Biker Banter Build a Bike- 998 Edition
Discussion
Episode 1 . The Before
the 998 track bike I bought on a whim last year has begun, a phoenix like rising from the ashes of its previous state.
As such, I thought it might be nice to document the build here, pictures mainly, of the process.
For reference, she started life as a nice but tatty track bike, made out of bits and bobs and looking a little forlorn.
The basics were there excellent engine and titanium Akrapovic exhaust, the rest I can fill in as she goes.
So she started life in my garage like this:
Ok from 30 feet but needing some love.
A couple of weeks ago, she transformed into this:
And with that, the frame was off to media blasting .....
the 998 track bike I bought on a whim last year has begun, a phoenix like rising from the ashes of its previous state.
As such, I thought it might be nice to document the build here, pictures mainly, of the process.
For reference, she started life as a nice but tatty track bike, made out of bits and bobs and looking a little forlorn.
The basics were there excellent engine and titanium Akrapovic exhaust, the rest I can fill in as she goes.
So she started life in my garage like this:
Ok from 30 feet but needing some love.
A couple of weeks ago, she transformed into this:
And with that, the frame was off to media blasting .....
Edited by Steve Bass on Tuesday 15th April 13:11
Episode 2 - It's been a blast
So I managed to find a guy who was able to media blast the frame although as it wouldn't fit in his blast cabinet, it was a time and materials job.
Given that, and the (we think) 5 paint layers including the oem primer and paint, it took nearly four hours to get to a reasonable state of play.
Paint still lingered in the nooks and crannies as well as the epoxy primer looking patchy.
So next up, knocking back the primer and paint spots so get to a reasonable state, ready for painting.
Fwiw, I think I've used every Dremel attachment known to man in chasing the awkward spots...
So I managed to find a guy who was able to media blast the frame although as it wouldn't fit in his blast cabinet, it was a time and materials job.
Given that, and the (we think) 5 paint layers including the oem primer and paint, it took nearly four hours to get to a reasonable state of play.
Paint still lingered in the nooks and crannies as well as the epoxy primer looking patchy.
So next up, knocking back the primer and paint spots so get to a reasonable state, ready for painting.
Fwiw, I think I've used every Dremel attachment known to man in chasing the awkward spots...
Edited by Steve Bass on Saturday 26th April 21:52
roboxm3 said:
Out of interest, is there a reason you couldn't have just had the frame dipped to remove the paint and primer?
Couple of reasons... Firstly, there's a factory applied caulking to sections of the frame that seals it up to the elements. I didn't want to lose it
Secondly, and this really baked my noodle, there are no companies offering the service. All auto restoration services are based on media blasting a chassis, acid dipping just doesn't seem to exist.
Finally, linked to the second point, shipping a frame would be prohibitively expensive, especially if it had to go to the US. Canada's population and spread out density means there's no business case for a company, even in the Toronto area. The US might have a company offering the service but the complexity of shipping, moving auto parts across an International border and the slump in relations between Canada and the US just doesn't make it a viable option.
So manual hard labour will have to do....
Gladers01 said:
Like the titanium exhausts, what size bore and are they louder than the Termis? What suspension are you running and is the bike going to be for road or track? 
Track only. Suspension is Ohlins rear and Ohlins/K Tech cartridge equipped forks with radial calipers, replacing what's fitted in the first picture. Front end is actually coming out of my hybrid bike as that's got some sexy Ohlins FG803's to be fitted.
Pipes are a 60mm system, so a decent size for this engine.
Motor was built by a very well known race shop in the US. Looking into the intakes there's been some serious porting done and the motor revs much much faster than a standard lump. It allegedly made over 150 on VP fuel although it was running a 996R ecu and PC3 which have been ditched for a new set up that I'll show later. But has the very rare blue shower injectors from the 749R model (unique to that model) which are very high quality compared to the standard yellow ones.
Some other trick parts coming so stay tuned
Edited by Steve Bass on Tuesday 15th April 13:48
Episode 5: The Big Push
So things have been moving along at a pace.
Samco hoses to replace the homemade copper pipes and rubber hose abomination that existed before
Corse extended swingarm all mounted up.
It's an ali version, not quite as light as the magnesium version but a lot cheaper.
New custom triple clamps arrived from Forsaken Motorsport. These have the ability to adjust the fork offset via specific collar inserts pretty much from 36mm to 26mm in 1mm increments.
My preference is 29mm but with the steeper rake I need to check if the radiator is in peril from the front wheel under compression.
However, as is the way with custom builds, the stem needs the thread extending as the top nut is about 8mm from seating on the top bearing. As its a hybrid of the Ducati V2 and 1098 triple clamp, we expected a little adjustment to be required.
Finally have a home for the Ohlins FG803 forks I've been sitting on.
These forks kinda justified the whole bike
And decided to refurbish the head covers. They're looking a little worse for wear and as I have some tasty titanium bolts coming, they will be off to the sand blaster and a simple high temp black painting.
Onwards and upwards...
So things have been moving along at a pace.
Samco hoses to replace the homemade copper pipes and rubber hose abomination that existed before
Corse extended swingarm all mounted up.
It's an ali version, not quite as light as the magnesium version but a lot cheaper.
New custom triple clamps arrived from Forsaken Motorsport. These have the ability to adjust the fork offset via specific collar inserts pretty much from 36mm to 26mm in 1mm increments.
My preference is 29mm but with the steeper rake I need to check if the radiator is in peril from the front wheel under compression.
However, as is the way with custom builds, the stem needs the thread extending as the top nut is about 8mm from seating on the top bearing. As its a hybrid of the Ducati V2 and 1098 triple clamp, we expected a little adjustment to be required.
Finally have a home for the Ohlins FG803 forks I've been sitting on.
These forks kinda justified the whole bike
And decided to refurbish the head covers. They're looking a little worse for wear and as I have some tasty titanium bolts coming, they will be off to the sand blaster and a simple high temp black painting.
Onwards and upwards...
Marquezs Stabilisers said:
There is some lovely stuff there. I know a miss is as good as a mile, but the clearance between the footpeg and swing arm looks cosy!
Coming along nicely but what is that strap doing that goes through the rear wheel axle and are you going to keep it as a track bike or sell it on to make a quick buck to fund another project? Gladers01 said:
Coming along nicely but what is that strap doing that goes through the rear wheel axle and are you going to keep it as a track bike or sell it on to make a quick buck to fund another project?
The strap holds the back of the bike down for when I have the complete triple clamp out, as there's nothing to rest the bike on. So it's pivoting on the footpegs. Ike will stay as a track bike, there's no paperwork to make it road legal and there's a little too much $$ in it to think of ever getting a return
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