1994 RVF400R Build Project

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by NorcalBoy, Nov 7, 2018.

  1. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    So pretty... loving it. Great work.
     
  2. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    With the hub, it's not something to get worked up about, it was only 1 of 2 prototypes. It will definitely be worth the effort in the long run. My machinist will make quick work of it and do a nice clean job. It will remove the hard anodizing in the machined areas, but it isn't really a concern of mine, as it's only a few thousands off the area where the rear caliper carrier rides, and just the front of the cogged adjustment area that will get shaved 1.5 mm.

    I like to throw out all of the things that go wrong, mostly, I find them humorous and to show all the things I screwed up, or didn't get right at all. I pulled together all of the parts and the overall look in my head, as I didn't have the bike, all I had was pictures off the internet, part microfiche's, other peoples experiences, and reading through a couple builds at 400GreyBike.com. So basically, the whole thing has been conjured up in my mind....you're bound to have some things go down that you aren't going to be able to get out in front of, or you don't like the way something will function or look when it's done. The only way you could do it without having a few issues, is do more than one in a sequence.

    In keeping with the transparency aspect, I came across this yesterday

    [​IMG]

    The "nubs" on the mounting plate only allowed the bigger RR to mount in one, very specific location to sit flat and miss the nubs. I also noted that it was going to clear the zorst mount, it was still very close, which I wasn't getting a warm fuzzy about. Sure it fits, but does it fit "right"? The one thing I've always noticed about high end race machines, is the fit and finish. A MotoGP machine looks better with the fairings off, than with them on, because the packaging and engineering is so precise and well thought out. If a bike looks just as good, if not better, with it's fairings off, rather than on, then that is the pinnacle. Every piece, down to a washer, needs to be exactly right for where it's being used.

    Because the eccentric was already headed to get machined, I did up a drawing for a couple spacers that would allow the RR to sit perfectly flat and have the full range of location adjustment. I took a pic of the drawing and texted it to my guy and he is going to spin them up and send them when he returns the eccentric.

    This would also relieve my concerns about the closeness of the exhaust mount. If you want to remove the exhaust mount, you shouldn't have to disassemble the entire side of the bike to do it, that's just poor (You listening Honda?, think 6G VFR, if you don't get it). This did create a little issue, while it cleared up another....now the bolts were too short, hahahahahahahaha. Went to ProBolt and ordered up new ti bolts and some more appropriate ti washers. These are things that happen, a build is always fluid, up until it is actually completed.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2019
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  3. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    That all depends on WHAT Friday :Rofl:
     
  4. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Thanks, Cap. Really appreciate the kind words. I've been digging the looks of your latest efforts, super clean on the wheels and such. Always loved the all white the most. It's kind of been my thing since Johnny O'Mara debuted that all white Mugen ME125 in 1980. Been hooked ever since...fairly obvious, as I still use a lot of the white, red, black to this day.
     
  5. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    I'm predicting sometime in May...but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it went on til June. :)
     
  6. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    I'm hoping you are way off on the June thing. Sent emails to everybody today and requested a status report. It's gone awfully dark, unfortunately.
     
  7. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Started my day late today, no need to be in a big hurry.

    Got everything prepped to install the carbs. After all of the horror stories, I was hoping for the best, but planning fo the worst.

    The secret weapon. best thing for hoses, o-rings, and rubber mounts, or anything metal to rubber, you will never have to pry anything apart again.

    [​IMG]

    Got the boots lubed up a bit. The NC35 boots are no longer available, but the earlier NC30 boots are the same thing. So, new OEM boots and clamps. I used the clamp spacers off the old NC35 clamps, just to take the guesswork out of tightening things to spec. Verified the clocking of the clamps with my new Vessel 400 mm #2 JIS screwdriver, don't want to be taking shit off and on. Measure twice, cut once....

    [​IMG]

    Popped right on, no fussing around, easy. I am always very careful with this process, as I believe 90% of the problems people encounter with post-installation leaks are caused by manhandling the carbs back into the boots during the install.

