Wouldn't you know it. a whole day with the wife and nipper out and I don't have any bits that I can at least offer-up to my bike to plan next steps.
Postie turned up a couple of hours ago bearing the engine sprocket and speedo drive but I had a mixed reaction to that event; First, the sprocket is a 15T. The picture advertising on ebay is a 14T. I wanted the 14T so have had to mail the seller to raise issue. Great. Or Grate, depending on how irritated you think I am by that revelation. Actually I might just run with the bigger one - it'll mean quicker starts... or is that slower starts.... I keep getting confused! And I'm not so bothered about top end anyway. Essentially the final ratio will be 1:2.87 against the original 1:3.13, an 8% increase in fact. Mind you, having ordered and received the wrong rear sprocket yesterday, I still have to sort the back end out so there's still scope to resolve this little dilemma...
Second, the speedo drive. Well, it's the correct one but it will have to mount on the nearside of the wheel to avoid the clock winding miles off instead of on! That means at least I don't have to dick about reversing the tyre on the rim but I do have to design a little detent for it on the bottom of the fork leg.
To be fair, the tension on the spindle should stop it spinning but Honda put detents there for a reason so I'll figure something out. The cable didn't seem to fit into the spigot properly at first but a little gentle persuasion overcame its recalcitrance.
You can also see from the top picture that there is a substantial gap between the disk and the fork leg, probably more than I really want. However (lower picture) the other side looks about right. I thought I'd have to look at the speedo hub and investigate possibly abbreviating the inner spacer and outer surface to centre the wheel until I realised it was mainly because the wheel wasn't clamped in tightly that it was so badly offset! Anyway, I'd rather not have to bother skimming the disk mounts on the hub but that's all going to depend on the calipers when I eventually get them. I'll also need an extra 9 mills or so on a new wheel spacer for the offside, which should be a fairly easy job.
Whilst I'm up at the pointy end, I was hoping that if I welded some extensions on the fork brace and relocated the holes about 40mm higher, I should be able to get the guard nice and snug on the wheel without fouling or having to bend it about (too much!). However that's just not going to work - the tyre is still too wide to permit it so I've got to think of another solution.
Speaking of calipers earlier, one thing I did do this morning was have a chat with another ebayer up in Leyland in Lancashire (I'm half Lancashire, I suppose - my mum was born in Lytham St Annes). He's got a set which came off the same bike as my wheels so we've been negotiating potential delivery (his ad is for collection only) and I've made a bid. Thing about ebay is that anyone else could come and bid at last minute (that's often how I win stuff) so there's still a risk I could lose them, then it's back to square one. That's life, though - no point getting fractious about it - the bike's been off the road since autumn so a bit longer won't hurt.
Anyway, nice guy, this Tony - same name as the fella I got the wheels from last week as it happens, also a nice guy. (Are all Tony's great guys who ride CBR600? Or are all CBR600 riders nice guys called Tony? Just a thought). Tony's also got a mate up there who does exhaust systems and feed pipes (MTC Exhausts if you're interested) so I have a contact should I go down the under-seat route (which is growing on me by the hour...) and need any pipework doing.
And whilst I'm at the back end, my 600RR caliper and mount haven't arrived yet. However I did take a quick pic of the sprocket side for reference, new cush drive rubbers installed.
I'm fairly happy with the clearances with the current spacer - I could probably stretch to skimming it by a mill or two but that puts the mounting studs very close to the fork arm so I think I'll leave it. As mentioned, it's running pretty damn near to the centre line of the swing-arm so unless anyone tells me it's supposed to be offset and until I can borrow the straight-edge from work on 19th (when I have the car) so I can see where the tracks are, that's what I'm working with.
Well, I need to do some chores, possibly visit the tip, maybe clean up the fork legs - that would be a useful exercise - so I'd better have lunch and get on with it. Who knows, something might occur to me as I sit staring vacantly at the bike. (I know you do it too!)
Oh, one last thing. That seat. Split, torn, mossy and stuck together up with white duct tape. I've located an ebay seller (acornleisure) who does exterior (for outside furniture, so it should be fine for what I need) Lollipop-red vinyl covering so guess who's going to make a nice bright seat cover....? (I think nice red handlebar grips will balance it all out nicely...)
Will it look something like this.....?
Enjoy your weekend!
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