Matty`s Bashan Streetfighter Quad

[Oddball Matt]

Originally Posted by SevereTrauma

You Sir have more patience and abilities then me. Good work so far. Can I ask what a SMASH Festival is? I searched Google but didn't seem to see anything or maybe I missed it.

Why thank you sir, making me blush and all here... I love to tinker with my hands and even though I`m a master of no particular skill I`ve tried just about everything from beer brewing to bowyer:ing and from guitar building to grafting chili plants while flying sparks in the metal workshop making streetfighter bike parts so I`ve picked up a tip here and an advice there and try to apply them to my doings the best I can. Smash is a streetfighter motorbike festival held in Estonia for the past 13 years, for some reason it`s next to impossible to find almost any info about it in the net, and I`m assuming that`s how they wanted it as what started as a fun weekend for a small select group has now exploded into an international event which apparently got too big for the organizers as they announced they`re gonna have a gap year and thinking about whether or not to continue after. Such a travesty I`ll tell you as the weekend last summer was quite possibly one of the best ones I`ve ever had.

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

Karjala sounds interesting...

Heh Karjala, or in English Karelia is as well as the brand of my favourite bulk lager, a southeastern part of Finland. Or shall I say WAS as it was, quite unfairly I might add, lost to Russia after we beat their asses while outgunned 10-1 during the war which they started (check up on the shelling of Mainila it`s a fun read)and we won (sorta as we`re still a sovereing country) but was still made to pay compensations as well as hand over the Karelian isthmus (which btw AFAIK they`ve done diddly squat with ever since)

Right, back to business.




I drilled the missing holes onto the fairings to start massaging them into place. They`ve quite clearly been sitting in a warehouse for a long time as they`ve bent the wrong way from a couple places. Gonna let em sit and probly apply some heat gun to startegic places to get them to assume the correct shape. Also it appears the tank damper rubbers are not original as the tank sits way too high so the infill panel won`t fit. Gonna fix that once I get this puppy going poot poot first.



Couple more out the sticker factory (note to self get new sharp scissors)



and thattis all vee hav todei, tänks and pai pai.

[Weldangrind]

I had no idea about the Shelling of Mainila; further reading suggests it closely followed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, where Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to be at peace with each other, while also planning the annexation of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. That was on August 23, 1939; Nazi Germany then invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. That gives me shivers. The Shelling of Mainila followed two months later.

Excellent job on the graphics! I'm really enjoying this build. Please tell me what it says on the box of orange tape; I can only make out part of it.

[Oddball Matt]

The product is called SFT Uber Tape. SFT comes from the Finnish show riding group StuntFreaksTeam and their main partner here is a car parts/supply store chain Motonet, though you can also order the sticker sets straight from their website HERE. It is quite expensive but it is very high quality, the material is much thicker than most china vinyls so it`s more forgiving when applying as it won`t kink near as easy, it responds well to warming up with a heat gun, just a small blast at low rating is usually enough to get through a tight corner and it won`t "snot up" when warmed as some cheaper ones do making it all stretchy and usually ruining the graphic. It also comes in several different designs and patterns, the one I`m using is called Mesh Orange. Oh and one more thing. When you`ve applied your graphic in place run over it a few times with the heat gun and wipe it down with your sleeve or sth and it bites down HARD. I mean it applied properly this stuff will not start peeling off.






Couple more. Haven`t decided if I like the rear one on the fender yet, it was an offcut so had to make a compromise and at least since I know what to look for it shows...

[Oddball Matt]

Small update but still sth as I`ve more or less finished with the graphics. Surprisingly the narrow strips on the rear fenders were hands down the most difficult as both sides had to be made from two pieces, and only when I finished the left side and copied the stickers to the right side I realized the fairing is in fact asymmetrical which gave me a few grey hairs but I, just barely, got the vinyl to last to the end. At first I was thinking about adding the same kind of arches to the back as in the front but when I started modeling those I realized it`s a compound curve, takes up more vinyl that I have left and just doesn`t look right so ended up with this design.

Got a message yesterday that my rear axel seal and bearings have arrived to a local tractor supply shop so gonna go fetch those next saturday, hopefully got the time to fab the exhaust this weekend and FINALLY get to try if this thing even fires up! OH before that I gotta fit the battery box and extend the power leads so no holding breaths just yet...

[Oddball Matt]

Swapped the sprockets and cleaned up the engine as well as I could tonight, quite unsurprisingly the front sprocket area as well as the rear swingarm bottom guard were absolutely caked with old chain grease mud and other nasties.