    [​IMG]

    Double checked that they were all seated properly

    [​IMG]

    No fuss, no muss. Tightened down the clamps and was done in less than 10 minutes. I'll take it.

    Decided to go ahead and verify the fitment of the filter base and airbox top, even thought they will have to be removed to install the choke cable, which I'm waiting for. A little gun shy after being caught out a coupla times in the past few days.

    Filter base installed, hoses connected up fine, all good so far

    [​IMG]

    New OEM filter

    [​IMG]

    Tyga high volume carbon airbox lid. I like me some carbon, but the parts usually require a bit of "massaging " to get them to fit correctly. The Tyga stuff is better than most, but it did require a little bit of "preparation" to get it mounted correctly. Don't want to be screwing around every time the filter needs to be changed, so once again, measure twice, cut once.

    Fits perfectly with no magic tricks required now. Went with the gold anodized ti hardware theme for the airbox

    [​IMG]

    The screen is some left over ti that I sourced for the inner cowl, 1/8" aluminum rivets and backing washers. No corrosion allowed.

    [​IMG]

    I'm pretty happy with that, turned out decent. Got to work installing all of the nickel plated fairing and radiator mounts. Ti DLC coated dual drive hardware with new OEM rubbers, bushings, and new OEM clips where needed. New OEM exhaust studs and nuts. Did the cylinder coolant jacket drain bolts in blue ti and new OEM washers. Also a shot of the upgraded ground wiring and routing

    [​IMG]

    Installed the radiator hoses and everything else I could place, without blocking the access for the exhaust. Even got the Uxcel micro, high decibel horn installed.

    [​IMG]

    And that's basically it, I'm officially out of a job. When the hub comes back, I will complete the rear of the bike, lift it up off the engine stand, and pull the oil pan and have that vapor blasted and reinstalled, then get the exhaust mounted up and install the radiators. Then I can add all the fluids and get it ready for start up, get the rear sets installed and bleed the rear brakes...hopefully by then I'll have the forks on the way back....so close, yet so far away...tomorrow will just be some hose routing to the coolant overflow tank and getting the vacuum hose for the petcock installed...which I forgot and didn't realize until I looked at the pictures, lol.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2019
  8. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    After having the classic "oh shit" moment concerning the vacuum line to the petcock while updating the thread, I was actually afraid to go look and see if it was even possible to put it on the fitting, after the fact. Luckily, there was just enough room to get to it...kind of like threading a needle, while standing on your head...it CAN be done.

    Turned out to be easier than I thought. Used an ultra long roach clip, I mean, forceps :Redface: and was able to squeeze it on in about 5 minutes. The clip turned out to be the biggest challenge, tiny little mother f'er. Crisis of stupidity averted.

    [​IMG]

    Measure twice, cut once
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2019
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  9. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    Enough of that - where's the pic of the vessel 400.... lol. I bought the smaller kit of 3 & find the 200mm very useful. Would you suggest the 400 is easier for the carbs..
     
  10. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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  11. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    I'm curious to know then if the 300 is a better size for the carbs. The vessel screwdrivers are pretty good in the JIS sizes & although the one's I have are fine, I prefer to use the correct tool for the job. It makes life easier & quicker.
     
  12. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    The way I oriented the clamps, I didn't really need something that long. I just oriented the clamps the way they showed them in the NC30 manual, with only a couple small tweaks to make the access a little easier. I think the biggest thing was having the clamp sleeves off the NC35 clamps so all you had to do was tighten them down, couldn't over tighten them and cause an air leak, or deform the boot.
     
  13. OZ VFR

    OZ VFR Member

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    That's one sexy looking air box NB.
     
  14. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    I'm going to have to get in touch with Derstuka. We have been using this wrong. Long will be relieved...or will he?
     
  15. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    I believe I just threw up in my mouth a little......
     
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  16. Gator

    Gator Insider

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  17. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Ended up not being dead in the water as expected, yesterday.

    First thing was to get the entire thing up off the wooden engine stand so I could get to the oil pan. I figured I would start out slow and do a couple things to get the day rolling. Didn't want to wear myself out early, by having to fight with something, lol.

