HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

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colinf
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Bike owned: VF400RK, TRX850 , Bultaco T350
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by colinf » Mon Jan 15, 2018 12:57 pm

Greg was "lucky" that the consultant who did the surgery was the guy who did Ian Hutchinson's ( 16x TT winner ) leg the first time and is overseeing his recovery after last years TT crash too.
The VF500 forks i'm using are 37mm.Did you have any reference to the Honeybee forks specifically?

ligurt
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by ligurt » Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:05 pm

He was really lucky indeed. To say the truth many doctors make their best everytime a well known person goes under their hands, not the same when normal people need their help. But this is an old story...
Coming to the vf, no I haven't any reference. In any case it's highly probable honda used the oem forks may be with some internal works, but here we go in the pure supposition. The vf400f forks were very reliable with the trac system, but lack in the brake compartement, The integra version were far better, so I shouldn't be surprise if honda had used them in a the stock configuration. They are the same on the vt250f2

ligurt
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by ligurt » Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:05 pm

Pardon vt250f2f

colinf
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by colinf » Tue Mar 20, 2018 11:59 am

A long over-due update,although not a lot of visible progress.Spent some time salvaging an accident damaged fuel tank.Some time ago i decided to sell on the bike and parts i'd accumulated for the restoration of the stock VF400 as it was taking up too much space ( two frames,two engines,three forks, six wheels etc plus the body work ) and i'd let the best tank go with these.It had quite a big dent in the top and a crease towards the front.I made a plate and gasket to seal the aperture for the tap and rigged up a thick rubber seal that would just go in the fuel filler with a small hole for an air gun connected to the compressor.With a few small tabs tacked onto the tank to pull on and with enough pressure in the tank most of the dents popped out.Still needs work but it is fairly straight now. Managed to get the bike off the bench for the first time with its NS wheels to check it sat okay and felt alright with its mock up bars/seat/rearsets. This may sound daft on this forum but i couldn't get over how small it looks surrounded by GL1000,GS1100G and Laverda Mirage heavyweights! ( none are mine ).

colinf
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by colinf » Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:16 pm

While the bike was on the ground it was easier to check the steering lock against the steering damper i plan to use.I picked this up a while ago at the Motorcycle News festival autojumble at Peterborough.No idea what it's off but it's a close match for the one one the Honeybee racer. It doesn't quite have the full range of movement to go lock to lock but i'm not sure if the stops on the VF500 bottom yoke are the same as the VF400 (the original one went with the stock VF400 parts) .I made up a strip of mild steel bent to fit the over tab on the headstock which took out the slack to see if there was enough lock still. It did make it a bit of a pain to shuffle round the shed but i don't think it would have an adverse effect on the road.It's not going to be filtering through traffic commuting after all.I will modify the tab on the headstock so there is no pressure on the damper at full lock.
Much earlier on this thread i said i intended to fabricate the seat/tail unit .With Easter coming up i've decided to get the materials together to do just that.The plan is to use an MDF base over the subframe to build on using High density foam blocks, styrene sheet and modelling clay to shape the seat unit.A plug will then be made by fibre-glassing over this in two halves.When these are done and bolted together the mould will be made inside the plug.A minor complication is the fact that the seat unit covers the rear of the tank.If the plug was taken off the tank as it is then the mould would be exactly the same size as the tank and wouldn't fit over it.This will mean adding thickness to the rear of the tank equal to the thickness of the fibreglass. I've no doubt there will be a learning curve to overcome and modifications to the process as i go but it'll keep me out of trouble over the holiday! Unless it's a complete disaster i'll update with pictures.I will take way more pictures than i post which may help anyone else who wants to have a go.
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ligurt
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by ligurt » Fri Mar 23, 2018 11:07 pm

It seems you are on the right way Colinf the steering damper is a really nice job. I'm also almost to the prveious point couse of my health status that need some deep check up (hope nothing serious but need some weeks to know). I have bought a good tig welder and planned the full exhaust job with proper diameter and lenght to work with my yoshi cams. I'm also after the HRC wheels from the rc30 but I red about the alignment issues with the 5.5 rim. So I will consider either the magtek 4.50x17 (that I already get) and the HRC 4.00x18 with a front HRC 3.25/3.50x17. I'm now working on the 2.747 kgs flywheel to reduce the mass the more I can.

