Hiya Olaf
K-fest - is that the Donington event next May? if so, are people getting the track day tickets?
cheers
chris

...and I share your sentiments about chopping up good K's. There's plenty of bits knocking around to build up all sorts of, erm, weird stuff.

Where did you get the coloured connectors from Chris? I've been quite happy using white ones up until now...

Ebay - search for mini 2.8mm connectors, the 2 suppliers I use are 3waycomp and towzatronics

That sure is the K fest! We are on for it.

I would think you should display your K!! Not up to me but its a very interesting one.

More pics - these are all a few weeks old, before loomageddon:

Walt Disney, lying somewhere in a cryogenic vault, has a lot to answer for. We all love these good-natured heavyweights :

And so K bike riders love these too:

Unfortunately, although they look like they should be as flexible as their Jungle Book counterparts, they're not, they're almost as rigid as the ivory accompaniments. So my GREAT IDEA that allowed me to think I could relocate the plenum chamber fell flat.

Never mind, it seems that English poo can cope with a tighter radius than German air....


A bit of guesswork in the lathe...



And we're on a roll now...


(look, I never actually got round to working out the volume, I made it to fit that's all, I can look at it and just about pretend that it's the same volume as the original, if I started to measure it I'd just feel bad)

Not long after I first got the thing running, it backfired through the inlet runners and, well, that was another chapter written in my (very slim) book of inlet design*


*Yes, the picture of elephants' trunks is on page 1

Here's a picture showing the plenum in situ, you can see the critical point where the frame underside just skims the cyl3 inlet - I used 3 of the runners from the K1100 plenum and shortened them to keep the overall runner length the same as OE. The second picture isn't too clear, but you can just about make out the runners inside the new plenum.


The plenum is made up of 10mm nylon sheet (sides & base) and skinned in 16g aluminium, sealed up with tigerbond - at least the MKII post-backfire version is. The bore in the sides for the AFM has an o-ring seal, as have the 3 elbows that slip over the smoothed out tops of the throttle bodies. The half round relief in the front is to clear the radiator hose. The plenum base fastens down to a convenient M8 hole in the top of the engine block.

Because I have zero knowledge of plenum design (you guesssed, right?) I tried not to steer too far away from the OE layout and dimensions. My concern at the moment is that the bellmouths of the runners are maybe a little too close to the RH side wall of the plenum. I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that the distance should be at least the diameter of the runner, and this layout is a little bit less then that.

When I first got it running it was fine at tickover and low/medium revs, but it wouldn't rev past about 4k. If you held the throttle open it fluctuated unevenly between 2-4k, revving and dying and revving again. I found that if I held the AFM vane open with my finger (technical huh!) it would make it rev higher, but clearly not fuelling right.

Straight away I was ready to blame my plenum design - it was the only thing that I had altered from OE. I played around with it, which resulted in the Bikini Atoll of backfires.

That was all back a few weeks ago (around the time I joined the forum) and the bike was running with a lashed up loom. I was going round in circles a bit and so I pulled stumps for a little while and settled on getting a proper loom built and not rushing to press the starter button anymore.

I'm still finishing off the wiring, getting the tacho to work, but the weird thing is that it's running better and better. It could be a blocked injector - I haven't got round to checking them yet, it could be that the airbox is now properly sealed (most likely candidate, but the problem is still slightly there) or it could be a problem with my wiring that made the alternator rise to 15-16 volts as it revved. The last one sounds unlikely to me, but as soon as I sorted the charging system out and the running voltage got back down to 14.8V, it seemed to rev out a lot better...?

Maybe, it's a combination of things. I've found that it takes a completely different approach to problem solve a previously-working thing (what did I alter/change to make it run bad?) than it does to troubleshoot a new build (check everything from A to Z, systematically)

No clever wisecracks from me eh? Must be morning!

I worry for those 90 degree bends and heat resistance. They are pvc. It may be worth looking our for ones called Vulcathene, they are acid and heat resistant used in laboratory bench drainage. Plus they are satin black.

On a serious note do make it to the K fest and see if you can get it on the display. That apparently also gets you into the track.

