Author Topic: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.  (Read 9559 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline faux fiddy

  • Just becaus I'm the second post on the pissed off thread doesn't mean I'm an
  • Old Timer
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,812
  • bike in a box
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #25 on: February 03, 2012, 01:04:08 AM »
Yeah, some he goes for bone stock, but this one he did major mods to get performance from it.

Aftermarket carbs and stacks, he even started grinding his own needles on this one  tapered so it wouldn't have dead spots in the throttle from first cracking it open to WOT.

I remember he had carbs on and off at least a dozen times trading, tuning and machining stuff.
^^^^^^^/l^^^^^^^^^^^^^^/l^^^
. . ______/ l_________________/  l
<'  '  '   '  o .  . . . . . . .................(
 ' VVVVV'   ')))))____>-''''''''''''''''''\  l
' . vvvv_   -              -                 \/

Offline solo 2

  • Enthusiast
  • **
  • Posts: 144
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #26 on: February 03, 2012, 05:44:35 AM »
Smokers can be a bear to jet, unlike a 4 stroke even a small change can kill the performance. Your friend needs to update his site some more, more info please. I'd like to know how he grinds his own needles, they have to be SO accurate to run properly. I'm not looking forward to any motor work on this thing.
You know you've achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing left to take away.

Offline faux fiddy

  • Just becaus I'm the second post on the pissed off thread doesn't mean I'm an
  • Old Timer
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,812
  • bike in a box
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #27 on: February 04, 2012, 04:09:16 PM »
Smokers can be a bear to jet, unlike a 4 stroke even a small change can kill the performance. Your friend needs to update his site some more, more info please. I'd like to know how he grinds his own needles, they have to be SO accurate to run properly. I'm not looking forward to any motor work on this thing.

He did them with a precision grinder it's a big abrasive ginding stone with away ti feed stock in. The whole thing is only as big as a desk, but accuate to tens of thousandths with the right operator.  He's still learning the tool himself.

I'm not sure if he started with new materials or was modifying needles he bought, but probably did both.
^^^^^^^/l^^^^^^^^^^^^^^/l^^^
. . ______/ l_________________/  l
<'  '  '   '  o .  . . . . . . .................(
 ' VVVVV'   ')))))____>-''''''''''''''''''\  l
' . vvvv_   -              -                 \/

Offline grcamna2

  • Not a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 15,141
  • I love to restore & travel. Keep'em Going Strong !
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #28 on: February 04, 2012, 04:32:51 PM »
Fiddy,
    Do you have any youtube vids of the bike running after the mods  :)...possibly some track time trials or footage.. :) ??
75' CB400F/'bunch o' parts' & 81' CB125S modded to a 'CB200S'
  I love the small ones too !
Do your BEST...nobody can take that away from you.

Offline faux fiddy

  • Just becaus I'm the second post on the pissed off thread doesn't mean I'm an
  • Old Timer
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,812
  • bike in a box
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #29 on: February 04, 2012, 04:35:56 PM »
He takes it to the pig trail and around here a bit, but no footage.  He did one track day at Hallet before  it came apart. 

I guess I should   take over the team smoke website, huh...
^^^^^^^/l^^^^^^^^^^^^^^/l^^^
. . ______/ l_________________/  l
<'  '  '   '  o .  . . . . . . .................(
 ' VVVVV'   ')))))____>-''''''''''''''''''\  l
' . vvvv_   -              -                 \/

Offline solo 2

  • Enthusiast
  • **
  • Posts: 144
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #30 on: February 04, 2012, 06:21:01 PM »
He takes it to the pig trail and around here a bit, but no footage.  He did one track day at Hallet before  it came apart. 

I guess I should   take over the team smoke website, huh...

I've been helping a guy at work with some carb stuff, info mostly. He needs some custom needles made and has all the specs, I found him a place to do it but they only do lots of 100+, he needs 3. Any chance your buddy might be willing to help out.
You know you've achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing left to take away.

Offline faux fiddy

  • Just becaus I'm the second post on the pissed off thread doesn't mean I'm an
  • Old Timer
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,812
  • bike in a box
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #31 on: February 05, 2012, 12:53:59 AM »
Perhaps, but the place with the real tool is where he works, and they want all  their business through the front door, and his are just home projects, which are generally allowed.

But he does have KAWI triples, if that is what is making for his own bike. Maybe he could spin up a few for his own bike, on advice of your specs and then decide he doesn't like them for his style of riding.

 Hmmm..... I will definitely ask , and he (along with his marketing people) are always looking for a niche.

I know needles are a bugger, and available ones  are in fact quite generic to a certain extent. Made to please everybody who has a certain bike or carb for all applications, etc.

I'm pretty sure his RZ is a done deal as far as what he planned on, but who knows what will trigger a new project on it. Maybe something he discovers going uphill on a 8% grade with WOT.


