RS-XV550 DEBUT AT BARBER

Sorry for the delay on putting up any new posts.. I have been very very busy on getting the RS-XV ready for Barber..... I came back from Barber last monday a very happy man.. The bike was everything I could hope for and more!! The morning started out wet.. I decided to hold off until the track dried.. The first session after lunch was the maiden voyage.. It was truly AWESOME!! I knew there would be some bugs to sort out...(there always is)... But the only main set back was a broken shift lever on my 3rd session.. So for building a motorcycle, and that being the only set back, I was very happy! The handeling on her is amazing.. She will go anywhere with a simple thought and little input on the bars.. The power is very impressive as well.. I will be working on some video footage that I should be able to get on the blog very soon..
Thanks!

Well to start off with....... she is almost completed!!!! The only main thing she is missing is a coat of crafty paint. The feeling was pretty amazing for her first spin around the old block..... She sounds awesome,, a little loud but awesome.. She weighs nothing.... And the power is pretty sweet!! I will be taking her to the Ducshop to have a custom map made in the next week or two..
We should be hitting a track soon to really see what she is all about!! Enjoy!

239 POUNDS!!!!!!!

Well to start off with, Im very excited to say we reached our weight goal!!! We were shooting for the 250 lb mark.. We hit 239 lbs!!! Now this figure is completely dry, but Ed and I are both really stoked about it! Other exciting news is that Matt with Ohlins USA came through with the support on the rear shock.... After some careful planning with the construction of the shock, we finally got it mounted on today. Im sure this shock is going to do an amazing job! The wiring harness is basically completed... Had to create a bracket to hold the ecu, voltage regulator, and relays up towords the front of the frame... I was actually dredding the wiring harness part of the project, but Im pretty excited the way it has turned out.

PICS OF THE TAIL

Just wanted to get some pics of the tail with exhaust... Feeling pretty good about her!!

EXHAUST!!

The front and rear exhaust pipes are DONE!! Im pretty excited about the way they turned out. I did not get any pics of the rear cylinder, because I forgot the exhaust gaskets.. I will get some as soon as they installed..

I have some really cool news! We picked up our first sponsor for the RS-XV project! Josh from Speedcell Technologies graciously hooked us up with one of their killer light weight superbike batteries... These things are pretty amazing! It is a "truly" maintenance free battery that weighs around 1 pound!!! Standard bike batteries tend to weigh around 7 to 8 pounds..That's a pretty amazing amount of weight savings that this guy is going to provide! And what I mean by "maitenance free" is that the battery will not die from sitting on a shelf or in the bike with no activity!! It is nothing like a conventional motorcycle battery.. Really impressive!
As for the bike, we have gotten the headers nearly completed... The rear cylinder was a little tricky to complete, but I do think they turned out really well... Next in line is to create the exhaust pipes.. Should be pretty fun!

The RS-XV's sweet little powerplant has been refreshed!! It was really a joy to complete.. These engines are so cool on the inside! Definitely a "race bred" engine....Its amazing something this small can pack so much punch.... Whooo, getting exited just thinking about it...
Next in line for the project is creating the exhaust. Should be fun... I am starting to see a faint light at the end of the tunnel!! Raymond has finished the carbon tank cover. Man,,, it is really light! Under a pound and a half! I will get pics of it on the next post.. Oh, I finally realized how to add a counter to the blog.. I wish I was able to do it when I first created this blog...

Alot has been done since the last post... To start off with, the fuel cell is done. Had to modify it for clearance of the rear header pipe... Looks like it will do a good job. .. Second off, the radiator has been mounted. . We could not use the stock rs250 radiator due to clearance issues with the front header.. We decided to go with a radiator off of an older yzf450.. New upper and lower tabs were made to support the new radiator.. I will have to modify the inlet and outlet pipes...... The bodywork is now positioned where it is going be.. I created a front fairing stay that also supports the front dash.. The arms on the fairing stay are changable in case they get bent (for some odd reason)..