colinf
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by colinf » Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:19 pm

Good to hear from you, fingers crossed on the health issue. I'd be interested in how you tackle the exhaust, something i still need to do. Update your thread with pictures when you get started, it might spur me on to get started on mine too!

colinf
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by colinf » Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:03 pm

Quick update but no pics just yet. So much for doing the seat unit over Easter! I started by making a cardboard mock up of the tail unit which worked quite well. Originally i imagined using large blocks of styrene foam to shape the seat hump from but this makes accurate measurements and cutting difficult. My solution is probably more involved but allows more control.Using MDF i first made a base fixed to the frame and built up a solid structure of MDF to build on. I managed the Friday and Saturday of the holiday making slow steady progress then spent Sunday mucking alot of it up ( shouldn't have gone out Saturday night! ).Decided to do a bit of work on a mates bike on Monday so i didn't compound any errors.Came back to it the next weekend ( also a long weekend for me ) and got back in the swing.Taking much longer than i thought and worked on it again this weekend.Basically the structure i built looks like the seat unit with all the corners and radii cut off so these can be formed in clay.It now has the profile of the side panels in Styrene sheet bonded to MDF fixed to the frame.Where there are profile changes ( rear of seat unit ) i've block out what i can to reduce the amout of clay needed.The Styrene sheet also goes up the rear of the tank and i found some self adhesive neoprene which i've used to cover the remaining portion of the tank as it's the same thickness as the sheet. This all sounds a bit complicated so ( assuming it works) i'll go through it stage by stage with pictures.Spent the afternoon making metal shaping tools for the clay. These are plates with a hole with the correct radius in the corner of an angle to match each part of the seat unit. So i have one for the seat back to the tail unit top,one for the rear to the top,one for the top to the sides and a 90 degree one for the " corners".
The bike looks like its crashed into a B&Q! Should look a bit better with the clay on..........That's next weekends job.

ligurt
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by ligurt » Tue May 01, 2018 10:24 pm

Hi Colinf, the steel comb is a must for the job and helps you to obtain the left/right simmetry. I don't know the exact name for that tool (may be Barton's comb), I saw it in my brother's tools box. He's a geologist and uses it to determine the roughness of the rocks.

colinf
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Re: HRC VF400RK TT F3 Replica.

Post by colinf » Thu May 17, 2018 8:21 pm

Still not much progress. I did make a start on the clay and can apply it okay on the simpler shapes ( the ones i have metal profiles of ) but haven't had a go at the trickier tank end yet. Some of the delay is down to the learning curve and a bit is down to an oversight on my part! Before starting this stage i'd had a look at various "how to" videos on you tube by people using air drying modelling clay to make plugs for bike,car and boat parts. The larger projects like car front ends etc they usually cover the clay with foil before applying any resin and on custom bike seats etc they keep the clay damp with wet towels between session working on it. I couldn't leave wet towels on it or the MDF would delaminate and even covering it with cling-film wouldn't prevent it from drying out because the MDF is porous ( that was the oversight). To remedy this i removed the clay ( can wet it and re-use it ) then sealed all the MDF surfaces with PVA wood glue. While researching how to "seal" modelling clay i found out that watered down PVA can be used to seal that as well. In order to minimize the time the clay is on the bike before applying any resin i really need a whole weekend, unfortunately the resin i ordered got damaged in transit and leaked out in the truck delivering it to distribution hub where the local van would collect it .The replacement didn't get here until late last Saturday afternoon.Wont be able to do it this weekend as i plan on going to the MCN festival at Peterborough ( i have a cunning plan for that! more later if it come off ). So...... next bank holiday i hope to apply the clay and seal it with PVA ,then before it drys out and shrinks at all i intend to cover it all with a very thin layer of resin and a fine glass matt. This will give me a solid form which is easier to correct any small errors with body filler or fairing compound which is a fine filler used in the boating world. If all goes to plan i'll post the pictures of each stage.


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