TecateDan and Fabio's joint 480R effort

[fabiodriven]

How much is that compression release running ya? Been thinking about that alot lately. I also found out that the crf450/04-06 trx450r kicker shares the same splines. The trx kicker would fit real good if it was spaced out from the bike a bit. I borrowed one from a friend to check it out. In the pictures it was sitting on the very end of the kicker shaft.

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I don't know how much the compression release is going to cost. I spent $30 on the valve itself and sent it along with the head but I'm thinking Millar usually supplies his own valves. I bought mine ahead of time because I didn't know Millar was going to be doing the work initially. Initially I was just going to drill a hole through the head and send the valve through, done. Once I saw what MRE does, I decided to send my head to him. I'll post pictures. He's in Canada so it already cost me almost $50 in shipping alone, and he'll have it next week. I really like the idea of the small hole in the combustion chamber itself as opposed to the huge disruption the valve itself could potentially be if I had just fired it through the way I was planning. I do not want to give this engine any more reasons to pre-ignite.

I also ordered a used second gen R pipe last night because I really liked the idea of using that rather than the franken-pipe I've created. I think you're on to something there HondaRidr.

As far as the kick starter goes, I welded two bases together to get the proper clearance for the kicker to swing past the frame. You could do the same with that one I would imagine.

[fabiodriven]

[HondaRidr]

And your kicker clears the frame like that? I did the same on the stock cr480 kicker but added a spacer in between the two knuckles so it sits out from the bike more than yours. Even with that it is very close to the bike. I can take a few pictures of my pipe for you tomorrow if you would like to see how we did it

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[fabiodriven]

And your kicker clears the frame like that? I did the same on the stock cr480 kicker but added a spacer in between the two knuckles so it sits out from the bike more than yours. Even with that it is very close to the bike. I can take a few pictures of my pipe for you tomorrow if you would like to see how we did it

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Yup, no issues with clearance on my kicker.

Yeah if you want to share some pictures of your pipe go for it dude!

[HondaRidr]

We had to cut the section of the 480 headpipe and turn it a little as you can see in the second picture. If you look at the mount we moved the whole pipe out from the frame so it would clear the bigger head. Also where we joined the two pipes you can see the 480 pipe was actually a little larger diameter so we had to cut slits in it and bend it in so that they would be closer to the same size. I know it's not perfect but it works good.

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[fabiodriven]

That's a lot better than what I have currently I'd say. I think you did a really good job with that. My 480 head pipe is already cut and twisted so that's half the battle. Thanks!

[HondaRidr]

We also made a new stinger out of 1 1/4 inch I.D. tubing similar to that in the picture. We did this so that the bigger engine could breath and not trap in heat. 1 1/4 I.D. stingers is what the cr500 and kx500 pipes have. Hope it helps!

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[fabiodriven]

I've spent a ton of time on this machine lately, more than I was anticipating it needing. Dan and I assembled this machine in 2016, so two years ago. Two years doesn't seem like that long of a time, but it was long enough for me to forget a lot about this machine. The main thing that I'd forgotten was that Dan and I got this bike together quickly with the intent of it making Trikefest that year, completing multiple runs on the drag strip, and that's it. It did just that in 2016 and again in 2017, then after Trikefest 2017 I decided to make it a rider instead of a drag bike, then the shock puked and the bike got put on the back burner.

I started working on it a month or so ago. In that time I have rebuilt the shock (my first time rebuilding one), rebuilt the forks, replaced the front wheel bearings, added a 39mm Keihin PWK, had a compression release added to the cylinder head, and I've added a very critical part, a head stay. I also removed the extended swing arm and installed a stock ATC250R unit.

The forks were wiped out and I've learned that I have two different forks on this bike. I believe one fork is 83 and one is 84, as one is longer than the other. I added a brand new set of progressive springs to them while I was in there. I had to make a seal driver for the fork seals, didn't realize these needed a special tool for the fork seals. Front wheel bearings were wiped.

I'm sure most people saw the shite-show thread which was me rebuilding the shock on this. It's all set now and installed in the bike.

MRE (Millar Race Engineering) out of Canada, eh, did the work on the compression release which is second to none. They also re-cut the compression chamber for all around improvements. Adam does fantastic work and the price was right as well. Thank you MRE!

