[Ruby Racing]

Thanks for that. I was thinking of mounting my small fairing and lights to the forks (and may still do it) so it turns with the bars, but for now have gone down the route of using the existing mounting points in the frame intake area that's between the yokes, as this is how the fairing I am mounting attaches on the donor bike, so it makes things simpler for fabricating.

 

[Ruby Racing]

Day 18

Day 18

Finally I have been able to do some more work on the bike. Just to quickly recap, on 27 March I had my first race of the year at Snetterton. Unfortunately at the end of the first lap of the first race someone crashed right in front of me at Russells Chicane. I had nowhere to go and crashed into his bike at about 30mph. The outcome was a collarbone broken in three places and the end of the bone smashed off. I had an operation to plate it with seven screws on 9 April. It's only now that I have been able to use my left arm, but only to hold light weighted things. Luckily I am right handed!

Before the accident I had managed to make a speedo adapter plate with a piece of 3mm aluminium I had kicking around the garage. It did the job and amazingly the speedo was nice and level when fitted, but there were too many unnecessary bits of metal poking out from behind. Basically it was too big. So yesterday I marked out the metal that I could remove and set to with a hacksaw and file. The result is what you see in the photo. There is just one bit that is obvious (top left of speedo) once mounted, but there is no getting around this. Once it's painted black it will be much more unobtrusive.

It was at this point I realised I had a problem. Bit of a Catch 22 situation. To mount the adapter plate on the new bikini fairing mount I have to attach it BEFORE fitting the speedo as I can't get at two of the three bolts that hold it in place because the speedo will be in front of them. However, the speedo must be fitted to the adapter plate BEFORE the adapter plate fits to the bikini fairing mount as there is one screw on the rear of the speedo that holds it securely in the rubber mounts. It would probably be safe without this screw, but I'd rather do it properly. Doh! Hadn't thought that one through. Luckily I came up with the answer. Quite quickly for me it has to be said. I would just get the two hidden screws on the right hand side welded into place. Sorted.

I've used some penny washers to lift the speedo bracket away from the bikini fairing mount, far enough so that the locating pins on the back of the speedo can go all the way through the rubber mounts. These washers will be replaced with some aluminium spacers that I will make up during my welding class. Probably 3mm thick, but may have to go slightly thicker.

A small job I did was to remove the clip ons, then torque up the headstock nuts. Before that I disconnected the brake hose from the master cylinder and then mounted this on the new upright Renthal bars. Last week I also measured up the length of brake hose I would need for the front brake. Had got quotes from three suppliers, although getting the fittings I require seems to be a problem. One company cant do the same banjos that are on the right caliper. Their solution is not as elegant as OE. Another supplier doesn't seem to able to read my requirements, so I'm getting a bit miffed with them. Luckily I was at my local Triumph dealers after a hospital visit, so checked out the Street Triple R he had in the showroom. Looks to me that the master cylinder and calipers are the same as that fitted to the Daytona, so if the hose is long enough I'll just order the Triumph part. Fingers crossed.

Next up was to cut a couple of holes in the bikini fairing mount so that the loom that attaches to the speedo could, er, attach to the speedo! This was a quick job with the Dremmel. As I mentioned previously this routing means the speedo sits as close as possible to the bikini fairing mount which looks much better than my original idea of raising the mount at least 20mm and having the loom bend sharply behind. I wasn't happy about having this bend in terms of possibly shortening the life of the loom at that bend and also the loom would have been much more visible and therefore untidy. Not the look I'm after.

Last job of the day was to make a small aluminium bracket to hold the air pressure sensor that sits in the nose of the Daytona above the lights. I was lucky that I could mount it in the same place on the new bikini fairing mount. This was made out of an L shaped piece of thin aluminium also kicking around the garage. I think I found it in a van I hired some years ago. Never throw anything away me! Drives Mrs Ruby Racing nuts! I'll probably paint this when I paint the speedo mount, but once the bikini fairing is in place it will be completely hidden.

Not sure what I can do next. Probably fit the longer throttle cable and do some cleaning. We'll see what the arm allows.

 

[k_petty]

Good to see ya back at it!

 

[Ruby Racing]

Good to see ya back at it!

Cheers k_petty, thanks for the feedback. Good to be back as I've been going nuts just watching TV, surfing the Net and reading. It may only be one handed spannering, but at least it's spannering.

Next up I hope to change the throttle cable and change the cam cover over. Might have found that I can order the long brake line for a Street Triple R, so that will solve my problems, just need to measure again. Measure twice, cut once as the old adage goes.

 

[Ruby Racing]

Day 19

Day 19

When I finished working today I stepped back to see what I had done. Not a great deal really! I put the Street Triple throttle cable on and the black cam cover. Yup that's it! It was a bit involved though. To get at the cam cover I needed to undo the throttle cable, but I could only do that by removing the injector assembly. This wasn't a problem, because as I said I had to change the throttle cable anyway. Bit of a bad design to have to remove the injectors though. On my GSX-R1000 K6 race bike you only have to lift the tank and the cables attach at one end of the injectors and are above the line of the frame. Dead easy and quick.

