Last Track Night I was testing a standard variator vs Malossi variator.  Shel's had the Malossi with 4g weights & mine was an old oem one with 4g's.

The test had a result that is now void because I mistook Shel's weights.  She was faster than me on the straight, but I later found that she had 5.6g weights in hers. 

Next time out we'll both be on our usual 4g's & both with Maslossi variator.  I left those heavy weights in hers from the Scooteroo Drag Racing Night some months back that we didn't get to race in because of we were knackered from some business in the city.  I'll do that variator test some other time.  It's looking quite possible that the bike is faster with Malossi variator. 

The Bucket Racer guys commented on how fast we were, but compared to Jason: I was feeling slow....hopefully can keep sight of Jason for more than a few seconds next time out ! 

We also tested 92Ron, with no apparent difference over our usual 95Ron.  However, I did notice the "howl" was missing that we get when backing off the throttle at the end of the straight.  The howl happens only when the motor has had several laps already.  I tried the 92Ron because I figured the recommended 95 for Maslossi Sport cylinders was no longer applicable because we'd effectively reduced compression from the porting, & also I was bothered by how dirty the top of Shel's piston was.  I'd changed the piston because of a broken ring tip had embedded itself across two ring seats.  Noticed how more easily the bikes started with the 92.....however I'll be using 95 again, especially now that it's warmer nights.

 At the next Track Night on Saturday Sept 27th I'll be testing out a Maslossi belt I've had for sometime.  I went through a phase of shredding belts a while back when the bikes were road bikes, & because of that I had them sitting around waiting for belts to arrive, & so I swore never to be kept waiting for stuff like that again: hence my stash of assorted belts.   I've been using Dayco 7167/1K belt for ages now.....it's been lasting good.  The recommended Dayco size for the Bandit 7167K although I swear this is shorter than the oem Bando 747-16-28.  I was lucky to source that 7167/1K (thanks to the Dayco AU Honcho), as it sits all the way up the contra pulley, using the whole of the gear. 

The Malossi seems a bit short, but after hearing of JTypoon's joy with his kevlar belt, & seeing him lap me last Track Night, I had to Up The Anti, & fit that Malossi....gotta give it a try!  I figure I may lose a bit of launch with it sitting so low in the contra pulley, but that shouldn't matter too much because we sucessfully used our adjustable clutches with correct-size bells last time out.  It was hearing the bike scream away.  I'd still like a bit more bite from the clutch which is at its softest setting.

Jason's bike weighs about 60 something Kg's & my Bandit is prolly a ted under 80Kg.  I've been trying to shed weight from the bike as well as myself !

Over the last few days I've lowered the bars, dumped the lights & some other electricals.  I've also had a look at anything that could be dragging the bike.....no more speedo.  There's a few other things I've got in mind....maybe next winter's work.  I'd still like the bars a bit more forward than they are.....the front-end needs to be utilised.

Had a look at Lakeside Raceway on Sunday.  There were a few cars testing.  Don't know what sort of race category they'd be in, but they were Late model Holdens with all their glass.....very punchy motors.

In the pic, on the far side of the track is the part which is used by Mini Motards & Pocket Bikes.   It's got quite a climb, & although nowhere near as good as Willowbank, it could be an alternative if we end up losing Willowbank due to their re-surfacing.  The pic is from my phone cam.

Think it's about 600metres.  On the day I was there, there was supposed to be Mini Motards, but they weren't there, & I was too early for the Pocket Racers.  Looks like it may have potential. 

The Minin Motards are up to 160cc.  There are noise restrictions of 85Db measured at the track.

Both of them have been de-registered for track use only.

I've done porting on them as per the Monza Blog: similar deal but slightly different specs which yielded significant results.

The Budgie has 1mm more compression than mine because the head is skimmed.  It ran the 6-hour & mine didn't which might be the reason why it has a clacky sound that's possibly top end bearing.  I'll be investigating that in coming days.  I noticed the noise during either one of the track nights or testing when backing off throttle & holding at 1/3 position.....but of recent I can hear it even at idle.  Got a new bearing waiting.  They're only 10mm gudgeon pin, btw.

Today, I've seen some end to a long-standing problem of getting the adjustable clutch sorted.  Turns out the Bandits have a 110mm bell which is very incompatible with a 107mm clutch which resulted in lots of revs, but no go.....too much slip.  The same set-up worked well with the Monza because it's lesser powered 50cc, but I'll have to get a 107mm bell for the Monza, too, to make it slip & bite when I want it to.

