Well, Im still here and right now the bike is in bits with about 3 weeks until I kick off my 2021 race season. I never did make it to the big show at Barber in October, thanks to Hurricane Delta. The guys I talked to got drenched, and to me thats no fun, nor am I a huge fan of riding in the driving rain. Needless to say, the itch to go racing is pretty bad right now.
I had another crushing blow in the form of a destroyed cam chain tensioner (stock Honda this time, not the Cappellini from last time, try to keep up
). I had the head checked over by JMR and got a clean bill of health on springs and guides so its ready for another season, minus a few time serts that need to be installed.
I pulled the cases apart to take a look at my MessnerMoto primary tensioner to see how it was holding up and it looked great, with no discernable wear on the top slider or the bottom tensioner. I did notice some interesting wear on the crank bearings on the alternator side, worn down to the copper. So new green bearings were ordered and coated with Calico CT-1 dry film for some reportedly excellent wear resistance and additional lubricity. I also had the cased line lapped and checked by Kenny at Cycle X just to be sure that part of the equation was all good to go. He gave the cases a clean bill of health and they are headed back now.
The rest of the bike just needed some good old fashioned cleaning and elbow grease to get up to snuff. My front brake rotor performed flawlessly last year, giving as much confidence as the cast iron before it, so that system will simply get a fresh fluid change and be good.
I have also taken to building a swingarm similar to the CMR units, but with my own take on things. Unfortunately, with Denis passing I wasn't able to get in the queue to have mine built. It has been a pretty simple process, though taking a lot of time. The whole unit is 1x2 4130 chromoly with tapered roller bearings for the pivot. All the final welding and fittings (shock mounts, brake torque arm stay, paddock stand bungs and chain slider) are set to be welded up early next week.
The only other major component that needed some love was the bodywork. I finally had a proper seat cover made up (thanks Mom!) and had the bike all painted. Now the seat, tank and front fender are covered in Subaru World Rally Blue, with the appropriate stickers added of course.
A few pictures for your enjoyment!
22 days...