    Used Tygon F-4040A tubing for the coolant overflow bottle and got that routed and secured, in preparation for the radiator test fit coming later.

    [​IMG]

    Installed the rear sets and got the chassis up off the temporary wooden engine stand. For the rear sets, I used stainless socket heads. there are only a couple places that I won't use ti bolts, the side stand mounting bolts and the rear sets. It's just a habit, I guess.

    [​IMG]

    Held my breath and pulled the oil pan. With a 25 year old machine, you never know what you're going to find. Although the engine checkout had given it a clean bill of health, I was still wondering might be hiding in the pan. You never really know what the previous owner(s) have done maintenance wise. Hope for the best, plan for the worst..

    My skepticism was unfounded, oil pan looked pretty decent for a 25 year old moto. A few spots of sludge, but not a trace of any metal particles. I'll take it

    [​IMG]

    Spent an hour or so cleaning up the gasket surfaces, jumped in the rod and tootled over to Restocycle. Cody at Restocycle was kind enough to drop what he was doing and gave the cover a nice vapor blast. Nils told me it was on the house when I asked him what I owed him, the guy is too damned nice! I gave them some cash to cover a case of beer. Wasn't going to let them do it for free, plus, I just really like these guys. Thanks Cody, Nils, and Alex for always lookin' out for me.

    Engine side gasket surface. Took some carb cleaner and flushed the few pieces of sludge from the oil pump pickup screen

    [​IMG]

    On the way back from Restocycle I stopped and picked up a shipment of bits from Rick Oliver in the UK. New control cables all the way around, Venhill featherlight throttle cables and OEM clutch and choke cables. The OEM choke cable for the NC35 is not available, but Rick has found a cross reference part that works, same throw at the knob, just a couple inches longer. A replica ignition switch and 0.5 and 1.0 mm needle shims for when the tuning starts, just in case.

    [​IMG]

    Started in on fixing the ignition switch, as this was what I found when I pulled the top triple. Don't ask, I have no idea how you could do this

    [​IMG]

    I wanted to retain my OEM key, didn't want multiple keys for the fuel filler cap, ignition, etc...started with this

    [​IMG]

    I removed the three screws and separated the actual switches from the towers of both ignition parts. You need a t10 security torx bit to separate the OEM switch from the tower. I then grafted the new switch onto the OEM tower using the security screws and a bit o' thread locking agent. Done, fully functional, the correct color wires at the plug, steering lock working, and ready to be installed in the top triple.

    [​IMG]

    Installed with new OEM mounting bolts and back to normal, and, didn't have to re-key anything

    [​IMG]

    Got set up to reinstall the oil pan

    Vapor blasted cover, gasket, new ti bolts, and a ti magnetic drain plug with OEM crush washer

    [​IMG]

    All mounted up and torqued to the factory spec of 80 in lbs

    [​IMG]

    There were five things that I was most concerned about the fitting during the assembly process, four were non-OEM parts and there is always a chance for something that doesn't fit quite right and has to be massaged to fit, and the carbs. The list - 1. Carbs, 2. billet eccentric, 3. carbon airbox lid, 4. exhaust 5. race radiators.

    Next up was the exhaust, I had a real heck of a time getting the exhaust to come apart when I was stripping everything down, it just didn't seem to fit all that good and seemed really bound up...it had me concerned for what it was going to be like, trying to get it all back together. These aftermarket V4 exhausts can be a complete bitch to get installed correctly, and that's with all of them. You never know until you get them all loosely assembled, just how much fun you are in for.....

    The rears weren't too bad, but the midpipe clearance at the swingarm had me concerned. With hopes for the best, I started in on the fronts, as these had been on hold because they would have blocked the oil pan work.

    New OEM exhaust studs, nuts, and gaskets, down tubes loosely in place

    [​IMG]

    A little tight on the oil filter, but I was guessing the pipes could be adjusted during the final assembly. Continued on with the collector and midpipe. I was very careful to prep all of the slip connections to ensure they wouldn't be hammered together. Everything seemed to fit pretty well, no hammering or cursing, no mud wrestling, the clearances were good on everything, so I torqued up the front stud bolts. I'm always very careful with these...nobody wants to strip out a head stud.

