Soooo....today I learned another "little thing", and it got me thinking about all the dumb mistakes and strange goofs over the past four SpeedWeeks. This first picture is a REALLY little thing, but it turns out to be the rest of the story from my last return run in 2012. As I described last year, the qualifying run was limited by a combination of wet salt and fear. The return run went much better, up to a point. The bike has always had trouble pulling the big split between 4th and 5th, but the return run was strong (158 1/4 speed) and starting to get on the pipe in 5th. About half way through the 3 mile, it just went flat and pretty much quit accelerating.
Fast forward to the present. Last week I pulled the cam and replaced it. Another little thing....I went the wrong way on the cam three years ago, in fact less lift and duration than stock....(please dont ask.)
That may have a little to do with the lack of power for the last three years with my 650 and 680 engines. The new cam is much more appropriate, and I had to clay the piston valve pockets to confirm clearance. With the rear cylinder head off, I was surprised to find no carbon. Just a little gray smoke. The front cylinder has a nice light brown film....just right.
I figured I'd have to take the carb apart (again) and see what gives. Before I got to that, I mounted the carbs up, and was opening the throttle to check synch had stayed. I was surprised to see the needle from the rear slide staying in the jet, with just the slide going up and down! I only found the half of the clip shown in the pic....the rest must have gone out the tailpipe. I suspect the needle was pulling up partially, and thats what made it so lean.
Another "little thing" I found while changing the cam. My son told me he heard a knock at the line, waiting for my return run. I thought it sounded ok. He was right. Before 2012 event I had the engine apart to install the destroke crank and get a fresh bore from Jellybean. I goofed again. I left both cam bolts loose, they backed out, and beat up the back side of the back case.
I could write a book of all the mistakes with this project, but I think I may never get to "the end".
The second pic is the new radiator mount, in stock type CX position, so I can run unstreamlined class. The previous tank had a little slant to the front, and the radiator was behind the engine. Talking to the officials, it could have been ruled streamlining, so I put a stock radiator (for this engine) right up front and vertical.
JimL