I think we would all love to see your K!

Hi Olaf
Yes I'm planning on the Donington event one way or another. I've only ever done one track day, that was at Cadwell and it was a birthday present. I fell off, scared the Marshalls, did a moonlaunch wheelie on the mountain, and learned how good Leon Haslam (or anyone who races) really is.

Re. the intake elbows, I'll be happy if it runs well enough in that layout. If it turns out to be durable in its present form, that will be a bonus.

Love the sound of Vulcathene. Cheers

Had a look at Vulcathene, the same company also do something called Corzan (obviously what Spock would have called his pet dog, had he had one...) which is rated to 95'c. The PVC that I've currently got gives up at 60'c, so I share your concerns about temperature.
Great tip and lead Olaf, cheers
chris

---

Well the end is in sight!

Sorted out a leak on the coolant header tank today (I made it from ally using some aluminium 'welding' rods to see how they are, it's like brazing and I'm not that good at brazing...)

Found out that the 'suddenly not working' petrol gauge was down to, erm, no petrol. The gauge (on the ebay tacho of doom) works from a scooter sender that's grafted into the tank yoke. Because the tank runs at the angle it does, the best layout for the sender unit that I could fathom was to put it where there's about 1/2 a gallon left when it shows empty - and adding half a gallon shows 'full'. Not great, but at least there's some indication.

Fixed up a front brake switch. It's a Brembo master cylinder (ex-Ducati) and I got really cross with the M2 screws that Brembo use to hold the microswitch in place (who uses M2 on a motorbike - the nuts are like particles of dust!) I have a problem with nerve damage in my left hand and trying to handle something that small - in a frosty shed - made me very grumpy.

...which all changed when the thing fired up sweet as a nut. The 'won't rev past 4k' has gone completely. This is A: good, and B: bad - I might never know what caused it, and it'll return one day when I really don't want it to.

Once I'd got the front brake switch installed and wired up the rear light - it didn't work. Another poor crimp connection from me I'm afraid, soon fixed.

Next was the LED indicators - they worked, but only when the engine was running. This was odd, because this was the case even when the alternator wasn't charging. Problem sorted by replacing the cheap ebay indicator relay...with a not so cheap ebay indicator relay.

I got on a proper roll and fettled some other minor bits and pieces, so the only jobs left are; getting the tacho working, making a rear light that I'm happy with, sorting out a small cover/warning light mounting for the electrical compartment, bashing a ding out of the rear rim, and making a better job of a front wheel spacer.

Yay!

chris846 wrote:

---

 and I got really cross with the M2 screws that Brembo use to hold the microswitch in place (who uses M2 on a motorbike - the nuts are like particles of dust!)

 too funny chris ...love it

thanks for the enthusiasm you bring to the forum

Hiya Charlie
I need some of your levels of skill and dedication when it comes to putting a finish on things - I'm almost there and the plan is to take it for the MSVA test (type approval for single, amateur-built vehicles) in a raw state so's it will be less trouble to make any alterations. After it hopefully passes, it will be time to strip it down and start the painting and polishing over the worst of winter. I'm open to any colour scheme suggestions - I can only ever think of black.

I have one of these mountain bikes and I like the colours and layout:


....so I have half thought about doing the frame in a sort of version of this...



but using the red/white/blue colours from the R1100rs Boxercup:



but I end up thinking that if I do this, the engine and gearbox will only look right in black

Anyway, back in reality, I spent today having yet another ride up and down my own personal steep learning curve. Today's topic was a White Power rear suspension unit. Boy am I now good at dismantling and reassembling that doohickey - I even fathomed out how all the damping works! Got the adjustment slightly wrong on - something - when I stripped and rebuilt it, and it basically produced a suspension unit that compressed, but didn't extend, which was interesting. Only took four hours to fathom it out. The other, potentially interesting aspect of all that messing around is that my hands are now super soft (Putolene 2.5wt, and lots of it) and it's nearly bedtime. My wife is sat on the other side of the table, she can see I'm typing and she's asking me what I'm smiling at......

