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Reviews
Shindy Products (Daytona) Steering Damper
TCR aluminum swingarm
Douglas Wheels
Steel Braided Brake Line
TCR Racing Expansion Chamber
TCR Fork Brace
TCR Top Clamp
MotionPro Auxiliary Fuel Tank
Chamber Seal
Fox Shock
Fork seal replacement
20mm Carb/TDR Reed
How to get scratches out of factory plastic fairings
Plastic fairings repair
Ignition Mods
Exhaust Pipe (Toomey) sealing and springs
YZ80 Engine Transplant notes (coming soon)
Misc tips
Installation was easy. Just follow directions on the instruction sheet. You will need a metric ruler to measure certain things. The whole install should take 15 minutes or so.
The damper has 7 settings. After installation the other end of the damper (side mounted to frame) does stick out past the fairing, so if you plan on crashing the bike, just make sure you crash on the right side or else you will probably damage the damper.
There is a minor clearance problem with the lowers. I guess you can grind away a part of the upper edge by the frame spar but I wasn't going to do that to a brand new lower fairing. No real problem with the frame mount and the tank. There was *just* enough clearance there.
I feel the damper is more necessary if you have aftermarket alloy wheels. Gyroscopic force is much less with those wheels, so the bike feels a bit more twitchy.
Damper was purchased for $80 from Cycles! 128.
I'm not sure how much of an improvement in handling this mod gives me, but it looks trick and complements the alloy wheel/alloy sprocket very well, and it weighs less than stock.
It is a nicely made swingarm. It weighs less than the stock unit - 4 vs. 5.5 lbs. The adjusters are very niice and looks similar to those on my '90 FZR400 w/deltabox swingarm. The swingarm has roller bearings.
Installation is almost straightforward. I did have to remove 1/8" of an inch or so from the side of the lower shock mount because it is too thick for the stock clevis pin/washer. I did that with a rasp, file and Dremel Tool. There is also no chain guard mount. The distance between the axle is tighter than stock, but it will fit. Don't know how much this sideload will do to the bearings.
You will have to lengthen the chain by a few links. I have 106+MC. You also need to relocate the rear brake activator arm on the drum. I happen to need a whole new drivetrain anyways but I suggest you do the install when you need new sprockets and chain.
I wish it was available with a swingarm brace. Also, the bends in the swingarm were not totally smooth on the inside (some rippling was evident). CalFab also makes a YSR swingarm - may be worth a look.
I paid $280 for it.
You might have seen these wheels sold under several different names such as Performance Machine, Mitchell, or Douglas Wheels. These are the ones sold by Team Calamari Racing
Installation is straightforward. You will have to remove the hubs which is no big deal, but you *might* need a good hex bit/impact driver to remove the front brake disc (so you can get to the hub bolts). When installing the tires, just make sure you get the tire rotation and the orientation of the wheel right. Bring them to a tire shop for mounting and valve replacement. I didn't get the wheels balanced (not sure if it was even necessary - there was no evidence of vibration at speed). I would suggest using a 90 degree metal valve stem, otherwise you might find inflating the rear tire a bit difficult. I didn't have those so I learned the hard way.
I don't think you can mount/dismount the caliper body with the front wheel mounted, unless you take the whole caliper off the fork.
Aluminum wheels weigh 3.5 lbs each compared to 6.5 lbs for the steel wheels. You WILL feel the difference in the weight reduction. It is much easier to steer the bike and the feel is much lighter. I added a steering damper. I'd definitely get another set for my other bike.
Note: Do NOT use GUNK to remove grease from parts such as the hub!! It will remove the paint.
This is a teflon hose covered in stainless steel braided cover. It comes with new crush washers. It is supposed to improve the brake feel because this brake line won't expand.
Be prepared to spend lots of time bleeding the system! You can probably slip out the old grommets and covers from the old brake line without cutting them off. I am not sure if I felt any difference in brake feel, but my brakes felt crappy to begin with.