    Copper anti seize and a reliable torque wrench are your friends, everything tightened up nice and easy

    [​IMG]

    Installed the silencers and the springs and tightened everything down.

    [​IMG]

    I was quite relieved, it all worked out really decent. I will have to remove the bottom silencer to finish the hub, but at least I know, I won't be fighting it and there won't be any ugly surprises later. I was also happy that my coating was perfect and there weren't any holidays at the joints. One more thing I can quit stressing about.

    Last but not least, came the radiators....had not been looking forward to this. These were hand fabricated and they have bigger cores, so I was holding my breath when I started to test fit them.

    My fears were verified almost immediately, arrrggghhhh

    The mount points on the top rad were about 3-4 mm too far apart. If you tightened down the top left bolt, it pushed the grommet completely off the frame pin that the right side hangs on...bummer. took a good look at it and started experimenting with distances to see what would be needed to space the mount to have it fit right.

    Ended up being 3.5 mm of spacing was required to get it to sit correctly

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Started a list, hahahahahahaha

    1.) 3.5mm spacer, 22 mm in diameter, with a 6 mm through hole

    Moved onto the bottom mount, swung the radiator over to the mount and boom, problem number 2. The mount is too short and puts the bottom of the rad into the head...I put a very small nick in the cerakote, which really horked me off, couldn't see the interference from where I was and noticed it too late.

    [​IMG]

    Because the distance was so short to make up what I needed with an extension piece, a whole new bracket would have to be fabricated to keep it off the valve cover, took all the measurements and drafted up a drawing of the part.

    Moved onto the bottom rad, the top mounts all fit perfectly, but when I tried to swing it up and connect the bottom mount, boom, the rad fan went into the oil filter. No way that was going to work. So, I took some more measurements and drew up an extension part that would allow the use of the OEM mount, but would keep the fan out of the oil filter.

    The only thing I couldn't confirm, is the bodywork clearance, but my memory tells me I will be good with that, if not, it will be rework numero dos. There are two areas of concern, the front bottom edge of the lower rad at the inner cowl and the bodywork tabs on the top of the upper rad. I'm pretty sure the bottom rad was designed to run without the fan, due to the capacity increase and it's intended use is at the race track, but I WILL get it working and retain the fan, without cutting and rewelding anything. If I have to relocate one of the small nut clips tabs on the top of the upper rad to get the bodywork to mount up, that won't be an issue...time will tell.

    I texted all of the drawings to my machinist, Rob, last night and we had a little discussion about it. He is going to mill the mounts out of aluminum and he will spin up the spacer on the lathe. He has already finished the two spacers for the RR mounting, so those are done. He is going to be receiving the eccentric today and we'll see how that goes...he is treating it like something you do when you get up to relieve yourself in the middle of the night....no worries, norcal. Gotta love good people.

    Time to hit the garage for a few more things to finalize....
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2019
  18. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    What are holidays at the joints?

    Looking good btw.
     
  19. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Thanks, Reg.

    Due to the system being segmented into multiple slip fit sections, I had to have them mask off the slip fit areas so that they would fit back together. I measured every single joint individually and put a mark on each piece of pipe to ensure that it would fit back together. They all varied just a little bit and I was hoping I wouldn't be able to slip one back into the joint far enough and there would be bare stainless showing at each joint. I guess I measured right, as there were no "holidays", i.e. painter speak for a missed area.

    If you look on the end of this piece of midpipe, you can see my notation in sharpie, if you look at where the collector attaches, you notice there is no bare metal showing.

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    I completely apologize for not responding to your post sooner, Mr. OZ VFR! Totally my bad. I try to say at least thank you to everyone who posts, or to answer any questions they might have....but I faceplanted and missed a reply to you. It won't happen again.

    Thanks for checking it out and I'm glad you like how it turned out, as much as I do. Sometimes, I get lucky.
     
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