Also took the rear axel carrier out for the bearing swap next weekend. Could someone with more mechanical skills than me explain one thing to me. The bearings in question are sealed on both sides and the spacer in between is just floating between them with nothing else to do than to be a spacer. WHY is there a grease nipple and the cavity in between is filled with grease?!

[franque]

To keep water out/keep the bearings greased. Normally the bearings on stuff like this have a seal missing on the inside, so that grease can easily be added.

[Oddball Matt]

Soo when I replace the bearings with double sealed ones would you suggest removing the inner seals or leave as is and not have to pump grease in? I vote for the latter

[Weldangrind]

I'd leave the seals in place and I'd pump the space between them full of grease. Grease is cheap.
If you're ever riding for enough time to heat up the bearings and then cross a creek that will immerse the rear carrier, it will vacuum water in if there is space for it. The grease displaces the water.

[Oddball Matt]

Ah that makes sense. Doubt I'll be doing any dipping though but my neighbor should still have my old grease gun I donated him when I quit trucking.

[Oddball Matt]

Took the rear carrier apart today, somebody wanna tell me what the hell happened here?! Looks like as if one of the bearings had exploded and the balls have gone loose into the grease cavity, which would suggest the bearings have already been changed at least once, which in turn puts the odometer reading of 4200km under serious doubt. Either it has been disconnected for a long time or it has actually gone over and it`s on it`s second round! Had a bit of an event with the new bearings too. I looked online for them and found them in several places for anything between 5 and 15 euros plus carriage but waiting for a month for them didn`t sit right with me as I want to see what sits where before fabbing the exhaust so I ordered a pair into a local tractor parts dealer. You could imagine the "wait what" when I went in to get them and heard the price. They weren`t 5 euros. They weren`t even 15 euros. They were 63 euros. Per side. The ONE TIME I didn`t ask beforehand what they cost as I naively assumed they`d be around the same or at least not much over. With that money I could have ordered TWO new carriers and still have enough for the assembly beer!!!!



Having recovered from that for a day I decided to whip out the mig rig and start sticking bits together. First up was the new battery box and it`s bracket. At first my plan was to fit it so far back the box can actually swing open but it just didn`t look right sticking out that far so I figured it`s not that much of a hassle removing seven bolts/nuts to lift the rear fairing off, it`s not like you`re digging into the battery box every week anyway.



Somehow the muffler had managed to both rip out the front mount from the frame tube AND cracked the rear loop so those, among other fractures here and there, got welded. Judging by the cracks and the fact the right side fender bracket was bent this thing had been capsized at least once. Might at some point redo the twelve-o-clock-bar with either a skidplate or some rollerskate wheels but that`s a very low priority at this point.

[Weldangrind]

An ammo box for the battery is a neat idea. Do you plan to vent it?

[Oddball Matt]

With a sealed AGM battery I don't suppose I have to. There will be rubber grommets where the wires and the chain-oiler hoses enter/exit the box that I suppose breathe somewhat but I wasn't planning on adding a dedicated vent. Do you think I should?

[Weldangrind]

Probably not necessary, but it wouldn't hurt to vent it. If you ever sold it, the new owner wouldn't be at risk if they installed a conventional battery.

[Oddball Matt]

Think I'll just go with instructing them as the battery is mounted at a sideways angle so an AGM would be preferred, if not required, anyway.

Was planning to start fabbing the exhaust last weekend but I seem to have misplaced the right size boot of my bender so have to find that first, as well as get this fever/gough thing over with that's been pesting me for forever now... Also emailed the shop I've been waiting my rear brake parts from for two weeks now, somehow they've missed the order and promised to rush them to me. After that it's basically assembly, test, tweak, explode everything again, paint what needs painted and final assembly, provided the engine works and creates sufficient power (bit worried as it didn't put up as much of a fight as I expected it to when I turned the crank with a wrench)

[Oddball Matt]

New bearings and seal pressed into the rear carrier, got an email last Friday that my brake parts have left the Netherlands only after waiting three short weeks from ordering so postponed the axel assembly so I don`t have to do it many times.



While waiting I`ve tried to tie up the loose ends, finished the exhaust reroute (well, still have to remove the front part, adjust the angle of the joint and weld all tacked pieces properly together.) The welds look horrible for three distinct reasons: I had to use parts of the original exhaust to size up at the connector, the original exhaust is a bitch to weld onto being thin walled and inferior quality metal, and most of all I`m not that good at welding.

Also did some electric work extending the wires of both rear turning indicators and welded a bracket for the starter relay onto the battery box but didn`t see necessary to take pics of those.