superhawk996

"Might try it" meaning you're gonna run some 0-20 and report back? Was that from Tomek's R1 track bike when it ate a bearing, or some other bike/occasion? If that was a separate occasion it would strongly imply that maybe he's doing something wrong.

Thank you.

That kinda looks like a dial indicator, but they only measure linear movement in line with the plunger; what is that thing called? Today I played with the adjustments and might have figured out the solution. The mysterious mechanical clutch actuator is kinda odd and it appears that I just need to make some adjustments/tweaks. The cable is too long to get a proper adjustment without having the adjusters all the way out to where they're falling off the threads, but at that point I was able to get a good release and find neutral. I'll take some measurements using your guy's measurement & photo to confirm, then I'll probably have to have a cable made to the right length. Thank you joblock and blackhawk.

😁 Joe's good people, I've met him twice.

That guy?!? Oh he's just setting you up because he saw that you're new. But as long as you don't get suckered into giving him your address you're probably fairly safe.

If the front caliper is below the rear reservoir, I'm almost positive it is, it'll work. It's not as far below as the front calipers to front reservoir so it'll be slower, but will still work. Some will say that gravity bleeding doesn't work and that you need pressure or vacuum, but I've been solo bleeding systems using only gravity for a couple decades. Another trick that's handy (especially with LBS and ABS where you REALLY don't want to deal with air intrusion) if you need to remove a hose or caliper, depress the master cylinder piston a little bit and it'll keep the rest of the system from going dry. On a car that means using a bar or something to hold the pedal down a bit. On a bike I use a zip tie to hold the front and a screwdriver or other slim thing to hold the rear pedal down, slip it between the pedal and stop screw or whatever limits the up-travel of the pedal. You don't need to depress the piston enough to make pressure, but if you do it's no biggie, when you first crack the bleeder you'll get a tiny spurt then nothing. In most masters the piston only has to move about 1/8" to block the port, but the lever/pedal travel will be much more than that since they all have a leverage advantage. I usually move it enough to feel a little pressure and that's a guarantee that the port is blocked. I've left systems open for days using this trick and the master was still full. Once the repair is done open the bleed nipple, a beer, then release the caliper piston. Pour fluids as needed, just know that beer isn't good for brakes and DOT4 might fuck with your taste buds so try to not mix them up.

Here's my flushing method: Suck the old fluid out of the reservoir and refill, not necessary, but it speeds things up rather than waiting for the old fluid to go though the bleeders. It also lets you suck up the sludge that tends to accumulate on the bottom of the reservoir. Open bleeder(s) and add fluid to the reservoir as needed while it drains. Letting gravity do the bleeding makes it easier and more foolproof than pumping. Once clean fluid is flowing from the bleeders you're done. Optional; put a small piece of hose on the bleed nipples to guide the fluid into a container and reduce the mess all over the caliper. After closing the bleeder gently bend/pry the hose off the nipple and it won't make a mess. Beer is technically optional, but it gives you something to do while watching the fluid flow.

Re-reading from the start to remember things. Mine takes a lot of pressure to lock the rear tire, way more than any normal (unlinked) bike. When I bear down on it hard it slows way better than an unlinked bike since part of the pressure is actuating the front. There may be nothing wrong with it.

Did this start suddenly while the bike was being used or something that happened after being stored a while?

Hear it how?

I've heard lots of concern with painting helmets causing them to weaken; do you use special paints, research what kind of paint is ok for your helmets, or just say fuck it? I'd dig having my helmet match my bike, never had one.

That is true, but "everyone" who road races cars talks about having to run heavier weight oils. I assume it should translate to bikes. The part about being able to afford to rebuild them frequently makes sense, they are probably giving up some longevity for a few 'free' horses. So I guess the long answer would be that the light oil will work well enough to not be instant death, but the engine will suffer. Do you think light oils might have lead to an early death on your R1? Speaking of which; I lost track on that motor. Did you rebuild it? If so; any power mods done in the process?