The SVA is effectively a super MOT, but it amuses me that after you've passed the SVA then you have to get an MOT. I doubt you'll have any problems with the SVA, Chris - your build quality is too good.

Morning Dai
Thanks for that, the MSVA/MOT apparent overlap confused me too. I'm going to MOT it first, just on the frame number - Pete at RTT Motorcyles (is that a plug?) is a top bloke and he has the skills to give it a 'pre-MSVA' check over whilst he's MOTing it. Apparently it's possible for a bike to pass MSVA, but actually be unroadworthy?

The other good thing about taking it to Pete's is that he hasn't seen any photos of it yet....

The actual MSVA manual seems fair enough as as far as I can work out, the specs for lighting, dimensions etc. are clear and it's all fairly concise. There's a description of a 'testing device' (a vertical 100mm cylinder) that you can imagine the tester moving down the side of the bike, looking for sharp edges that have to be rounded to a specified radius etc. - it's all very prescriptive. But then it goes on to say that it will fail if it has:

Any protruding part pointing outwards, that is
a) pointed
b) sharp
and are likely to increase the risk or seriousness of body lesions suffered by any person struck or grazed by the vehicle in the event of an accident

Which seems sensible enough, but completely subjective and reliant on the individual tester's opinion? I won't be covering it in pike nuts, but I don't want to turn it into a rubber-covered ergo-eco-blob either.

The other thing is that, unlike the kit car community where there seems to a sizeable flow of kit cars put through SVA, there isn't much internet information from owners/builders who've put stuff through the MSVA. I wonder why? anyway, there's a chap in Preston who's got a K75 frame and log book for sale on ebay....

...which all comes about because the regulations don't seem clear about how much you can/can't alter an original frame before it is classed as no longer having its original identity.

To make the above waffle clear to non-UK folks; the MSVA test sort of parallels the type approval that vehicle manufacturers have to undergo. This is part of the pathway to having my vehicular offering accepted by the authorities as a road-going vehicle that they are prepared to register and issue a number plate to. The alternative (popular) short cut involves acquiring at least a frame (bit of a frame?) and the accompanying registration document and then doing...whatever...

You seem to have this well sorted out. My friend who built his own car had to go through the same but because he built the chassis bodyshell himself they insisted on giving him a brand new current registration! Which meant he promptly got himself an order historic number but the build year was recorded as the current one. So you may well have a genuine 2018 K75 Madass!! He also got to determine the name of the manufacturer as BST model 39. Blood, Sweat and Tears 39" high. Even better was folk telling him they had heard of those.....

I think your thread is a most amazing one and an inspiration for a few more of us.

"Even better was folk telling him they had heard of those....."

Lol, that is so funny, and true. I can see the type of guy who would say that sort of thing...I've met them...lovely, lovely people.


Thanks for your very kind words about the thread too. 

The MSVA isn't subject to a given individual's opinion (although I could tell you an MOT story about that ) as they are specialists and are trained to do that job.

Major frame change is usually viewed as structural i.e. you can hack the loop off the back of the K frame but anything else and you're into SVA territory. Change of forks and wheels merits SVA (but not necessarily just the wheels if they come from the same manufacturer and range). As an example of that, the spoked wheels on my Cali 850-T3 are fooked, so I'm temporarily replacing them with cast wheels from a Cali II - no problem there. However, if I put the entire front end on from one of my Cali 1100s then I'm in seriously grey territory simply because I have to run a 76tpi thread 20mm further down the steering stem and lop off 20mm from the top to fit the taller (later) stem to the shorter (earlier) headstock. It may qualify as a 'structural change' or it may not. Now, if we turn our attention to the other end and I bolt in a Cali 1100 swingarm because I want a fatter tyre on the back, that is not an SVA change because the swingarm and the wheel are drop-fit evolutions of the original Cali 850-T3 type.

And you said you used to enforce the law?  

Fortunately your case is black-and-white (insert joke about Z-Cars here )

chris846 wrote:I have one of these mountain bikes and I like the colours and layout:


....so I have half thought about doing the frame in a sort of version of this...



but using the red/white/blue colours from the R1100rs Boxercup:



. . .

