Greg Brillus Racer
- Thread starter davidd
- Start date
I had a phone call from the guru that issues the log books in the category that I am in.....The bike looks fine , but i'm not happy with your exhaust system, he said. The pipes look like their off a GP bike and the muffler looks too modern, Oh and Vincent's never had the system pass under the engine and exit out the left side either......I ment to ask if the springs holding the pipes to the heads are ok....!!! So I will take the entire system off, and temporarily refit the original under and over 1 5/8 lightning style open pipes..take some pics and send to him.....then put this system back on. It took me completely be surprise, and was the last thing I would have thought they would pick on. Oh well at least he didn't pick on my suspension mods...now that would have meant certain death, on his behalf, to be sure. On a better note, I had a track day this Saturday just gone, on the track we are having our National Championships very soon. The bike performed extremely well, the braking and handling, I could not fault. I found chasing others on modern bikes that on the corners, they simply got in my way, and I was so close, I could see the flame pops out their exhausts. The torque through the corners was fantastic, coming onto the main straight, I was quickly in top gear and flat out down the 700 meter stretch, the tacho was still not reading correctly, and I was mindfull not to over rev it, but I think I was going well over 200 kph. I had a few minor things to fix, including an annoying oil leak from the magneto flange, and I will sort out the tacho issue asap. The general tune of the engine must be somewhere near correct, as the performance and smoothness of the engine seem very good. The issue I had with finding neutral, I fixed by backing off the tension on the camplate detent plunger spring, and it is much easier to find neutral now. So it's now the final countdown to the big race, and only minor fettling to do......it's all good, cheers for now.......Greg.
Hi there all, well our national titles are over, and the weekend was an absolute blast. The first thing I discovered quite quickly is that the boys on the Tritons and Norton atlas's are by no means slow. I found in practice on the Thursday, that I could outpace them down the straights quite easily, but their experience on the corners was something else. First race on Saturday I came 5th out of 21 other riders, after being placed 7th on the starting grid, and all went well. Second race late Saturday afternoon, I was shifted to 5th on the grid....This put me in the middle of the second row....At the drop of the flag, I took off and quickly coming into the first corner, I was in 3rd place and immediately behind the two in front of me. I realized from this point on that I was dicing with the big boys, and had a cat and mouse run with another rider...he overtaking me on the corners and I overtaking him on the straights. After passing him down the main straight, and rounding the corner, he came around the outside of me, and hit my front wheel sending me off the track, across a patch of grass and into the gravel, landing rather abruptly on the left side......You can begin to imagine what I was thinking....Anyway, I was unhurt, and the bike suffered some minor gravel rash down the left side, mostly on the primary cover, and filling everything with stones......Blast...I skipped the riders dinner, and went back to a friends place, where I disassembled many items to remove all the gravel, including the front wheel/brakes. Up bright and early Sunday, back at the track....had a sea of faces looking on as I fired the engine for a warm up, and the exhaust acted like a shotgun as it removed the last of the stones. Last race and I was in 17th position on the grid, due to my DNF on the second run.....I could not get such a good start this time as I didn't want to run into the surrounding riders, so I took off with the pack, and slowly picked them off one by one, working my way up to about 9th or 10th place. Out of the 21 or so riders I came in at 11th which is not too bad considering it was my first solo race.......ever..... and if the crash hadn't happened, I would have got 4th place I think. Well now I will spend more time doing track days to get more cornering time. The bike was by far the most popular and photographed machine there, and they even put it in the museum on Friday night, alongside bikes of Gregg Hansford, Wayne Gardner, etc. The bikes performance was excellent, and the handling and braking I could not fault.....the huge effort I put into the front end, with help from many of you, paying off, and the Suzuki 4 l/s front brake working very well. The chap that hit me did apologize, and we had a good talk on the Sunday.....he was a very experienced rider, although I cannot discount the thought that he did it on purpose, just to get me out of his way...he came second in the championships. Anyway the whole event was a huge success, and I, and many of my fellow Vincent club members had a really great time. I particularly want to thank the help I had from Damian Deane, Peter Le gross, Reg Bolton, and finally, my younger son Jamie, who was as great a help as a father could want. I have repaired most damage to the bike already, and can't wait to do it again........Cheers for now.......Greg.