A lot of work has been completed since the last post.. To start off with, the oil tank and its mounts have been completed. . The fuel cell and its mounts have been completed as well... Both the oil tank and fuel cell are both rubber mounted.. The RS125 bodywork also showed up last week from Sharkskinz.. It looks like it will be a little tricky to mount since it is for a RS125, but it will definitely be a good choice for this project.

oil tankers part 2

Sorry for the delay in between posts... Between the holidays and busting my rear, I haven't had much time to sit in front of the computer..... As for the progress, we have been moving slowly but surely.. The art of tig welding is definitely challenging. I have been told that I'm biting into a pretty large project for my first experience with it. But, it still puts a smile on my face every time I grab a hold of the torch. The oil tank is nearly completed. Just need to create bungs for the oil inlet and outlet.. Also need to add a port for the breather line as well..We pressure tested it yesterday. It looks like it will do a good job. Im pretty satisfied the way it is turning out.....
We have decided to use the new aprilia RS125 bodywork for the RS-XV.. It will definitely give our project an updated look compared to the original RS250 body..
Next in line will be the fuel cell... I already have my pattern cut out.. Should start welding on her by the end of this week..

Oil tankers

Next step is creating the oil tank... We are planning on doubling the oil capacity from 1 and a 1/4 quarts to 3 quarts... We did not want our oil tank high up and all the way out in front like the other project bikes that were based on this idea. Our tank will wrap around the airbox and be supported by the existing engine mounts.. This way it is lower and more centered. These past two weeks have been pretty exciting. Eddie has started teaching me how to tig weld. It is a really really cool art... Must admit, it is probably one of the coolest things about this project! Having a blast learning about it!!

Full steam ahead...

Eddie and I are charging ahead in our progress. I will try to sum up what has been completed since the last post. First off, with the help of Raymond, we made a fiber glass molding of the RS250 tank.. With the engine completely installed (woohoo!!), we can use the molding to see exactly how much room we are going to have underneath the tank's shell. We have decided not to use the original tank because of the lack of room for the airbox.. We will fabricate a new fuel cell and seperate oil tank that will be covered by a shell that resembles a gas tank... This shell will be made of carbon fiber.. The mold that we made not only serves as a guide for the space that we have, but will also be used to make the new carbon shell.. Besides completeing the installation of the engine (woohoo!), we also finished the lower cradle.. It was a little tricky making a cut out for the oil filter cover but, as you can see, it turned out really well.. Jake ( the shop pup) has been going over everything we have done to make sure it is up to his standards.. So far we have a paws up!

Gettin tiggy with it!

Eddie and I got alot done today... We basically finished the left and right side frame engine mounts.. After we completed them and tacked them in, it was evident that everything was where we wanted it to be.. So, with Ed's mad skills, we proceeded on finalizing the welds on all the tabs.. So far, everything is going very smoothly!

Look mom! No hands!!

Todays progress was really good.. Eddie and I no longer need a stand for the engine. The two rear main brackets are done allowing the engine to sit in its new home by itself!! Man,, it is exciting.. The both of us are still scratching our heads in amazement on how well things are going... There are so many details that are taking place which makes it hard to believe that this engine and frame are not a perfect match..
We are now taking on the main mount that is located in between the "V" of the engine..This will be acomplised by creating right and left spacers that will be welded into the frame.. The spacers will house a main bolt that will support the engine..

Practice makes perfect?

This last week and a half has been tricky.. Getting the tabs in the correct place and fabricating the brackets definitely took more than one " go " to get it correct.. The rear engine brackets were made of 3/16 plate steel.. They were made pretty beefy so they could do their job properly. We are pretty close to not having to use a stand to hold the engine up.. Pretty exciting!

Tacking on the rear engine tabs....

Rear upper and lower engine tabs are completed.. Time to tack them on..

Brackets anyone?

This tab was created to suspend the rear upper engine mount.. It will be welded to the upper cross member and then have custom brackets that will join it to the engine...

Positioning...positioning... positioning

After the original tabs were removed, it gave us more room to decide where to place the engine.. The main deciding factor was basically the alignment of the countersprocket in relation to the rear sprocket and swingarm. If the alignment is not correct, it will cause future problems. Once finding the general location, we wanted to find out what the weight ratio was between the front and rear.. We did this by suspending the engine in the general location with tiedowns. Then, weighing the front and rear with 2 seperate scales.. With the correct positioning of the engine, we acheived 110 lbs up front and 100 pounds in the rear.. This ratio should be a good starting ground for this project.

1st Steps..

The first process was the removal of the RS250 engine... Shortly after, the SXV550 engine was mocked up to see if this idea was really going to work or not... It was quite evident that the original engine tabs were going to have to be removed.