First Race In The Books ...

[morbidelli17]

Finally got the thing running.

Shop completely disassembled the carb, found that someone had jammed the wrong spring into the works, and the secondary (?) carb was never opening, and the mess was gummed up to boot. Got it all back together, the tuner did the jetting by trial and error, and got a flat 13:1 air/fuel mix across the rev range. The bad news - rumors of an upgraded cam were greatly exaggerated (thank you, Mark Twain). On an admittedly pessimistic dyno, just short of 44 horses was all she'd put out.

Oh well. Couldn't afford to miss another round. Had set up the forks as best I could, didn't have time to tinker with the shock, just loaded her up and took her to Willow Springs.

The good thing about a slow bike at that track is that it's all about momentum. I got roasted on each of my two starts, but once I got the thing rolling, I just kept it pinned. Stupid little stuff was making me crazy at first. Worn-out grips meant the throttle tube was rotating inside the grip and backing off the gas. The belly pan I'd installed dragged. I hate the footpegs. The shift rod bent - I got lucky on that one. I was looking for someone who had a vise at the track, and I ran into a guy named Javier. He insisted on straightening it for me. I watched him and said, "You've done this before." He said, "I worked in Europe. Used to work for Luca Cadalora." Nice.

Anyway, I had a couple of excellent races chasing people down, passing and getting passed. It was exactly the sort of fun that club racing is supposed to be. I shook hands with people on the cool-down lap, laughed with them in the pits. The thing never missed a beat all weekend, once I got it started.

Second-best part: With a measly 43+ horsepower, I was able to run in the 1:39 range at Willow's big track. That's averaging more than 90 mph.

Best part: I took a second in Battle of the Twins Lightweight, and held onto my lead in the points in that class. And I got a very nice trophy.

Will post pics when the photogs do. Thanks for reading.

p.s. Bill, Henry, turns out I have a pair of FCR39 carbs from my SV500. Is there a mounting kit available that I can use to stick them on the Mz?

[basser23]

Michael,
Good write up!!
Niggley little things will drive ya nuts,
Apparently R6 throttle tube works wonders and is quicker opening too.
FCR mounts should be available from Sudco or ATV race shop..
Looking forward to the pictures...oh, if you are getting 13:1 across the rev range thats great,what was your final jetting?
Thanks
Chip

[OSPRNG]

great write up indeed!
thanks for posting, congratulations on the win

[basser23]

Michael,
Check Powroll for the manifolds etc.
http://www.powroll.com/P_YAMAHA_RAPTOR660.htm
Chip

[morbidelli17]

Not terrible for a first crack at this. I need to tinker with the shock and forks a bit, lower the seat (I adapted an SV650 seat and tail section), fiberglass in the huge hole in the belly pan and then re-mount it. New brake pads probably a good idea, too. And a new battery. The poor bike was so beaten up when I got it. My first trip down the block, I couldn't steer the thing. Pulled the steering damper off, and it felt like it would stick hard every inch or so. So I had to run without one this weekend. To save weight, he'd put aluminum bolts where aluminum shouldn't be, and they stripped when I tried to un-screw them. I spent hours just trying to clean it up and make it look presentable at tech inspection and for my sponsors.

Serious carb question - local tuners say twin 39s are too much, that they'd rather me get a Yamaha Rhino 2-1 manifold and use a single 41mm FCR flatslide. Anyone try the single 41 setup? How's it working?

Enjoy the pic.

[basser23]

Nice Michael!!!
About the FCRs,unless you have a hotter cam,do head work,and run at least 700cc it may be overkill...otoh,if you do a Rhino manifold
you'd need to get one of those carb spacers for the Raptor to get the intake track longer to increase velocity...but a 41 would be sufficient
for sure.
Bikeworx had a single manifold using a Mikuni HSR42...no manifolds are available from what I've heard.
Bill Jurgenson has used a Grizzly manifold with a port matching adaptor he made and ran it with a tm40 Mikuni I think...
MORE pictures please!!! I'd like to see the SV seat adaptation

Chip

[morbidelli17]

Will post more detailed pics next week; heading out of town for MotoGP, woo-hoo! Thanks for the carb suggestions. Take care, all - M

[basser23]

You are soooooooo fortunate to go to the GP....arghhhhhh!!!
Hope Ben and Colin have a banner weekend!!!!!!
(of course the wife's preference is Valentino)
Have fun!!!
Chip

[Bill Jurgenson]

nice write up.
glad read that you readily fit into the pit atmosphere. can be a great place where only the real assholes are uptight.
club racing should be like that. Pro racing was and can still be but try not to forget that their time cost lots of money.
some comments. in no particular order.
steering damper: forget it, it is not necessary - or rather only if most of the set up is way off course. None of the three different Skorpions I owned or still do own needed one for solo work or racing and I raced one rather seriously.
If yours is a Cup, it has shorter dogbones(125-28mm), otherwise get or make shorter ones. The Baggi bones(118mm) are too short. The fork works fine as is but you should experiment with the air column. I found 130-35mm to work best. I also found Wilbers and/or WhitePower progressive springs to be a really big improvement.
If you haven't done so, stick the fork thru the tripletree till they are around 55mm above the top surface. You can go as far as 65mm. Get clipons worthy of the name. I use Gilles GPLight which I find best and also cheapest compared to the delivered quality. I have them under the tripletree. Barker made good ones to fit. Really nice, inexpensive and very light steel ones are available from Italy for classic racers.
Look into a decent strut when you find the dough.
Bear in mind, tho, that in the european Cup Series, these things are raced with stock items only. the above mentioned setup stuff is allowed as are other clipons but no sexy struts or replacement forks and the the good riders run lap times faster than lots can manage with an FZR. I raced in the Sound of Thunder class against Twins and was not the slowest, admittedly with a highly modified Skorpion (80hp revving over 9000, close ratio OVER cluster, and 125kg ready to race).

