Project The Yamaha R4 (Glacially Slow Project)

Exhaust System Begins:
Started work on the headers (yes, they are tapered). Once all four look like this, I won't be able to do any more until I finish the mufflers and mount them

 

More progress on the cooling system. Because the radiator is going under the seat all of these parts need to be changed. The outlet pipe is finished and zinc plated. Once the hoses arrive I can finish the inlet pipe. There is a page on this cut and weld work here but it is not very interesting.
http://litetek.co/R4/Guide_R4_Coolant_Hoses_Fittings.html

 

4 Headers!


I need a beer!

 

The fairing arrived today. Pity I had to pay for tariffs and taxes (mustn't grumble). Anyway, I am impressed, it is light and made from woven glass with quite a thin resin coat. Carbon/Kevlar on the places you can see in the pic. I thought that the left piece, that you can see below the white line, was bent at first, but actually it is supposed to be like that, so I think the right one just needs to flexed a little. The screen is brilliant; it is very strong has a rounded top edge and has all the holes etc. Comes with pseudo Dzus fasteners too. Now I know that everyone likes to slag off things made in China but this is 1000% better than the piece of garbage hugger that I bought from Germany. Now I just have to decide how much to chop off the bottom.



Edit: (All that glitters . . . )
Ok, now that I have had some time to play with this thing, what I have here is a nice screen and a lump of fiberglass that I am going to cut and patch and bog etc until I can use it to make a plug to start all over again. But that is ok. I never expected anything more because I can't buy a fairing to bolt on anyway.

 

The Coolant Inlet Tube:
More boring stuff.

Rather than trying to make a new inlet tube it was easier to just buy
a second-hand item from an FZR600 and cut it up as required.
The original Yamaha part also has the bead at the end of the pipe
which helps to retain the coolant hose.


Cut the pieces to the appropriate
length and weld together.



Then test fit the assembly


and zinc plate.

All good. Work like this seems like a small detail, but it is the attention to detail that makes the job difficult and, at the same time, very rewarding.

 

Welcome to the House of Bling:
Well after all my efforts to clean my carbs and give them a satisfactory finish I gave up in disgust. So I sent them to Matt Harper in the UK and had them ultrasonically cleaned and painted with Gun-Kote silver. Here is the extreme before and after. There were some steps between these two, but the result was just like that mottled grey that you see on the carb mouth in the first pic.



Yeah, that'll do it!

Matt is a good customer of mine and he knows his stuff. The return shipping was not expensive either, bonus!

 

Well thanks Mr Grey. It will get there.
The bodywork is going to be the most difficult thing. Right now I can't finish the frame until I pull the engine out and that is waiting on a host of other things. Also waiting on lots of bits and pieces to arrive and trying to find something I can use for the ends of my slightly radical mufflers and on and on . .

 

Aaaah a 3EN2, that would have made my life soooo much easier fitting the sub-frame and seat.

 

Starter motor. Sorry, no before photo, just think ugly and use your imagination.
Strip, clean, new Chinese repair kit (which included all of the seals and o-rings), genuine shim kit (mine had something odd inside it), paint, reassemble, bag up and place in hope chest.
The paint is 2-pack satin silver and done by Kevin, a Brit in Pattaya. I hope to have him paint the bike.



If you have time check out one of his videos. Some light entertainment.


Everything has ground to a halt for the moment because I have seriously blown the budget.

 

You may have noticed that the engine looks terrible. So the plan is to bead blast it, assembled. Yeah, I said it.
Now before you start , hear me out.
1/ I will not be using masking tape.
2/ The only way that anything will be able to get into this engine is if the blast media can penetrate the crankcase joint,
so obviously it is all in the preparation. Each opening needs to be carefully considered. For example, the output shaft, gearshaft etc.

These are Delrin plugs with o-ring grooves that I drew up and had made to address that issue. For the intake, exhaust and large openings I am using silicone sealing plugs that are used by the powder coating industry. I will be removing all of the engine covers after I finished to inspect inside and paint the covers.

 

Yep Murdo, onto it.
All new freshly greased gaskets on the engine covers too.

 

Some progress on the exhaust is now possible.


They are quite small because they fit under the sump. The really difficult part is going to be the outlets. I am starting to think they will just have to be completely fabricated by hand, so that will be a bit of fun.

 

No progress lately. Waiting on so many things and trying to get some aluminium to do the front fairing mount. Bought some new fork caps and when I tried to fit them discovered the forks have been butchered to fit some stupid air cap things. After a lot of deliberation I bought some USD Showas from a 999 Ducati. They have the TiN coating on the stanchions like the R7. Just need to clean them up and anodise the legs so it looks a bit like the Ohlins. Has to be Brembos front and rear now.

 

Took some pics of the carbs today. I had been waiting for some stainless cap screws to arrive. The plan was to paint the tops but can't find the paint I want.



and a close-up