Getting the injectors off was a bit of a pain in the rear also. The injectors slip into rubber tubes which attach to the head. The fit is snug and then they are held in place with Jubilee Clips to keep them there. Now these are undone and done up by attaching a 3mm Allen Key to the screw that tightens them up. The one on the right is OK but the one in the middle is very hard to see. Luckily I have a bendy screwdriver so I got to it. The one on the left couldn't be got at with the bendy screwdriver because of the angle of the screw. So I had to undo that one with an Allen Key. As it was such a tight fit I could only turn the key about an eighth of a turn and then had to take it out and put it back in for the next turn. All this with only being able to get my fingertips on the Allen Key. Man that took some time and some swearing.

Then I tried to prise off the injectors, but they wouldn't budge. I thought it was because I could only use my good arm, so struggled for a while before undoing the Jubilee Clips some more. Ahhh. That did the trick. Off they came. Then I removed the air bleed hoses on the top of the cam cover. After that I attacked the cam cover. Only six bolts holding this on, most of which were rusty (after approximately 5,000 miles from new. That's a bit crap). I cleaned and painted those with some exhaust paint. Then I removed the air bleed valves to put them in the new cam cover. They were a tight fit in the original cam cover, but not so tight in the new cam cover. Hmmmm. Hope that won't be a problem. They're not going anywhere though, as they are held securely in place. I had bought a new cam cover gasket to be on the safe side, although the original would probably have been fine.

I changed the cam covers because I really dislike the golden brown colour of the original. I got hold of a new cam cover off eBay and it cost me the grand total of £3! I checked with my dealer. A new one is about £130. I think I was the only bidder and it was a garage that was selling it off. Guess not many people need new cam covers. The side casings are also going to change. I'm hoping I can just use paint stripper for those and then just leave an unpolished aluminium finish.

So apart from a bit more measuring up of the front bikini fairing mount, that's all I did. Can't believe it took about 6 hours! Still it was an enjoyable 6 hours and nice to be able to do some spannering again.

 

[Ruby Racing]

Day 20

Day 20

Got a fair bit done recently. I've sanded down the speedo adapter plate to give it a smoother finish. I used some Nitromors paint stripper on the old cam cover to see if it would take the paint off. It does, but only if I use something abrasive to help the removal process. This has the effect of polishing the aluminium which I don't want. I tried using just a rag, but this isn't rough enough. What little it did take off gave me the result I was hoping for: a nice matt aluminium finish. I think I will have to investigate getting the cases bead blasted, as I'm told this will do what I want.

Most of my time has been spent fitting the bikini fairing mount. My first position was OK, but I wanted it closer and higher. To raise it I had to get my welding teacher to cut 20mm off the top and add 20mm to the bottom of the plates which sit in side the air intake in the headstock. This was as high as I could go as the bottom of the ignition barrel is as close as possible. This also meant I had clearance issues with my brake lever if I had it set as low as I like it. So I raised it a bit and then moved the mount backwards. It actually goes downwards slightly so this helped with the clearance issues with the brake lever.

I had to remove one of the screws that hold the bikini mount together, otherwise the ignition barrel would hit and I would not be able to turn the bars. You can see in the pictures where it has been removed. Good old Dremmel!

To cut a long story short I tried three positions, moving backwards 25mm from where I started. Much happier with this positioning. You can see the amount of holes I had to drill in the plates, which also had to have a thread tapped in them. That's the shot with the plate in the vice. The speedo is very close to the clutch and throttle cable, so I'm hoping this won't present a problem. I'll find out once I get her running again. I think that could be soon as I just need to get the new longer brake hose on (I've ordered a Triumph OE hose for a Street Triple R) and sort out the wiring for the lights and indicators (just ordered another block connector).

I also went to fit the loom guide that sits on the left of the headstock near the Factory plate. This is an OE item from a Street Triple so I assumed it was a direct fit. Wrong! The bottom hole doesn't line up. Had to ponder that one. Eventually I bent the loop outwards then drilled a hole for the screw that also holds the bikini fairing secure. Once I had the screw in place I could bend the loop back up. Sorted. Or so I thought. I couldn't now fit the loom in place as the screw was in the way. After a bit more thought I realised I would have to mount the cable guide first, then bend the bottom loop outwards, drop the loom in then bend the loop back up. Not an ideal solution, but I shouldn't be taking things apart all the time once I'm finished. At least I hope not, I just wanna ride.

My final problem I need to solve is the hole left between the top of the speedo and the top of the bikini fairing. It's the area I have outlined in red in one of the pics. I can't move the speedo up any higher for a couple of reasons, so that's out of the question. So as Jean Luc Picard was fond of saying on the bridge of Enterprise when they all had about 30 seconds before some huge event would wipe them from the face of the Universe: "Suggestions?"

 

[k_petty]

Maybe a bit of carbon fiber? A plate that shape, which could be a place to mount a switch or something. Or possibly an emblem, your coat-of-arms perhaps?

