Project Varatrackerstorm or Firetrackerdero.

[Varastorm]

Been doing bit's n bobs on the bike, nice to call it that now

My main issue lately has been that during the build the height of the tank has increased & the seat fit has changed. I only noticed it whilst looking through the various build pictures. I've not been happy with it because in my brain the tank placement dictates where the seat goes & the seat dictates where the exhaust goes.

So I've walked away from it all for a week or so..

You might think that it should of been sorted by now & perhaps it should of, but I knew I was going to have issues with the exhaust so I just G clamped it up. The last thing I wanted was to weld bits of frame up only to cut them off later.

Here is the picture I like the most.



This picture was taken before the carb manifold, main spine & rear subframe was made. It was a balancing act tbh, but I was made up when it all fitted together.

I doubt I'll get everything this low tbh, but I'm trying very hard to do it. I'm looking at it as my last bike build so it's now or never.

This is the picture that highlighted the height issue.



I was focusing on the exhaust when this picture was taken, it was the picture that changed my mind about the exhaust routing.

[Varastorm]

Here's why I am where I am & the small changes I've done to try to correct things.

The main reason why the tank was raised was that the spine frame touches the under side of the tanks mounting plate. There's also the breather on the rear rocker cover which raises the rear of the tank also.

I've removed the tanks rear mounting ridge with a flap wheel which has given me around 1/2" decrease in height. Not much, but every bit helps.

In the top picture the seat has been sat on the tank mounting tail. In the lower picture the seat butts up to the tank tail. Increasing the seat length around 3".

So what I've done is shorten the seat by 2", but to get it to fit the rear of the subframe I've had to slip the subframe up the spine 2". Now the tank to seat butt joint didn't fit, so I cut down the rear of the tanks original mounting & then notched the seat so it would shorten the seat length again by another 1". I then had to slide the subframe 1" up the spine again. Giving me the 3" short I was after.





With the rear subframe being slid up the spine, this has enabled the rear on the tank to be lowered slightly again, so I've lowered the front of the tank too.

No side on pictures, but I feel I'm getting there slowly.

I've also ordered some more stainless 50mm pipe which should be with me soon.

[Varastorm]

Now that I feel great about the shortened seat & a little bit better about the height issue, I've started to concentrate on the exhaust routing again.

So whilst waiting for more 50mm pipe to arrive, I focused on another piece of the frame that had to be removed.











The same for the other side.

[alanfjones1411]

10 out of 10 for perceverance

[Varastorm]

I'm still not happy about the height of the seat tail but I've decided to plod on anyway.

So now that I've cleared the way for the pipes, I've been studying what I can & can't get away with with the pipe routing.

Looking at old XR Harley pipe routing, they can get away with lower pipes because there's no frame to avoid. Me, looks like I'm stuffed & I'm going to cook my left leg every time I sit on the bike or go for a spin.

I've worked out that by using a piece of 1" box section temporarily bolted to the old Varadero subframe I've managed to get the clearance between the silencers I wanted.

I've wrapped it in tape to stop me marking the silencers, but you get the idea. They'll be hung from the new subframe when I've decided on the seat height.

Apart from the rather full shed, any comments?

[Varastorm]

Thought I'd post some underneath pictures of the inlet manifold which I took whilst it was off during the frame cropping.

It still needs tidying & sorting for cables etc. but it will get sorted when I get closer to sorting the major jobs.

[Varastorm]

Box of bits has arrived.



A little bit of chopping here & there it might just work. Looks as if I might need more bits..

[sirch345]

Been doing bit's n bobs on the bike, nice to call it that now

My main issue lately has been that during the build the height of the tank has increased & the seat fit has changed. I only noticed it whilst looking through the various build pictures. I've not been happy with it because in my brain the tank placement dictates where the seat goes & the seat dictates where the exhaust goes.

So I've walked away from it all for a week or so..

You might think that it should of been sorted by now & perhaps it should of, but I knew I was going to have issues with the exhaust so I just G clamped it up. The last thing I wanted was to weld bits of frame up only to cut them off later.

Here is the picture I like the most.



This picture was taken before the carb manifold, main spine & rear subframe was made. It was a balancing act tbh, but I was made up when it all fitted together.

I doubt I'll get everything this low tbh, but I'm trying very hard to do it. I'm looking at it as my last bike build so it's now or never.

This is the picture that highlighted the height issue.



I was focusing on the exhaust when this picture was taken, it was the picture that changed my mind about the exhaust routing.

No need to be so hard on yourself, if you need to walk away from it for a while so be it. Sometimes that is the best option, as it gives your brain sometime to rethink things once you've given it a rest from all of this build work



I like the way you have mounted the can's, they look good in that position with one set back further than the other

Chris.

[Varastorm]

Popped down the shed tonight to see if the bends I ordered look ok.

[kenmoore]

Great work mate,

Keep going it's coming together.

By the way,

You still haven't told us what the tank is off !

It looks familiar but I can't pick it .

Cheers

[freeridenick]

Is it not possible to cut the underside of the tank to lower it? Reduced volume but achieves the look.

[VTRDark]

That is really starting to come together. You may need some kind of heat shield / protector for your leg. The pipes look realy good where they meet and cross each other at the frame. Nice Work

[fabiostar]

by a long way the most interesting build iv seen in many a year..

[mik_str]

how do you plan to replace the frame spar you cut to make room for the carbs?

[kenmoore]

Re the fuel tank,

Yamaha XV750 or a bike from that family !