Test Day Completed. (a little while ago.. yes I know : ) After speaking to Al about riding the Oilee GSXR it has been all go. Prepping the 600 with modifications to suit Alan and finding some sponsors. I spoke to our Mate Deano about Al and the MotoGP plan and he was keen to help out. Being a motorcycle enthusiast himself his workshop is kitted out so we decided to transport the bike to the new Oilee Workshop. For Al to ride the bike we need all the controls to be mounted on the left hand side. (Duuuhh!) Everything had to be safe, operational, comfortable but also have a range of adjustment available for testing. We chose to source a clutch master cylinder to operate the front brakes. Most hydraulic clutches have a small bore piston, we needed to find a 19mm bore. Turns out a Nissan item originally fitted to the Hayabusa range was found to do the job. A throttle mechanism originally for a dirt bike was grabbed and the fun began. With Al living miles away it was all about guess work when it came to re positioning the front brake, throttle and clutch. Cables were re routed and a few brackets made. It looked and felt good to us and we had some adjustability for test day. Alot of the wiring loom was tidied up along with new braided lines made to suit. Our sweet Kaneg rearset required modification too. New mounts for the rear brake master cylinder had to be fitted to the left hand side. The gear lever and rear brake had to be incorporated together and fitted. Whilst turning spacers and fabricating brackets we made sure that we created drawings and made a few extra for spares. Positioning of the controls were fitted to how we guessed would be comfortable and we made sure some adjustabilty was available for comfort if we were a little out. Test day at Phillip Island came soon. Riders competing in the last round of the Australian Superbike Series were using the same track time. Turns out Als first time on the bike testing the new set up would be alongside some of the quickest riders in the country.. At this stage we crossed our fingers... The weather was cold and a bit damp during session 1. Our hope in the pits was that Al could at least feel comfortable. When returning, technical feedback was received that his arse hurt lol. Easy fix. We fitted the original road seat which had plenty more foam. Also the positioning of the front brake lever was a little high. We were limited by the amount of adjustment due to the clutch being so close to the fairing but we gave him a few more degrees to play with next run out. But more importantly. I think he liked it. :) Throughout the day time was spent trying to drop the front lever position without the clutch lever fouling on the fairing. Due to the throttle being standard it also required to be twisted alot more to open it fully and obviously close. Thus, when Als hand when shut off and on the brakes ended up in an awkward position when he needed to be tipping into corners. Unfortunately we didnt rectify this 100% but hey. Thats what testing is about. Some small but important things were worked on also. We fitted some impromptu seat and tank pads to help limit Als seating position and played with some suspension changes as we do not have the appropriate springs for Als weight. (Yet) After the chequered flag came out for the second last session we made are way back to the pit garage but Al had not shown up? The ambulance entered the track and we all went quiet.... The recovery vehicle was spotted with 2 bikes on tow and our eyes strained to see if we could make out # 1/2. Yep, there she was getting carted back on the trailer and there was the Ambo heading in our direction.. As usual (:)) Al was fine though scuffed up and the first impression of the bike was that she looked like Al took her Grass Tracking at speed! The other rider involved in the accident spoke to Al and explained what happened. Turns out the other riders bike made contact with Al around about turn 6 and brought both of them off. Lucky nobody was hurt BUT we had a bike to fix. Apart from a damaged fairing, mud and grass everywhere and a few scrapes we felt confident in getting back out there for the last session. We nearly didnt make it as the radiator cap had been impacted and had to be dismantled to be removed. The impact had damaged the neck of the rad and this problem sometimes cannot be fixed BUT! a wee bit of black smithery from Deano to repair the rad and after a new cap was sourced we heated the engine to boiling point. With no leaks we were confident the problem was fixed. That evening we all had a good chat about what would be needed for the next ride. Al will be competing in the 2014 Pirelli Road Race Series Round 3 at Phillip Island at the end of this month so plenty of repairs and mods have been happening at the workshop. My next post I will show some pics of how the bike is coming along and the prep work completed for the next ride. Until then, lets keep our fingers crossed and wish Al all the best whilst competing at a little track in Italy named Mugello. Hes flying there like a Rockstar. Gonna kick ass then fly back here with only a couple of days spare before riding again at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Keep er Lit!
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 09:57:44 +0000
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