The story of one neglected Daytona

Thanks for the offer but I already have a brand new Danmoto set on it`s way here



The ankle pads look black but are in fact carbon fiber, compliment the CF look hugger & chain guard nicely!

 

Went to pick up the box from the post office after work, apart from a few little machining marks the workmanship seems pretty good. Daym well should be for that price too!



For once when something looks like carbon fiber, it actually IS that



The baseplate fits perfectly to the ears in the frame, but I ran into a bit of a speed bump with the brake pedal: unlike what it seems the pivot point of the pedal is not on the bolt that keeps it in place but in the bolt that keeps the footpeg, this makes the pedal move in a fairly wide arch and even though the pedal assembly is bolted to the most forward top holes it still hits the pipe. Gotta try tomorrow if the spacer washers provided would bring the whole rearset out enough for the pedal to clear the exhaust.

I got a bit of spare time so I decided to try how well the new coolant hoses fit in place:




TASSSTYYYYYY!!! They still need a bit of tweaking though, I already cut a bit from here and another there to get them to fit better cause the set is for the `04-> model, and the crankcase breather hose doesn`t come with the set at all and is made from ready bends, still need one 22,5` bend to get it nice and clean, they are now joined with a straight bit which pulls them a bit. Ohh that custom stainless steel T looks gooood with the blue hoses, just gotta grind the shoulders down a bit cause they bulge out a bit too much.

 

Cause of the mechanics or my enklish? :tongue:

Don`t remember have I told it before but there`s a big annual motorcycle exhibition in the capital of Finland, Helsinki called MP-xx (MotorBike-*year*), pretty much half of it consists of the MMAF Petrol Circus (check my sig) which is basically the place where all the most acclaimed and skillful builders gather to show their bikes and compete. My main goal with this project is to be on display at MP-15 `circus, not expecting to actually rank let alone win any classes but to me even getting in there would be a huge achievement.

 

Time to get that triple tree nut open. Figured I`d just sacrifice one of the 21mm spark plug sockets I got like five of, but guess what: all of them is still in the old garage 50km away so I decided to spend all 5,40 to get a new one from the local hardware shop. I also had a length of 5mm stainless steel axle I got from one company at work, cut some sticks out of it and rounded the ends a bit with a bench grinder. Didn`t bother to measure them before cutting cause it won`t matter none.



I taped over the nut with painter`s tape and pushed the pegs through it for a snug fit into the holes as well as spark protection. I know cardboard ain`t probably the best fireproofing material but id did catch the few stray sparks well. First I just tacked the pegs to the socket and figured I`d weld them on properly in a vice but when welding the pegs bend like a banana if not supported so I had to make the whole thing whilst on the bike.



Ain`t pretty but sure enough works!



Ignition lock mount. Now you see it...




...and now you don`t. Took a good two hours of angle grinding, filing, sanding and cursing to get it straight but eventually did.



Didn`t manage to finish it yet cause my thread tools seem to also be at the old place so I just put M6 bolts and nuts in the back to keep the gauge bracket in place for a mock up test, still gotta make M8 threads to the holes and another bend to the gauge bracket cause now it`s a tad TOO far back. IMO looks better now that I was able to lift the headlight a bit.

 

You can do wonders with a welding rig

Another thing that I noticed when I put the triple back on and climbed on the bike: when I opened the nut it was properly TIGHT! Even though it got heat from the welding it still needed a proper tug to get it off, when I put it back on I noticed that the steering is now considerably lighter than what it was, which made me wonder if the nut was in too tight. Does anyone know if there is a set torque I should tighten the nut to?

 

Right, thanks. was WAY tighter than that.

 

Long time since I`ve been here, life keeps throwing stakes on the spokes of this project and I`ve been forced to use money saved for this project to other things twice now. Been able to still do something to it even though free time is at least as scarce as the funding. Still a loooong way from finished but getting there eventually, although not this summer...









Right side crash cage still uncompleted but once I get the suspension set that is awaiting in the garage table, under my Volvo, it`s time to continue on this one.

 

Thanks Bobby, appreciate it. Haven`t lifted a finger for the project for over a month, been too busy first keeping the cbr in riding condition with a new rear tire and some bits n bobs here and there, then fitting the new suspension under the Volvo. Just when money is already tight, the right side rear ABS sensor decided to break causing another 120e of unscheduled cost. The final blow that took the last interest towards motorbikes at the moment happened when my dearest friend pulled a corner wide during our ride together trashing her cbr 1000f Hurricane about two weeks ago right in front of my eyes. A wild sight watching a 270 kg bike doing 1,5 somersaults in mid air with her flying like a rag doll with it. Haven`t ridden one meter after we got back to our house. It`s a miracle she survived with just a minor rip in a tendon in her knee, can think of at least two ways that easily could have killed her right there.










Pretty certain her gear played a big part in her not getting any major injuries, so anyone reading this, take the pictures as a reminder: ATGATT a.k.a. All The Gear, All The Time!!!

