1994 RVF400R Build Project

Man, sorry to hear that, I did not know your forks were lost in LA LA land. Very concerned and hope they find them.

 

Yeah, first it was a fight to get them done, then when they finally did it, the shock and the forks shipped in separate packages, with the forks in my gun case. The shock showed up and the forks were supposed to be delivered the next day, they never made it. Made it to some distribution center in LA, but never made it on the truck the next day and the tracking never updated, ended up filing a claim 3 days later. My experience with this, is that they are long gone. It's like the tv show First 48 Hours, if they don't locate the package right away, they won't be finding it. They have 10 business days to search and it's been 5 already. It's a bummer, they were brand new, 1/2 a mile on them, and they had $400 worth of work done to them.

 

I wouldn't give up on them just yet.... all the carriers are in "Christmas Rush" mode and lots of stuff delayed these days, LA is a big hub. Priority will be perishables.... there are skids and bins of stuff waiting to be delivered. I'm betting it will show up at some point.

 

I'll take that bet.

I just want them to say they can't find them and then the process of getting paid for the claim will be initiated. Once I know they are gone, I will buy a new set and have them done on the WC. I have already talked to my go to Honda parts guy, they are available and in stock in a warehouse. They will also cut me a sweet deal on a new set, hundreds less than msrp.

If it ends up that they officially say they cannot be located, I will just purchase a new set on the spot and have them drop shipped to the folks that I'm going to have do the same work. The shipper has a contracted service that will handle going after the reimbursement for the loss. I wasn't really happy with the company and how the work was handled, long story, so I had planned on hand delivering the shock and the forks to a new company to have them disassembled, checked out, and redone. I won't go into details or slag them, let's just say I had zero trust in anything they had done, due to how it all went down. But for now the interaction is amicable and I'm not motherf$%^&*g them...I need their assistance for the refund and that wouldn't do much to help the situation.

 

whoops.......!?

 

I had a rolling case that had raw video footage in it along with a bunch of video gear. The tapes were supposed to be hand carried by the producer but he got lazy and put them in the case that got FedX'ed. He was shitting his pants for 8 days when we got word that it was fond in some corner of a FedX dock. lol

 

Received some more good news from Mike Norman today the porting and combustion chamber work is done



The 1mm oversize intake valve seats look huge compared to the exhaust valve seats.



The valves are installed



The +1mm intake are ti nitrided stainless with nitrided ti retainers, and the std size exhaust valves are inconel with OEM retainers.



The different shapes of the valve faces is to reach a specific dome volume that Mike came up with after a lot of R&D and dyno time.

He is telling the me that the heads should be installed by Sunday and the engine should be buttoned up and ready to ship home...just like his email subject line...Finally! Couldn't have said it better myself. Now I need to get my new lift ordered and get my CRF fork situation straightened out. Delivering the CRF shock to AHM Factory Services in Yorba Linda on Friday morning. Gonna sit down with Brandon Peterson, the owner of AHM, and see what we can come up with to get the CRF suspension done, after that, it's a mild thrash to finish the RVF.

 

Yippee. So next week is the test run ? ......

 

I'm not putting you under any pressure - lol

 

Ummmm, no. Gonna be a couple months before I get around to finishing it, then it's going to dyno tuning sans bodywork for break in, jetting, and getting the programmable ignition set up. Rick Oliver did include the HRC ignition map....more forcused on the CRF right now, it's kinda in the way.

 

That head work looks stunning.

PS - Has the missing set of forks arrived yet? I guess they may be useful for a test ride.

 

The missing forks have not arrived, but they are from a CRF450L build that I'm also working on (because why have just one pile of parts and not two?)

Yesterday UPS confirmed the forks are officially gone, lost, stolen, whatever. They also denied my claim for reimbursement. I was fully prepared for that and I have let loose my hounds to go after them for my money. They will be paying for their ineptitude.

I have a brand new set of forks on the way to AHM Factory Services to get the work done again and should have that situation sorted out shortly. Hope to have some more pics this weekend when the RVF engine is completed, Mike is really good about sending pictures of his progress. One thing about moto projects, eventually the bleeding stops, or, you just bleed out...I'm still kicking.

 

I like your attitude why just have one project on the go. The fun bit is when you are all done with both bikes and find a handful of homeless parts ...

Keep the updates coming in the meantime I take it you will make sure the new forks do not end up in the hands of UPS again.

Shame - the reputation of a generally reliable firm can be wrecked by a few unreliable workers - parcels really do not dissapear into a blackhole - doubtless someone has put two and two together with deliveries heading to your address and eventually you will probably find those forks on Craigslist...

 

Beautiful!

 

Getting closer...my hunch is that it will be done tomorrow.

 

Holy shit. The heads look sick. Godamn, that is a fuckin sweet motor.

 

Thanks, Cap. It is easily the most ambitious engine project I've ever had done and it's the closest I'll ever get to an HRC factory spec engine. Once Evan Steel gets done breaking it in and tuning it, it will be interesting to see how much steam she has.

It's been going on so long now, it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that I might actually get the project done. Hard to believe it's been two years since I lost my mind and decided to do it. I'm thinking it's going to need that set of white PVM wheels now, it has to have them to truly complete the build. Finish the CRF and the next call will be to Matt and Paul at Tyga Performance to see about those wheels.....Off to AHM Factory Services in Yorba Linda tomorrow morning to sit down and come up with a plan for the CRF suspension.

 

Heads look sick.

 

Done, still needs to be crated up and shipped, but it's done. Freaking finally. Now the work starts.

 

Engine is officially DONE. Yellow Freight is picking up the crate Monday and bringing her home....FINALLY! Thanks to Cody Miller at RestoCycle for doing me a solid and receiving the engine for me...beer is on the way fella's!!!