Yea, lighter oil can free up some power, but the flipside (in my mind) is having to keep it cool which means more weight and wind drag from a bigger cooler. I can't imagine a 0-20 in road racing conditions, but even a 5-30 seems impossible and he apparently runs it. Hhhhmmmm, but also smoked a motor so.. ? Tomek, please understand that I'm not challenging you, I'm truly curious about this. Try to set aside any BS from past conversations and not interpret my doubts or questions as implying anything, it's purely curiosity and you have more first hand experience & knowledge with this stuff than I'll ever have.

Which 0-20 can also do that? And is there an advantage to running something so light vs. something a little heavier, like the 5-30, that can handle more heat?

That is cool, I wouldn't have a clue where to start, other than to find someone to teach me or just do it for me.

Thank you. Would you take a shot at about the angle of the first one but with the clutch lever depressed? That should give me a good reference for how far the stock system moves it.

In road course track racing conditions or drag racing?

Is 300V the oil you said has shown HP increases on dyno tests? I think it was, but can't remember for sure. I'd expect a track bike to get the oil pretty damn hot, running a 5-30 seems like a dangerous experiment even with spectacular oil. I considered the 5-30 or 10-30 Motul since I don't run the Bird hard, but then decided to just stick with 10-40 which I think is the recommended weight for the Bird. If the Motul doesn't cure my clutch/shifting issue after some ride time I think it's safe to say that it has a problem. A thought just hit me, I wonder if maybe the trans has race cut/under cut dogs and if that could be what's making it hard to get neutral? I've never knowingly ridden a bike with a race cut to know what it's like, but logic would say that the cut would make the gears harder to disengage with any amount of force being put on the trans, and a wet clutch always puts some amount of force on it.

It's supposedly super special great oil, but normally I wouldn't spend that kinda $. I did it as a last attempt before deciding that there is definitely something up with the clutch that needs investigating. The shifting smoothness compared to the M1 15-50 makes it worth the $, but if my clutch does have an issue it might shift as well with the cheaper oil once that's cured. If any of you would shoot a pic of your clutch through the oil filler hole it might help me ID what's in there without taking it apart, mine may have an aftermarket clutch. Also, if you have a way to measure the stroke of the clutch while you're there that could be quite helpful. One of my previous bikes, maybe my first '97BB, had a noticeable improvement with bike spec 10-40 (I think it was Castrol synthetic) compared to Rotella 15-40.

Yup, '97 with stock LBS. I've never had the brakes apart, don't know what's in it.

What's the goofy looking rod type thing in your last photo?

It doesn't have the hydraulic system, it has some kind of 'custom' cable clutch system. It seems to actuate properly from what I can tell, but I don't know what the normal throw is to know if mine is short stroking. What's odd is that with the engine off, in gear, and the clutch pulled I can turn the back tire by hand with what seems like reasonable resistance so I don't think there's a warped plate or short stroke issue. It seems like there's some kind of dynamic thing going on with the clutch, or maybe the trans just has some strange problem making it hard to get neutral, but I don't know if that's possible.

My '97 had Mobil1 15-50 with about 2k miles when I got it. Shifting was a bit clunky and I could never get neutral from first, it would jump to 2nd, and getting from 2nd to neutral was possible but quite difficult. I've read that the early 9 plate clutches are a bit picky about oil so I decided to try a change. After some reading about clutch action with different oils on different bikes I decided to try Motul 300V 10-40, just shy of $60 for a 4 liter jug on Amazon. When I fired it up getting neutral was just as bad, but right away the shifting smoothed out, I wasn't expecting that. After a short ride finding neutral became a little bit better, I'm hoping that some soak time and riding will make it keep improving. The shifting smoothness is pretty shocking. I almost always synchronize downshifts on every bike otherwise they'll clunk pretty badly, I tried no synchro downshifts and it was more of a click instead of a clunk. This was just a test after seeing how much normal up and down shifting had improved. The oil is bright green and has a sweet smell with maybe a hint of banana, kinda cool. The performance improvement is unbelievable. Cruising 6th gear at 4,000RPM it gained 3.7MPH with the new oil!

I just tried and it did lock. I didn't stomp the pedal, but pressed it, and it took a pretty hard press. I think the Gille's pedal gives a little less leverage than the stock pedal does so it may be a little easier on a stocker. I was shocked by how much front brake it applied, it slowed pretty hard.

Yes, but then remembered that it was de-linked so not the same. I imagine the linked one will, I'll try it next ride.