I got some more pictures of the metal chunk. They aren't great as I had a really hard time getting my camera to focus (it's only my phone).





One side definitely has some sort of machining marks on a flat face and the other just looks like a broken away surface would. I still think it's part of a gear tooth.

Anyway, I decided to get my spare lowers to fit the nose cone as well they'd be useless as spares unless they actually fitted when I needed them to.

This side fits lovely



This side not so much.



So after some time with the dremel I got them to at least come together with the fasteners.





I think I'll use these lowers normally and the other set as a spare from now on. Mainly because of the huge lump of filler on the orange set that I can't be bothered to deal with and because I think these would cover easier with paint.

I'm thinking a silver base with maybe one blue triangle piece on each side? Adventurous for a first time sprayer I think.

So I took a trip to Halfords and loaded up on spray paint etc.

The weather was perfect this weekend, warm dry and the slightest hint of a breeze. So the spraying started.



Turns out a bicycle workstand is perfect for this!



First light coat of filler primer showed up more areas that needed attention.



It's in no way shape or form going to be a good looking job from less than 10 metres away, so I just dealt with the worst of the imperfections.







Covered quite nicely with 3 coats of primer and 2 of colour.

The lowers need more attention however.

I got some fine steel mesh to make a rad guard out of, as I don't want stones from the road going through the lower rad really. Unsure how to mount it, whether to bolt it or just sling it on with some lockwire. (That'd be a bit gash really...)



I also had to fibreglass where they'd been previously cut for crash bungs, as I have non-drill jobbys it just didn't look right. Fibreglassed and fillered along with the rest of the imperfections. Well the big ones anyway.



I haven't even started spraying the lowers yet, still need a lot of sanding etc.

Another small job was fitting a new Ethos badge to the can and refitting the BSAU badge.



Lastly today I played about with some ideas on where to put a bit of blue on the fairings.





I'm thinking inside the triangles on the front to sort of mimic the same thing on the type 2, and a big triangle on the mids/lowers below the blue line.

I'm also toying with the idea of the 400GB logo centre front, but I'm unsure.

After a week away I was keen to get on with this paint job, too keen maybe....

So firstly I finished off the prep work to the lowers and gave them a primer coat. Had to spray inside the garage as it's too windy outside and I need to get this done before a trackday on Sunday.



Second primer coat to complete the covering.



And on with the silver.



Next I masked up the upper fairing and set about applying the blue.





Once I'd taken the masking off I noticed just how much I got the left side of the fairing masking wrong compared to the right!





So that needs to be sorted. Mask up again and set about spraying. Unfortunately the paint ran out, and Halfords had also ran out of the paint I needed. So that's on order and I'll be able to finish off the blue on Thursday.





Now I couldn't progress with the upper I masked off the lower ready for when I have some more blue.



Overall pleased so far, it's in no way a decent paint job, but it's a trackbike and my first attempt. Albeit with minimal effort!

With the can of blue retrieved from halfords I could finish this home brew paint job, so first was finishing off correcting my mistake. It is properly covered with blue, the light and the fact it's metallic paint make it look lighter/silver.





Then I applied the blue to the lowers.



And finally lacquered the lot, leaving it next to the heater for a couple of days to let it dry and harden a decent amount before I fit it.



I have a trackday on Sunday at an airfield which has a fair few stones throw up in places, so I don't expect the v-bit to last too long before it's chipped!

Plus it's forecast to rain

The trackday went pretty well, didn't rain until about 3 Didn't bother going out in the wet though, I'd had a good day and the airfield is supposed to be very slippery in the wet what with the countless strips of over-banding etc.

Here's some photo's of the bike just after I put the fairings back on since paint job.







It's not too bad. The lacquer is very shit, but what did I expect from Halfords rattle cans?
A trackbike shouldn't look too pretty anyway, or you'd be too worried about crashing it IMO.

Whilst at the trackday the exhaust started to burn the bellypan (I should have checked the clearances better), so as a temporary measure I stuck some aluminium tape in there. That'll get replaced with some proper heatshield stuff before Cadwell.



I also had a little trouble with the bikes idle and discovered that the idle adjuster had seized up, that'd do it.

I managed to free it with some shock and unlock and a nut screwed down onto it, but it gets to a point both ways and just stops again. Hopefully there's enough to play with there or I'll find myself cutting it out.



As you may have spotted I had a small oil weep too. Well two actually, but only one was big enough to make itself known in the lowers. The one on the clutch side I believe was simply due to the casing not being on tight enough as 3 of the lower bolts were not in firm at all. Strange because I've never removed that cover and it's not done this before. I've tightened the bolts and will see if it happens again.

Now the other one is smaller and the fault is about the same. I managed to partially strip the thread of the bolt that goes in the alternator and holds the clutch cable plate in. It tightened up slightly so I left it, but it seeped on track.



So I'm going to helicoil it properly and that should see it sorted.

Also I dropped the oil, changed the filter and inspected the sump plug.





Some fine bits on the plug but nothing to worry about I don't think. I'll shove some new oil in once I've done the helicoil.

Decided against putting it back on the road, one because I don't really think I'd use it enough on the road and two because I'm moving again. Which is a perfect excuse to get rid of the XJ900 in favour of a VFR750/800!

Helicoil kit turned up, drilled out.



Tapped and helicoil inserted. Sorted.



Luckily I had a spare gasket in my "new bits" tin.



And casing back on and all nice and tight, helicoil working as it should.



Another result was I found these on eBay for £8 each!



So I dug out the master cylinder and started cleaning the mud off it and stripping it down.



As you can see the dirt/dust seal is pretty fecked so I'll order a new one of those.

Got that out and further stripped it, forgot to take many pictures however...



The internals of course had some crap in them too, turns out mud gets everywhere in a crash.



Cleaned all that out and put back together without a new seal for now. Just making sure the chinese reservoir fits properly.



I tried to get the hydraulic clutch reinstalled last night, however got very frustrated with the bleeding of it and trying to alter the bite point as it was very close to the bar before it disengaged. So I've left it for now while I think about how to do it better.

So the clutch issue was solved by a new slave cylinder seal and an extension to the push rod, which allowed me to run the hydraulic clutch at Cadwell. Which was awesome.

Some of you have seen these photos already, but I like them so I'm putting them in here too







I've just moved base again too, for the last time in at least 3 years though thank-god!

I got myself a garage, it is however a big downgrade from the last one with no light or leccy and a foot smaller in every dimension. But beggars can't be choosers!



I picked up two CB750F's this morning too, and will start a thread for those if anyone's interested?

Cracking thread dude.

Great Thread and you do look good in the photos - no wonder you were giving me a run for my money!

Great story.

That garage could do with some white paint or insulation boards to help spread the light when you get a lighting solution

Pics from cadwell amazing although im sure you had it further over on its ear in last years pics very stylish and on it brill .