got everything i could get done off the bike. its not all that much but its all that could be done without knowing the lengths required.



yeah thats everything kind of in place, the icm mostly wired into everything, just going at it plug by plug.



looks messy but its quite simple, all the wires go to the RHS of the frame and go where they're meant to go... y'know as wiring does haha



the switchgear all follows down the LHS of the air box where it joins to the main harness. speedo and coil feeds down the RHS. relays and icm under riders seat. fusebox under the pillion seat.

anyway, getting there... its quite heavy going but you just have to be methodical about it. emulating the old loom is handy for reference but it piles on the amount of work, if i ever choose to do this again (with another bike) i'll take a slightly different approach. as part of the prep work i made note of all the colours that go to each connector, i think next time ill make notes wire by wire instead so i can lay it all down without having to think about keeping the blocks in order. the problem with going block by block is that you have to take considerations for wires that haven't yet been gathered in place as they're fixed elsewhere, wouldn't be an issue if you bought an abundance of wire though.

i'll have to go back into this at some point to re-crimp the chunkier terminals, the tools i have only just do the job and no more. i have total confidence in the crimps however id like to avoid any long term potential problems from occurring, after all that was the whole purpose of re-wiring it in the first place. if you're going to do it, do it right, right?

//

got an oldschool tip, use hairspray on the terminals to help prevent corrosion. this also stands true for brake disks if they are going to be sitting for prolonged periods.

now, back to the grindstone.

 

haven't spent a huge amount of time on her this week, been busy busy busy but starting to get to a point where the end is in sight so long as i haven't made any heinous mistakes.



looks hectic but its just organised clutter



all the connectors coming together, handful left to deal with then its just a case of running everything to ground and splicing where needed.

then its battery in, ignition on and hope for the best.



really am fed up of seeing her in bits, hoping to get a mellow run in this weekend and make some noise.

might have purchased a set of 38mm carbs on the cheap, thats going to be a bit of fun when i get round to it. looking at a set of (what appear to be titanium) 929 headers that I'm awfully tempted to buy, kind of waiting for someone to confirm that they are if fact titanium as standard on the 929/954, Conrice when you pop up haha you're likely to know . would put a hold back on the tasty f2 swingarm I've been eying up though. but they're priced just right.

 

Last nights endeavours.



got all the connecter blocks finished, theres a 3 or 4 splices to still be made though. left to do is just splice all the green wires into ground and join everything at the fuse box, think theres just one wire left to run to the fusebox and thats for the headlight. then... its good to start! after it starts and runs then of course i have to tidy all the wires up.

decided that I'm removing the air valve solenoid and relay from the circuit, its a shame as i had planned on developing a controllable unit for when the speed sensor is changed or for tweaking when it switches to secondary but the decision has been made.

never underestimate just how much time this takes in forethought never mind actually getting to grips with it and triple checking everything is correct as you go along haha I've put a ridiculous amount of hours into this.



spiral wrapping on the indicator wires heading to the front. spiral wrap is awesome just for the record. need to tidy it up a wee bitty though.

now, theres always a downside isn't there... i managed to lose my notes on the speedo wiring between the house and the shed (500 yards or so) hahaha haven't managed to get the instructions online either. got instructions for the model below mine though so I'm going to risk it on the main bits, it will leave a couple of idiot lights not attached but i'll just have to put power to the wires I'm uncertain about and see what they do won't i. wasted far too many hours hunting for that sheet of paper last night. pain in the hoop.

and heres some good stuff, just scored titanium 929 headers and what looks like a stainless link pipe cheaper than what it would cost for a link pipe alone, couldn't miss the offer so that sets back the swing arm again. its going to need a good bit of tweaking, I'm going to need to at least blank the (honda exup equivalent) valve, might be able to remove the section. a fair bit of bending to get it sitting just right with the engine is going to be needed, but i can deal with that when it comes. no intentions of tackling that until stage 2 of the build. going to be a bit smart though. wouldn't it be nice to have the funds to batter the whole build out in a one'r. its a 4-2-1. ti then stainless link.

so early blade carbs and 929 headers are ready for stage2, lots of big plans but they split into 3 stages, still need to decide where I'm drawing the line between the two and wether or not i ever get as far as stage 3 with it, which will be beyond overkill and ridiculous bearing in mind that its a heavy steel framed 600 that I'm pouring time and resources into.

also i may have a surprise coming in a week or so

 

I don't really know for sure. Sure that's what everyone says (including Honda), but I wouldn't know how much titanium is in them. Didn't Knife Maker weld on his set?
He'd have a good idea of what material it is.