Something like this?

Strap back! the volume goes up to eleven on that one!


I've found some more pictures of it and...wow. I've spent minutes just looking at the horn mounting. That was a bloke who did his own thing...because he wanted to and he could...

Yay!

Off to the pub!

Right, now find somewhere to mount the breadboard on the bike...

You mean you don't think it looks okay where it is?

Well, I tried the various filters for the tacho signal  (the blue/black 'switched' wire from the Motronic to coil 1 primary that the OE instruments use) to try and get the ebay tacho of doom to work. Best I could get was an intermittent response. There are some great posts on this and other forums that educate you into what's going off but, basically, the raw voltage from the coil 1 primary just isn't good enough for the cheapo tacho to read.

I first tried a filter consisting of a capacitor placed inline in the blue/black wire from the Motronic/coil primary to the tacho. This wire is sourced from the Motronic and normally rests at 12v and drops to 0v before immediately rising back to 12v every time a spark is required. The inrush of 12v causes a bit of a peak, well above 12v in the primary, which translates into about a gazillion volts in the secondary, hence the spark. The peak doesn't just build up in the coil primary winding, it also feeds back into the blue/black wire.

This was all evident in the oscilloscope trace. Unfortunately, although it was plain to see on the scope, the tacho wasn't reading what was going off in the blue/black wire. This was because the blue black wire (doing such a good job) lives in ground zero (electronically speaking) and was suffering from voltage trauma. 

By putting the above capacitor in the blue/black wire from the coil to the tacho, this took away the baseline 'resting' 12v after the capacitor (capacitors don't flow steady currents), and tying the same wire post-capacitor to earth via a 100Kohm resistor meant that, between capacitor discharges, the wire sank to 0v. This set up did get some response from the tacho, but there was a lot of fluctuation.

Which is when the weird thing happened. This was when I used a multimeter to measure the voltage frequency of this wire (the blue/black wire after the capacitor into the tacho, also connected to earth via the 100kohm resistor). Every time I connected the multimeter to the blue/black wire (the tacho input) the tacho started reading properly.

Straight away, option 1 arose. This involved permanently soldering/gaffer taping the multimeter to the bike. I did not discount this, but I did think it might be worthwhile finding an alternative.

Hence the oscilloscope. This is a 1976 vintage, sourced from ebay for a NASA-budget twenty five quid. This piece of history-in-action showed that everytime the multimeter was connected, the biggest voltage spike on the blue/black wire got shaved off. This showed me 2 things: 1; unlike me, multimeter designers know how to do stuff, and 2; I needed to shave of some of the voltage spike.

Step forward Mr Diode. I connected this between the blue/black wire, and a nearby 12v, in the simplistic hope that it would flow anything above 12v on the blue/black wire to...somewhere.

And the f****er works!

There's no likelihood that this electronic breakthrough is in any danger of being celebrated. I am not the smartest person around here, but I do suspect that what I have achieved is the electronic equivalent of using a rusty angle iron offcut as a headlamp bracket, compared with a properly designed and machine aluminium offering. It's taught me to have a bit more admiration for the guys who ride bikes with angle iron brackets....

Nearly there!

MSVA test today in Manchester - FAIL on 3mm something and 1mm something else - more of that later. Always failed on/by inches before....

Been a boring month, putting right the stuff that I was too slipshod/uninterested in to do right the first time round. I made this light..


Which is the ugliest rear light I've ever seen, but at least it's my ugly.

I've added some spacers to the front forks, so's the rider sag is now down to 35mm. The spring rate is on the soft side, but a bit of compression damping might keep it okay - I'm after 'soft and comfortable' with the suspension at both ends from the KTM 640 duke. I also swapped the back spring for a lower rate. I replaced the cheap chinese switchgear with some better-looking polished alloy stuff from a Piaggio scooter. It looks a bit more old school. 

The indicator telltale lamps were flashing 'bright-less bright' so with my new-found electronics expertise (I own a oscilloscope, you know) I figured out that Indicator Relay Number 2 (see previous post) was guilty of letting the voltage float a bit high between flashes, so I wired a couple of 1 kiloOhm resistors to tie the left and right indicator circuits down to ground between flashes. This is the kind of thing us electronic engineers do as a matter of course...yawn...examines fingernails...leans back in chair.