Anyways, I removed the old oem clutch which had 2K springs on it, removed the bell, & fitted the adjustable with a nice new Malossi 107mm bell.  I must say that it does look well made.  There would be some bedding-in to do with this, & I only did a few runs, today, to check its potential.   The Track Night at Willowbank Sat Aug 30th will work out good for bedding-in.....the thing not to do is to sit there revving away letting the clutch bite a little: playing with it.....it's tempting to hear that lovely 2-stroke sound revving away, but that'd just burn up the new bell.  I rather think that letting the engine warm on idle, & then just take off.....the initial amount of slip & heat generated will soon cool with the vented gearbox cover.  A few laps & the same can be done again to test take-off.  I'd be thinking by the end of the night they should be bedded-in good & proper, & some adjustment of the clutch may be necessary to give a good revving take-off as it should be biting better by the end of the night.

The clutch is a PMTuning adjstable.

I reckon on keeping with the blue springs as the Bandits produce quite a lot of low down torque.

What else I've done to the the Purple Bandit is to lower the bike.

I dropped the forks out by loosening the clamp at the crown.
A "blind internal circlip" retains an O-ringed plug at the top of the fork.
The circlip is just a spring wire thing.
It was a major PITA to get out as the plug had to be pushed in (the shocky's spring was keeping it out) to expose the spring ring which had to be coaxed out with a knife to get behind it, & further prised out with small screw drivers.

I then could pour out the oil & give the works a good flushing, & then replaced with medium strength fork oil.

The spring was chopped about an inch.

Re-assembly:-
The plug that had to be pushed in to expose the wire internal circlip: I ground the top shoulder off the plug so that the clip would be permanently exposed, & thus in turn, I could fit a regular circlip making it a piece of cake to do next time.

The fork was buttressed against a shoulder in the crown to prevent the fork from sliding up further into the crown in case of going over an overly harsh bump or loose crown clamp.
I ground off the shoulder in the crown so that I could further lower the fork by about 1.5inches.

I put a spot of weld on the fork shaft to act as a stopper.
The forks were re-assembled with Loctite bearing lock on the shaft & mating surfaces of the crown clamp.

The setting of the fork was determined with track testing together with a lowered rear-end as my aim was to lower the whole of the bike, but to try to improve overall cornering with a steeper steering angle & lowered centre of gravity.

I had some scraping in the front wheel arch which has since been gutted, & now acts as an air scoop to feed the carbi & cool the motor.

There is a minor issue with exhaust scraping, but the confidence from it cornering like it's on rails means I can counter balance.

I'm still working on the rear-end. The single & very short shocky isn't really beefy enough to keep the rear end stable.
My budget doesn't allow me to go out & buy the best shocky for the job which would work out to be up to $300.
I find that even on the hardest spring setting because there's no damper adjustment then it pogos out of corners.
To counter this I've had to power out of corners smoothly & try to keep my weight well forward.
I've got "an alternative shocky" that might be the fix, but still have some modifications to do to it, yet.

The front-end is how I like it......a bit harsh on the worst bump of Ipswich Kart Track, but I know where the wheels are & what they're doing.

I'm also on my way to lowering the bars which should improve the race posture greatly.

I'll take some detailed pics of them when I've cleaned them up a bit......they look a bit scruffy from being trailered about & raced on.

Rob 

     Firstly, I wish you a happy new year!               It's 2008, hope some good things come to you in this year.

I measured the variator rollers from the 6-Hour Race.  I take them out as they're too light for the road as I use (presently) Polini 4.4g's for the track, & 6g's for public roads.  Saying that though, we've not been out on the Bandits for yonks, & certainly not after the 6-Hour. 

Using a vernier caliper I took approximate comparison measurements of the "6-Hour rollers" VS the same rollers used in the other bike which hadn't done the 6 hours of racing, of course.  The original diamiter of them is 16mm.  Non-6-Hour rollers roughly averaged at 15.9mm diamiter.  The 6-Hour rollers roughly averaged 15.85mm.  There were noticeable flat spots on some of the rollers.....not too bad, but this is another good reason to mix up the rollers after each regular inspection that I do anyways because of changing from track to road rollers.

At worst, there was an 0.1mm difference between the rollers, & that'd be measuring the flat spot.  When I 1st had the 6-Hour variator apart, in the outer crevises of the roller body were very fine deposits of, probably, roller powder that'd worn off the rollers.  The powder felt like talcum powder: it was that fine.  I was glad that there was no sign of the variator sticking which was a unknown factor for the race.

I'm not keen on the finish on the inside, roller side, of the Malossi variator: it's a rough shot blasted-type finish that has a hard coating.  AFAIK, the Polini is smooth at that part, & I remember the angle plate is a chrome finish.....all round a much better finish.  But it's not to say that the Malossi would differ any in performance or roller wear-rate compared to Polini.

