain was flapping around and made a nice slot for itself, lol. I decided to weld a guide in there so it doesn't end up badly. The exhaust hanger on the right broke when I hit a gnarly dirt and rock road and the exhaust bounced around too much, so I made it deeper.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Revised exhaust hanger

Here you see it, or rather you don't, which is the idea

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Today I'm gonna hook up the fuel filter, fillerup, and see what she can do! I'm gonna wait til a bit later though because I think it's gonna hit pretty hard now and be louder.

I've been saving a plastic coffee can for an airbox for another bike, but I might use it on this one, karts use airboxes since a lot of the noise is at the intake side.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

It runs much better now! I put only 1.5 scrubbers back in the muffler and the engine likes it a lot! Very crisp but still smooth enough and not hard sounding, the top end it amazing! I'm not used to anything that revs this high, my electrics don't even rev this high! I did what I thought were some top speed runs but I know there was much more in it if I just stayed pegged until it starts shaking lol!

On that note, if I rode it like that all the time the motor and the town prolly wouldn't like me much. I'm gonna try to be chill with it, and not make too many noise enemies, should plan a trip away from where I live because I'm sure it gets old.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Today I took some fuel with me in my liter fuel bottles and went for a 25 mile ride!

The bike was uneventful for the most part, I noticed it runs a little smoother when I stop every once in a while, the motor doesn't prefer the prolonged cruise but I can go about 30 with the clutch engaged and get decent gas mileage. In 25 miles I went through 3 liters so it works out to about 33 miles per gallon, which I guess is still better than my car.

I was hassled by a park ranger at a state park I stopped at for 15 minutes to fuel up and check things at. Of course she waited til I was all geared up and leaving the place, bike running before she gave me the whole "that's an illegal vehicle" and "I thought it was a pocket bike" , and I told her I built it to avoid situations like this and learn how to ride a motorcycle. :/

Told me my license plate is mounted illegally, which it isn't because that's a subjective thing and it follows their placement guidelines, guess I gotta carry a copy of that too...

Even though I'm going the speed limit, people still have to pass me going 60 in a 35, in the worst possible place, after hanging in my blind spot for days. I think I don't want to ride around where there's a lot of cars, dipfluks in ML350's and CLK convertibles and Prius race car drivers, lol.

I could have tried to stay in front maxing it out, but what's the point, they just want to kill me no matter what. It really needs this gearing to develop enough power for all the hills around here so I'm gonna have to play the lane game. I need a mirror stuck to my glove too or something, I extended the mirrors out an inch but that doesn't help when a-holes in mini suv's hang in my blind spot.

Beware of daytime drunken hippie dudes that love your bike too much. I was gonna stop at the country store for a couple things, but this dude smothered me with his hug attempts or daps or whatever and I was like gtfo, and gtfo of there quick! lol

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Checked the trans oil today, 150 mL drained out from 200 I put in last time, so I put it back in added 50 mL because the case seeps a tiny bit and the breather breathes the burnt stuff. The oil actually looks excellent so that's why I put it back in, because it was working nicely before I put it away.

The plug looks on the slightly rich side of stoichoimetric and the 40:1 Lucas works well and isn't fouling. This is with 1 1/2 pot scrubbers in the shortened long poo canister. The top end seems endless, like the power rises to infinite revs I don't want to explore with this thing between my legs, lol. I've had it deisel on me on a cruise stretch at about 35 mph it just wanted to go on its own, totally weird lol.

I'd like to get the analog tach working soon, the digital one is just for logging the hours on the motor but it is accurate, just not easily read on the go.

It'll complete the experience for me to have the tach needle sweep, that would be neat

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I did 30 miles yesterday, haven't had a chance to ride since Ive been busy building my BMX up.

