Just sold my TL

Who are you guys using for the balancing work?

 

Hi Dalmatino

Here are the pictures I promised...

The long bit of a TLR swingarm is an extruded and then deliberately bent twin chamber structure. The cast carrier for the axle has a section on its end which extends into the extrusion. You can see this in the first picture. Of course the stock weld is made over this extension....

To extend the swingarm by 40mm, an insert was machined with ends which were a tight fit into the arm - just like the stock connections. And then it was welded in much the same way as the stock end piece.

The extension was welded in close to the axle end - because the extrusion was straight there and it is where the torque arm effect is least.

The underneath bracing structure was removed - and a plate was welded over the space which this left at the pivot end of the arm.



Internal view looking towards cast axle carrier



Machined insert piece




Insert welded in place



Finished product with bracing structure removed....

 

Does anyone make a slipper clutch for the TLR?

 

Not sure but I heard rumors that gixer 1k can be adapted...I will look into that myself at some point.

 

Steve thanks for the update...looks good and cant wait for the feedback. This should put more weight on the front wheel now.
Did you save any weight at least?

 

Mass produced, no. Sam Matthewman modified 10 or so GSXR slippers to work on the TLR. He has/had write ups on both TL forums. Les, Erik and Mathias over on TLP/TLZ also modified their own. If you search any of their screen names, you should find their threads, although the pictures may be long gone (Sam, TLDV8, etbadger & Rufer). Mine has one of Sam’s baskets with an STM, very similar to Sam’s pre-crash set up. Erik also has a write up on his site, badgertrek.com, along with a rebuild thread for Art’s old Terry Shepherd framed TL.

 

No significant weight saving ...

That bracing structure underneath has very little weight. It’s light like the rear sub frame.

Cast structure at the pivot end is thicker - but welding in a plate to cover the hole left when that is cut away adds weight back again.

It’s just plain built heavy and there is not much to be done about that...

 

I guess you know that now with the longer swing arm you'll need to readjust your rear suspension...more leverage so will probably need to stiffen it up a bit..

 

Yes there will be a lot of suspension sorting out to do at both ends of the bike for reasons of weight changes / movements. Hopefully it will not require spring rate changes.

The seat and tail piece are being moved back 2 inches - and also raised some. I am normal height, very slightly under 6 feet, but have a long body - short legs which makes for problems getting a good and comfortable tuck in on the fast parts of the track. But probably my seating location for braking and in corners won´t change that much though. More on that subject, I have never really liked the TLR tank. Its heavy and also seems excessively wide. There is an aluminum tank from a BMW K1000rs going on in its place.

The electrics, PCIII and shorai are going into the nose section - because behind the engine under the seat where they are located now gets so hot that it has to be bad for them. (Plus the Bitubo is getting a supply of cool ducted air).

I already have a total loss system which saved something like a kg of rotating mass off the end of the crankshaft - plus a good bit more stationary mass for the other electrical components. (Could really feel the effect of that one.) Now getting rid of the starter motor and all the associated gears and such which go with it. Add to that the scissor gears from inside the engine etc and the total weight loss will be in the region of 10 kg. And yes, I will put one of the fans back on the radiator just in case I get stuck waiting on the grid for some time.

It just goes on and on... lots to be done but the plan is to have it on the track in May.

And yes I will post pictures....

 

I understand the principle (I have a 500 CC twin with no starter - it can be a bitch sometimes) but I hope you are putting together a starter assembly of some kind. Can't imaging push starting a 1080 cc twin with what I assume are high compression pistons in the middle of the summer...

 

JBall...so familiar. I feel we had communication/dealings somewhere down the line. Ex500? My buddy races those. Up to 600cc and 70+hp at wheel. He loves it and is bloody fast on it.
Steve must have one of those professional wheel starter gizmos lol.
Looking forward to seeing this monster!

 

I fully understand the EX 500 thing. Rode one belonging to Eric Fault at Henderson TX once. It was a blast - did things I never knew I could do - and have not had as much fun on a motorcycle before or since. It was a few years ago though. I remember a very young guy there called Ben Spies impressed me with how well he was riding a Honda 125.

