Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners

[wobblywalrus]

I sat up pretty quickly and rolled off the throttle fast.  That was when it happened.  These Triumphs can be horribly out of alignment unless it is checked and adjusted properly during assembly.  Alignment may or not have been a factor for all sorts of past handling problems.   

[wobblywalrus]

This is a special gas cap with a fitting on it to vent the tank.  The old cap did not let in the air fast enough to keep up with the fuel use.  The tank had vacuum in it after a long run down the salt.  The cap sticks up and safety regulations do not allow this.  A piece of foam was duck taped to the tank around the cap to make it flush.  This passed tech inspection but looked hokey.

This is a piece of a felt conveyor belt from the printing plant at a box factory where my father worked.  He brought it home when I was a little kid.  It has been waiting over sixty years for this glorious moment when it does something useful again.   

 

[wobblywalrus]

This is a foam pad made from three layers of closed cell foam laminated together with car roof liner cement.  Tomorrow it will go to the upolsterer to be covered with the skin from the blue nauga.  On top of the pad is a plate made from a repurposed old road sign.

[wobblywalrus]

My father was apprenticed out to a boot and saddle maker during the depression.   He had all of these tools, cord, leather and other stuff.  The cord, brown leather, and copper rivets are from him.  The old belt was laying around the shop.  There are some gaps under the plate.  Tomorrow I will get out the hammers and fine tune the plate on the anvil.  Now the gas cap does not stick up.

[4-barrel Mike]

For those un-knewledgibles, especially from the East, who think Oregonians are too U of O Duck football oriented

duck taped

:



 

Mike

[wobblywalrus]

That tape works good.  It can be used to seal quacks and holes.

The fabric for the pad is the stuff on the data sheet.  It has fire and ultraviolet light resistance.  The upolsterer recommended it.  White seemed like a good color 'cause it will heat up less from being in the sun.

[donpearsall]

It's a good thing that fabric is antimicrobial. We should all be wearing antimicrobial clothes.

Don

[wobblywalrus]

The seat pan is lowered so it is on top of the frame rails.  To go further down requires the frame rails to be chopped off and relocated, the battery and air filters to be moved, and the footpegs to be moved a few feet back so there is room for my legs.  This job takes a lot of work and time.  A new frame and streamlining are likely to be required.  The chances are, at my age the bike would be finished and I would be too old to ride it.

The next logical step is to verify that I am getting down as low as possible using the existing seat pan.  Maybe I need to redo the gas tank to make the top lower.  A reference point is established on the top of the handlebar mount.  A 2x4 is clamped to the front wheel and a level is clamped to the board.  Measurements are made vertically from the leveled level to the top of the handlebar mount.

   

[wobblywalrus]

Trial 1 had a 5.7 inch line-of-sight to clamp top vertical distance.  My chest hit the buckle on the tank strap.  This kept me from getting lower.

[wobblywalrus]

The buckle was relocated for Trial 2.  The portion of the aluminum plate under the buckle and over the tank pad was removed.  The vertical distance was reduced about an inch.

[wobblywalrus]

Now the tank is removed completely.  This is trial 3.  I could not get lower than in Trial 2.  The top of the helmet eye port blocked the view if I tried to get my head and chest further down.  There is no advantage to modifying or replacing the tank with a lower one.

Trial 2 was the best and I should be able to see out of the existing fairing with that seating position.  The fairing will not need further work.  The streamlining changes are done except for some mods to the front fender.   Now it is time to put the engine together. 

[mc2032]

Bo, Jim Fisher of Grey Ghost fame offered me some sage advice, "Become paint".  That bit of wisdom really helped me at World Finals.  Granted, you don't want to be moving around too much on the bike at speed, but I could feel the pressure of the air and could adjust my position/tuck literally on the fly.  Forward vision is a good thing but realistically you are not looking forward all of the time. You can tuck your head down and see peripherally.  Also, your helmet will steer your head.  if you are going to tuck then lift to look, keep it in line with the bike.

[RansomT]

Butt further back = head/shoulders lower.

[wobblywalrus]

The tail was removed and I got on the bike, crouched down, and moved my arse back and forth along the frame top behind the tank.  The height of my line of sight did not change.  The top of the helmet eyeport was the controlling factor.  Years ago I tried that trick of crouching way down and looking at the signs as they passed by for orientation.  My balance went off and I almost crashed.  Talented folks can use that method, not me.  I need to look forward.  My helmet does not meet FIM approval so there is an opportunity to address the eyeport height issue.

The new FIM approved helmet list has few options in Size XL.  They are specialized race helmets and none are available off of the shelf in the U.S.  I need  to guess at the proper size and order the helmet from the UK.  The local shops cannot get them 'cause the distributors do not stock helmets that do not have DOT or Snell approval.  There are options in XL from manufacturers AGV, Arai, LS2, and Shark.  LS2 is Chinese and us Oregon folks have no experience with Shark.  We do know that AGV and Arai make good lids.  Arai is preferred by most racers here.

Helmet comparison tests say the AGV has a very good unobstructed view when crouched down.  They also say Arai is OK in this respect, too.  The Arai helmet is sold in the US as the Corsair.  It does not have FIM approval.  The plan is to go up to the shop in Portland that has lots of road race helmets and to try on the american versions of the AGV and Arai helmets, find the size that fits, and order the approved helmet from the UK in the correct size.     

[wobblywalrus]

The Shoei XL fits me and this is the same size as a XL in AGV.  This is what I ordered from Spain.  There will be some customs duty above and beyond the stated price.  Another problem is solved.

https://www.motocard.com/en/helmets/agv-pista_gp_rr_scuderia_carbon_white_red_002.aspx?country=US&currency=USD&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuJb_BRDJARIsAKkycUmqsX6drgqO3GNwrvZDzqTcH9QHJRLdr-8ZruTwL3O-VK11g221U-MaAvnPEALw_wcB