Day 44 - 3-4-14 - Got the third design of speedo bracket made and mounted using the holes for the ignition key. That's much neater and will allow the speedo to mostly be hidden behind the number board. Don't take any notice of the finish of the bracket, it's just a work in progress. Once I've nailed the design and location I'll be making one that looks a lot better.

Day 45 - 18-4-14 - Stuck in a bit of limbo at the moment waiting for the sprockets to be made and the design for the rear brake caliper bracket. So I had a look at the swing arm. It doesn't have mounts for paddock stand bobbins, so I needed to find a solution. I still had the first swing arm I bought that has an axle adjuster bolt stuck in and sheared off, so I used that for practice.

I drilled a hole in the small flat area near the axle adjust bolt hole, then tapped it with the appropriate thread size. It will need a small spacer to be made to clear the weld, but seems to work OK. I don't anticipate having clearance issues with the axle as that should be mounted pretty much all the way back as this EXUP swing arm is slightly shorter than the Fazer one and also the front forks aren't as offset as far as the Fazer ones, so I'll probably need as long a wheel base as possible to maintain stability. And a steering damper just in case.

I want to mount that under the forks but I don't think it will fit. So I may have to resort to mounting it at the front of the tank like a Ducati 916. Although I'd rather it was hidden away for a cleaner look.

I made an additional bracket for the GPS lap timer. I much prefer this new location as it lines up with the speedo and hides the power cable for the lap timer behind the speedo.

I have been having a bit of a saga trying to get some rear sets fabricated. I approached Race Spares Direct before Christmas to see if they could make me some, as I saw their rear sets on eBay and I really liked the style: a very simple and clean look. At about 115 quid they were good value. Plus I like to support smaller businesses if I can. They said they could after Christmas.

To cut a long story short I tried to get back in touch, but my emails wouldn't get replied to. I know they were receiving them as I contacted them using another email address and got immediate responses. I also tried telephoning countless times and just got the same thing, nobody would answer. I guess they changed their minds about making them. If so I would rather just be told that. Extremely disappointed I looked at my other options.

Looking at other rear sets I realised that those for a Suzuki GSX-R1000 K5/K6 were very similar in set up with regards to the gear lever connections and the brake master cylinder location. I picked up some secondhand OE rear sets from a race forum I frequent and set about mounting them.

I wanted to have them in the same place as OE, with the option to mount them higher and further back. So made a bracket with four holes in so I could move them around. This didn't work because of clearance of the heel plates on the swing arm. The brake side was the worst for this. I was trying to use the existing mounts on the frame, however after much head scratching I decided to do away with the brackets and mount the rear sets direct to the frame.

I will need new mount holes welding on for this. I'll have them about 20mm higher than OE and slightly forward of standard. This shouldn't be an issue as I have dodgy knees! Also if I can pick up some Crescent or Pro Mach (who I'm pretty sure make them for Crescent) then I will get that adjustability.

I've bought a couple of cans. The stubby Gianelli I mentioned before and a Quill that I had planned to cut down, before I got hold of the Gianelli.

Day 46 - 7-6-14 - The Talon sprockets arrived a week ago and I'm happy to report they fit well and appear to line up perfectly. Always a relief when you get your measurements correct. Had a bit of an issue removing the rear sprocket from the KTM sprocket carrier. You undo them on the rear side using an Allen head. The sprocket side has a flat edge to stop it turning when tightening it up.

I couldn't for the life of me work out how to undo them. I eventually used two old clip ons held in a vice and then slid the sprocket down onto them to stop it turning. This did the trick. But how would I do them up with the new sprocket as I couldn't use the same method. Then I realised what a numpty I'd been. I just needed to hold two of the mount bolts in the vice and tighten from underneath. I was obviously only thinking in one dimension!

Got some potentially brilliant news on the rear brake caliper front. My mate Shaun spotted a rear brake caliper bracket for a Laverda 750 Formula on eBay and it looks exactly the right dimensions for my build. Fingers crossed I win it and it works. Will save me about 230 quid if it does as I won't need to get one custom made. WooHoo! I won it. I was the only bidder and got it for the start price of 20 quid.

I was in my local bike shop yesterday and they happened to have a second hand Laverda 750 Formula for sale. Talk about coincidence, as I don't think they are that common a bike. Had a good look and took a couple of photos and even more convinced it will work.

Day 47 - 17-6-14 - The caliper bracket arrived and excellent news it fits perfectly! It was designed for the caliper I want to use and it clears the disc. Forgot to check the pads are in the correct place on the disc. I need to make yet more spacers to make sure it's in the right place. I have no access to the college now, so I'll need to farm the job out.

The bolt for the torque arm only just sticks out the other side of the mounting point, so no way you can get a nut on it. Hopefully the bolt will come out easily and I can either fit a new longer bolt, or just use the thread in the bracket to accept a bolt from the torque arm.

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