  It's been raining more-or-less continuously throughout the Xmas & New Year period.  The Maleny Kenilworth Road to town has been flooded, & the rain was that hard that we doubted if we'd be able to make the journey to town for fear of excessive flooding.  Worst water we had across the road was that it was up to the sills of the car......just take it easy going through in 1st gear....don't make waves & flood the engine. 

Been getting a bit stir crazy, as have our cats & dogs.  Cats have got nowhere out on the paddock for a dry place to take a dump or leak, & the stores in Maleny have run out of kitty litter, & so we've been having to recycle the stuff in the box which is like granules of clay.  What we had to do was to try drying it out with a heater all day yesterday.....this was done in the tool shed, I hasten to add, as it stunk of amonia.  Got the box of litter back in here in the afternoon & it was stinking like hell, still.  Added baking powder to try absorb the amonia: no apparant effect.  Added some ground coffee which did the trick although Shelley could smell it, but it was certainly much better than before.  I even added a shredded newspaper to try bulking out the litter with fresh dry matter.

The cats did use the tray a few times in the night, but I'm sure they weren't too impressed with their toilet, & so I've gotta buy some expensive litter crystals from the stores, today. 

 As it's been raining so much, apart from a few movies on DVD & tape, all I've been doing is watching Youtube videos of docos about UFOs (there's no TV here, but we've got Broadband).  I guess what got me started on this was not only the weather & boredom, but also being a Muse fan (Mathew Bellamy is a UFO & "conspiracy" believer afaik) .....being reminded through their lyrics about the "big picture" of things.  Found heaps of interesting docos.  Shelley found a few full-length UFO docos & movies on P2P share sites.

We've had an ambition for a long time to see the Min Min Lights up in Boulia, south of Mount Isa in the Outback of Qld.  I mean, these things have been around for Aboriginal yonks: I guess these would be like seeing UFOs.  We'd done satellite spotting before from Mount Tinbeerawah in Noosa, & also from our paddock here which is heaps of fun.  We'll keep an open eye & mind for UFOs in the future when we go on any night trips.

Gotta be going.....go get that kitty litter! 

I was curious what wear & tear the Bandit would suffer from 6 hours of racing. Think the drive belt was worn .5mm off its width.  Rear wheel bearing seems noteably loose....will have to change that soon.  Not looked at the brakes yet.

Reveived a pic CD from www.osella.com.au
Looking at some of the lean angles & thinking about the tyres having a full-on 6-hour workout: I took some pics of them just now. 
The M29 tyres look only abraded.  I'm pretty sure my Pirelli SL26's would have been totally shagged..

                                                                    Craig

            Shel changing the bike over to me.....you can see she's in pain from wrestling the bike.

                                                                  Rob

Above pics courtesy of  www.osella.com.au

Front tyre is worn the most. 
Front left shows the embossed web address of Sava worn off.  

Front right shows the intact address.

Rear left.

Rear right.

 10th Nov 07

My gearbox was getting noisy at the last track night.  The oil drained out showed how metallic & dirty it had got in its short run.

Was having a chat with The Bearing Guy, & he says that the slightest pitting of the race during assembly will  shorten the lifespan dramatically.  I'd hammered them, having got caught out by the difficulty in getting the bearings to seat, the loctite Bearing lock, & the whole assembly back together.

This time around the gearbox-rebuild was mine, but also Shel's as a cautionary measure, & she also wanted an UpGear, too.

I invested in a collet type bearing puller that cost a few hundred.....alot of money, but worth it.  When I do the bearings again I wont be frustrated with having to try think up abstract ways (surreal even!) of removing the bearings that you can see in the pic below which is seated quite deep in the gearbox housing.

 We went for a test ride yesterday, & Shelley is excited by her "new bike".  "New" because with the upgear & a new torque driver.  The torque driver seems to hold onto a low gear, at take off, & after some seconds releases to let the revs drop a bit as the bike speeds up.  It's almost like having a 1st gear in the CVT or another powerband that the Upgear Kit had ironed out.  Even with 4.4g rollers that are designated as being the race rollers for accelleration she topped 90-100kph, & to me, the bike didn't sound like it was screaming.

 I wasn't interested in seeing how fast the bike could go as I'd been stung too many times already with varyous seizes, with the bike coming to a skidding halt.  Also though, I know my Dayco drive belt is slightly shorter than Shel's OEM belt.  I'm only interested in the track performance of the bike. 