In any case, the OEM rubber hose deteriorates after a few years, so you might as well replace it with a SS line. I'd recommend changing the brake fluid at the same time too. Only next time I'll use the Mighty Mite Vacuum Bleeder Pump.
This is TCR's own pipe. It is made from clearcoated rolled steel cones and has two silencers (one into two).
It is recommended that you use a 13T front sprocket (stock is 12T), airbox mods and jet kit (similar to Toomey setup). Your bike will run without modifications, if that is the way you want to go. Pipe attaches via a bolt (8mm, not included) to the right footpeg mount. You also need a new exhaust gasket (also not included) (I have them in my spare parts page). The canisters are not (easily) rebuildable unless you want to remove the rivets. The noise level is not as loud as a typical Toomey but is louder than stock. I'm still not sure whether it produces more power than the Toomey but I thought the Toomey felt slightly more powerful.
A very solid and substantial billet aluminum piece. You definitely need this if you want to tighten up the rigidity of the front forks. This cuts down fork twisting during hard braking or cornering.
The fork wipers no longer seats in the grooves in the legs. They are "clamped" in place in the grooves in the fork brace.
A washer is included with the fork brace. If you have stiction problem you may have to use it. After the brace is installed, feel the amount of stiction BEFORE you tighten the axle bolt. Also check if you have enough of a space to slide the washer between the left fork leg and the speedo drive (but don't stick it in yet). Tighten the axle bolt and re-check stiction. If you feel stiction, stick that washer in, tighten the bolt and test again. The washer may also be too thick. Sand it down or get thinner washers.
This is a billet aluminum piece, clamps to the fork inners and you can use the stock main switch and handlebars.
I traded it away as soon as I got it. I am not sure why I want it on my bike. It weighs MORE than stock and I don't think I have a problem with fork alignment. It does look trick though.
This is a plastic tank, about 2 qt capacity(?) used for engine tuning. It comes with a hanger, fuel petcock, fuel line and clamps. It is useful for engine tuning, when you need to run engine w/o fuel tank on. It came in handy when I installed the 20mm carb.
This stuff resembles a long strip of used chewing gum. The idea is to wrap it around the exhaust headpipe so the exhaust pipe (such as the Toomey) seals up better. The parts doods at Cycles!128 was nice enough to give me a piece of it to try. I have to say I was disappointed with the results. After a few minutes of riding, all of the Chamber Seal burned clean off and the Toomey started rattling again. Again, I didn't buy the whole package, so maybe I'm doing something wrong. If you have had better experience with it, let me know.
This unit makes a dramatic difference in the ride. The difference can be felt even if you're just sitting on the bike. Highly recommended. Note that it is only adjustable for spring preload and one of the damping functions (can't remember whether it is compression or rebound). The damping adjustment knob has 8 settings.
The whole job takes approx. one hour. To install, you need to get the rear of the bike off the ground. Sticking a long rod thru the frame and jacking them up on jackstands works. Take off the tail, lowers, tank, and the fender/shroud by the shock. Wrap the braided hose with included wrap. Take off the old shock - takes a few minutes. Now take the upper bushing out, grease it, and put it in the new shock.
Fox recommends that you mount the reservoir under the right frame rail (under the tank). To do this, you-ll have to route the reservoir thru the frame and that's why you have to remove so much parts. Remember to route the reservoir FIRST before mounting the shock, or you'll be removing the shock again. Everything else is easy. Lastly, you have to set the spring preload or "sag". I had to tighten up the preload to get the sag to 3/4". The sag should be 3/4 - 1 1/4 between totally unloaded/fully extended and with rider/full gear.
In order to do this job you NEED a c-clip remover. Helps to have a vise so you can separate the fork tubes from legs. If not, you can always yank the fork sliders off when the inner tubes are still clamped to the top clamps.
