It's not yellow and it's no 21 [image heavy]

[jeffw]

Important to remember the orientation of the engines. Bike engines are typically designed to run transversed and this is probable why they work in a single seater without a dry sump. There are some engines that you can run without a dry sump inline and the R1 seems to be one of them. Everyone seems to dry-sump the Busa though.

[philfingers]

thanks for the info, so you're saying you run the car with the oil at the top of the sight glass, I assume this is engine running and engine hot?
cheers,
Phil

[dopdog]

even cold you should see a drop in the sight glass. I always thinking on it have done it soon after start up so yes cold. Also as Jeff has said the orientation of the engine as I bet your pick-up will be to one side rather than at the rear of the engine. this in turn would potentially have surge issues hence the baffle to keep the oil in the sump as much as it can.

Hopefully Adi will be along to confirm how he fills his engine oil from first hand.

[dopdog]

I just watched Rob's video of him starting his engine and have to say what a fantastically clean installation you have done. Credit to you.

[adithorp]

As predicted...I've come along

In the bike, level is checked something like "With engine hot and switch off, wait a few moments and the level should be at the mark (middle of glass)". As the longer you wait, the higher the level is, it's a bit vague how long the wait should be.

I check mine hot and at idle, the oil is 2/3 - 3/4 way up the glass (I have the sump baffle and the sump gasket face horizontal the same as yours). The level varies hugely depending on temp and idle. 6years and no problems
Beware of the oil level warning light though... it's crap! It constantly comes on (you'll find loads of complaints on R1/Fazer/bike forums) but as long as it goes out at idle it's OK. Add more oil and it can get worse (frothing?) and mine does it at certain revs but OK higher/lower (vibration related?). Next ime I have my dash out I plan to put a push button in the feed so it's "push to check" instead of coming on semi-randomly.

Where are you taking your oil pressure from? There's a port in the end of the main oil gallery that Yamaha use and thats where mine is. Some people tap the oil cooler bolt though. Don't be suprised if the gauge reads 5-7psi at hot idle.

[dopdog]

should have said mine was a gsxr not R1

[adithorp]

Just had a read back at previous posts I'd missed while away playing in the Alps...

Sorry if I led you up the garden path with the tappet clearance on the other car.

In the photo showing the TB's the blocked pipe is the fuel return from the regulator to the tank. Some people believe blocking it increases the fuel pressure and improves performance.... if it was that simple Yamaha would do it!
The "silver bit" is a wax stat/cold sart device that lifts the cold idle. It should have a water feed to it coming from the outlet at the bottom near the gearbox output shaft and goes to a small outlet under the TB's in the head.

[philfingers]

thanks guys for the replies, a little delayed as I'm away for work at the moment, on the Total Elgin platform in the North Sea

I have an Aprilia RSVR at home [1000cc Rotax engined motorbike]. that engine is dry sumped as std and the oil level should be checked hot. The oil level changes dramatically when hot. I'll bear the oil level in mind on the R1 and plan for 3/4 fulls when idling hot.

The oil line [to a low pressure switch] that was installed when I got the car is tapped into the cooler take off bolt. It sees about 100psi at 5k when cool, and around 7-10 when hot at idle. Certainly when i dropped the sump to fit the baffle plate there wasn't any signs of any 'swarf' in there, which was satisfying. Much better than the Ducati engine I have in bits currently, where the aluminium crank gallery plugs are known to work loose and grind them selves away on the crankcase! Luckily that never came all the way out!

So the pesky Quaife! sourcing bearings has proved to be a pain in the ar$e. The front one is a 6206NR, it's a single row race with a retaining ring. this was reasonable easy to find and Erics had it in stock at £13.95 + vat. They also claimed to have the rear 4206B.TVH [double row race with retaining ring] in stock at £21.29 +vat but when I went to collect it didn't have a ring, just a plain one 4206. Everyone I tried could get a plain one and the general thing with these is to send them off to a machine shop and have them machined to take the retainer. all of which takes time and all up cost would be £50 ish for the rear bearing- we're getting towards Ducati mains preices now [£75 each!]. So I went back to Quaife. they're quoted £34 for the front and £26 rear [+ vat and + £9.50 delivery, which boils my blood to ship two small bearings!]. So I ordered the rear and to my surpise they sent a std rear, without the groove. So when I left home they were sending the correct one with the groove and retiner ring. Nothing is simple is it! I can't say i was overly impressed with them. When I asked for a torque setting for the prop flange nut I was told they don't specify one, just do them up tight! That instills confidence then! Hopefully when I get home I can rebuild the box.

So I got on and did the breather mods, will post pics later from home. Basically there are a few mods to do to the 5VY R1 engine breather system which is to avoid lots of oil being thrown in a breather tank, or as stock the airbox.

I started to investigate the dampers and springs, which are Avo's. They all exhibited a bit of surface rust, which i cleaned up and inspected. All good, no leaks and the front's didn't have the grub screws to hold the platforms in position! This was no surpise given the rest of the build! So I have:-

Front:-
120/085 [suspect this is comp/rebound damping rates]
3rd click on adjuster
275lbs x 7" spring
12" damper centre to centre extended

Rear:-
130/090
5th click on adjuster
150lbs x 8" spring
13" damper

More later once i'm home again,

Phil

Adi, I think you were right on the money with regard to the crossflow Striker and the valve clearnaces!

[jeffw]

275lb front springs ......really? That is really high

[adithorp]

120/085 and 130/090 refers to the open/closed length in inches. So the front are 12"open/8.5"closed and the rears are 13"open/9"closed