FUEL’S GOLD!
With every week that passes Bruce’s Moto3 bike looks more and more like a race bike…
Like anything, you sometimes regret getting involved in something, be it a relationship, job, or Moto3 project. But sometimes all you need is a glimmer of hope to make you remember why it is you got cracking on that road in the first place, which is how I feel right now having spent a bit of time on the project. We’re still a hell of a way off the finish line, but we have made some really good progress.
One thing I’m really excited about is the fuel cell. The plan is to utilise the original Suzuki tank with a box welded to the top to increase the capacity which Chaddy has been cracking on with nicely. We were going to cut the top off the original tank and weld the top on but we decided to just drill holes in the top of the original tank, so it acts as a kind of baffle plate to stop the fuel sloshing around. We haven’t got the filler cap fitted on yet, but that’s just a case of cutting a hole in the top of the ally tank and welding it in place.
Once the aluminium fuel cell is in place it’s finished off by a fibreglass cover that Clive has been busy with. We tried a few different options but couldn’t find anything that we were happy with so we’ve decided to take a VFR400 tank cover and butcher it to fit. And when I say ‘butcher it to fit’, what I actually mean is that Clive has carefully and accurately reshaped and resized the entire unit.
The problem with the VFR cover is that it’s too wide at the head stock end so he has cut four inches out of the front down to nothing at the back in a V shape. The result is something that really looks as though it belongs on the bike. It’s not quite finished yet, it still needs fibre glassing back up and filling etc. but the tricky part of that particular job is all but done.
Now the fuel cell is just about there, plans are afoot to start work on a custom air-box that will sit behind the tank. We are debating whether or not to try and make it work with the original air filter, but owing to the fact that a motocross filter is designed to stop mud and sand, and we are yet to see a Moto3 off-road championship, it may be prudent to look for something more appropriate for road racing. So I’ve been tasked with seeing what is available on the market, which we can adapt and butcher as needed to work on the Suzuki.
Following on from last month, we’ve just about designed a system to hang the foot pegs. It’s going to be a right pain in the arse because of the shape of the frame, but the idea will be to mount some off the shelf rearsets to a custom-made plate, mounted to the chassis. It’s going to be a hell of a thing because of how far back the ’pegs need to be.
As soon as the rearsets land we can have a measure up and see exactly how it’s going to work.
Something else we are waiting for is the exhaust. We know exactly what we are going to fit but until we can offer it up and really see what it looks like we aren’t sure how far back it ought to sit. Chaddy is going to fabricate us a link pipe out of two inch titanium but that stuff is top dollar so we want to fix the end can something like in place and minimise the amount of titanium needed. Chaddy, Neil and Clive are all working so hard on the bike and the speed they are moving with it only goes to highlight my incompetence as a parts supplier, because it’s often been a case of me holding the guys up. They did always tell me at school that I must try harder. Maybe I should have listened.
Now the bike is starting to look like a bike we have been having a look at how we are going to dress it. It’s probably not worth putting too much thought into this until Clive has finished modifying the TYGA fairings but one thing that has been having us scratching our heads is how we are going to attach the bodywork to the bike.
The sides shouldn’t be too difficult as we can probably get into the fixing holes utilised by the Suzuki’s plastics, it may just be a case of making some spacers or small brackets. Where we might have had a problem is fixing the front of the nose cone. There is absolutely nothing there to fix to and I had no idea what to suggest. Luckily, Neil is way more cleverer than I is, so he was able to suggest we weld a plate to the front of the head stock allowing us to fix a bracket to hold the nose cone.
I have learnt that sometimes the most important steps you take on this kind of build aren’t the things you can see in pictures. It’s the discussions you have when you are stood looking at the thing which lead to the decisions about how that fuel tank is going to fit, or where we are going to hang the end can from.
Lord knows we have had some decisions to make about this bike and although when you start you have an idea what you want the end result to be, really it’s those little chats that shape the outcome. And we’ve got plenty more of those chats to come.
Anyway you will have to forgive me for getting all philosophical, I’ve had a bit of a cold the past few days and I think the Lemsip Max must be going to my head. I knew I should have stayed off the hard stuff.