 

[Ruby Racing]

Maybe a bit of carbon fiber? A plate that shape, which could be a place to mount a switch or something. Or possibly an emblem, your coat-of-arms perhaps?

Good suggestion thanks.

I should have said I plan to make another speedo bracket which will be raised so that it follows the outline of the fairing at the top. Then I can mount some sort of instrument, something round or with a rounded top so that it looks like it's meant to be there. Initially I thought I could mount the GPS there, but it's too small a space. An ambient temperature gauge could be quite uesful. I've seen a battery LED volt meter that might suit. But you folks may have some better ideas. I'm all ears!

 

[blackStreettriple]

Sorry if I am being daft but can you not put either a thin piece of plastic cut to the exact shape of the cowl and mount it between the metal bracket and the speedo? Or even better a flat sheet of rigid carbon fibre cut tot he exact shape??

 

[Ruby Racing]

Sorry if I am being daft but can you not put either a thin piece of plastic cut to the exact shape of the cowl and mount it between the metal bracket and the speedo? Or even better a flat sheet of rigid carbon fibre cut tot he exact shape??

If I understand you correctly that's what I plan to do by extending the speedo mounting bracket. This will give me a sturdy base to attach something and thus fill the void.

So can anyone suggest some sort of instrument to fill that void? Must be someone out there with more imagination than me! It's the area in red on the photo that needs filling.

I did think about this battery condition LED gauge, but not sure I want bright LED's constantly on.

 

[Grumpy_Trumpy]

Seeing as I haven't looked into it, you could always sus out running a fuel guage or ACTUAL temp guage (not just bar indicators)?! I found it silly that our bikes, daytona & STriples have every other little gadget but no FUEL Amount/Bars or actual Temperature.

This is something I plan on looking into in the future! Whether or not it can be done/has been done is another story but that is just something extra I feel the bikes could have definitely had!

Otherwise buy a single DIN headunit with a built in screen & wire that bad boy direct to your battery with some plug in/out speakers for the helmet when you ride the long trips!! chuckles

Btw, did I read that you might be mounting the lights/guages, etc to the bars so that it all moves together?! I know people have done something similar BUT the reason I ask is, that all the people who have chosen to run clippons on the STriples have clearance issues with stuff touching lock to lock! I can only imagine if everything moved together, we wouldn't have that problem & thus, be able to use the visor/fly screen still - just so you know, with clipons & standard mounted headlights/guages, they can be made to clear, but not enough so that the visor can stay on! An item I feel I'd like to keep if I ever put clipons on my bike!

& breathe!! End rant! Good luck with it all mate.
Daniel.

 

[Ruby Racing]

Interesting ideas there thanks. I don't worry about fuel gauges as I tend to reset the trip meter when I fill up, so I know how far I can go on a tank.

I haven't got clip ons fitted, so no issues there. The bikini fairing seems to be OK mounted to the headstock so I shall be sticking with that. Got it as close as possible and it's looking good.

Did 8 hours solid today in the garage. Only stopped for two bananas and a chocolate bar! Report coming very soon.

 

[teriyakimonkey]

Just checking in with you to see how it's going. I STILL haven't started with mine yet! Have you mounted the fuses and relays yet and if so where did you put them? How different is the Street airbox cover to the Daytona one?

 

[Twite]

Great read! Learned a few things that will save me time in the future!

 

[benroe]

man, this thing should be on the road by now!! hurry up and get it ready for some pics!!

 

[Ruby Racing]

Just checking in with you to see how it's going. I STILL haven't started with mine yet! GOING VERY WELL THANKS

Have you mounted the fuses and relays yet and if so where did you put them? SEE DAY 4 ON PAGE 5

How different is the Street airbox cover to the Daytona one? SEE DAY 1 ON PAGE 2

On holiday in England at the moment. Latest reports will be posted when I get back after 13 June. Be patient boys and girls. we're getting close............

 

[Ruby Racing]

man, this thing should be on the road by now!! hurry up and get it ready for some pics!!

How good are you at wielding spanners with a broken collar bone? :blech2:

 

[benroe]

How good are you at wielding spanners with a broken collar bone? :blech2:

:laugh:

 

[Ruby Racing]

:laugh:

That might have sounded like a threat, it wasn't, sorry. I'm the one getting over a broken collar bone.

But you knew that coz you have read ALL the posts, haven't you? I hope so, coz there'll be questions later and anything less than 80% correct answers and you fail! :biggrinjester:

 

[benroe]

That might have sounded like a threat, it wasn't, sorry. I'm the one getting over a broken collar bone.

But you knew that coz you have read ALL the posts, haven't you? I hope so, coz there'll be questions later and anything less than 80% correct answers and you fail! :biggrinjester:

Its OK. :cool2: I know you are in the process of healing. That's why it's so funny. I have the beginnings of carpel tunnel from my 1st career as an industrial mechanic. You really need that strong shoulder to move around in weird positions and to get that extra bit of torque out of the wrench.