The clutch worked superbly except this one stretch of hill that takes you over the mountain range separating East and West Marin. I've seen a Puch moped crawling up this hill at 20 and they are usually 2 speed or variated. I was able to bog it up the hill WOT, in the bike lane at about 20-25 mph but I had to stay pegged, and the motor got very hot. I also noticed that this ride the trans spit out a lot of ATF from the breather so it was making a frappe in there. If I was at a higher speed it would have been locked, but I think I was at like 80% all the way.

Other than that it has been great, no real issues with consistency, works on most hills, and the big one woulda been better if I had gotten a run up it and buzzed 50 and let the momentum carry me. I might still need to do some carb tuning, like a step up in size on the main jet to accommodate the style riding I do, staying up in the revs most of the time. Still getting used to this carb but it seems like if you want to go high speed for a long time you gotta constantly be twitching the throttle a bit to keep it happy, guess thats a two stroke for you.

My taillight came unstuck and broke so I riveted the mount to the fairing so I can put a new one on it safely next time.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Well I have free time this summer for fabrication projects, so if anybody would like something they like on my OCC replicated I can surely do that for you for a reasonable cost. Just PM me with what you have in mind and we can go from there.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I'm tired of the outrageous GP Morini wail, so I'm going to be tidying the bike all up and getting it ready for a new owner. Anybody in the SF Bay area who has cash in hand, about a grand and a half can come take her away.

I'm going to be replacing the rear wheel because it has multiple problems, so the rear will be freshly built, better than before.

I'm not in a hurry and won't let anybody ride it until I'm sure they aren't idiots, have a helmet, and have cash in hand to buy it if they dump it on the test. This bike is my baby, and it has a lot of memories tied up in it, but I need to have the liquidity to move forward with other builds, plus I'm too old for the noise lol.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Kyle, this build has turned out super Bada$$, love how the K-10 front forks and Pitbike seat pans / panels give this build a Cafe Racer stance / look.

Damn, that sprocket is huge, and thanks again for posting some awesome pictures, you attention to detail is quite exquisite...Peace Bro!

C.H.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Thanks, I'm hoping it goes to a good home. The upcoming builds are gonna be way sicker, but I need the liquidity to get the stuff to make them happen so I gotta stop clutching this thing.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I need to replace my rear wheel, and I was thinking about how I can make it as dependable as the front one, and I'm thinking I might go ahead and get a mag wheel from a street bike and use that instead of another Stingray wheel, since it will be mega duty, and have sealed bearings. There are some wheels out there that look like they would kinda match the theme of the Grimeca front wheel, and work with a 20 x 4.25 chopper bicycle tire. If I manage to get the machining equipment I need, then I will get the mag wheel and adapt it to my sprockets and rotor.

Until I sell the bike I will continue to improve it, because I who knows, maybe I'll keep it for a toy if money works out.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I decided against trying to fit a streetbike wheel after looking into how much adaptation would be required. The OCC rear wheels are really strong actually, and I figured out the brake mounting issue. Basically the rear needs to be a floating rotor so as not to be flexed laterally at the hub mount. The sprocket that I had tacked to the hub to hold the sprocket fatigued at the welds because of the combination of not having the rotor floating, and the offset adjustment of the caliper being off from where it should have been. The consequence was that the sprocket spun and boogered the ends of the spokes at the hub.

So instead of relacing this wheel that has done 1000's of miles motorized by myself and the previous owner, I'm replacing it with another Stingray rear wheel, and making sure the rear braking system is optimized. The hydraulic pit bike brakes are absolutely awesome, and show little pad wear from lots of firm stops.

The bike will be officially for sale for $1500 once I have replaced the rear wheel and prepped the bike for the new owner to be able to ride immediately. I'm sad, but need to do what's best for the future, and I can't hold onto my creations or there won't be room or funds for new ideas.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Hooray! I scored an almost new rear wheel to replace the one with damaged spokes!

This weekend I'm gonna try and get all the sale preparation done and fine tuning for whoever the lucky new owner is, hopefully a new friend close by so it's not the last time I see my beauty!

By the way, here's the sale thread with a summary of the current specs if you're interested.
http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?p=494204#post494204