FZR400/YZF600 Hybrid 1st track test report

[China_Racer_1]

FZR400/YZF600 Hybrid 1st track test report
10-26-09
Shanghai – Tianma F-3 Circuit
Turns: 14 (Predominantly left hander’s)
Length: 1.2 Miles
Weather: Sunny slight overcast temp about 23 degrees Celsius
Bikes on track: 10 total, 1 each – 250cc 2 stroke, 2each - 1000cc, 7 each 600cc
Bike tested: FZR 400 Frame / YZF 600cc Engine
Tires: Bridgestone

Time on track: 3 sessions – session #1 was for 10 minutes Session #2 was for 20 minutes, session #3 was for 15 minutes. Short time on track was do to electrical issues that got worked out after the session started.

Issues: Continued issues with the electrical system New parts being fed-ex’ed from USA, should be here Thursday. Main issue with electrical is the Starter relay is out the other relays are jumped to make run and the Black Box is smoking hot possibly due to a grounding issue. Any insight on this black box being so hot please let me know.

Incidents: On slide when I hit some rubber left form the carts that were on the track before me but I did not let off the throttle despite it sliding hooking up and nearly high siding me.

Tires were scrubbed in on a previous session but it was on lap two so they were not quite up to temp yet. If I would have let off the throttle in a survival response I would have high sided for sure. I stayed on the throttle and the bike corrected.

Throttle: I hooked up a ¼ turn throttle and it was not just smooth it was delightful the Keihin 33mm flat slides worked outstandingly well. Coming into and out of turns I could roll it on with smooth response and make her do exactly what I wanted.

Engine: This was a break in period so I did not get her up to full race speed. That will be later in the week at the next open practice. Today I brought her up and down the RPM’s smoothly. Oil and filter change will be done tomorrow.

Cornering: I give it full thumbs up. The Honda F-3 rear wheel sported a 160/60/17tire. The front sported a 120/60/17 tire and is off an 2007 R-6 S model. Only complaint is I believe I want a 120/70/17 on the front which is what I have on order. The qualifying and race tires will be Michelin Power 1 medium compounds 160/60/17 rear with a 10/70/17 front

I have the center of gravity very low on this bike. I will get the actual dry weight but its extremely light. The anti slosh foam seemed to do the trick and I hardly put my knee out and was dragging it around all corners where possible.
It handled like a dream. I am very, very happy with the result of this bike in the cornering capability. The Fox twin clicker did a fine job as well.

Final Words: All in all I can not be happier. I was laughing, smiling, praising God and for a few brief moments when I really opened her up I saw the gates of heaven and even understood the plot of the TV Series “LOST”

Its taken me nearly 2 full years to build this bike with a ton of frustration, let downs, over run costs but in the end those few minutes on the track made it al worth while.
This is the last race bike I plan to build for myself and own. When I die it will be on this bike or with it in running order ready for the next race, sitting in my garage.

Thanks: To all that had their hand in this project form Spyder’s engine build, Mod Kings custom work My race partner Fred’s encouragement and a few ass kicks to keep me motivated and al who offered their expert advice I say thanks. Everyone laughed at me for building this bike over her and could not understand why I did not just get a Fuel injected bike. But I think today and certainly this race weekend they will see why.
But even if they don’t it’s simply because its the bike I wanted to build and wish I had back in the day. Simple as that.

Pics on the way.

[mrfreeze5]

Wow! Sounds like youve had about as much fun with your build as I have with mine. I know that feeling to finally be able to take it out and push it a little and see just how badass of a little bike i is. I had mine in the canyons for the first tim last weekend since the rebuild and it did fantastic. Still needs a little dialing in, but its close. I am tearing mine down this week while the weather is still nice so I can work on it in the absement over the winter as well as get a bunch of stuff powdercoated and make a few changes. Glad to hear yours is doing well. I hope you have some more riding days this year, Im pretty much out for a while. Do you have any action pics of the bike? Id love to build a hybrid track bike. I recently aquired a new FZR that only needs an engine. Im considering turning it into a track ride next year.

Hey, on a side note, on my rearsets, iv got a lot of play in the right brake lever, up and down, and side to side. Half of the movement of the lever is just taking up slack before the plunger starts to depress into the MC. So it makes my rear brake feel really soft and I move my foot a longer distance. Any ideas on tightening that up? Today I am going to the hardware store to pick up a spring wave washer and stick it between the splined part of the lever that goes around the peg and the mount to solve the side to side wobble. But I need to try to firm up the lever feel. Have you had this issue with yours?