Make sure the fork tubes have NO nicks or else you will damage the seal. When installing new seal, use the old fork seal as a cushion, and drive the seal down with punch and hammer. Be careful not to nick the tube. Try protecting the fork legs with electrical tape or cardboard tube. Since replacement I have purchased fork seal driver kit which should make installation a bit easier. I'll write about it next time I do seal replacement.
Fill the fork tube with correct amount of fork oil as per shop manual.
20mm Big Bore carb kit similar to what Spec II, TCR, or Toomey offers for around $135.
The kit contains pre-jetted 20mm Mikuni carb, a special angled manifold with gaskets, a K&N filter & oil, and a longer throttle cable. The manifold has the oil spigot, so you can retain the stock oil injection system.
My kit did not come with any instructions, but installation isn't that difficult. Total time is about 1.5 hours.
Step 1: Remove the bodywork (duh).
Step 2: Remove the stock components - airbox, carb, cable, manifold and
all the little hoses.
Step 3: If you're replacing the reed, take out the reed cage. I used a
large flatblade screwdriver to pry the cage loose.
Step 4: Now is a good time to oil the K&N filter, because it supposedly
takes 20 minutes for the oil to spread evenly.
Step 5: You now have to deal with the throttle cable. The throttle cable
from the handlebar ("Throttle 1") actually "forks off"
at this cable connector, so it actuates two cables - the oil pump cable
and the carb throttle cable ("Throttle 2"). Maybe there's a better
way, but I disconnected the pump cable at the pump end (open the pump cover,
pull pin, unhook cable) to make things easier. If you haven't done so,
unhook Throttle 2 cable from the throttle valve. Now you're ready to PULL
OPEN the cable connector, so you can detach Throttle 2 cable completely
and replace it with the one supplied.
Step 6: Re-assemble and re-connect everything. I mounted the K&N horizontally.
Note: the top right screw for the manifold will have some slight clearance
problem sliding past the oil spigot. You can either force it through, or
file down the washer a bit.
Step 7: Are you sure you reconnected everything? Throttle 2, pump cable,
retainer pin, all breather/overflow tubes, oil tube, fuel line? Did you
adjust the throttle free play?
Step 8: Start bike and make sure it runs.
The end result is very satisfying. The bike accelerates faster and seems to rev higher. My bike will hit 30 in 2nd gear, 40 in 3rd, 50 in 4th (as indicated by speedo). We've actually taken this on the highway from Queens to Downtown NYC (12 miles each way) with no problems. It is also louder (intake noise). I also installed this on a friend's bike, along with a 60cc kit. I'd say that's where you will notice the most gains, so that will be the next thing I'm doing. Note both bikes have the TDR reed installed at the same time.
Other notes: The choke is useless. Bike starts fine (even in 40 deg weather) w/o choke. Bike also will bog when cold. I don't know what main jet is used (no number on jet?) but if I have too much time I'll play with jetting.
You can get scratches/abrasions off by:
This method works fairly well for windscreens too. I actually did this to clean up the ZeroGravity windscreen that came with my parts bike. I have to say it is not worth the trouble (how much is your time worth??) and I'm probably better off buying a new one for $30 or so.
Charles submitted this to me during one of our email correspondences:
I redid my fairings and they look great.
This is what I did:
All my body work was cracked in one place or another. I first fixed the cracks by taking simple super glue and bonding the crack together. You can't have missing pieces of plastic since super glue does not fill gaps but merely bonds two ajoining pieces. Remeber to clean the area of all dirt/grease/oil.
Next you have to support the bond. If you just use super glue any twist will more than likely break the bond. So what I did was get some fiberglass tape which is used for sheetrocking. Ask a construction worker or your handy uncle Bob for extra. It comes in a complete roll and all your really need is 3" or 4" worth.
Apply a small piece of the tape on the back side of the fairing which covers the crack. Now flood the tape with super glue. This allows the tape to keep the two sides of the crack together while using strength of super glue. Since my fairing is black I used the multi-purpose black marker to coler the tape to match the fairing. Even though it's inside and not facing the outside of the bike.