I have a set, if you want me to weigh it though.

 

hey man, yeah the wording is what throws me and everyone has a different stance on it.

firstly ''The HTEV (Honda Titanium Exhaust Valve)'' when spoken about from the honda perspective thats often whats noted.

-

anywhere that has spec sheets list the system as stainless.

-

some places say its a full ti system.

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my observations from looking at them are that, the headers show typical fast bluing signs of titanium but what gets me is that the corrosion doesn't look consistent with them being ti, looks more consistent with stainless corrosion.

-

not entirely sure what the deal is but I've committed to a set. the best breakdown i found of the system was as follows

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''And of course there is the weight thing. Yes, indeed the 929 comes with a Full TiTanium System. Well, that full Ti System is actually pretty heavy. 22 lbs total weight on the (49 State) models. Even More on the California model w/ Caty. Converter. How is that possible you ask?? Well, the Truth is, to be called a Full TiTanium system you only have to have a Majority of the metal be TiTanium. In other words, you could have 40% Ti , 39% Stainless and 21% Aluminum. Also take into account that the HTEV is SOLID Metal. w/ a Ceramic Valve and the Canister is of course Stainless Steel w/ a Alum. Sleeve.''

CBR929RR / CBR954RR Information

just throws me man, information wise the hard racing guys have decent independent content but it contradicts even what honda say about the valve to some extent.

im guessing its a hybrid ti, i'll have a mess about with them and see what i can deduct. i know stainless becomes magnetic when struck with steel and that titanium gives white sparks when ground.

22lbs in weight for the full system apparently, which is 9.9 kg and actually quite heavy for what it is, the valve must have some weight to it, most stainless headers weigh in at around 2-3kg from what I've seen, kinda expecting the headers themselves to be abut 1-1.5kg. i'll weigh the individual components when they come through, just because I'm curious really.

i think knifemaker had the ti welded initially by someone else so he could make a stainless collector himself, can't remember off the top of my head.

cheers for the reply dude, so many opposing takes on it, just a bit of a mystery to me.

 

// good news is that i made some great progress yesterday, got the wiring basically finished, just need to add the speedo in.



knocked this hanger together quickly, nothing fancy, just something to do the job short term.



thought id show the splicing work, used the 'lineman's splice' its one of those that pull themselves tighter when you tug them.



finished them off with a spot of solder and heatshrink. also cable tied places in which more than one wire joins just for extra security.

//

so the bad news, got everything together, went to start it and... starter spins but no spark haha so back to square one but atleast this time round i know exactly how to deal with the problem. at 4am without a multimeter... theres not much you can do about it so called it a day at that.

I'm hoping its just down to either a misplaced wire or that I've not bridged something, that would be an easy fix. my only concern is that I've increased the gauge of wire that was originally in place, yes this means less resistance but it also means its harder work for the current to get to where its going as theres more area to cover. it should still get there though, just slower so if anything i would have thought that it would just put the timing out by microseconds not stop it completely. not really sure what to think of it right now but the multimeter will tell all.

anyway, took the day off from the cbr today and got a hand to drop the ace's engine.



one rolling(ish) chassis. actually well impressed by how light the frame is! genuinely in shock, i know its alloy but still. may look at alloy replacement frames in the future for the f3 motor and bits. or maybe ill pick up a wrecked f4/i/rr on the cheap. dunno, just throwing ideas about my head haha.



one old exup motor, also surprisingly light, i'd guess it were in the 60-70kg region much the same as the f3's.

busy day but back to the f3 tomorrow with electrical notes in hand to draw comparisons.

 

And if Honda were to use some higher priced materials, you can bet they'd error on the side of making it thick enough (and thus heavy) to avoid warranty issues. The aftermarket isn't constrained by that, so the stainless they use is really thin. Its lighter, and easier to use than some complicated alloy.

Those headers do look good though, the way they curve...

All you really need is a 80-80-80 spaced set of headers, basically any Jap I-4 that's water cooled. Most of the head pipe diameters are the same. And with Google, its easy to double check on it.