Hello Greg, Now things have calmed down a bit over there !,Can you give us the numbers of the ecentric bearings you used, I know I have to make up side washers, But will they go in a standard set up OK. You would laugh, Last year I saw an ecentric bush move when I was playing about on one of the bikes, I thought I had better strip it out, I had forgot that the late Don Alexander, Super Bloke, Had made me special bushes with a Top Hat type one side with a thrust washer the other !. I hope you and the bike are OK after your OFF, I don't think he ment it , I don't think he would risk him self !, It is just how they ride when they want to Win !. Good Luck, Bill.
Hi there Bill, thanks for the comments. I think you are right what you said, as most I have talked to said that normally both bikes end up off the track when you hit like that. I think he was very lucky. Did you end up with one of the new steering stems that Norman had made up...? Only reason I ask, is that the new set up allowed me to go straight to a concentric set up rather than the original eccentrics. I found a bearing that was very close in OD to the large eye in the lower link, but the ID ended up too small. So the engineer that did my machining found a bearing with the same OD and a similar ID to the new sleeve arrangement that Norman had made to suit the modified stem. We actually used two(2) bearings per side for a total of 4 bearings, and I think they were 7 mm wide each. As I said earlier in the post, it is not a simple job, but not as difficult as the needle roller conversion at the other end of the link. When you are riding, obviously you can't really tell what is going on up front, but all I know is that the combination is really like a revised version of the Bramptons. The Horner brothers have done similar mods to the Racer they took to Goodwood, but I think they revised the stem and the headstock, from what pictures I have seen, and it still uses springbox's and a shocker in the normal spot. My aim was to try as many suspension upgrades that I could, whilst still keeping the Girdraulics that had given so many such grief on the road and on the track. I am not saying that what I have done is the be all to end all, but in the end, the axle path is more like that of the Bramptons, that is that it moves upward and backward under compression, only with more travel, the friction of the pivoting parts has been all but eliminated, and lightened, and I installed a hydraulic steering damper which has been hidden neatly away under the tank. I think the stem change did not alter the trail, as the position of the lower link was basically rotated down and slightly aft, and the new spindle position relocated to that point, which means that the fork blades have not moved relative to the headstock. The change from springbox's to a single coilover was tricky due to a lack of room, but somehow I found a coilover unit that was near exactly what I needed, although it did take some fettling to get it to fit......not surprisingly, the front spring is about 180 lb's,,,,,not unlike that on the Bramptons. The coilover at the rear is exactly the same, only I installed a 300 Lb spring, and as yet I have left the adjuster for the rebound in it's middle position on both front and rear. The track I raced at last weekend is a very demanding one from all I have talked to, and at no stage did I feel the suspension either top or bottom out. At one part of the track Known as "The Bus Stop" we came to from speed to an almost complete stop...quick dog leg through it, and out the other side back into 1st gear, and accelerate flat out...this is where I was able to overtake the boys on the other bikes, but the bike felt great, and totally solid, not showing any signs of a head shake or other bad behavior. I will try some other tests on it at my next track day, such as...how much the front end dives under hard braking and so on. I can see by how much the rebound rubbers move on the shaft as to how close things are running out of travel. Cheers for now...........Greg.
Hello Greg, No I could not go to the cost of Norman's Stem, I am running the Funny Springs, But other than that I am a Standard man !!. Plus if you have more than one bike, Where do you stop ! I do have Hydraulic Steering dampers on all. Cheers Bill.
That's Simple Bill, -you don't
(well not until you peg out and have to meet the chief scrutineer)
The thing is, The Wife does not like Bikes, Only came on the back once !, And she's Not keen on Me !!. My Pension is small, So life is not easy ! Plus she knows what these things are selling for, Gulp !. So I have to keep my head down, All adds to the spice of life ! Cheers Bill.
Life is funny that way. About 20 years ago I bought a Sunbeam Tiger from a guy in a fit of nostalgia for the one I owned when I was first married. He had just gotten married himself and his new wife wanted a new kitchen, so he sold me the Tiger he had owned since new. He was literally crying as I drove away, and I felt awful and elated at the same time. Long story shortened, the guy's marriage did not last very long and his son found me 5 years later me and bought it back for his father because his dad had been so depressed about selling it. I take that as a lesson, plus the fact that I have regretted for financial or attachment reasons nearly every sale of something I was that fond of. The Vincent content here is that Tiger sale allowed me to buy the Rapide I now have. (Though I still miss the Tiger). My wife is surprisingly supportive of the Vin project, intending either to outlast me or in the knowledge that I may not be able to kick it over at some point. Like Bill's wife, she knows what these things are selling for, but is a patient woman. I haven't mentioned the French electric leg to her yet.
Ron
Ron