I'm hoping for some feedback from the Australia rep for Dayco...we've exchanged some emails already, & maybe some samples will be coming my way.  I really want to nail that length spec on their website that says the belt is 10mm longer than is printed on the belt with the same part number.  I'm after a slightly longer belt that would give me some confidence in going full speed.

Anyways, Shel & I did our 30K  test run.  Her oil came out a bit dirty & some metallic particles....hopefully, this is only from the new gears.   My oil was clean....Woo Hoo!.   Least I'll recognise the signs of failing bearings if her bike has anything more than new gears producing dirty oil.  They have to get pretty dire before they'll seize.  Anyways, I hope it'll be the last for quite sometime before anymore rebuilds as I took more time & care this time around.

With that Torque Driver I can't imagine what context the blue "power band" would be useful at all.  Maybe overtaking at speed : twist & it'll seem like it's dropping a gear???   The green power band is what is on the old OEM torque pulley or contra pulley.

If we can get a ride at the 6-Hour, so far, it looks like we'd choose Shel's bike for the race because hers should have the better coasting ability.  Her rear wheel has bucket loads less drag than mine.  All I can imagine is that maybe it's from the wheel bearing....it's certainly not the brake shoes.  We'll be checking out eachother's bikes at the next Track Night to see what the ride quality is like.

Rob

Geez we were rusty.  It seems like yonks & yonks ago that we last were out on the track, & it really showed last night.  I reckon with my Le Minz experience in my head I might be trying a bit harder on the corners......just got to re-learn some consistency.

The bikes behaved alright.Mine had gotten a bit noisier (from the gearbox) through the night.  Saw a drip of oil this morn & decided to pull the gearbox apart......all that hammering on the bearings (when fitting) must have pitted them, though it's possible it might be ending up like Darcy says;  "It's reached its design limitations".  I'll be putting a few new bearings in there (again) but taking care this time....& no hammering, & sticking with 80W90.  The oil dripped out because I used some old Loctite Gasket Seal....might not have set as it's yonks old.....be sure to use a proper paper gasket next time!

Shel's bike had a top end rebuild earlier in the week because "the ever reliable bike" had a seize on Monday!  Suspect sticky float as there's been a few occassions in the past whereby it's dumped fuel from the carby overflow.  Getting a new float & valve.  It was such a shock when she returned shortly after her departure for Maleny with the news of the engine cutting out....luckily it didn't really lock up, but neither did it splutter....so I don't really know......it's only anecdotal evidence at best.  Might have been a pre-mix miscalculation: it's still early days for our premixing, & for a while we had different ratios, & so I could have overlooked her mix or something.  We had different ratios because I was still running-in mine.   I think the shock of her coming home with "broken bike" news sent my INR through the roof : it was 4.7 instead of just over 3.  "INR" is International Normalized Ratio for blood clotting: I have to keep mine thin coz of a few health issues.

Now both our bikes are on 2.5% dedicated pre-mix, & I've simply removed the oil reservoir, not bothered to pull 'em apart to yank out the autolube: just left it there.  I joined the 2 autolube hoses together to make a continuous loop till I have the engines apart again.

I've got Shel's UpGear set & bearings ready....just have to checkout the local machinist when he's ready.  She had a blast on my bike on the streets, & she really liked what it could do.  On the track night it seemed pretty zippy.....might lower my roller weight a little more yet....think I was on 5.5g's.

Just took the Bandit around the paddock in the dark.  Got it warmed up after sitting with a full tank of fuel for just over a month.  Not leaking any oil TOUCH WOOD.

Will do some test runs in the morn.  Had 4.5g weights in there with the upgear, so not really sure if this is suitable.  Plenty of test runs, plenty of checking (OCD thing), plenty of oil flushes.

Rob  :)

It seems like an eternity ago that I came to a skidding halt whilst still running-in my new piston, rings & head.   bought those as I'd partially melted a piston during testing for jet sizing, & dry seized it because not enough oil.  The bike was still running, but a bit of melted ali coated the plug thread, & while I was checking the plug in various throttle positions, all of a sudden the thread starts getting ugly on me, & before I realised what was going on I had a chewed up plug thread.

Bugger it!  It was a series of stoopid errors that lead to me needing some new parts to run-in.  I'd been spooked by a noisy belt, & thought it must've been because of running a non-OEM belt....well it wasn't !  Finally twigged it was the final drive gearbox....like Duh, splash....I just fell in, I think.  Or, Kerchink!...the penny just dropped.  Below are the happy snaps of my drive belt & some oil that pooed out as it got so boiled-up in there.

