Diary of a Race team mechanic

Zimbo · 10-02-2005, 06:58 PM

Well, since the UKMOC and it's members have been incredibly supportive and generous in offers of sponsorship and help for Phoenix's DesmoDue entry for this year, I thought you might all perhaps like a series of posts from the team mechanic's perspective, focusing in the main on the bike / modifications etc, problems encountered and how they are overcome, suggestions shared etc.

We started yesterday by wheeling Max out of his shed and parking him on the patio, then sizing him up with a copy of the ACU rule book and race series regulation handbook in out sweaty hands.

Max is a currently fairly standard Monster 600, T reg. He has a K&N filter (standard airbox lid), Dynojet kit (we think) fitted by a previous owner, and a pair of low level stainless ART cans. He also wears a steering damper and has recently had an Ohlins rear shock absorber fitted.
A lot of this will have to change!

First, ACU regs state that a lot of bits have to come off. These include headlight, tail light, horn, sidestand, pillion footpegs, and a few more bits I've forgotten for now.
Then some new bits have to go on. A lower chain guard at the back of the swinging arm to prevent the rider's foot from being caught in the rear sprocket, and a catch tray under the engine capable of holding at least 4 litres. The crancase breather must vent into a 500cc catch tank, and the fuel tank breather into a 250cc catch tank.
We also need to lockwire oil drain and filler plugs etc.
Instruments will be coming off, we need some sort of tacho unit, and to fit nose fairing, manufacture and fit front and side numberboards etc.
Race transponder will need to be fitted.
The ohlins shock is more than up to the job, the forks however need improving (standard Marzochi) with new springs and then damping tuned by adjusting oil weight.
Brakes we're going to leave as they are, they've already got braided hoses, new pads are needed though. Brake fluid to be changed to race spec high boiling point fluid.
Valve clearances need checking and carbs balancing, new fuel filter to be fitted, oil and filter changed using race spec synthetic oil.
More ground clearance is required, so hi level cans and rearsets need obtaining and fitting, and once the open airbox lid is fitted the fueling needs checking.
Bars need changing, they're too high and wide.
We're considering a 674cc big bore kit, which the series regs allow to make the 600 competetive against the 620. If that's fitted we need to run the new barrels and pistons in.
New tyres to be fitted once the series organisers announce which tyre we'll be using.
And all thsi before 22nd March, which is when our first track time is booked for testing and bike setup.

Better get cracking then i suppose ......

10-02-2005, 08:02 PM

will you be releasing a bill oddy style audio book to accompany the series?

On a serious note youâ€™re a talented chap and I wish ya the best with it.

Zimbo · 10-02-2005, 08:35 PM

Why thank you

I won't be doing ALL the work myself fortunately. Max is going to see Alan Shirley at AJ Racing in a week's time to have new fork springs fitted and fork oil renewed at the right grade, valve clearances set, and general suspension setup for the track. Alan builds all the Ducati BSB engines and race preps many top Ducati race bikes including BSB privateers, so should know what he's doing!! He aslo has Chris Walker's ex race mechanic from Ducati WSB days working with him, so this should enable Lin to say in the padock in an offhand way "well mine was prepped by Chris Walker's engineer" etc

Biggest headache at the moment is the underbelly catch tray, I was thinking of fabricating one from aluminium and have drawn out a basic design, but there is one being produced by Sigma Performance for the monster so will look into that as well, it'll save a lot of time although it won't look as good!

10-02-2005, 08:42 PM

Am i glad i just gotta ride it

10-02-2005, 08:53 PM

thers an ex challange s4 catch pan going on ebay at the moment

crust · 10-02-2005, 09:02 PM

The belly pan only has to hold half the total oil and coolant.

There's no coolant, so you're looking at a couple of litres.

The DP belly pan has a high lip at the back so would do the job. The motard boys use baking trays or a heat resistant cordura bag, the beely pans neater.

An Imola belly pan would do with a bit of ally either popped in the back or glassed in.

Crust

10-02-2005, 09:05 PM

Says 4 litres min in the desmo rule book Si.

10-02-2005, 09:11 PM

humm actually im talking crap ther isnt one on ebay
but there are some crash bars off said ex challange s4

10-02-2005, 10:50 PM

I have the DP belly pan fitted to my 900 (bought from Spareshack Stu) and it has no drain holes and doubles as a catch tank for the (now defunct) 'Bears' series (amongst others that they qualified for) so am sure it would be o.k. ...Do you want me to fill it will water while it's off the bike to see how much it holds?

