Stevie B Racing - 3XV Rebuild

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The time has come for the re-build. I’m not sure when the tide turned, it could have been when I needed transport for a work meeting and discovered that my car’s been dead for 18 months and public transport’s only ok if it goes where you need to get to….. So, it was the bicycle or get one of the motorcycles sorted.

The XJR400 was favourite since it was the most recently used on the road. About five years ago…

I changed a fork seal, serviced the brakes, welded up about a dozen holes in the exhaust, changed the leaking rear shocks and it went through the MOT ok (after the headlight was adjusted).

Other than the MOT (Haslemere Motorcycles), the first two rides I had out were both in the wet – all a bit nervy having not ridden for so long. The road felt really slippy (although it probably wasn’t) so I think it’ll take a while to get my confidence up.

Encouraged by the sheer enjoyment of spannering again, I decided to search out the parts and put my TZR back together. I started by buying a battery and getting the petrol tank out of the loft. After mixing-up some pre-mix and a bit of shuffling to gain access in the shed, I got it fired-up ok. From there it just snow-balled. I bought some complete airboxes through eBay to replace the originals I’d drilled holes in. The pieces of the jigsaw gradually came together as I brought boxes and parts out of the loft – lights, rear subframe, bodywork. There were a few anxious moments when I discovered I had no rear brake-light switch. All was sorted-out when I found it in yet another box in the loft (along with air filter foam).

Having mercilessly hacked the front fairing subframe to pieces to fit the race bodywork, there was no way the original front indicators would fit easily. So back to eBay for some cheap flush-fit ones. They were really cheap, so I was pleasantly surprised at how good they are. I might have to colour code them as they’re a bit, how should I say, ‘anodised’ (read sort of reddy-purple).

The brakes were easy to service. I had to take the steering damper off as it fouled the fairing and I don’t want to cut the original bodywork. I changed the bent right clip-on for one sourced from a breakers years ago.

Probably the biggest job has been cleaning. I should never have stored it all away filthy.

It was a real surprise when I took the gaffer tape off the speedo face and discovered a reading of only 10087 km (6304 miles). Not much for a bike that’s 16 years old!

It was real good to start it up and give a good warm up. Sounded fabulous. There’s nothing like the ring-ding of a good stroker.

Next stop – MOT.

The evidence of a miss-spent youth....

Well it got through the MOT ok at the second attempt. It failed first time on an illegal number plate (the rules have changed since it was last used on the road) and restricted steering lock. Nothing too tricky to fix, so now it's a goer!

Next mod was to fit solid footpegs as I hate the folding variety on account of the fact that they, errrr..., fold. . eBay to the rescue again. Had to get some fasteners with the right thread pitch too. Went for stainless to get it sorted out since they're strong and cheap. Probably should do titanium at some point (light and strong but expensive).

I really must paint that master cylinder....

Now the new hydro-formed pipes have arrived (many thanks Martin) and the Tyga end cans (courtesy of eBay) so I need to get busy with fitting and painting.

As you've probably noticed by now, I'm obsessed with light-weight fasteners. So, just in case anyone out there is even remotely interested, I weighed the disc bolts. Six Yamaha steel disc bolts = 80g. Six titanium disc bolts = 25g. There's got to be cheaper ways to reduce weight (such as eating less), but hey, this is my hobby!

Naturally, I'll be weighing the new pipes versus the standard issue.....

And the standard pipes weigh approx 5kg each, with the new pipes weighing in at 5kg the pair.

There was a bit of work to do re drilling and shaping the end plates to fit the Tyga cans....

More top news is the arrival of the 3XV-70 CDI box from Japan. It took a little while to track down but it wasn't really expensive and hopefully will be well worth the effort. We'll see...

Something that had been bugging me for a while was the identity of the rider whose replica Arai I wear. This took a while to track down too! I vaguely recalled him being team mate to Jamie Robinson in the Suzuki GP250 team back in 1996 or '97. I had to dig through Motocourse to get the name, then Google to confirm the helmet. It turns out it is a Noriyasu Numata replica lid and it also turns out, sadly, that he was killed in a testing accident in September 2007.....

Latest pics below - showing the pipes with Tyga cans, seat cowl/lid and some carbon fibre heel guards.

It's running rich, but I've been out with the new CDI box and I'm gob-smacked! The mid-range in a bit horrid (until I sort the jetting) but once it hits 10,000 there's no stopping it! I can't believe the difference from the 'old' set-up. I must get it to a dyno at some point.

The jetting is now sorted ok for the road. I've taken a few rides out and all's running well. A couple more parts have arrived, namely a rear shock from an SPR (with damping adjustments) and a carbon fibre front mudguard. There's still tidying-up to do too...