For sure starting the TLR is going to be interesting. 1080 cc and 13:1 compression compared to 11.7 stock - well at least that is what JE pistons told me to expect. Plus the decompressors went away when the exhaust cams were replaced with inlets ...

I did some experimenting on my stock TLR street bike - dropping the clutch on a dead motor in any of the lower gears just locks the rear wheel. But top gear over 65 mph worked fine. So that is the plan. Put it in top with the rear wheel on a set of driven rollers, spin it up to at least 90 mph and drop the clutch. Hopefully there will be enough inertia in the rollers, wheel and gearbox to turn the engine over a few times.

If that does not work I was thinking to get a car starter motor with appropriate gearing - and use it to drive directly the countershaft sprocket.....

 

Yeah, I know the "challenges" I have had push starting my EX-500. I try to find a vintage guys with a set of roller starters for that first start of the day. After that it goes fairly easily. My bike does not have the positive neutral finder removed, so it needs to be rolling to upshift from 1st to 4th where it will not lock up the rear wheel. Once I get it in 4th in the paddock I leave it there for the rest of the weekend. I am not sure I would want to remove that feature however, because it makes it hard to get the bike in neutral, which can be a safety thing on the grid in my opinion.

I have been enjoying this thread and the TL build project as I used to have an SV-1000 (essentially a slow TL).

 

Ah ha, JBall at the SV1000 Portal. I was/am 2vornot2v over there (haven't been active for quite a while). Went thru 3 SV1000 builds over the years and it didn't mater what I did to those things and how good I had them working, there was something always lacking. If I never had TL's before them, I probably would never have felt that. Honestly to this day I'm still not sure I know exactly why! Same tracks I was faster with my SV than my TLS and it was easier to ride.

Ironically, talking about EX's (bit off topic I know) I'm going to be buying one of these when I'm in Europe this spring and importing it. It sold in Europe only. It's an ideal bike for my adventure travels and will be replacing my Vstrom that I just sold. Already conspiring with my EX buddy for some appropriate motor massaging and tuning lol.

 

So Nofast how did this gixer 1k slipper conversion work out...Is it worth the effort and expense?

 

There was no effort, Sam made the basket I just paid of it. Its a simple install, remove the old basket then put in the new as a straight swap. As far as is the expense "worth" it, I guess that would depend on how much anyone is willing to pay for one off parts for these old bikes. I don't race, the wife used to, I just play at track days (and try in vain to keep up with her) so my bike related expenses aren't as high as someone who's at the track more often. If I was more concerned about the cost, I probably would've just had the center welded and called it a day, but I figured it's not all that often I'll have the opportunity to get something like this for the TL. Without actually looking, I would guess i have around $1500 into my current clutch set up.

As far as the clutch itself, I went from a fairly hard pull cable clutch setup to a one finger pull hydraulic setup. Add to that Stu's adjustable push rod assembly, and the engagement point is where I want it every time. I've only taken the TL to the track once after putting in the clutch, it performed flawlessly and for whatever reason I went a bit faster that usual. The TL itself is torn down again waiting for me to finish the exhaust and rear suspension, so the clutch just sits there.

 

Sounds like you never stop chasing your woman...Pretty cool lol!
Thanks for the sum up. Some day I may look at it if I actually make it back to the track again and feel the need for it. Probably unlikely tho..
Throw a pic of your progress up too, just to keep feeding the insane lol..

 

Right now most of the TL is in my office, pictures would only show assorted parts strewn throughout the office. Here's one from back when I was fitting the tail. When I get it back together I'll take it over and get some pictures of it with the privately held Yoshimura TLR.

 

Had a blast at Roebling this weekend with the new Next Gen 2 Class for AHRMA.... Didn't get on the box but didn't finish last and had a blast riding both there... I just got the Bodywork for the second one I finished and took it for its maiden voyage in Practice on Friday... Had a couple issues with the clutch but its all sorted and well...

 

Those look sweet ! Nice work.