I agree with Exige on this. I worked with Ford on the advertising side. As I remember it was about 3 years to develop a car. The Ford Puma was much quicker than that though, but it was a limited run. Great build on the bike, very much enjoying the write up too. I can design but I wish I had your engineering skills to follow it through. Excellent stuff.
I've never liked the dual stubby ak's. From behind all I can think of is a wheelbarrow but appreciate peoples choices vary. That bit over, I am quite loving the thread, the attention to detail, the publishing of pics and info as you progress and of course, the bike. Nice effort.
Ok boys.. now the festivities are dealt with theres a few more bits a pieces I want to go through then I'll start with the track prep for this year. I'm ordering some stuff soon as the main problems so far are; - Clutch grabs on acceleration, its liveable but I may be getting an ACU license this year and it certainly cannot do race starts. Does anyone have an idea of the stack height for a DP slipper unit? and how many plates of each before I order the wrong stuff its a 12t unit. I only have the book for the '999R' which apparently came without a slipper so its quite useless! I'm also looking to get a standard 'closed' clutch cover to keep the noise down, wether it gets mysteriously changed before the session starts is another matter... I'd really like to keep it cool, especially because of the slipper. - Exhausts, really really like the look of Mivv Suono exhausts; Either the way I have mine currently spaced out either side of the seat or like the below image sideways under the seat and closer together, Thoughts? The main problem is I can't see any specs for the amount of noise reduction, they do a set for the 1100 monster which is the closest cc twin I can find after a quick search. The whole point is to get by track noise limits, If the slip ons won't do it then its a complete waste of time and money. The alternative is to have two 1098 slip ons, this way I can get a set of stock ones that will really shut it up if its still to loud with termi or similar! Probably the smarter option.. Finally- The Electronics. The bike came with a PC3 and a DP ECU, Soon after getting it the immo shat itself so after a trip to Avanti raceparts (Highly recommend, Took alot of time to answer my questions about how he does it and what he does) he also told me that it was a standard ECU with a performance sticker on it! which I though was quite funny.. he Kindly upgraded it for me. Its basically just a different Ign and fuel map. I had adjusted the fuel on the PC3 on the Dyno roughly just to smooth it out after the suspected fuel pump issue. (a mates bike..not mine!) But..... I really can't stand piggyback systems. After the ECU got the REAL DP Map I took the PC3 off as it wasn't suited for it anymore, and getting a generic map off the internet, unless its a showroom fresh bike is a waste of time in my eyes. SO. For the easy short term option Microtec or Nemesis. I downloaded them Microtec software to have a look and it seems ok, and it will do what i want it to do for now. Really would like to have a quickshifter aswell as some of you may have seen in another section. HM seems to be the biggest contender. The original plan was (is!!) to have a standalone ECU that can do all the things I want; - Fuel - Ignition - Quickshift up and Down (drive by wire conversion, more on this later its a story in and of itself) - Data logging - suspension movement front and rear, Torque sensor, wss front and rear, GPS, TPS, Brake pressure front and rear, normal engine stuff.. and ideally a knock sensor. - Traction control, This is a biggy because I'd really like to write my own program using engine torque sensing rather than wheel speed. - Outputs for a nice dash, Ideally through Canbus Most of them are pretty expensive and designed for alot more than 2 cylinders....and doors. Frustratingly the more expensive ones are very closed in terms of changing code for customising features, They're obviously designed to plug in and go rather than to be f*cked with. The main reason I haven't done it yet is I still haven't found the one I want, Well... I have but I'm not paying 10's of thousands for a full 2D systems set up like the racebikes at my Uni has! Plus, wheres the fun in that..!?
Should probably mention that the ECU crapped out 3 days before I was due to go to the TT, Luckily a very very kind friend let me borrow his Triumph Speed triple 1050!
Should probably mention that the ECU crapped out 3 days before I was due to go to the TT, Luckily a very very kind friend let me borrow his Triumph Speed triple 1050!
Microtec run QS programs. Just plug in a SP Electonics QS lever into the Microtec. You can alter the parameters thru the ecu. http://www.spquickshifters.com/product_info.php?products_id=107 Mick Boasman is a good point of info for real techy stuff. http://www.bikesportdevelopments.co.uk/Default.asp
Few more bits and pieces.. I don't even want to think about how much power that little 'coin' in the baffle would rob 140hp through a few drilled holes.. hmm.. Stripping the clutch for a clean new fresh plates to find this; That may explain the bizarre clutch action! Booked in for Donnington on the 28th of Feb so I've made a list of some of the things I would like to get done; - Clutch new plates and cleaned - new fuel lines with new filter and quick disconnect - I found a small oil leak - of course the exhaust - and I need to fit a small expansion bottle for the coolant system I have exams this week so I think once it's done a little exploration in south wales may be in order... provided the weather holds out!
This thread is amazing! I really did the wrong uni course! Keep it up, can't wait to see what's next.
Great thread and well done, it made me smile how attitudes changed from the first few posts as you progressed through the build. As far as new vehicle build time, I think @Exige is working on the 7 year time frame with his build. Steve
I know 3 people who spent 7 years on projects. One was a Healey 2000 - with Sierra Cosworth 4-wheel drive running gear One was 35' cruising catamaran and one was a Vans RV9 aeroplane . So he's in pretty good company
Many years ago (when I was a student) one of my motor vehicle lecturers was on the design team for the Mk1 Cortina, they brought it to production in just over a year and a half with '60s technology.
No, his name was John Marren, very clever and interesting person but of course as teenagers we never really appreciated just how much he knew.
The design team? They don't really bring cars into production, but calculate all the staff involved and that's several hundred years, and with modern complexity a few thousands years of man power
I remember Fred Hart as being the designer. It stuck in my mind as it's such a great design - far and away the best of the Cortinas
I meant from when they started on the design to when production started. Apparently it was the fastest time for any Ford model which I can wll believe.
