That Montjuic of mine

If you're lashing out on full race forks wouldn't you be better off with linear springs?

Maxton are fitting the springs so I’m not making the decision. Actually that’s probably for the best because even though I can set forks up reasonably well for roads they’re going to be much better than me and at least I can adjust the preload if I use their units.
 
That’s a good price for a full Maxton fork conversion. My Tracer forks would cost more than that to sort out properly. Loving the story.
 
That’s a good price for a full Maxton fork conversion. My Tracer forks would cost more than that to sort out properly. Loving the story.

I’ve got to admit that I was pleasantly surprised at the cost to do the work. Ok, the visible parts of the forks remain the same if you exclude the tops but inside they are to all intents and purposes a set of good spec race internals.
 
I have recently had a pair of M1Rs rebuilt by Maxton... amazing difference. Only used them on a track day but they feel plush.
Monty is eligible for BEARs racing with VMCC BHR...
 
I have recently had a pair of M1Rs rebuilt by Maxton... amazing difference. Only used them on a track day but they feel plush.
Monty is eligible for BEARs racing with VMCC BHR...

It’s a bit noisy for UK racing, I did look at entering it in a couple of rounds of BEARs a few years ago then never really went anywhere with the idea. It’s a hassle now because to race on home circuits I’d need to go back to an intermediate novice and before I even got to that stage it’s ACU classroom time whereas a Belgian licence is simply a case of complete the forms and send the money in much the same way as you would to enter a 2 day ACU enduro event here.
 
That won’t make it any quieter :D

I’d be better off using my 501 if I wanted to enter anything in a hillclimb event.

Yeah.......but.......scruitineering at Hillclimb events is somewhat lax ;) and you only need a 'sprint' licence which is the easiest licence to get. Some tracks would be a handful on the Montjuic but plenty would be a hoot on it, Gurston Down comes to mind straight away :thumb2

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(Yeah I know it's a car, I couldn't find any decent 'on bike' footage ...........)

Andres
 
Small steps, big gains. I decided that today was the day when I should drop the fork yokes out and remove the steering head bearings.

I fucking hate taking lower races of the stem and as expected simply applying a lot of heat proved pointless so the Dremel and a couple of very thin slitting discs came into the game. As is to be expected I nicked the stem but only by about 1/2 mm deep so I’m not too fussed and I’ll polish out the marks were my enthusiasm overtook my ability when I introduced the chisel :D

On the plus side the bearings were corroded and some numpty had used copper slip instead of grease so new taper rollers will make it steer as it should with no clicks or lumps. I think I’ll try and source a new castellated lock nut because whoever removed it and tightened it used a screwdriver and/or a set of stilsons and it’s snotted. After that I need to get a 1mm shim to go under the lower bearing but the sizes aren’t critical for that so I’ll go with whatever I can get.
 
Yet another update...

Today has seen a rapid U turn on my decision to use Maxton for the forks. The biggest reason being that getting to speak to anyone on the phone seems to be impossible and even if you leave a message they’re either not checking voicemail or they’ve got enough on not to worry. Whatever :nenau

Anyway, I’d been considering using Race Tech emulators rather than Maxton so I spoke to the guy who handles most of their kit in the UK but is also the designated suspension specialists for the Thundersports Championship so must know what he’s doing.

He’s going to get the fork stanchions re-chromed, ground and polished with the emphasis being on polished because I’ve used two other companies to chrome forks and they simply ground them leaving a rough finish that knackered new seals in less than 1,000 miles.

New Race Tech emulators which are fully adjustable but not as easy to do as Maxton because you have to remove the springs then fish the emulator out with a magnet. I can live with that.

He’ll also check the spring rate on my existing springs and if they need changing to suit my weight he’ll supply them.

He’ll also finish the fork bottoms black. They’re ‘natural’ aluminium right now and I’ve cleaned, removed minor bumps and scratches then polished them but as we all know, aluminium castings have a finish that can look porous even though it isn’t and they tarnish quickly so fuck that, they’re being finished gloss black. I’ve looked at countless pictures of Montjuics and some have black fork bottoms, some don’t and there’s no consistency so it doesn’t matter.

My engine parts are now in the country so progress there is in the lap of the Gods, sometimes known as UK customs. I’m expecting to wait a week :(

Brake calipers and wheels are work in progress so I’ll probably go back to random cleaning, painting and polishing parts that don’t really need doing :beerjug:
 
Happy days. Apparently my parts have been released by UK customs so I can sit on the front door mat waiting for the delivery man to walk down the drive :chickendance
 
I got a bit excited when the doorbell rang this morning but it was only fork top nuts that should have been sent to Preston and a new set of 4 braided brake hoses. I then realised that I need to buy some of those little clips that keep braided hoses away from mudguards and fork dust seals so that gives me something to spend money on later today :D
 
I shouldn’t really have bunged this lot together yet but it stops me losing parts and it all looks nice so why not?

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That’ll be a new Brembo master cylinder, calipers re-finished with Cerakote then new pistons and seals finished off with new HEL braided hoses.

I even fitted a new hydraulic brake light switch


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And now the rear brake is done. I didn’t bother replacing the rear master cylinder because nobody uses back brakes but apart from that I stripped, cleaned, checked it and put it back together functioning as Mr Brembo intended.

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I can actually claim some of the work is now finished
 
It’s been a long time since I stripped and rebuilt calipers but they were easy enough to do once I’d reminded myself that putting grease where the dust seals locate on the calipers makes them harder to keep in place and is totally unnecessary. Brake calipers are something I tend to neglect just as I never bother changing brake fluid until it gets really manky and you can see a layer of crud in the bottom of the reservoir but like everything else a bit of periodic maintenance every 4-5 years repays itself every time.

I’ll probably shove some fluid into them and bench test them tomorrow simply because I can and while I’m at it I can make sure the brake light switches work because there’s nothing worse than rebuilding everything then finding the switch doesn’t work and it’s got to be changed and the system bled again.

All the engine parts are due to arrive tomorrow so I’ll pop up and see Mike with the pistons early next week before fitting the new steering head bearings so I can refit the handlebars, levers, switches and instruments.
 
Here we have a nice pair of 10.2:1 High Compression pistons waiting to have the bores machined to match them.

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They truly are a work of art and worth every penny. Well that’s what I keep telling myself.
 
If I had a set of drug dealer scales I’d be tempted to balance them before taking them up to Mike but they’re not something I possess :D
 


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