HYBRID BUILD DISASTER! lets hear your worst rebuild stories!

[cagiva996]

My original sp/tcat hybrid was starting to look a bit secondhand,so i thought it was about time she had a bit of a refurb.ive been collecting bits and peices to do this for a few months and finally sent all the body work to be resprayed (in original colours),all the bracketry, yokes,hangers etc have been powder coated and all the fasteners replaced with a4 stainless,wheels powder coated,new shock(07 r6), 3ohm dynacoils,iridium plugs,forks rechromed,new r6 downpipes, and a host of other stuff which has battered my wallet and left the kids hungry.the plan was to put it all in a 94 4dx chassis that id had powder coated satin black last year for the abandoned hybrid2 project.with all the bits back and all the stuff i needed for the rebuild i took the original apart as all i needed was the motor, carbs and airbox.strong mate and an endless supply of tea and golden virginia we put the forks,wheels,swingarm in and it was looking awsome,THEN we offered up the motor and it soon became apparent that something wasnt right-it didnt fit!with the adapter plates bolted to the motor there was no way it would fit in the frame spars there was about 4mm difference and there was no way it would go in.with the motor lined up in the frame without the plates the sprocket doesnt line up with the chain run when the two back engine mounts are done up,there is also a 4mm gap between the motor and the bottom right engine mount at the bottom of the frame- the motor is completely pissed in the frame -im still in a state of shock.i absolutely love this bike,but this has given me a complete sense of humour failure.i could powder coat my original frame but i wanted to keep it standard and uninterfered with in case i want to put it back to standard.i aint rich, but i could buy something modern but they just dont turn me on like the fzr does.the frame came from e-bay last year and it looked mint without a hint of damage or scuffing,just shows you never can tell-so come on lets hear your rebuild woes/embarrasing bike maintainance stories if only to cheer me up and let me see its not so bad reaaly!

[Evilchicken0]

I feel your pain ... you check everything and then check it again ... then you get that cold sicky feeling.

I felt like that when I dropped the Bimota off the side stand. I rode it for the rest of that season and then let a mate have it for a respray that November. He managed to do the fairing but that took 7 months and the stickers were at different angles on one side of the fairing to the other. I didn't ride it much and sent it away again in the October. That went badly and with an MOT took 10 months. I asked for the money back, got nowhere and rode it for a couple of months. I took it off the road to do a "quick tidy up" and have the engine tuned. That was in March ... got the engine back just before Christmas. So now I'm looking to put it all back together, but I can hardly remember where it all goes. Then I still have to sort out the paintwork.

After that I have a 3en2 to get together and sell. After that the 3TJ gets hybridised, I reckon I've got all the parts now, and the 3HE crank and 77mm CBR pistons.

But I think I know of a frame and swingarm, powder coated satin black if your up for it.

[cagiva996]

I might be,does it have log book? and any idea how much?yeah compared to your bimota saga the hybrid pales into insignificance-that would have pushed me over the edge! to get the frame blasted and coated will be about a hundred quid but as i said i would like to keep the original frame "just in case" if you know what i mean.

[Marb]

After that I have a 3en2 to get together and sell. After that the 3TJ gets hybridised, I reckon I've got all the parts now, and the 3HE crank and 77mm CBR pistons.

Waaaaaaait a minute. Are you seriously gonna put 77mm pistons in a foxeye/thundercat engine. So your gonna bore out the standard 62mm pistons to 77mm.

Nice, and i though i was living on the edge with my 65.5mm R6 pistons.

EDIT: Just had a look, must have been a typo. Honda only do 67mm pistons

[Evilchicken0]

yeah ok they're 67mm .... shame though.

Ok Plodder I'll give the guy a bell and find out .... he's on the Isle of Sheppy

[plodder]

Ok Plodder I'll give the guy a bell and find out .... he's on the Isle of Sheppy

Eh? I'm lost.

[Evilchicken0]

Ha ... fell for my dyslecia switch-a-rooney

[fzrtim]

Not quite a build disaster, but nearly was.
Last year in haste to get my hybrid ready for a trackday, working in my overcrowded garage i neglected to tighten one of the bolts on the rear caliper.
Things were all hunky dory up untill i braked hard into park curve at cadwell in the 2nd session. There was an almighty thud followed by a pedal of nothingness so i opted to go straight on, onto the grass. Glad i did as the caliper had spun around and snapped the hose leaking brake fluid all over the tyre.
I managed to make a field repair by removing the caliper and made it out to the next session!
Moral of the story, make sure you have plenty of space to work and tighten bolts as soon as you fit them. Then double check everthing you have just done. (would have done the later i had the space to work)

[cagiva996]

did exactly the same thing at rockingham a couple of years ago,2nd session came in, and thought the caliper shouldnt be on top of the swingarm,luckily it hadnt lost too much fluid onto the track as it had also fractured the braided hose.then next session my mate binned his laverda formula quite spectacularly (bent forks,snapped bars etc) so i pilfered a brake line off that once id dug him out of the medical centre and enjoyed the rest of the day!

[Evilchicken0]

At the moment I'm wrestling the Bimota's engine back in the frame. It's a heavy old lump and no mistake.
There's nowhere to lever it so it doesn't line up in the frame.
There's not much tollerance so a lot of stuff needs to be on it before it can go in ... like the chain and sproket cover.

I noticed a rust spot on the forks too