SuperMini Evaluation - Part 2
02/19/04 - Report by Hench
OK, after Alec's Birthday RoostFest, it was time to tear down the Super Mini and see what broke, wore out, came loose, or needed adjusting.
General maintenance: First, the bike got washed and the bodywork/seat/tank/subframe removed. The gearing was much better, with first usable, and sixth now pulling warp speeds. Surprisingly, the chain stretched so little it didn't even require adjustment.
The airbox got re-engineered. The filter cage is too small, and doesn't force the filter against the seal, requiring LOTS of grease to do the job. Hench fix? I used two of the rubber grmmets from old air filters and stacked them on the cage rod to space the filter further our, getting the frame closer to the rim of the filter. The hot trick though was carefully bending the air filter cage mount in on each side, so that the whole assembly ends up mounting closer to the airbox rim seal. It does crimp the filter a bit, but it's simple solution to a complicated problem created at the Honda factory. I still used plenty of grease on the seal, and the "All-Toil" goo is gone, I used the Castrol A747 for air filter oil. Next Eval report we'll let you know how it worked.
Nothing leaked, and the only things that required attention this time were the spokes. (Especially the front.)
Deeper inspection: The pipe was pulled, and the piston/cylinder inspected. The cylinder looked fabulous, the cross hatching is still in perfect shape, and the piston was in excellent condition. The plug and piston top showed that the jetting was spot on, maybe just a touch lean. The pipe showed signs of goo at the far end, but was clean at the front end, so I think the goo is residual from the previous owner's overly rich jetting. The jetting stays the same, and we'll adjust it on site depending on conditions.
The brakes still work great, and nothing was needed in that department.
The suspension saga: BBR springs turn out to be pretty close. Not perfect, but close. The fronts are a little stiff, and the rear is a little soft. Since they put a heavy four stroke engine in the front of the chassis, that makes sense, but we're going to have to do some fine tuning on the suspension. The damping at each end is over powered by the springs. Until we can figure out what to do with the rear short of revalving the thing, the front stays the same so the balance is equal, and neither end kicks harder than the other. Head scratching and a few beers are going to be in order to engineer a solution to the damping problem, but at least the springs are close enough that the thing doesn't pogo over a root, or bottom over a whoopdie.
OK, let's updatee the products/services used on the Super Mini project so far:
RPMs - Rick Peterson Motorsports. STILL 10 points.
Castrol A747 Two-Stroke Oil. 9 points. This stuff could move up depending on how it works as my air filter oil. We'll keep you posted.
Atomic22. 9 points. Still no goo!
Moose Racing. 8 points. The gold chain in 420 is probably made by Regina, and seems a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. At $20 a chain, it's so cheap I'll never even lube it, just throw it away. AND it hasn't stretched anywhere near as much as I thought.
Dunlop Tires. 8 points. Dunlop makes a range of different compound tires for the Super Mini wheel sizes (19" front, 16" rear) just like they do for the bigger bikes. Not only that, but in these sizes they're so cheap a front AND rear is cheaper than a 21" front! The only problem is the soft compound I chose is designed for loamy track surfaces, and the desert is going to require some experimentation, but it'll be with Dunlops first.
BBR Motorsports. 8 points. BBR stays at 8 points, the springs aren't perfect, but they're close.
No-Toil Filter System. 1 point. Should be renamed "All-Toil." I forgot to tell you in the last report that their "High Temperature Rim Grease" melts on your finger, breaks down into something that looks like year-old salad dressing, and looks like...never mind. Why do they still get a point? Because the free air filter they sent me was as good as the Uni filter I normally use.
OK, there you have it, the unabashed version of the truth on the Super Mini products and services. Stay tuned, we'll continue to update you on the progress of the suspension and any damage HENCH can inflict.