The head stay has been absolutely critical. Dan and I did not install a head stay when we built this bike due to time constraints. What I found when I started working on this bike for the first time in a long time was, the engine was loose in the cradle and it was also cocked in the cradle. I hadn't noticed the engine being cocked before because of the length of the chain due to the extended swing arm, which was more forgiving with the long chain. When I got the stock swing arm on the bike, I realized that the chain was curving quite a bit, more than I was comfortable with, and I wasn't sure if I was up to the task of straightening the engine in the cradle, but I had to try. I ended up getting very lucky in that department. Dan was responsible for measuring and ordering all of our spacer stock for the engine mounts, and he did an outstanding job of that. The problem we had was, we put four of those spacers in the wrong places which moved the rear of the engine to the left and twisted it clockwise. It was a very simple solution to put the spacers in their correct places and therefor straighten the engine in it's cradle.

Another problem as I said, the engine was loose. We'd used the improper bolts in the two rearward most mounts due to time constraints during the initial build and because of that there was a bit of marring of the mount holes on both the engine and the frame. Not enough to be a huge deal, but they needed to be addressed. We'd used bolts that were threaded their entire length instead of shouldered bolts, and those threads were eating right into the engine cases as well as the frame tabs. I have replaced those with the proper metric shouldered bolts.

The head stay I added had to be stronger than normal because my head stay is going to take more of a load than most. My front engine mount is not of an ideal configuration when it comes to integrity. It would never break, however it could flex. A little flex eventually becomes a lot of flex and then the problem is not just the front engine mount, it becomes all of them. This engine must not move anymore, so the head stay is critical. I built it very heavy as such.

This part I'd like to share with my fellow half-liter two stroke pilots, as vibration is a constant problem for these bikes. They will shake themselves to pieces, as is proven with my 480. Inside of all of the engine mounts, I have added a special kind of silicone that I happen to have on hand here. It's specifically made for the Ford 7.3 diesel oil pan, and it's not just a sealant, it's an adhesive. This stuff is stout, it's strong. It's extremely resilient yet forgiving making it the perfect substance to cushion my engine mounts. I pumped every mount hole full of this special RTV, then slowly spun each bolt through to coat the inside of every single engine mount on this bike. The RTV cannot fail, it will not wear out, it has nowhere to go as it is trapped inside the mounts where it is and it will stay there and keep vibration down whilst simultaneously keeping the engine snug in it's cradle and all the bolts tight. I would highly suggest this method to anyone who has issues with engine mounts that like to loosen up.

I was going to make a new head pipe, but I've massaged my existing Franken-pipe to fit a bit better, and I'll find out tomorrow if it's going to work or not. I should have it running tomorrow, but I cannot ride it until my 520 half link arrives from Europe unfortunately. I have some jetting to do so I hope it arrives soon.





I am extremely impressed with this repop chain guard. I don't know who makes these but they're great.



Difference in fork length.















Strait as an arrow now.





This is the mount that is less than ideal, making the head stay that much more important.







My fork seal driver.

[fabiodriven]

It's almost done now. The compression release certainly is a help, but it's not as effective as the one we had on our Tecate 500. The Tecate kicked over like a 125 with that compression release on it. The 480 still is tough to kick, harder than a 250, but it is definitely an improvement. I have to see what it wants for jets, as I have the idle set all the way up now so it must be fat on the bottom. I'm still learning the PWK, so I don't know if the pilot jet has anything to do with idle or if idle is controlled strictly by an idle circuit and I don't remember if this has an air screw. I'm going to mess with it some more after lunch. Even not being able to ride it, it feels like the engine is solid in there and it feels like it has far better throttle response than it ever has.

I ended up being able to massage my Franken-pipe successfully to fit just right, so no need to make a new pipe like I was going to. So far so good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7a4FNwmG-U

[fabiodriven]

I'm really excited for this machine right now and looking forward to the arrival of the half link so I can ride it. Started with a 52 pilot, then 50, then 48. It feels crisp and runs great with the 170 main jet, but I won't know what it's going to need for a main until I'm able to get it hot, and even then it might have to be jetted again in Indiana.

[trikelife101]

That things friggin cool!!!