TOPIC:

Bike is still with the exhaust guy, who is having trouble fitting down pipe no 1.

In my infinite and ever-forward-looking wisdom (ahem) I moved the side stand forward on the frame to make room for the rear sets, and now the pipes he makes in his jig don't fit anymore. He says he can get around it, but he is on trial pipe number 8! Fortunately he has his own pipe bender and welder.

He reckons it will be done end of the week. Can't wait!

Still need a number plate though, and then insurance...

New V5 has arrived!

Historic vehicle taxation class, so I can ride into London to see my clients again without having to pay.

Now I just need the bike back with the new exhaust and some insurance, then start piling up the miles.

Exhaust guy is still having issues. He says every pipe is different from stock so his jog doesn't help. The frame is from Japan, we know that from Kawasaki, but the engine was a deep sump version that has a shallow sump fitted and apparently came from Canada! So I have a real bitsa!

He will be finalising it later this week, going to take a look tomorrow and discuss the end pipes...

Looking forward to seeing pics of the final result. Can't imagine why it's so difficult unless it's tucked up really tight to the oil pan which in my mind might be a problem with heat transference.

I went to see my exhaust being made, here pics of the mock-up, all hanging a little crooked at the mo. The front pipes need aligning still but he said that some of the exhaust 'holes' have been drilled deeper than normal, which is what Kawasaki used to do if they encountered imperfections in the aluminium when drilling the holes - hence the issues with none of the pipes made on his jig fitting properly on my bike.

The measurements of these mock-up pipes will be fed into the pipe bender and then it will bend all the pipes in one piece from front to collector and then from collector to the back. Rear out pipes will be much closer together and slash-cut upwards.

As you can see there are no collector 'boxes' and the collectors themselves are a much more smooth affair for air flow than the originals. He has made the diameter of the pipes just behind the collectors larger to get the volume correct, so the sound will be reduced as per the original boxes (3 into 1). The other reason why it is looking a little crooked underneath (but you won't see that with the bike on the floor) is that the collector boxes need to clear the oil filter.

Next week! Yey! Can't wait!

Paul

looking good Paul,
I'm sure the bike will have a good sound with the new pipe