[yamaha_george]

Hey, on a side note, on my rearsets, iv got a lot of play in the right brake lever, up and down, and side to side. Half of the movement of the lever is just taking up slack before the plunger starts to depress into the MC. So it makes my rear brake feel really soft and I move my foot a longer distance. Any ideas on tightening that up? Today I am going to the hardware store to pick up a spring wave washer and stick it between the splined part of the lever that goes around the peg and the mount to solve the side to side wobble. But I need to try to firm up the lever feel. Have you had this issue with yours?

Hi,
the wave washer will fix the side play (you can also add a plain washer if the fix is not tight enough ) as to the saggy feel of the pedal it may mean that the push rod is not long enough so you need to adjust the nuts holding it OR you simply need alonger push rod
I have been through this hickup before see :-

http://www.saltmine.org.uk/kgb/yp6.html

You can plainly see the push rod. I simply found a 6mm bolt that was near 70mm long, cut the head off and ground the tip to anice even curve (similar to the original )

HTH

[mrfreeze5]

Here's a visual to help.




Green is at rest, yellow is when the brake begins to engage, red is full pressure. It will just touch the midpipe. Part of the free play in the lever is from side to side motion allowing it to twist slightly along with the up/down play. Im not sure if it is freeplay with the splines on the lever. I need to get these wave washers installed and see how much they help. The lever isnt really saggy, its just loose to a point, then it brakes a little, and then overflexes under hard braking and touches the midpipe with about 3/4 inch or so of extraneous movement downward of the lever. The full compress of the MC is about 2/3 the way to the red line from the yellow. Flex above and below the braking. It just doesnt take much effort to go to full brake and doesnt make a big difference anyway. But Im thinking if I can firm up the lever it wil allow for more feel and feedback.

[yamaha_george]

Here's a visual to help.
Green is at rest, yellow is when the brake begins to engage, red is full pressure. It will just touch the mid'pipe. Part of the free play in the lever is from side to side motion allowing it to twist slightly along with the up/down play. I'm not sure if it is free play with the splines on the lever. I need to get these wave washers installed and see how much they help. The lever isn't really saggy, its just loose to a point, then it brakes a little, and then over flexes under hard braking and touches the midpipe with about 3/4 inch or so of extraneous movement downward of the lever. The full compress of the MC is about 2/3 the way to the red line from the yellow. Flex above and below the braking. It just doesn't take much effort to go to full brake and doesn't make a big difference anyway. But I'm thinking if I can firm up the lever it will allow for more feel and feedback.

MrF,
I would say my first answer was a good start, BUT it also sounds like the line has air in it too. I would take the caliper off and mount it on a piece of plywood (as in replacing the disc) and straighten out the hydraulic hose run it looks like it has a hump in the hose (possibly holding a little bubble of air)

make sure the hose run is straight and that the bleed nozzles are vertical and tap the hose a few times and the caliper to dislodge the air to where it can be bled off.

I used to regularly get this problem on the First Moto GP type braking system I built simply because the caliper was upside down but only had bleeds for the reverse way up . PITA but what I explained above cured it.

[China_Racer_1]

Ok 2 Issues -

1st Mr. Freeze:
Regarding yoru issue with the foot pegs.

I too had a loose lever on the shift side.

I took the thing off disassembled and found that the tolerance between the foot peg shaft and the heal guard part (in your case the part that holds the M/C) was so tight that even though installed and tightened, it did not seat all the way in thus causing a small enough gap to allow for leteral play.

Soulution: I took the retaining bolt out of the foot peg shaft, put the assembly on the bench vise and used a hammer to slam the living snot out of the foot pegs end/face to see if it would force it to recess into the rear set where it belonged. It did ,it worked ,I put on the lok-tite and and sinched up the retaining bolt problem solved - one good whack did the trick.

The washer deal - it was a no go. While it filled the gap it cause way to much friction for the lever to function properly.

2nd issue.

Over heating of my bike.

I took the skins off changed oil etc and then started the bike. i was using a clear hose on the radiato to the engine side.
to my shock I could see lots of air in the clear hose going from the radiator to the engine. I thought for a moment and then remembered that I bought the hose in the USA when I was last there. it was not the correct size though and in fact was to large on the ID. the water looked like a water fall in there. I surmsed this was not a good thing.

I changed the hose to a smaller I.D. the idea being that the water would now fill the hose giving it proper pressure to push through the engine and cool it off like it should.

So in hind sight as the bike was brought up to temp and got hotter and I gave her more power the engine got hotter and hotter and then overheated causing a noticable loss in power.

Does this make secense?