This cheapo ebay speedo has ended up causing quite a bit of work. But it looks great and works really well - forgiven. Some of the signal correction (tacho signal and indicator signals) could be wired unobtrusively into the short loom at the back of the speedo unit:


 Doh, I've just realised that the cover that I made for the rear of the speedo binnacle prevents any access to the trip reset button, hmmmm.

More later....

And...
That persistent problem with a 4000rpm misfire, bearing in mind that the only thing changed from standard was the airbox. After swapping AFMs, airboxes, coils, everything, and having the problem reduce a bit, maybe disappear (solved - yay!) only for it to reappear...turns out it was a leaky HT lead where they pass from the coils into the cylinder head. A bit of a tight radius that I guess opened up a weakness in the HT lead insualtion. Maybe it was the 4000rpm buzz that tipped the balance. Only discovered this by chance when I was swapping HT leads about. What I did discover is that the K75 leads (blue caps on the coil connectors) have a 1 KOhm resisitor 'elbow' contained within the blue cap, which can be unscrewed and detached from the lead. This can be swapped over onto a K100 lead (same blue cap, but no resistor within the 'elbow' fitting inside which has a different coil connector anyway) so that a K100 lead can be adapted for use on a K75. The rest of the HT lead seems the same - i.e. a 5 Kohm resisitor within the plug cap which is bonded to the HT lead and cannot be replaced/removed. I think this must only apply to the Ks that use non-resistor plugs (i.e that have resistance in the HT leads). As a guess/suggestion, these leads all have blue caps at the coil end?

Anyway, back to reality, all my plenum chamber/resonance theories (and attempted learning) got chucked out of the window, a duff HT lead was all it was. One of the few times that I've been glad that the truth turned out to be much more mundane than the fantasy.

In the process of messing about with this, I managed to have the detached coil bracket rest against the +ve terminal of the starter motor. Not a problem until you press the starter button, and that thick red wire full of current suddenly gets to choose between 'tough old starter motor' and 'lovely smooth brown earth wire on coil bracket (albeit of slender gauge)' as its route back to mummy battery. The coulomb joy was brief, the celsius was high, the result was sticky, the amount of f#####g rewiring work was immense.

But, always positive, I got the chance to make a few MkIIs here and there whilst doing all the renovation.

I also put a rubber boot over the starter motor terminal.

When all this was done (there was more, similar, grot to contend with) I managed a sneaky ride. The bike was sat up nice and high, like a pretend enduro. Big wide bars, comfy suspension. Actually went round corners (surprising), handled pretty good - not upset by bumps. Weird tendency to understeer if pushed.

'Weird tendency to understeer when pushed' - subsequently linked to discovery of 17psi in front tyre. Optimium tyre pressures not yet set, but not expected to include figure of 17 psi (front) within margin of acceptability.

More..

Go on with your work is great!

I love to read about it :-)

Cheers from germany

Hello Germany!

And thankyou for your post.

I try to share the humour of what I'm doing. Anyone who's tried similar stuff knows that there's hard effort and frustration in there too. Lord knows where the motivation comes from. It can't just be 'look what I've done' egotism, because the rate of return is about one hard-earned smartarse point to ten hours work (of which eight hours was dumb wasted effort anyway) and no-one can be that stupid.

Years ago I read a book (actually, I was at school - I was made to read it) by John Wyndham, can't remember the title, but it described a dystopian future where rebels against the totalitarian state were captured and subjected to some mysterious treatment whereby their rebellious natures were nullified and their memories of rebellious pasts were eradicated. They went on to comply and conform, and grew to their middle and old age. But the clue was that each was left with an obsessive 'hobby': clock-repairing, or model trains or something stupid like that. The idea was that the 'treatment' captured and re-directed their rebellious zeal into a harmless obsession.

Maybe....?

really ?

oh sh*t  that's whats happened to me ????

love the work chris and of course the humor that you share with us , 

inspiring !!

