Just sold my TL

I'd guess weight, looking at the old Yoshimura bikes. The stock R swingarm is heavy. The frame is stiff enough that some flex in the suspension is probably ok for it, but overall, the TLR in normal superstock type trim only gets down to 420 or so pounds, so you have to get creative in Superbike, like lighter swingarms to save any substantial weight to be competive with the 750s of the time. Besides the trick wheels, tank, and brakes anyways.

 

The yosh swingarms were a totally different beast and were internally braced to give the stifness needed. They did that swingarm to allow the exhausts to be tucked up tighter for more ground clearance. Still.. i havent yet decked anything out.. might be something to do with the fact the back of the bike is some 30mm taller then a stock one :O

Im running a penske/Lindemann style linkage which with a penske shock at 265mm long raises the rear 15mm. However im using a bespoke ohlins TTX which i built for it and its at 272mm long.

Anyhoo... I received this last night

 

Some good points for sure...
Good go Joe!

 

Don´t start cutting your swing arm just yet - I have quite similar ideas and will let you know exactly what was done and how it works out. There are two tracks near where I live in the north of Mexico - both are bumpy and dusty with some very tight stuff and no long straights. So I am not looking for corner finishes - more hoping that a bit more flexibility will help it behave better in the rough parts. My level of riding skill is marginal for this development - but there are some other people here who can help with that part...

 

Thanks Steve...wont be getting at mine any time soon anyway so looking forward to see how things work out..

 

It starts to get interesting right away when you begin cutting an R model swing arm. That cast front section is not as thick and solid as it looks from the outside - only about 3.6 mm. There is not enough metal in the add on structure to explain the weight difference between R and S swing arms...

 

That looks interesting! I guess the whole thing is probably a little beefier all through out.

 

So any progress Steve?

And you to Crazymofo?

I'm up in the frozen great white north, bored and getting the cabin fever but unfortunately I got to do time in "money jail" to eat lol...
I need incentive to keep hanging on this TLR project as the lack of time keeps tempting me to sell it all.

 

Another pic just to keep this thread alive lol..

 

Since no one wanted to buy mine, thinking about racing it at mid-Ohio during vintage days. Has an ohlins shock out back, but front end is just race tech internals. Any benefits to fitting a gsxr front end on? Or is there an option to drop some ohlins carts in the stock forks? Thanks!

 

Yea I get ya, cant seem to give this shit away!

I hear the front forks work real good when done properly. I know the ones on my TLS (years ago) ware excellent after Jim Lindeman was done with then.

I think the best thing about the newer forks is less weight (wheel to triples about 6lbs if I remember correctly) and 30mm off-set versus 32mm.
I Got a set of black 07 gixer 750 forks (fully reworked by TM) and wheel that will replace what's on there now. Newer set of wheels to go on too.
Man this thing feels so light moving around as is versus stock.

You got a decent rear and probably not a bad front (if it's done right) already, so a decent starting point. My opinion is go with what you got and if you like it than go for a make over especially with weight loss in mind.

Hope this helps some..

 

Stock forks are good! I set lap records on stock forks with ktech piston kit, comp adjusters and springs.

Still i did go faster once i fitted the full ktech cartridges.

Ive also just installed this.... leagues ahead of the ohlins ttx i was using.

Put the big girl on pole again on the weekend. I shoulder charged a wall at 100mph in the first race and broke 3 ribs so i had to sit out the weekends racing. Thankfully i didnt crash the bike. So with luck i will have the 1080cc kit notor ready for next round in 5 weeks.

 

You are a Crazymofo lol! Looking forward to the 1st review of the motor!!
Glad you got away from worse both you and the bike.

Penske link with what shock?

This is my special goodies waiting to go on.

 

Hi Dalmatino

In reply to your question, the experimental TLR swingarm is now finished. It is 40mm longer with all the external structure removed. I will post up some pictures later this week.

Unfortunately the motor rebuild is far from complete - the crankshaft is away getting balanced right now - so it will be a while before everything gets put together and tested.

I appreciate the comments from crazymofo about corner exits inproving with a stiffer swingarm. I am sure that is true for him and on the tracks he rides. But on the rough tracks here the TLR feels harsh over mid corner bumps and I am hoping that softening things will help. Also the extra arm length has potential benifits.

I was thinking about how to evaluate the new swingarm. The bike will be 40 pounds lighter and have 20 or so more hp so historical lap times will not be a useful comparison. The best would be a back to back comparison of the stock v´s modified swingarms - with me not knowing which of the two was installed. Also this really needs someone with a level of riding skill well above mine.

I think swapping the front end for one from a GSXR will be worth more than 6 pounds. It was a while ago when we did mine but I recall the triple clamp alone being something like half of that. Also the stock calipers are really heavy - I have radial calipers off an R6 which are much lighter and work fine. The same applies to the stock rear suspension. The radial damper especially weighs a LOT.

I never had any major problem with the stock suspension - at least not after Max McAllister re-worked it all. But I will say that since everything has been changed out I now ride through stuff which I used to go around.

Last comment : Hope you realize we must all be completely crazy working like this to try and make a 20 year old motorcycle go a little better ...

 

Looking forward to the pics Steve!
I think what it is we have a special liking for the bike and we want to get it as good as possible always knowing that it's not going to be competitive with anything newer which is not the point anyway...still crazy lol.

 

I am doing a 1080 cc motor now too. (After Dalmatino changed his mind about selling me his 135 hp engine) The new pistons are about 10 % lighter than stock and I sent everything away to get it re-balanced. The guys there said it was way out and they had some work do... So if by any chance you are wondering whether or not to balance your engine - it is probably a good idea...

 

Lol, sorry Steve didn't really want to take it apart. I'm hoping to get at swapping the motors and bolting up the rest in July. Looking forward to that 1st ride.

Apparently mine was balanced 50/50 factor. This might be full race high rpm, not sure. It's been a long time and starting to forget things lol..

I had my Norton done at 70% (1st time in early 80's) as per someone's recommendation it was amazing. That thing was so harmonious I used to red line it all the time. After that I balanced everything I took apart and would just tell the balancer what use it was for (racing or street) and they just did their thing.

 

Yeah i plan on splitting the motor and blueprinting it. Where are you guys sourcing 1080cc head gaskets from?

 

Got mine from Cometic, part #H0502SP2027S. Part number is for 102mm bore, 0.027” thickness

 

Thanks mate.