Lucky Phil

Moved on to the heads today while I wait for a new OP relief spring. I have 2 brand new l/h camshafts so I'm good for that head but I wanted to check the cam lobe taper to be sure I'll get the lifter rotation I need when the engine is running. I had heard a long while back that the factory cams can be ground without any taper due to poor quality. So I chucked up a new L/H can and dialed it up. The manual says it should have and 8' angle on the lobe so a 20mm wide lobe by may calculation should have a .046mm taper across the face. The std new cam came up at .040 so close enough. The R/H lobes are another matter. The exhaust isnt too bad, its got the taper but some wear in the center of the lobe. The inlet however isnt quite so good. No taper and center wear. I'll have a more comprehensive look at these and see where on the lobe the wear and lack of taper begins and ends and decide what action to take. Hopefully I'll be able to use a diamond lap and correct them by hand. Ciao

Images added....thanks Jaap. Ciao

Cant add images at present. I've uploaded some but like the currently stored images they dont appear in my albums. Probably the switchover to the new system. Ciao

Not much of any consequence happening really. I'm looking at the oil pressure relief valve at present and calibrating it. Its leaking badly and wont hold much more than 50 psi (manual says 70psi) It wouldnt cause an issue in reality but I'm trying to get it better than that. I've lapped the valve face to the body and checked it with engineers blue and its faces look good but it still leaks and if you shim it to a point where its getting acceptable then there's too much spring preload and very little travel left. I looked at Chucks old Aero engine thread as I remembered something about this and it turned out we arrived at the same testing procedure and solutions but not the same outcome as yet. I looked on Harpers at a new spring and interestingly their image with a rule next to it shows the new spring is around 1/8" longer than mine so it may well be that the spring has sacked out. I've ordered one so hopefully that sorts it. I find it hard to believe by virtue of its design that this valve wont have some leakage past the seal face before crack pressure is reached. Here's the inner sealing face(the blueish line at the bottom around the hole) And again. The valve sealing shoulder after lapping (The matt face on the flange after lapping) The inner and shoulder faces have complete contact after lapping. The whole assembly with spring preload washers and shroud. Oil enters from the threaded end of the body and applies pressure to the inside of the sliding valve which is held on the inner shoulder sealing face by a spring pre loaded by the threaded cap on the other end. Crack pressure is in theory adjusted by preload washers. Ciao

Dont worry too much about the valve stem seals. Ciao

Yep. Ciao

all the factory tanks are painted?? the only bubbling I'v e seen personally is the Rosso Corsa graphics, a film applied over color and (I think) under clear coat. Clearly this is complete rubbish as std tanks are painted and mine is 20 years old without bubbling paint. I've also had plastic Ducati tanks painted without issue. Ciao WRT paint damage, my Norge and Griso tanks have had the pox. The swelling of the tanks is a greater concern than the cosmetic "bubbles," as it's difficult to impossible to bolt the tank back in place. Ethanol is evil. Make bourbon from corn, not ICE fuel! I bought "spares" and swap them out after a year or so. After removing, I rinse them well with water and allow to dry. Have not tried the various internal coatings as they are co$tly and, it seems, also problematic with mixed results. My "fix" isn't cheap, but it's weasy and works. All bubbles disappear and the tanks shrink back to original size. WRT "wrapping," I have used the Plastidip https://www.dipyourcar.com-- assume this or similar what Walter means by "wrap" -- on Norge panniers and fairing after a gravity experiment went awry. Interestingly, the Plastidip red is almost identical to the Norge's red and with a the clear-coat Plastidip follow-on, the result isn't bad at all, especially for an on-the-road hiding of one's riding incompetence! That said, my level of application skill was, at least when I tried it last, insufficient and I have had those items repainted bu folks who knew what they were doing. It is nigh on to impossible to "feather" the stuff for a blended finish, so one must apply several coats over an entire surface to get the coverage and removal benefits. Hope the above was lucid, but no time to reread for accuracy. My "supervisor" wants breakfast; must go or pay the price. Bill Next time Bill leave this step out. It's not the Ethanol that causes plastic tanks to swell its the water it attracts. The tank material isn't totally impervious to water and that's what causes the swelling and that's why drying them out brings them back. It leaches the water back out of the tank material. Its also why straight petrol isn't an issue because it's not hydroscopic like Methanol Ciao

Pha....what, better looking than this Dave?

Clearly this is complete rubbish as std tanks are painted and mine is 20 years old without bubbling paint. I've also had plastic Ducati tanks painted without issue. Ciao

Would assembly lube also work? Yes I have moly assembly lube which I'll use on the gears same as when I fitted the v11 gears although then I used a very light coat of grease. What I'll also do which I did on the v11 gear install is put 300ml or so of oil into the timing case via the ignition pickup hole. This provides oil into the well area that doesn't drain into the sump which the oil pump gear runs in and when the engine starts the oil pump gear picks up the oil and transfers it to the crank and jackshaft/cam drive gear. Ciao

The Bimota? yes it is and small. I'm 6'2" and it was the only bike I've ever owned that while riding along no part of the bike was visible to you, even in your peripheral vision. Was like wooshing along 1/2 meter off the ground suspened in space. An absolute bastard to work on as well. Ciao

Best bike i saw in the collection of images was the DB1 (one of which I used to own) Its the ones he has messed with the least. Ciao