Phase 2.0

On Sunday myself and Tania took the trip up to Exmouth to pick up Si's spangly new van to transport the ZZR to Peterborough and Casarva. Thanks again Si this was more than a generous offer to loan me the van.
All loaded we were on the road at 12:30, and for once the roads were quiet. With an unplanned detour due to a major new junction not being on the vans satnav we arrived at the hotel around 17:00. The Best Western Plus Peterborough Orton Hall Hotel & Spa can be well recommended. A nice meal at the pub near by and we are all set for Casarva in the morning.

We turn up at Casarva just after 10:00 and unload the bike with Steve and Mike's help.

Gently does it !

 

Mike suitably attired in resplendent Punisher gear to welcome the arrival. 

The eagle has landed !

The ZZR will never look like this again !

And in her new home for next 2.5 months with some other very different trikes !

The next 2 hours were spent going over all the build details with Steve and Matt. I have such a definite image in my head of what it should look like, however reality does not always allow for this and it's Matt's job to make it all fit together.



Having now seen my new wheels in the flesh they are even better than I'd hoped for. I have left the rear wing, exhausts end cans and exhaust bandage with the guys.
It's now all in Casarva's hands and in true Topgear / Guy Martin fashion the clock is ticking to be ready for the last qualifying session with Straightliners on the 17th July.
Lastly I have been trying to work out the maths for the gearing. I have already gone up a tooth on the front sprocket and looking to drop on the rear, but by how much ? the small increase in rolling diameter of the new wheels and tyres has a big effect.
Steve pointed me at www.gearingcommander.com which is brilliant and has proved my maths is not quite as crap as I thought. With all the new kit specifications entered the graph below shows a theoretical top speed of 219 mph !!!! This is calculated on a 1200 not my more powerful 1400 and of course she has to pull that gearing with extra weight and the conditions on the day.

Theories are all ok but let's see, that will be bloody shifting on a trike !!

The Good, the bad and those immortal words !!!

After 2 weeks of no bike / trike activity with the bike residing with Jack at Double D, I went to pick the ZZR up this afternoon. Jack had been fitting all the front end goodies, top work as ever Jack, which included the Brembo calipers, pads and Hel brake / clutch lines to the bike. In addition he fitted the new Brembo rotors to the BST carbon wheel.

I have taken my friends advice (thanks Si) and kept the original wheel on for its trip to and transformation at Casarva. As most of you will know I'm not exactly the luckiest person in the world (see below for more evidence) so why risk the carbon wheel and give something else for Casarva to worry about.

As well as the above Jack put in new oil and dropped the front end by 20mm for me. The American drag racing sites say you can drop 30mm but that is for professional drag bikes and not something to be used on the roads. With the British roads now resembling a second world war beach after the boys have been through to save private Ryan, I have to go with a small compromise for the real world.

Can you see the face of the devil ?

And now the bad ! Jack tells me that the bike suddenly is not running right and had just filled his garage with smoke !! All it's had is an oil change how the hell has it gone wrong and I have to go to Peterborough first thing in the morning.

Maybe a run will clear things ? I leave Jack but it is not a well bike in fact within a mile it's running on 2 cylinders and spewing enough smoke to reopen the hole in the ozone !! So it's straight to GT and an initial diagnosis from Steve of "that is one sick engine". With me sitting outside like an expectant father, Steve thankfully after a couple of hours diagnosis discovers it's the new Power Commander. With the unit removed the bike is running fine if a little lumpy at the bottom end. Thanks for your efforts Steve the trip to Casarva is saved !! Whilst I discussed this with Mike G with a broken Power Commander in my hands he utters the immortal words "well I've never seen that before" !!!

Tomorrow it's off to Casarva !