First Kick!

There are things that we classic mechanical types get a kick from and at the top of the Iist is that first fire-up! And when it starts first kick, it is an even sweeter moment. ..

2020-06-15 -

G'day! Last time the engine was in and we were a happy team. Since then I have hooked it all up, but it was far from smooth sailing.

My first job was to clean those Mikuni Tm32mm SS carburettors up. They are a complex carb, way ahead of their time. These ones had been modified and most likely caused the huge engine blow-up. They run a solenoid-controlled air jet set up, where there is a bank of various air jets controlled by twin solenoids, that are in turn controlled by a throttle position sensor and rpm via a computer.

There are three air jets for each carb. The centre jet remains open and the other two are solenoid controlled. These introduce air to the emulsion tubes and lean the bike out at low rpm, increasing torque and making the 3MA more useful on the streets.

A popular mod is to disconnect them and run a single air jet, either in an extended plastic hose tapped into an alloy insert or by drilling out the plug in the carb bodies, tapping a thread/fitting and an air jet to each. This is good for track use, when combined with race pipes and air-box snorkel removal - but only if jetted correctly.

On Darren's bike, someone had simply taken the hoses off and disconnected the solenoids, basically leaving a mammoth 3mm hole in each carb that would normally be controlled by the air jets! This is just an amazingly silly thing to do and no wonder it blew up.

For the sake of nice running in town, we are going back to running the solenoids and the air-box with a stock filter, but with the race pipes. Jetting is currently roughly set by the previous owner with only a two size step-up on main jet, stock pilots and the stock 3MA1 jet needle on standard second clip. There are loads of jetting settings on line, but I prefer to do my own jetting so we will be hitting the proving ground I use to run in and set up the bike. Same place we tested the Turbo bikes some time ago.

Anyway, I sorted the carb issue and re-plumbed up the solenoids, plus replaced some of the fuel lines. There are more hoses on this bike than any motorcycle I have ever worked on aside from the RZV500R. There are cables, hoses, wires and stuff everywhere and no room for the air-box, so I had to spend two full workshop days just routing everything as per the manual - plus repairing the very damaged and butchered wiring loom ...

I eventually ironed out dozens of small issues with the bike and got it ready for start-up. This involved fitting the radiator and fluids sans air-box, to give me plenty of space to check for leaks and re-torque the head, etc.

The first good sign as I hooked up fuel was that the carbs didn't flood. I cracked the drain screws and let some fuel flush through them, then added water and finally gearbox oil. After triple-checking everything, I fitted the new battery and switched the bike on. No YPVS cleaning routine happened: bummer. Plus, water dripping from the water-pump cover...

I slowly kicked the bike through a few cycles to lube the top-end up a bit then pulled the choke on and with one swift kick the 3MA fired up and immediately began to idle beautifully. What a moment! I switched the bike off and sent a short video of the start-up to Darren's phone and he was at my place within minutes. I told him to fire it up again and we would warm it up and put it through a few heat cycles, which we did, all while smoking out the street!

There were smiles all round and to celebrate I headed straight to the beer fridge and proceeded to work on my beer belly. It was a big workout. I could see the results the next morning. Hard work is the only way to achieve the perfect Dad body: there are no shortcuts. Trust me!

Over the next few days I went right over the bike again. I sorted the YPVS issue - it was a wiring problem and took another day to sort. The water-pump cover leak was a quick fix. I then had the job of fitting the air-box and correctly routing the cables around it. After that I fixed the brakes up and went over the bike one more time to check for leaks and make sure everything was tight and shipshape. It was all good and now the bike is ready for the aftermarket fairings and repainted fuel tank, then we will head out to run the beauty in!

Next time we de-commission the speed restriction, fit the bodywork, and head to the track with fresh fuel, some jets and a set of tyre warmers!

?? ?? 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ fitted new o-rings and gaskets, of course, when fitting the Jackal pipes. These things weigh nothing and sound awesome! Darren stripped and rebuilt the mufflers and they came up like new. He then had the expansion chambers bead-blasted and sprayed with heatproof satin black paint. They came up nice! — 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ fitted new o-rings and gaskets, of course, when fitting the Jackal pipes. These things weigh nothing and sound awesome! Darren stripped and rebuilt the mufflers and they came up like new. He then had the expansion chambers bead-blasted and sprayed with heatproof satin black paint. They came up nice!

9/ Time to celebrate after a four-month rebuild and a successful start-up and run ... 10/ Brand new chain and sprockets went on. we stuck to standard gearing. 11/ 1 discovered these block-offs in the balance pipe that goes between the inlet manifolds and promptly took them out. re-joining the hose with alloy pipe. I'm glad I checked.