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.)
![embarassed :oops:](https://www.landracing.com/forum/Smileys/akyhne/embarrassed.gif)
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