Project NSR

Order I had ordered carbon reeds for the NSR quite a while ago so it was nice to be organised for a change.  So with a little time on my hands I decided to pop the cages out and change these over. I had already had the carbs off previously for cleaning and had only placed them in situe so was no drama removing them. The carb rubbers followed, taking care to release the torque evenly as I have heard horror stories of engines blowing from air leaks caused my bent inlet rubbers. With these off the reed cages are no longer secured to the engine so can be pulled off as well, along with (most of) their paper gasket.  Now I was confronted with this which initially looked pretty horrific. One side shiny and like new as it aught to be and the other brown with a streak of brown and dirt down the inlet. Images of water ingress, corroded bearings and seized bottom end rushed through my mind but then a bit of logic seeped in and I turned the engine till I could see the bearing i...

As the year wound down I had to face facts. I was going to have to put the bikes to bed and start packing for my impending year long trip to the States. Yep 1 year away from tinkering with motorcycles only sweetened by a big helping of freedom and as many beers as I could fit down my neck. Any plans I might have had to buy a bike out there were squashed when I took the 'un like me' decision of buying something sensible instead. So I bought Solar panels for the house. Anyhoo before I left, I did stretch the budget a bit and manage to pick up some rather lovely performance parts, ready for me to come home. The first and most exciting purchase is a set of Ethos design GP pipes. With a stainless system and carbon cans that both exit on the right, they look stunning and should give a nice performance boost over the restrictive stock system. Second hand, these weren't allot cheaper than a new set of Tyga pipes but for the quality and "look at me I have cool old tu...