Zimbo · 11-02-2005, 07:16 AM

If that's no problem Flip it would be great.
Sigma Performance are producing one for the series at Â£50, which I don't think is too bad, but it's always nice to have an alternative!
The other rule is that the sides should be a minimum of 50mm high. We need to put two 25mm drain holes in the bottom, fitted with rubber bungs, that can be removed to allow water to drain out in wet conditions.

I'd still like to custom make one in aluminium, but by the time you buy the aluminium welding materials etc it would cost almost as much as buying the Sigma one!

NattyBoy · 11-02-2005, 08:53 AM

Zimbo

Can you let me know which size of lockwire youd like for max and ill get it sorted..? (im getting it from one of my aerospace distributors at work and they use all sorts of thicknesses on aircraft!)

Cheers
Nat

Zimbo · 11-02-2005, 07:47 PM

Most lockwire kits seem to have anything around 0.7 - 0.8mm wire Nat, so either of those would do I guess!! Probably 0.7?
Thanks

NattyBoy · 11-02-2005, 09:21 PM

OK mate..PM me where you want it to go and ill sort it !

Cheers
Nat

12-02-2005, 05:13 PM

Well, I filled my DP belly pan up with water to see how much it holds and it took the full four litres (although like Crust I thought it only had to hold half the engine's capacity to be legal for racing) with around 10mm to spare at the lowest part. So all looks good for you on that score.

One thing I will say though is that if Sigma are doing them for Â£50 that's around half the price of the DP in unpainted unpainted glass fibre and Â£100 less than a carbon one so may be worth thinking about on price alone.

12-02-2005, 05:23 PM

BTW when you get a chance Lin you need to empty your PM's of donations again ha ha!

10-02-2005, 06:58 PM	#1
Zimbo Too much time on my hands member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Stonehouse, Glos Bike: Multiple Monsters Posts: 2,079	Diary of a Race team mechanic Well, since the UKMOC and it's members have been incredibly supportive and generous in offers of sponsorship and help for Phoenix's DesmoDue entry for this year, I thought you might all perhaps like a series of posts from the team mechanic's perspective, focusing in the main on the bike / modifications etc, problems encountered and how they are overcome, suggestions shared etc. We started yesterday by wheeling Max out of his shed and parking him on the patio, then sizing him up with a copy of the ACU rule book and race series regulation handbook in out sweaty hands. Max is a currently fairly standard Monster 600, T reg. He has a K&N filter (standard airbox lid), Dynojet kit (we think) fitted by a previous owner, and a pair of low level stainless ART cans. He also wears a steering damper and has recently had an Ohlins rear shock absorber fitted. A lot of this will have to change! First, ACU regs state that a lot of bits have to come off. These include headlight, tail light, horn, sidestand, pillion footpegs, and a few more bits I've forgotten for now. Then some new bits have to go on. A lower chain guard at the back of the swinging arm to prevent the rider's foot from being caught in the rear sprocket, and a catch tray under the engine capable of holding at least 4 litres. The crancase breather must vent into a 500cc catch tank, and the fuel tank breather into a 250cc catch tank. We also need to lockwire oil drain and filler plugs etc. Instruments will be coming off, we need some sort of tacho unit, and to fit nose fairing, manufacture and fit front and side numberboards etc. Race transponder will need to be fitted. The ohlins shock is more than up to the job, the forks however need improving (standard Marzochi) with new springs and then damping tuned by adjusting oil weight. Brakes we're going to leave as they are, they've already got braided hoses, new pads are needed though. Brake fluid to be changed to race spec high boiling point fluid. Valve clearances need checking and carbs balancing, new fuel filter to be fitted, oil and filter changed using race spec synthetic oil. More ground clearance is required, so hi level cans and rearsets need obtaining and fitting, and once the open airbox lid is fitted the fueling needs checking. Bars need changing, they're too high and wide. We're considering a 674cc big bore kit, which the series regs allow to make the 600 competetive against the 620. If that's fitted we need to run the new barrels and pistons in. New tyres to be fitted once the series organisers announce which tyre we'll be using. And all thsi before 22nd March, which is when our first track time is booked for testing and bike setup. Better get cracking then i suppose ......

10-02-2005, 08:02 PM	#2
Richard_S Guest Posts: n/a	will you be releasing a bill oddy style audio book to accompany the series? On a serious note youâ€™re a talented chap and I wish ya the best with it. Last edited by Richard_S; 10-02-2005 at 08:30 PM..

