Bimota Forum

[welshlamb]

This is what happens if sprockets and chain run not aligned correctly.




Ah well at least caught before it got worse!
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Not as many bikes as I would like and already too many to keep up with!

[SpikeC]

The paint code site:

That would be helpful if they had my Bimota listed!
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Spike C.
Portland, Oregon, USA
2008 Bimota DB5R
1965 Triumph T100SC

[welshlamb]

Exhaust removed and cleaned up (a lot)



This lot is all going off to Camcoat for the Cermakrome finish. Seems to have stood up well on 2bims DB5.

The main exhaust Siamese before the exhaust cans I am leaving as is. It cleaned up well (the pipes) and it preserves a bit of the original finish.



FYI I measured the weights of the components as
Header (front cyl) 1.05kg
Header (rear cyl) 0.93kg
2 into 1 1.41kg
Silencers & 1 into 2 4.68kg
Total 8.07kg

Will be checking when I get bits back to see how much the coating adds.

Interesting that rear cyl header is about 10cm shorter than front.
Along with the 'remote' location of the injector throttle bodies from the inlet tracts (150mm and a right angled bend) I'm sure there are lots of ponies that could be liberated from the engine (as they say its just time and MONEY!)

Whilst I had the scales out I weighed this!



This bad boy on its own weighs 1kg.The leg is I think solid steel. Sure you could replace with an alloy leg scerwed into a cut off and drilled & tapped fork union. Anyone done anything like this? (I think I saw somebody had made a titanium leg but that must be $$$). Mine has a double spring fitted.. is that standard?

Next posting the great sprocket conunmdrum.
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Not as many bikes as I would like and already too many to keep up with!

[2bims]

Those exhausts cleaned up well...have you got alloy exhaust collars there? Normally they are black plain steel cast that certainly wouldnt clean up to being shiney shiney........2 springs on the rear stand....yup thats normal...one inside the other as per yours

[welshlamb]

I was a bit puzzled by the original socket retention as found on inspection.


I was wary this this was hiding use of wrong sprocket; affecting alignment and causing the frame/chain interface damage below



I ordered a new sprocket from AFAM (specifically listed as DB2) and 2 Bims sent me an 'OE' spare for comparison. The results....(old, OE, AFAM in bag)





1) The AFAM sprocket is useless. It doesn't have a recess to enable the 'retainer' to sit flush with the sprocket face. Going back for a refund.

2) The sprocket removed matches the OE one . The retainers are identical as is the recess in the main sprocket. The only difference is the OE sprocket is 2mm deeper but the position of the sprocket teeth c/l along the output shaft is dictated by the retainer so should be identical.??

What you can see is that the teeth are very 'pointy' on the old sprocket so perhaps poor chain tension was more to blame for the swinging arm damage than wrong sprocket alignment. (It also had a 38T rear sprocket fitted rather than 37 original but this shouldn't have caused any interference issues although it would slightly exacerbate issues if there was a loose chain)

I'll fit the OE sprocket and a new 37T rear (plus new chain) so at least I know where I'm starting from.

Watch this space.
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Not as many bikes as I would like and already too many to keep up with!

[deebee4]

[vort28]

I run 39 on my DB4 also and agree with DB, much more fun.

[welshlamb]

My posting above ruled out the sprocket alignment as cause of chain 'chaffing' on inside of one of the swing arm struts (see photo above)

I thought it might be due to poor chain tension or bigger rear sprocket (38T vs 37T standard). However 2Bims pointed out that wheel position relative to swing armcan be changed due to concentric adjusters (and looking at photos it was set with the spindle 'high' when bike came to me)

The rear shock has a ride height adjuster, at the bottom of the Ohlins shock that can be wound down...which in turn raises up the back wheel and swingarm together, but this could cause issues with wear on the underside of the swing arm.

On receiving a new chain today I also noted the very different width of non o-ring and o-ring chains.




They are both regina 520 chains but the old one is O-ring (and dirty!). It is also 4mm wider. (If you are not using the bike for long distances and foul weather on a regular basis then no need for O-ring, without is probably more power efficient and is much cheaper to buy)

The 'chaffing' issue was probably down to a combination of larger sprocket, o ring chain, eccentric adjuster position and suspension settings.... I will never know. It does however show that when you produce a compact design a la Bimota that clearances can be compromised and it pays to keep a tight check on these! Have decided to fit a 39T sprocket so the above is even more important now!
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Not as many bikes as I would like and already too many to keep up with!

[welshlamb]

OK ... since last thread I've been away for 3 weeks and last week at home has been DIY central due to shorting spot lights in the kitchen and leaking cistern in bathroom. sometimes stuff has to take priority over the bike.

On the good side nearly everything I needed/sourced/ordered for refurb before I went away has now been delivered i.e.



exhaust pipes back from Camcoat. The Cermakrome finish is very nice thank you.