 So I've bought a Malossi UpGear set that increases the gearing by about 10%.  I chose the Upgear because I didn't want to go with OEM spec with helical gears.  I hope by decreasing the roller weights I can still have good acceleration.  Time will tell.

 Here is the UpGear kit.  The Malossi part # is 67 3677.

 1st problem.  The loose gear supplied has an ID of 17mm, but the OEM shaft is 19mm.  Took it to a local machine shop & got them to turn down the shaft to make a tight fit.  Biffed off the the old gear with a sledge hammer.  Pressed on the new gear onto the newly machined shaft using a mechanical press.  

 All the materials are hardened & the machining blunted some lathe tool cutting tips.  I supplied some ultra hard tips from my toolmaking days, but the rural backyard machinist didn't have a holder suitable, & wasn't used to working with such materials.

 Ferk, it was a drama.

 Anyways, here is the finished item. 

The dude put some Loctite gear on it, & I'm letting it get fully cured before re-assembly. 

 Ok, I know it's a crappy pic below.  The deepest & smallest bearing in the final drive gearbox has an ID of 10mm & is seated in a blind hole.  How the hell do ya get that out???  Ask your local motorcycle shop which is 50K's away.....nope can't help.     

                                                             Continued below pic.

That remover was made up from an 8mm anchor bolt which has a hook on the end.  The clips are to stop the shaft of the anchor bolt from expanding.  Slid the anchor bolt in the 10mm bearing hole, screwed it up, hooked a large shifter on the end, & then placed a jumbo shifter to slide on the "hooked shifter" thus acting as a slide hammer.  A few whacks & it was out.....gave myself a pat on the back & said, "McGyver does it again!" ...(if you don't know the mid 80's TV series "McGyver": it's basically a stooge who "gets the bad guy" & gets into situations whereby making atomic bombs out of Cornflake boxes & hairclips sort of antics always saves the day somehow. 

You can see the expanded tube of the achor bolt just poking out.  All the greasy crap on there is grease because I tried "The Hydraulic Method"....doesn't work because no seal in the bearing so the grease just poos out when ya whack it.

Bearings needed for the Bug Bandit final drive gearbox overhaul are:-

1 x 6203
1 x 6202
2 x 6200      You've got to pop out the seals & wash out the grease before assembly.  I'll be using some Loctite Bearing Lock.  Will do a number of oil flushes for running-in.   I'm not really sure how things will work out with this because of the lathe work.....it needs to be perfectly concentric because of the high RPMs in there.  Any slight deviation might make shitloads of vibration & soon self-destruct.  The gear that was pushed on seems to be concentric, however, there seems to be some axial (not radial) deviation there...so I really don't know how it'll work out.

Will keep you posted.

Rob

Sunday 14.10.07

 I got the gearbox back together, today.   I had a bit of trouble with the Loctite Bearing Lock as it seemed as though it was setting before I had a chance to get the bearing fully home in its seat.  I had to hammer in a few bearing to make sure they were fully home.

On top of that I forgot to include some thrust washers! :(  I had them right next to the job, but was so focused on get the assembly back together.  Might not matter so much as I'm guessing they were "in action" when coasting, that, because of the helical cut on the gear, the intermediate gear would have been pushed against its own housing....now with the straight cut that wont happen.

The finished job doesn't feel that good when trying to roatate it, & I hope I've not flat pitted some races from the hammering.  Anyways, the whole lot is dry (oil-free) & with new straight cut gears which might account for the clunky feel.  Just have to make sure it gets plenty of running-in & flushing before declaring it "All AOK". 

Testing on Monday.

 Ok, I've not figured out how to put the pics on one side, & the writing next to it, but this will do for now.

Below you can see my newly modified gearbox cover with it's vents & a paint job.  It was vented before, but I've opened up those holes even more, & you can definately feel the difference with warm air blowing out the back when it's stationary, even.  The middle & front vents do, yes, Really Do, suck in the air, & so when travelling along the whole box is getting a whole load of air into it.

Is It Really Necessary???  Dunno for sure, but a heck of a lot of heat is generated in there, & I live in the hills & take the bike racing......plus the Continental Racers have 'em like this.  (bit of posing value)  Hehe.

 Bottom right is the old gear box cover.  I sanded off the old coating with wet & dry emery paper, & then painted it with "chrome paint"....I didn't really believe it's come out like a mirror as shown on the can, but it's a notch above ya boring ol' silver, I'd say.

If I were riding on dirt roads as I used to then I would cover the vents with tape.  I have done some dirt roads & found dust in with the variator rollers.

I replaced the old allen screw fasteners with good carbon steel hex head screws which are loctited in with medium strength thread lock.  Put stainless washers under them, too.   Bling!