Hiya Charlie

Yes, you get it don't you?

It's not just about nuts and bolts is it, for any of us.

I once ran out of bikes to build. I couldn't believe the sense of panic - ! IIRC I found an engine that needed overhauling which satisfied the addiction until someone knocked on the door and presented me with something to play with.

4.45am (yawn) and I'm off to Manchester for the second time in 2 days, this time for the MSVA re-test.
Should be easy, he'll only be looking at a couple of things this time. First up, which one of these mirrors do you think it'll be!




Okay, there's a bit of a clue in the piccies. But for anyone who likes detail:
Mirror number 1 is a no-name special from the local bike shop.
Mirror number 2 is a E-marked/stamped/certified Suzuki OE item, as fitted to a gazillion middleweight Suzooks during the nineties.
Mirror number 3 is another certitified OE item, from a Hardly-Dangerous Fat Bobber Boy's Night Rod (or whichever indistiguishable variant)

To make it tricky, two out of the three would meet the MSVA requirements....

Oh, by the way, Do not stand on lids.

The second thing to be re-tested is this pedestrian killer:



Which has a less-than-2mm-radius on the edge (I've actually shown the rear indicator, although it's only the fronts that failed. The fronts have now been modified to....this!:


...and the world is safe again.
(I've no business being ironic or facetious, the whole testing procedure, and the guys who did it, were brilliant, more about that later)

And now, at 09:30am, this is back home on the driveway:



With this!



Off to the pub tonight to tell heroic stories!

Dai wrote:I once ran out of bikes to build. I couldn't believe the sense of panic 

Hey, let's not get to serious about any of this - the only reason we panic is because we might end up being given some decorating to do!

woohoo what a win .
looks great

Congratulations Chris, well done !!! :-)
You earned your beer for shura.

Cheers

Oh boy
I'm going to Cuba



.....or are their people really small?

That build is something to be proud of Chris. I am not a fan of the custom bikes we see on here but that is a new style of build using a readily available and proven engine. I really like it and commend you for not thinking out of the square but making a whole new square.
However what ever happens I hope you don't slide backwards off the seat or you will be forever more calling it the Hotass.

chris846 wrote:...and the world is safe again.!

  Thank you BMadass man!


Congratulations on the paperwork and a very original machine.

Thanks for your kind words fellas, it adds to the enjoyment of the moment. And talking of enjoyment, last night I went out with the two lads in my life (son & son-in-law-ish) and REALLY REALLY enjoyed this!


As for the project, the plan is to take it for the MOT test in the next couple of days (the 'normal' Ministry of Transport roadworthiness test for all vehicles) and then maybe have a sneaky ride, before stripping it down for the painting and polishing. Not my strong suit. Here it is back in the shed:

Chris

That's a great build and looking forward to seeing you at the K Fest.

But there's one more thing you need to do....its traditional to 'wet the baby's head' so maybe on one of our Eccentric get togethers you can achieve this......



We do also offer the teetotallers non alcoholic alternative....but you need to consult with Mrs Doyle for that one. Do NOT be tempted to buy her a Teasmade either.

Wow,
where actually is Craggy Isle?

And talking of Guinness...

In 1961 my mother was pregnant with me. She had morning sickness and so my grandmother bought her a crate of Guinness as a remedy. My mother drank some of it, but two bottles were left over and remained in my Gran's pantry for years. She eventually used one in the garden to try and trap slugs, it didn't work and so she gave the last one to me before she died a few years ago. As for the morning sickness, well, that must have been a success because my mother didn't bother taking the medicine that the doctor had prescribed her - that was called Thalidomide. I was born on 4 January 1962.

Here's the last bottle from the crate - still got it



I certainly have a thing about Guinness!

Its an off subject, that Thalidomide as a close shave for quite a few. I remember that my mother refused it, she just felt you put up with these things. But you were extremely lucky on that one.

My mother never drank Guinness but bought healthy quantities of it. Delivered in brown paper bags from the local pub by the publican himself, on their delivery bicycle you heard coming as the bottles rattled along the way.