10-02-2005, 09:02 PM	#6
crust rattles when he walks Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: in the comfy chair,moved furniture around Bike: M900 Posts: 1,065	The belly pan only has to hold half the total oil and coolant. There's no coolant, so you're looking at a couple of litres. The DP belly pan has a high lip at the back so would do the job. The motard boys use baking trays or a heat resistant cordura bag, the beely pans neater. An Imola belly pan would do with a bit of ally either popped in the back or glassed in. Crust Last edited by crust; 10-02-2005 at 09:05 PM..

10-02-2005, 09:05 PM	#7
Phoenix Guest Posts: n/a	Says 4 litres min in the desmo rule book Si. Last edited by Phoenix; 10-02-2005 at 09:09 PM..

10-02-2005, 10:50 PM	#9
Flip Guest Posts: n/a	DP Belly pan I have the DP belly pan fitted to my 900 (bought from Spareshack Stu) and it has no drain holes and doubles as a catch tank for the (now defunct) 'Bears' series (amongst others that they qualified for) so am sure it would be o.k. ...Do you want me to fill it will water while it's off the bike to see how much it holds?

10-02-2005, 08:35 PM	#3
Zimbo Too much time on my hands member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Stonehouse, Glos Bike: Multiple Monsters Posts: 2,079	Why thank you I won't be doing ALL the work myself fortunately. Max is going to see Alan Shirley at AJ Racing in a week's time to have new fork springs fitted and fork oil renewed at the right grade, valve clearances set, and general suspension setup for the track. Alan builds all the Ducati BSB engines and race preps many top Ducati race bikes including BSB privateers, so should know what he's doing!! He aslo has Chris Walker's ex race mechanic from Ducati WSB days working with him, so this should enable Lin to say in the padock in an offhand way "well mine was prepped by Chris Walker's engineer" etc Biggest headache at the moment is the underbelly catch tray, I was thinking of fabricating one from aluminium and have drawn out a basic design, but there is one being produced by Sigma Performance for the monster so will look into that as well, it'll save a lot of time although it won't look as good!

10-02-2005, 08:42 PM	#4
Phoenix Guest Posts: n/a	Am i glad i just gotta ride it

10-02-2005, 08:53 PM	#5
Scotty Guest Posts: n/a	thers an ex challange s4 catch pan going on ebay at the moment

10-02-2005, 09:11 PM	#8
Scotty Guest Posts: n/a	humm actually im talking crap ther isnt one on ebay but there are some crash bars off said ex challange s4

11-02-2005, 07:16 AM	#10
Zimbo Too much time on my hands member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Stonehouse, Glos Bike: Multiple Monsters Posts: 2,079	If that's no problem Flip it would be great. Sigma Performance are producing one for the series at Â£50, which I don't think is too bad, but it's always nice to have an alternative! The other rule is that the sides should be a minimum of 50mm high. We need to put two 25mm drain holes in the bottom, fitted with rubber bungs, that can be removed to allow water to drain out in wet conditions. I'd still like to custom make one in aluminium, but by the time you buy the aluminium welding materials etc it would cost almost as much as buying the Sigma one!

11-02-2005, 08:53 AM	#11
NattyBoy Monsterless again for now Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Wiltshire Bike: M900 Posts: 3,189	Zimbo Can you let me know which size of lockwire youd like for max and ill get it sorted..? (im getting it from one of my aerospace distributors at work and they use all sorts of thicknesses on aircraft!) Cheers Nat

11-02-2005, 07:47 PM	#12
Zimbo Too much time on my hands member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Stonehouse, Glos Bike: Multiple Monsters Posts: 2,079	Most lockwire kits seem to have anything around 0.7 - 0.8mm wire Nat, so either of those would do I guess!! Probably 0.7? Thanks

11-02-2005, 09:21 PM	#13
NattyBoy Monsterless again for now Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Wiltshire Bike: M900 Posts: 3,189	OK mate..PM me where you want it to go and ill sort it ! Cheers Nat

12-02-2005, 05:13 PM	#14
Flip Guest Posts: n/a	Fill 'er up Well, I filled my DP belly pan up with water to see how much it holds and it took the full four litres (although like Crust I thought it only had to hold half the engine's capacity to be legal for racing) with around 10mm to spare at the lowest part. So all looks good for you on that score. One thing I will say though is that if Sigma are doing them for Â£50 that's around half the price of the DP in unpainted unpainted glass fibre and Â£100 less than a carbon one so may be worth thinking about on price alone.

12-02-2005, 05:23 PM	#15
Flip Guest Posts: n/a	BTW when you get a chance Lin you need to empty your PM's of donations again ha ha!