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RRW Fireblade, my take....

95K views 479 replies 56 participants last post by  IanDoohan 
#1 ·
Well not posted much as not had much to say but have been busy behind the goals.
As I said in my welcome post I am replacing the seat unit on my 'blade with one from a late R1, never having had much to do with Yamaha's I cannot believe how many bloody variations there are for the latter half of last decade...
So if anybody wants a fairing or 2 I have a few now :crying: but still not the one that suits the bloody subframe i've got, lol.
So like all good mods it usually starts somewhere else as you think whilst I do that I may as well do x,y,z...
So as I am doing the rear cans, I thought why not start at the front...

So a few late nights after work, we have this




Stainless flanges and Inconnel tube, 36mm id with a 37mm od. Super light and will improve flow a little. Which has kept me busy for a couple of nights hahaha.
So tonight I started work on the collector



Swaged to suit the od and we have 4 made...



and then ran out of time as had to come home for food as had been a long day...

Although whilst having a spare 5 minutes the other day I did have time to start work on my paddock stand



Basic frame, one will be for the rear, one will be for the front.
Annoyingly no matter how I orientated it on the bending machine I couldn't get both upsweeps without it clashing the machine, so one cut and weld later we ended up with this...



as it needs something to stop it pivoting forward some laser cut brackets that I will weld on once I have turned a spacer to sit between them and turned some delrin wheels.

but the brackets are here



That's it for now... Comments welcome
 
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#351 ·
So petcock rebuilt without a hitch, thread sealant on the thread and attached to tank.
Put rear bracket onto tank to attach to the subframe and the damn thing fouled the new battery, seems the dimensions of the LiFePo battery are a little bit different to the stock battery....
Luckily the R1's battery box is a plastic affair that is attached, so this was removed and chopped about to move it back an inch and then removed a little bit of plastic under the seat and the job is a good one... it all fits.
The only electrical bit that needs a tweak is the earth from the starter motor which connects to the negative terminal on the battery needs extending, so i'll make a new one of them and the brake light switch lead needs extending also.
Sorry to say no pics of this at this stage as I was like a kid at Christmas as I wanted to get the tank on and wheel the bike outside, and the camera was definitely dug out for that!!!! :D:D:D







And I just sat there and looked at her, I am really really happy how she has turned out, is she perfect? no, I can pick fault but she is good enough and I did it all myself, well except the actual spraying.
I think the new gauge matches the colour of the orange damn near perfectly.
I still have to wire in the new indicators on the new mirrors.
I am waiting on some brass threaded inserts so I can reattach the headlight as the original ones were fubar, then just waiting on some Ti screws to hold the headlight in.
The carbon fender I have been promised for Monday/Tuesday... then i'll see what Ti bolts I need for that....
She is not far off making some noise...... Then she'll need an MOT, then the dreaded insurance (can I still class her as a standard bike? :rotfl:), need to change the colours listed on the V5 also.

It isn't often I ask for help, can someone remind me where I saw the repair kit for the rectifier connector please? I'd like to replace my plug. The stator and rectifier are new. I am tempted to rip out the whole loom and make a new more motorsport spec item. Not seen anyone do that yet.

As ever guys, comments are always welcome...
 
#355 ·
Don't know how I missed this thread. After about an hour of reading and drooling over your skills I am all caught up. Absolutely fantastic work and craftsmanship. I love the paint job and the slight mods you have done to the fairings. I bought some 1000RR mirrors and they don't work on my 954 either. Anyways keep up the good work, she's a beauty.
 
#356 ·
Thank you one, thank you all!!!!

I have no idea how you missed it either lol.... it only too an hour for you to read my whole thread? damn, I want to absorb people for days hahaha

Yeah the angle of the 1000 mirrors just do not work at all.... I could have made custom bases but I found the mirrors I have fitted and they suit my needs and have the indicators inbuilt (hopefully they'll work, not tried the damn things yet, I'm too trusting lol)
 
#357 ·
A little bit more done, working away sure does limit working time on the fun stuff.....

At the weekend I got all the electrics back in place and the new rear foot hangers mounted, all new Titanium fittings throughout, half can't be seen but since when is that an issue lol.
I found a local company which was able to supply new thread inserts for the upper fairing so I could mount the headlight and the cover panels and used Titanium bolts again for the fixing.
The new carbon front fender arrived all the way from Poland. The quality isn't up there but it is ok, redoing the clear coat at a later date will improve but it is very light, which I like....

 
#361 · (Edited)
Now to be fair I am no Spielberg so I apologise now for the dodgy editing on the video and I hope it shows the effect.
I finally got around to wiring up the new mirrors with the integral indicators, I used my original resistor packs from the other LED indicators I had previously fitted.
It was just a question of getting the wiring through the fairing and down into the original loom, nothing more complicated that drilling a hole underneath the mount.
The wiring was clipped to the fairing stay and all tucked out of the way.