 

can't fault that logic haha must say I've never really looked into exhaust spacings, materials and whatnot. a bit of a mystery to me but yeah man i'll have a read up on that, purely out of curiosity.

decided to take a full day away from all bikes, must admit I've been at a bit of a loss. hopefully crack on tomorrow again, see if i can get to the bottom of this bugger not sparking (again) I'm actually starting to wonder if its coincidental that I've landed back into a no spark scenario.

but yeah in the meantime please ban me from the internet so i can stop being indecisive haha not a fan of italian bikes however I've spotted a tail that i really like, ducati 748 / 916



// the r1 tail only came to be because it was available, I've pointed that out previously but thats it. its length really bugs me the more i look at it, even on the r1 itself its ridiculously long. debating wether i should sell the r1 tail as a set and take profit then pick up a 748 race tail, kinda reckon it would suit the f3 much more. actually i saw it on a 'hawk gt / highway hawk' is it? actually i think we got it in the form of a nt600 or something, dunno its some honda twin with a vfr looking frame haha and despite it being angled wrong it looks pretty sweet.



ohhhh the temptations. kind of realised i was trying to achieve one thing now r1 tail + retain 2up function) just to shoot for something different (single seater + lightweight) come next summer which is just backwards thinking. oh i need to make some decisions and stop ***** footing around making a commitment. either way I'm loving the 916 / 748 tails especially in single piece race form. decisions, decisions eh.

on another note the 600rr is a really nice tail, just feels a little overdone at the moment though. its like the obvious choice.

 

decisions decisions, well sold the tail for good money bought a couple of things and due to unforeseen circumstances had to refund the guy... failed to tell me he was outside the area i was wiling to post to. which is the difference between £4 & £20. needless to say I wasn't shelling out £20 nor was he. so I'm out of pocket until it sells again haha




quick concept of what id like to do. using premade parts largely restricts it though. just messing around thought id show it. stage 3 of the build i may end up going for it and making a fibreglass or carbon unit.



battled with the idea of race tails and this or that for far too long but being the best of both decided on using the RR7 tail, i like its profile, length and but most importantly it was decent money. on the downside that generation didn't have the oh so desirable vents in it. its a loss but not the end of the world. also purchased an oem seat.

will need to gather the other gubbins and figure a way to mount the cowl so that can still access the mounting points for the tail and under rear seat area as I'm not running a pillion seat.

found this as well, looks like the 03-06rr brake light can be modified to fit the 07/08rr meaning no need for the massive stock mudguard where the stock item is fitted below its undertail exhaust rather than above and inside the tail.

Problem with fitment - Triage Integrated Light on an 08 600rr - 600RR.net

//







look what turned up, will just be going into storage for now mind but damn... titanium headers light. going to take the valve off and check the weights out of curiosity.

headers: just shy of 3kg but it feels like nothing.

valve casing: just shy of 1.5kg

link pipe: 6.4 kg

taking it to about 9.9kg in total.

the valve casing gives about 4'' that can be removed in length if need be though, kinda like having that kind of adjustability.

//

unfortunately the bikes not going anywhere at the moment, battling a 2nd bout of no spark. really am wondering if it was just chance that landed it to start before the rewire. pulse generator functions as does the spare, cdi unit functions as i had it running prior to the rewire on it + the spare to make sure it worked. everything is connected as it should be, everything has continuity. neither of the coils are sparking which indicates the issue is further up the line however they can be forced to spark. its like something is stopping the icm unit from sending signal.

i did notice that in the workshop manual it suggests clutch switch and something else that i can't quite remember off the top of my head. i guess the issue could lay there however i have bridged those elements to rule them out yet nothing, thought the clutch switch element was surprising as usually they just cut out the safety switches. the 12 wires are all going where they need to go. its not like I'm blind to the system and I'm fairly confident that know what I'm doing... its frustrating to say the least. got a couple of things to try then its going to be a case of getting a second pair of knowledgeable eyes to double check and hopefully come up with something.

 

38mm carbs turned up, can't identify their year from the markings but i'll pull them apart and check the jet sizes to see wether they are early or late blade ones, early are 115 mains and later are 120 mains i believe. no throttle position sensor. and the choke assembly braket is missing, i'll likely pinch the one of the f3's 36's as its a compatible match. ahwell its another fun toy to be put into storage for the time being.

get it running + tail are priorities + finish little odds and sods like powder coating and the 3 brake pistons seals that need done due to the shops **** up.