Looking good chief, is it possible to take a pic as close to the same angle of the origina,l of your machine to get a good perspective?
When I got the book I though Mmmmm next project but I prefer the Kawasaki as it more 'quirky' and the Honda headlights look odd
Fairing upper mod fiberglass work finished apart from lots of sanding - I can now fit the original sized 'Performance' decal just below the screen so worth the effort
First time ever that all the bodywork has been mounted - modified the front R/H part of the Belly Pan today so it matched the frame (or at least it will with a little more sanding) and drilled the frame mounts to bolt it in place. Then stopped work and decided to drag it outside for some pictures... Belly Pan adjustment on the top front... Aerial view... The clutch cover is off as I am determining how to actuate the clutch by pulling, rather than pushing from the other side with the standard rod arrangement
One aspect of the original bike I really wanted to copy was the Clutch Mechanism that pulls rather then using the push rod from the left side of the engine. So today has been a pondering day to see if it can be done easily. Out came the daughters felt pens and I think I have a design that will work. The worm drives are only sealed for grease and as this is a wet part of the engine I need to oil seal the mechanism with O-rings. I think it will work, but the only way to see is to start drilling holes in the engine and getting some parts made I now need to look for the most modern worm drive available - probably mid 2000's as they will have much less friction than the older aluminium and Nylon ones...
Just found and ordered a new Suzuki one from an early GSXR 600/750/1000 at a discount price, hopefully it will suit...
One issue I see is the loading on the outer casing, which is not designed to be stiff/strong for clutch actuation. Your original-bike photo shows no mods, and it's unlikely there's internal stiffening so you might be ok. Might be worth trying to estimate the force on the casing and giving it a push to see how stiff it is
Should be able to modify that 'rotate to push' part to be 'rotate to pull' as long as there a solid central moving part... Have fun....
The stiffness isn't an issue - the casing is 3.5mm thick with additional internal ribs and will have the welded in insert too
Looks like the works bike has a modified production clutch cover as it still has the 'ki' of Kawasaki visible - unless it was off a Suzuki.... But any ideas why the factory went for a pull mechanism for the clutch rather than the original push? Wondering what the advantage was for endurance racing? Mr Bimble.
Yes, production cover - mine will be a 'ki' as well 2 possible reasons I can think of - front sprocket quick access as it ran with no clutch push rod cover - but possibly and more likely: minimum friction on the cable clutch as the easier cable route and mechanism have less friction. 2 hour + rider stints is a lot of gear changes with heavy duty clutch springs.