Front and rear guards repaired and repaired by Kustom101 paint shop at Tewkesbury. With these off the bike you could hold up to light and see porosity (very thin build and I think almost zero lacquer originally and if there was any then my front decal was applied on top of it!) plus damage due to rear hugger touching tyre?. The guys at Kustom 101 cleaned and repaired on the underside (proper CF fibre repair paste) prepped and applied 3 coats of lacquer outside AND inside. Despite that they were happy to stick to his quote of £54. Great guys to do business with.

All that left was a few odds and sods .... Ha Ha!



I think that this little pile includes Mph speedo ,CF clock surround, leather key fob (and key cut for seat/petrol tank) Mossfet regulator/rectifier, air filter material , Chain (520*96), crankcase saver, hard anodised alloy sprocket (39T), CF sprocket cover , tool kit, P clip for rear brake line, front Sprocket (15T), LiPo battery, 14mm ID spring washers for discs, rear brake pad set, front brake pads set, coffin' m/cyl covers, brake pin and spring set rear (P32B) and front (P4 30/34), Numerous fasteners ......(plus not shown as already fitted ....oil filler plug, rear brake m/cyl cover and ignition inspection cover) A bracket for the rear shock remote reservoir is en-route from USA and should be the last required item.

Great to know that I bought a 'ready to ride' bike

Now to get this little lot mounted, bike MOTd and registered.
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Not as many bikes as I would like and already too many to keep up with!

[2bims]

Bet you cant wait to get all those bits back on the bike......Dem pipes are sure looking sweet.....presumably you are happy with the finish....and nicely blanked and masked off at the joins also.

a nice looking job on the front and rear guards also...and at a good price....it would have cost you half that much alone in wet and dry and lacquer rattle cans without perhaps the same finish.....Bimota did do very thin carbon for their non-structural parts on their bikes.....which is fair enough...ultra light whilst still serving their purpose.....they have thickened up the panels on more recent models....suppose that carbon sheeting has got cheaper.

[brian]

Those pipes look the business with the ceramic coating, very nice! The carbon guards came up really nice, I need to get my pipes sand guards done as well
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'99 DB4 #104, '96 SB6 #1165, '94 DB2 J #652, '99 DB4 #088, '08 VTX1800, '93 ZXR750R M1, '95 ZXR750, '95 ZXR750 Race Bike, '94 CBR400rr NC29 Race Bike, '94 CB250, '49 BSA C10 250, '61 BSA A10 650, '89 ZXR750, '91 Ducati 851

[ladolcevita7]

Woah love the nice shiney pipes.....what sort of price did that cost to have done ?
Might get headers done as it sure not only looks great but will not corrode and be a lot easier to keep clean.
Great job on the guards.
Nice collection of parts.

House work is never done 😉

[welshlamb]

[2bims]

Have you got round to weighing them again yet to see if the coating made any difference? I imagine with the beadblasting they use first and the microns thick coating they spray on that there wont be any difference in measurable mass??

[welshlamb]

Right.... coated pipes fitted





Just need to clean the springs and refit. The original exhaust collars look OK so although some CNC machined items would be nice I'll 'stick' for now.
[Note that the timing inspection cover is 10mm thick so if worse happens it will take punishment better than standard and most after-market parts]

Have you noted how a bike runs noticeably crisply on a cold autumn morning? Cold dense air and dense petrol make a difference. With such a closely packed package as a Bimota I decided to add a thermal barrier to base of fuel tank and airbox. I used 'Zircotec' which is claimed to reduce heat load by 65%. This meant a good afternoon making thin cardboard templates and then playing around with layout to waste as little of the (not cheap) sheet of material. I still checked off each template for fit as I cut each piece in turn. so as to minimise errors and wastage.

The material is 0.5mm thick and adding to the tank added 180gm to overall weight which I think is OK trade off.

Airbox (also did sides)


and tank underside


and the two together


I also used the same shielding for the exhaust heat shield (I only have the lower part but with the Zircotek it should perform better than the original, complicated 'dual sheet' set up)




...and didn't forget to protect the fuel lines. I have incorporated a fuel filter mainly as a fuel level sight gauge. (noticed as a packed up that I had fitted the filter wrong way around (as per photo) as the line from the fuel tap is in fact the return on an injected bike....a job for tomorrow!)



I replaced the filter foam with a thicker material. I left off the original front mesh/screen and instead used some fine chicken wire. This allows the dimpled foam to assume its right shape (presenting a greater filter area) and also obscures less of that area due to the fine widely spaced wires.



having looked at the original front section of the airbox I'm inclined to leave it off when refitting as I cant see what purpose it serves other than obstructing/restricting incoming airflow!!



I then started to clean up rear wheel and look at getting that fitted and new chain in place......and that will be covered in my next post.
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Not as many bikes as I would like and already too many to keep up with!