 

Already has a lock onto a 2003 VFR 800 A small spill isn`t gonna stop that gal! Jokes aside, it really was one of the most horrid things I`ve ever had to watch. Just the night before we were doing some maintenance on the bike after which I took it for a test ride. I overshot our crossroads cause the rear wheel locks dangerously easily which I pointed out to her. The next day we were driving a road neither of us had ever ridden and hit a sharp crest. Little did we know there was a very tight bend turning steeply downhill right after the apex, she locked the rear wheel while braking, fishtailed, lost balance and went wide. At first the bike slid in the ditch for a couple of meters on it`s right side until the front wheel caught on something and launched it into the air, throwing my friend up with it as her legs were still around the bike. I was braking hard trying my best to stop my own cbr as fast as I could to get to her aid so I wasn`t watching every second but the position she was in when the bike went flying, neck twisted in an unnatural position and her feet high in the air, for a fraction of a second I was certain she just had her number called...



To add to the mix, she missed that rock for about ONE meter. Not to mention what would have happened if she would have plowed head on with an oncoming car! Talking about cats with nine lives...

She took the bike to an insurance evaluator and they pretty much instantly totaled it, front forks bent, total length shortened by 7cm, possible cracks in the frame, ever body panel trashed, fairing stay bent, headlight cracked, turning indicators shattered, windshield in tatters, engine fluids mixed etc etc. would cost about three times the value of the bike to get it back on the road IF they could find everything. Pretty much the only undamaged body part was the tank and even that has scratches on the top around the fill cap.

 

Been neglecting this bike for quite a while now for various excuses, even today I was planning to go for a night ride with my Honda as I just changed the chain and sprockets to it along with a manual CCT unit and some camera mounts fitted cause I`m gonna go do a track day with it @ august 6th, but a thunderstorm soaked my plans, it`s been extremely hot here for weeks with temps hovering around 30c (I know I know not that much but unusually lot for here) so after the rainstorm it`s very hot AND extremely moist, massive fog so can`t see anything and don`t wanna get the recently washed CBR all dirty again but can`t sit indoors either cause of the suffocating atmosphere so what I do is I go to the garage and pull the Daytona off the corner and see if I could do anything to it. Our bedroom is directly above the garage so can`t make almost any noise so turning my attention towards the unfinished electrics, deciding to try and wire the new Koso RX-2 gauge cluster. Well, try anyway as I hit a few speedbumps. First I can`t find the workshop manual anywhere, and when I finally do I realise I don`t have the gauge wiring diagram either! That I did find from the net pretty quickly but when I started splicing into the original gauge harness I hit a wall. I could figure out most of the wires but the diagram in the workshop manual doesn`t state what the wires do that connect straight to the ECM.

If someone could help with the few wires I could probly get the unit fitted during my holiday.

The wires that I need to be recognised and the pin they connect to in the ECM are:

Orange/black -D4
Yellow/white -B1
Plain red -A1
red/orange-E2

The other ones I pretty much got figured out, even though there are two identical green/red wires that one sems to feed the neutral and fuel level warning lights and the other is the LH turn indicator light but the latter can easily be traced with a multimeter and continuity test so the other is the other. The four wires stated go from the guge cluster connector straight into the ECM and the diagram doesn`t shed ANY light on what is what. Any info on these would be greatly appreciatedas I would very much want to get even the cluster fitted during my vacation.

It has seemed so for quite a while that I`m not going to make the deadline to finish this bike for the exhibition in January for free time and financial issues but I will try to nibble little things that don`t request any big investions here and there. Basically the last big money hole will be the final wet paint as I`m already paid for the powdercoating with work earlier, but as I`m putting it back together there will still be little things here and there like a heap of new bearings everywhere etc. so it`s gonna go till the next summer until this thing sees any tarmac but IMO better to take my time with it and do it well the first time than to rush anyting and cut corners, I really wanna do this as well as I possibly can so if I feel I don`t have sufficient time to do it well I`m not going to the garage at all.







Not really bike related but another little toy I purchased recently and wanna brag a little is this:




A 1997 Alfa Romeo 916 Spider 2.0 Twinspark. Traded my `99 Volvo S80 T6 for it as it turned out to be a total lemon and I wanted something a bit less practical I drive 99% of the time alone so a two seater will suffice for me since the wifey has a Skoda Octavia Scout for baby transport etc. Besides this thing takes much less gas and has slightly cheaper taxes and insurance so it`s basically a very economical decision! Just waiting with great interest how that ragtop will hold the -20c winter weathers outside...





Just love how the tail curves and the light panel going all the way from one end to another. Very well drawn car IMO, and rare as hen`s teeth here. Never gathered so much looks in a car before than driving home!











Harman/Kardon digiamp, Ground Zero 6,5":s in the doors and an 8" JBL Woofer in the back. Gotta tidy up those wirings a little some day but not bad as is.