As usual, thoughts, opinions or just plain old abuse are always welcome

I am just waiting on some parts to make up a new earth lead from the battery to the starter motor as I had to move the new battery further and then I think we can make some engine noises.... Which will be the first time since September 2014...
 
#363 ·
As with any rebuild there are always high's and lows....
Had them both today and hindsight is always a magical thing which sadly none of us possess!!!
So, the parts arrived this morning to make the longer earth lead, duly made and fitted.
Plugs out to ease first turnover.... She span over a charm.
Plugs back in and all good as well.
Tank back on and all connections connected, now bearing in mind the fuel system was dry fresh super unleaded was gone and got, put a cup full into the tank and yup the freshly rebuilt petcock was leaking from the riveted side.... First disappointment....

So tank off and rig up a fuel bowl to gravity feed the tanks and prime them, duly done....

Tank back on and lots of paper towel underneath to catch the drips, a small amount of fuel into the tank, switch to reserve, choke pulled out, ignition on and press the starter....

Starts and runs on the 2nd push.... Leave her running until the chokes goes off, so a bit of warmth in her. On touching the throttle to rev her, just coughs and dies....

Second disappointment...
Note to self, don't leave fuel in the carbs for 2 years and expect it to start.... So a carb strip, clean and rebuild is now my next project...
 
#366 ·
I could not agree more..... they are just niggles and another thing to sort.... there may be more ahead and it is all part of the journey. It doesn't matter if it is My 'blade, my TT or my A5 they all have things that need maintaining.
So glad I got rid of the Ducati as I think that would have sent me over the edge hahahaha
 
#367 ·
massively blowing the dust off not only the bike and my blog here....

I've been slowly (almost glacial) redoing the headlings and bi xenons as after putting the old headlight back on one of the bulbs decided to fry itself and made a mess inside the headlamp. Now the headlamp was as old as the bike itself so it wasn't a great shame.
So a new one was duly bought, as was a new set of bi xenon projectors. I went for something bigger and with a more square angel ete side light.
This new kit allowed me to improve on all the connections and tidy up behind the dials.

So, new headlight into the oven at 50 degress C for 10 minutes to soften the seal between the lens and body.


all the silver bits were stripped off and painted satin black, reassembled back on and then the new projectors.
Sue to the square shape i had to slightly angle them to sit neatly within the headlamp


and then the new lens was put back on and sealed.


all new titanium fixings and new stainless thread inserts in the fairings as the brass ones were corroded backly and the threads were poor.
and onto the bike

still almost looks like a 1998 Fireblade lol



almost

few little niggles to address and she'll be ready to ride as soon as the weather improves.

Looking forward to getting the MOT done
 
#370 ·
the older versions were great.... i never needed main beam as the colour temperature illuminated the road much better. I always ensured that the lights were properly aimed as well, in case anyone was wondering lol....

further back in the thread i think i have a night time view of them on....

Gunk said:
Good to have this thread back up and running, love your work and imagination, great stuff!
Thanks Gunk, she doesn't get the time she once had but i love her to bits and i enjoy tinkering....
 
#374 ·
new stanchions, uprated springs, uprated valves on the fork bottoms all new seals and rebuilt and filled with fresh Motul oil.
The rear Ohlins is being stripped and rebuilt at the same time.

I have to hang my head in shame as I've subbed this job out, only reason being is work is mental at the moment and if i did it myself i wouldn't be riding her this year. I earned the money to pay for it so it's the same as doing it myself lol.....

I now need more Titanium bolts though as the rear shock has got the originals still....
 
#376 · (Edited)
Gunk, I suppose we all like to share the love... it's a bit like "Readers Wives" but without the nudity!!!

I'd been playing (with the bike, not the Readers Wives, and no not Auto Erotica type playing on the bike you perves!!!) with an idea on breaking up the orange on the wheels a little but just didn't want to put a sticker on the outer edge of the rim but liked the idea.
So vinyl stickers in hand, in black and Honda shaped i tried this...

back wheel


front wheel

i haven't made up my mind if it's going to make the final cut, I like it but I don't know if I really like it.....

It draws the eye and makes you think "what's that" from certain angles, which i like....

and i came to the conclusion that Titanum bolts have massively gone up in price this year, nearly ÂŁ70 for 4 bolts and 4 nuts to hold the rear damper on. Geez an addiction is a killer!!!!!!!!
 
#378 ·
i know what you mean. I'm on the fence as said...

I'll decide when she's out in the sunshine and can step back and take it all in....

TBH fed up of the same angled pic from the entrance to the garage from the kitchen lol
 
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