As mentioned previously racing
has taken a bit of a back seat, especially whilst I sort out other stuff in my
life, starting a new job in the summer and shortly to be moving house too. But I
have been slowly getting the Rally bike sorted.
You may
recall the slight disaster with the thread on the securing bolt for the cam
shaft feed oil screen, that wound itself
out of the crankcase when I did the oil and filter change. Of course I did see
the positive side, as my inability to do an oil change in Morocco meant that I hadn't had a potential retirement half way through the rally, as I doubt I could have
got it fixed out there.
This was clearly beyond my
workshop capabilities so on my return the bike got taken to Torque Racing
Services,
As an aside, this was also a test
of fitting the EXC in my Mercedes Vito. No problem as I had removed the rear
seats at the time and the navigation tower and fairing had been removed from
the bike. This is the secret of getting it in the “none too tall” Vito.
The fairing was designed right
from the start only to mount on the nav tower itself and nowhere else on the
bike. Also the wiring all goes through a single block connector, for ease of
removal. So it’s simply a matter of removing two bolts and unplugging the
wiring to remove the navigation tower, road book, head lights and fairing all
as one unit. In all it takes about ten minutes to remove or re-fit.
It is a lot easier to do if the
fairing has been removed first and this means removing six bolts that screw into
captive threads in the mounts again designed for ease of removal and fitting
but this does of course mean it takes a bit longer. So the plan is to replace
the bolts with quick release dzus fasteners. In fact this was always the
intention but another of those jobs that I ran out of time to do before the
Tuareg Rally.
The plan with the bike at Torque
was for Martin to fit a Wurth Timesert into the thread, however in the event
the thread size was an odd one and this proved not to be an economical option.
So after trying some alternative solutions such as re-cutting the original
thread but discovering this wouldn't work, he employed the services of a local machine
shop that made a unique solution. An aluminium insert was made that was bonded
into the hole, and threaded to accept a bolt from a later model EXC on the
outside, the oil screen now fitting straight through the insert.
The problem is that the oil
screen fits across the cases and is located inside the securing bolt, however
now the distance has been increased between the fitting inside the cases and
the securing bolt an aluminium adapter was made that plugs into the end of the
oil screen to locate it in the correct place. To assist fitting and removal, a
threaded hole was machined into this, so all you need to do is screw an M6 bolt
into the adaptor to fit or remove the screen, then it can be removed and the
securing bolt fitted. A very neat solution that prevented the alternative… a
new set of crankcases, not a cheap option!
As an added bonus, Martin fitted
new oil filters and new oil to test that the repair was oil tight, so saving me
the effort.
The other weekend I changed the
coolant and despite the fact that I had been topping up the bike with plain
water in Morocco, it still looked fairly healthy and judging by the colour
there was still plenty of coolant left in there.
I also fitted a new stand and
pivot bolt, as you may recall the bolt snapped in Morocco, causing the stand to
fall off! The only downside being that I can’t remember where I put the side
stand spring… I know it came back to the UK but no doubt it’s “somewhere safe”.
Edit: I eventually found it in a box of bits!
The negative bits of the weekend was first the chain, after the rally I had sprayed it with Teflon dry lube that had worked
well in the desert, Unfortunately it didn't cope too well with the journey home
and I guess two ferry crossings hadn't helped, as when I picked up the bike it
was rather rusty! I soaked it in oil for a suitably long time but unfortunately
it is still full of stiff links, so not really fit to go back on the bike. So a
new chain was ordered and is ready to go on the bike.
Next was the battery, after the hammering it got in Morocco I shouldn't have been surprised but even after a long recharge on an Optimate charger it can't turn the engine over, so it looks like I fried it on the rally. Tanya batteries came to the rescue with a reasonably priced Enduroline that as soon as I fitted it, spun the engine over easily. But it wouldn't start! I soon realised this was because I had completely drained down the tank! Note to self.... go buy some petrol.
Also on that list are some new
plastics as it’s currently wearing an old black set that I had saved but they
are looking a bit second hand and in a mixture of white, orange and black, the bike is looking a bit of a miss mash. Although I do have a plan as I have some white sign writing vinyl, that with the aid of a hair dryer I could "wrap" the rear mudguard and side panel in white vinyl, saving a considerable amount of money and providing a "disposable" finish that can be cheaply replaced when necessary. Let's just see if it works!
I also fitted some new lower fork protectors (in white) as the brake hose/speedo cable clamp on the left hand one had stripped the thread and they were looking distinctly second hand too.
So what next? Well there's only one thing for it.... I've entered the Hafren Rally on November 15th