« Last Edit: February 05, 2012, 06:31:10 AM by fiddy of industry »
^^^^^^^/l^^^^^^^^^^^^^^/l^^^
. . ______/ l_________________/  l
<'  '  '   '  o .  . . . . . . .................(
 ' VVVVV'   ')))))____>-''''''''''''''''''\  l
' . vvvv_   -              -                 \/

Offline grcamna2

  • Not a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 15,141
  • I love to restore & travel. Keep'em Going Strong !
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #32 on: February 05, 2012, 03:52:38 AM »
He takes it to the pig trail and around here a bit, but no footage.  He did one track day at Hallet before  it came apart. 

I guess I should   take over the team smoke website, huh...
Fiddy,
 Did he get it put back together and cranking after Hallet ?...wonder why it blew up ?
75' CB400F/'bunch o' parts' & 81' CB125S modded to a 'CB200S'
  I love the small ones too !
Do your BEST...nobody can take that away from you.

Offline faux fiddy

  • Just becaus I'm the second post on the pissed off thread doesn't mean I'm an
  • Old Timer
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,812
  • bike in a box
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #33 on: February 05, 2012, 06:28:34 AM »
He takes it to the pig trail and around here a bit, but no footage.  He did one track day at Hallet before  it came apart. 

I guess I should   take over the team smoke website, huh...
Fiddy,
 Did he get it put back together and cranking after Hallet ?...wonder why it blew up ?

Nothing ever blew up. He read up on what he had and the built in restrictions to performance.  He just takes things apart and retro engineers them t run better.

I don't think he used new pistons or rings even, no boring, just cleaning up porting.

Took it apart to do that, measure and inspect internals, add JB weld to make the inside more like a vaccum, etc. Cleaned it up to make sure the cranks clear his mods.

I'll have to get some video of the bike. It's there ready to go this spring, nice pipes on it, nice sound, a little puff of smoke and fast rap up.
^^^^^^^/l^^^^^^^^^^^^^^/l^^^
. . ______/ l_________________/  l
<'  '  '   '  o .  . . . . . . .................(
 ' VVVVV'   ')))))____>-''''''''''''''''''\  l
' . vvvv_   -              -                 \/

Offline solo 2

  • Enthusiast
  • **
  • Posts: 144
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #34 on: February 05, 2012, 06:45:22 AM »
I'd really like to see a dyno pull on this bike just to see what cleaning up the ports will do. There's always a ton of info out there but not much real evidence of the results. 2 strokes are so finnicky to any mods that I'm not really keen to do any major porting, but if the port clean up can give some real power gains, I'm in.

As for the needles, these are for a snowmobile. Guy bought an old sled he wants to mod (sound familiar), he got an old performance pipe, but can't find the jets for it as they were proprietary from the same maker. Funny, the company won't make anymore but gave him their drawings for them, apparently there is a market for these but it is small.
You know you've achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing left to take away.

Offline grcamna2

  • Not a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 15,141
  • I love to restore & travel. Keep'em Going Strong !
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #35 on: February 05, 2012, 11:36:14 AM »
He takes it to the pig trail and around here a bit, but no footage.  He did one track day at Hallet before  it came apart. 

I guess I should   take over the team smoke website, huh...
Fiddy,
 Did he get it put back together and cranking after Hallet ?...wonder why it blew up ?

Nothing ever blew up. He read up on what he had and the built in restrictions to performance.  He just takes things apart and retro engineers them t run better.

I don't think he used new pistons or rings even, no boring, just cleaning up porting.

Took it apart to do that, measure and inspect internals, add JB weld to make the inside more like a vaccum, etc. Cleaned it up to make sure the cranks clear his mods.

I'll have to get some video of the bike. It's there ready to go this spring, nice pipes on it, nice sound, a little puff of smoke and fast rap up.
Fiddy,
  OH..OK ;) ,now I get it "he did one track day at Hallet before it "came apart" "...Got it... ;D; that's when he TOOK it apart to do the work and totally improve it as you showed us in the video's. I'd sure like to see it under way at speed and...hear it  ;) ;D  :) :) !
75' CB400F/'bunch o' parts' & 81' CB125S modded to a 'CB200S'
  I love the small ones too !
Do your BEST...nobody can take that away from you.

Offline faux fiddy

  • Just becaus I'm the second post on the pissed off thread doesn't mean I'm an
  • Old Timer
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,812
  • bike in a box
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #36 on: February 05, 2012, 01:51:52 PM »
This is a pic of the bike at Laguna Seca in July of '05, The top of the hill across from the corkscrew. Way before any of the mods.  I guess he's had the bike about 13 years.

^^^^^^^/l^^^^^^^^^^^^^^/l^^^
. . ______/ l_________________/  l
<'  '  '   '  o .  . . . . . . .................(
 ' VVVVV'   ')))))____>-''''''''''''''''''\  l
' . vvvv_   -              -                 \/

Offline grcamna2

  • Not a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 15,141
  • I love to restore & travel. Keep'em Going Strong !
Re: Found my "Holy Grail"...OK, one of them.
« Reply #37 on: February 05, 2012, 04:52:32 PM »
That V4 must pump out some nice smooth POWER...NOW  ;).
75' CB400F/'bunch o' parts' & 81' CB125S modded to a 'CB200S'
  I love the small ones too !
Do your BEST...nobody can take that away from you.