All of it went into cakes and Christmas puddings. As kids we learned who liked baking and either the sound of rattling bottles going to a house or the smell of gingerbread wafting around was a cue to go visit your friends. How time has reduced the quality of life!

My mum has passed away but the puddings and Guinness tradition lives on.

So too does Thalidomide, same as ever, but it is used to treat leprosy.

Anyway...
The mirrors. My own daft fault really. The MSVA regulations couldn't be clearer: two mirrors are needed (specified distance apart, convex glass, radius on edges etc) and if they are circular, the reflector needs to be a minimum 94mm diameter. Non-circular mirrors need to be able to contain a 78mm diameter circle within the area of the reflector.

So I put the bar-end mirrors back in the drawer (60mm dia but a surprisingly good rear view) and unscrewed the ex-suzooki mirrors from my K100. I had a pair of Harley Night Boy's Black Rod mirrors to use on the K100 anyway (really good mirrors as it happens, despite the weird homo-erotic name of the donor bike). Never thought to measure the soozook mirrors cos, well they were off a production bike...

Which was failure number 1, because they would only contain a 75mm circle.

Next failure was the front indicators. Again, my own daft fault, I just guessed that the front edge of the bezel was sufficiently rounded. Whereas the man-who-knew-what-he-was-doing had a radius gauge. Yep, the difference was only 1mm, but that's that.

I was a bit downhearted that I'd got so close to a first time pass (along with the pain of another 4am start to get to Manchester for the re-test) but at the same time I was really glad that the route ahead, to a certificate, was so simple and cheap - just buy some mirrors and screw them on (I'd already got some rubber edging strip in the car with me as it happened, but there was no point fixing it to the indicators there and then because I still had to sort the mirrors.

So overall it was a straighforward experience. I can't fault the two guys who tested it -all my fears about subjective judgements about various sharp edges, or the raised petrol filler cap (regs say 15mm max, mine was 17mm albeit at 30' to the horizontal - cosines and all that - when I asked the chap about it he just said to me "are you worried about catching your knackers on it?") were all for nothing. I'd spent 2 days trying to panic buy a headlight with a decent low beam cut-off (impossible) in expectation of a rigorous examination, only for a very fair real-life test. 

The lesson learned? Read and re-read the regs, learn how to use a bloody ruler, and buy a radius gauge. It's all there in black and white, and it's very very fair.

So it sounds like Kongratulations are in order.

Nice one Chris so now we see you at K Fest.

Will see if we can get you on a display area. We are travelling across from Holyhead on the A5 [not A55] to Donington Park on the Friday. Welcome to meet up along the way.!

Heyup
Yep, it's in my diary. Just stripping it all apart now, taking the frame & wheels to the powder coaters this week!
And I've bought some polishing mops (which I've done before, but this time I'm going to read up how to do it properly, rather than just creating dust, smoke and burned fingers!)

Chris

To answer the question on where is Craggy Island, its in the Burren in Clare in the west of Ireland. We had a K trip there one time. Well, more than once.



A father and son trip to Craggy Island...

To echo some opinions above, I have little interest in custom/modified Ks, but I do appreciate well-engineered and constructed mechanical objects of any kind.  This is definitely one of those.  The foresight in planning is evident.  I've been watching this since I joined the forum, and it's been inspiring to watch, though not enough to get me off the couch to work on mine very much.   I'm happy for you in seeing it get its "certificate of blessing".  It's no small thing to build one's own motor vehicle.

Hiya Barry and thanks for the encouragement. I know that I've always enjoyed reading threads about other people's builds, so it's good to know that a few like-minded folks have got something from reading about my own bit of metalwork. It's all good fun and I know that we all tend to work at the same level, with the same sort of facilities (or lack of) so there's a lot of empathy out there.

I can't believe how generous the legislators are in the UK - that some dumb amateur like me can stuff a sixty horsepower engine into an overgrown garden gate, sling on a pair of wheels, and go tearing up the highway just yards from unprotected pedestrians. It's great to think that this sort of real freedom exists, when lots of people get hot and bothered about governmental control and restrictions.

Motorcycling eh? It's much more than just bikes isn't it?