battery: follow the thread here in this forum on the LiFePo accus. It is worth it.

carb: the advice you got and offer to help fit an Y-manifold with FCR41 is good for a starter. The dual FCR 39 are WAY too big for the engine until you have done some serious (=$$$$) tuning work. I used the Bikeworx kit Chip referred to but not for racing. I used it on a stock and a mildly tuned street bike; highly recommended. I now use a Y-manifold with TM40 on my street bike. The intake has to be lengthened. Y-bridges are longer to start with, in particular the Bikeworx. It is not necessary to space farther out yet; experiment with ram stacks around 70mm. I assume you have ditched the airbox. you'll have to, to run a longer intake, regardless of type.
Single carbs are only an option for untuned or only mildly tuned engines. The crossection is simply too small, even a TM 42. Larger Ø have too low a vaccum at lower RPM and are hard to ride smoothly. Bikeworx trrid TM45 snd found them too large
My personal tip: use a dual TM34/36-B65 set off from the head with 55mm long alu tubes turned to fit in the rubber mounts on the head. run stacks between 50 and 70mm.
I ran dual TM38s.
Exhaust headers not under 35mm ID. Make the system as long as possible, increasing Ø from the siamese junction to tge can to at least 2".
otherwise you don't have bother with tuning stuff at all.

get out your hacksaw and files and remove as much as possible from the seatframe or make new one from thinwalled tubing or alu tubing if you have really alu welder on hand.
Whatever, get the weight down and get as much as possible off the back, changing the bias to get 50:50 or slightly more on the front. set the sest higher, sit as far foward as possible and move the pegs as far forward as possible; the rearsets of the Cup or Sport are just barely far enuf foward in the foward position; the rear position is useless for racing. Some firm on the west coast makes or made decent rearsets for the Skorpion. Not cheap, definitely highend, but plug and play and completely adjustable and easily repaired (all parts individually as spares): Gilles AS31GT-MZ01. As the number implies made for the Skorpion. I instigated these and i use them; I have the prototype. When I raced, I used one-off billet CNC milled we made ourselves. We made two setsand used them up as sparessnd welded the broken brackets after crashes. A toolmaker friend is now using my last twice welded set. He drew them up and wrote out the program forvthe milling machine where he works but has not been able to progress further due to stringent changes in ccompany policy.
Mine were no adjustable, just made to fit me.

Aluminum fasteners:
there are only a very few places where these do not suffice and I use Ti there.
MOST IMPORTANT: ALWAYS use special assembly grease on threads. Otherwise you don't evrn need to bother with a torque wrench. DON'T use old-fashioned lockwashers.
nuf for now.
there is a little info at my site and a lot more at my blog, both listed below.

[morbidelli17]

Chip, Bill: Thank you very much for all your input. My bike is a 1995 Sport. Couple questions:

- My long-term plan for the motor is a mild-medium cam and springs, maybe a higher-compression piston. Not
going to mess with porting, high rpm ignitions, etc. I'm a club racer, and I'd rather race than tinker. So having said that, if I go the single 41mm carb route with the 2-1 manifold, will that suffice to feed a stocker with a cam and a piston?

- What's a strut? If you're talking about a shock absorber, it has an Ohlins, I just need to spend more time setting it up. Racing two bikes last weekend, I just ran out of time to conduct thorough, documented experimentation with settings.

- So the stock rearsets are OK in the forward position? The bike I raced in February had stock rearsets and I seemed to do quite well with them.

- What weight oil do you use in the forks? I have the Race Tech emulators in them, but the front felt overly stiff through the bumps, as though the fork was not responding quickly enough. I have 20-weight in there now, but may try 15 weight for the next round, or take another turn out of the emulators.

Thanks again for all the assistance.

p.s. I used the newest Dunlop D209 DOT (treaded) race tires. The front is the AMA Superbike spec tire, the rear is a 160 in a 6680 compound. According to the Dunlop site, the front is too big for the stock rim, but the rear fits. At my pace, I had more tire than I needed, and they felt far better than any Dunlop DOT I've used in the past. For what it's worth.

[basser23]

Michael,
I trust your weekend was enjoyable....lucky b...,were you able to catch the Daytona Sport/Superbike races too?
I watched and did enjoy both very much,especially Bobby Fong's run....!!! wife was ecstatic with Rossi on the podium!!
Anyway,about the carb..I would have to say it would suffice with a mild cam and piston..you'll probably want to space the manifold
back from the head to give a longer intake tract which will improve torque..if you go this route,I'd like to follow the install as it would
be something I'd be interested in on the street....
If you speak to Mark(exhaust guy) would you inquire to the price to duplicate your entire system including the headpipes?
Thanks!!
Like to see some pics.....
Chip

[morbidelli17]

That was the 20th year I've ridden to Laguna for the GP or WSBK races. Awesome. And I got to watch the DSB race from the tower next to the grandstands. Sweet! And then Martin Cardenas sat nest to us in the stands during the Superbike race! All the racing was excellent, and I had a great ride up and back.

Thanks for the advice on the carbs. Since I can get an FCR41 for free, I think that will be the first route I take.

Will post pics this week.

Take care - M

[basser23]

Michael,wont say I'm envious,but......................maybe I'll try to make Indy.....we'll see.
Yeah, I'd take a free FCR too...Let us know how you get on... you are aware Bill is THE go to guy on all this,I'd pay close attentention
to his recommendations..
Oh the stock ignition curve is way too agressive according to him,he sells a good CDI custom programmed with I think 9000 rpm limit.
Check it out..I have a TDM box in mine...
Later
Chip