Next you do the outside of the fairing. The glue may discolor the fairing and the crack may not line up smoothly. Get out your 200, 400 and 600 wet/dry sandpaper and get to work. This also gets rid of those battle wounds from the last visit to the curb. Wetsand for smooth finish. May want to use a sanding block to keep the fairing straight without too many dips in the finished fairing. After sanding the fairing should look dull but smooth without and major scratches or misaligned pieces.
Next, I bought some Meguiars platic cleaner and went to work. I suggest gettting a buffer or an adapter for your drill since it take quite a bit of work to get the gloss to come back. The progression would be Cleaner or Rubbing compound, polish, then wax. Wax maybe distregarded if you just want the shine back.
These steps brought back the factory new shine to the fairings and repaired the cracks.
Charles
Submitted 9/12/97 by Steve Brooks. Note I did not try this out on my bike so if you did, good luck and let me know how it turns out.
I'd like to submit something I did to my ysr. What I did was hook a car coil to my bike.It accually was pretty easy.First you have to buy any 6V car coil and some spark plug wire. Then you just unhook the old coil and attach the orange wire to the positive terminal of the coil and the black to the negative and a wire from the negative to some place to ground it.I found that the bar on the right side under the tank is a good place to mount the coil (just by zipties).
Also I took a ordinary spark plug and cut the gap off and about cut about 1/8 of an inch off the end of the spark plug where the threads are. I found with the car coil it has plenty of power to jump the new gap between the spark plug insulator and the squish band.
Submitted 7/2/98 by Trevor Yee.
Hello there just read your article on the chamber seal stuff. I've tried that stuff to you ani't doing anything wrong. I use hitemp silicone sealent for mine. works great. (1) clean the flange where the pipe slips over (2) next put a thin bead about 1/4 inch or so all the way around the flange (3)then slide the pipe on and hook on the spring (4) some will goo out put a drop of dawn on your finger and smooth out the sealant (5)wait about a hour or so then go riding.
If your spring always falls off get the Spec2 spring hangers. They're these washers with a little tongue on them and bolt on the front engine mounts.
I've collected some notes, mostly pertaining to the '84 (39K) liquid-cooled engine. It is currently a word document. Most of it came from my conversation with Susan at Team Calamari, who never fails to give me good free advice! Email me if you need it.
In the meantime...
'78 YZ80 engine bolts right in. You can even transplant YSR50's lighting
coil into the engine for a street legal install.
You may have to fabricate your own exhaust pipe, if one is not available
(from Team Calamari).
Any other year YZs can fit, but you won't have the option of a lighting coil.
I've wired up one street YZR80, with a '83(?) air cooled engine. It uses large-capacity 6V sealed lead-acid batteries that are the size of small bricks to power the lighting, and has a charging jack wired into the bike.
In some cases, you can route the stock YZ pipe under the seat. The frame downtubes may have to be bent slightly (by heating with a torch and banging on it with a hammer?) for clearance.
If the engine is liquid cooled, the recommended place to mount the radiator is where the headlight used to be.
Trevor Yee has transplanted an air cooled 76 yz 80 and says it's a blast. It bolted right in and uses the ysr 's ignition, stator and almost all the same seals. Parts are not a problem. Get the pipe that Team Calamari sells - its gives so much power like stock verses Toomey's. The main thing is to get the chain aligned. You may want to up the size of the chain; the 80's like to stretch the hell out of the 420's.
Broken turn signals? Get used OEM or K&S replica turnsignals (rear) for Yamaha FZR1000, then change the bulbs to 6V. Cost maybe $12-15 dollars each?
Stubborn fork cap bolts? If you don't have access to air impact, and you've found that hand impact/breaker bar does not work - turn bike over, go have a drink and come back. The fork oil should penetrate and make it easier. Warning - repeated attempts to loosen the bolt in the conventional manner will probably round off the hex head. Your option in that case is to use a die grinder and grind it into a square and impact it out w/square socket. The replacement cost for one of those bolts is $10-15.
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