Pre Cadwell Tweaks

Following the drive shaft failure at Brands one of the main jobs to do was get some new drive shafts made up... as plainly my Cut N Shut Welded ones weren't up to the job. These I got made up by Jonathan Weston Taylor a fellow 750 MC racer who also runs an engineering business.

I sent JWT a sample of the splines and the length required and he turned the new shafts around in about a week.  They seem to be made of some new "unobtainum alloy" which actually machines up to a very shiny and somewhat corrosion resistant finish.

The old shaft was most definitely not up to the Job, as this picture shows, you can see how both the outer tube has spiraled and distorted under the load and that the inner welded section has distorted and damaged the outer sleeving tube.

I did have one problem in the week before Cadwell,  At Brands I had noticed that getting it into gear was becoming problem and that the shifts weren't smooth or sweet.   Something that the CBR Engine is renowned for.  It seems I'm   bit of an animal and had neary torn the gear shift mount out of the central support tube, no wonder the shift was going floppy the pivot point had nearly 6 degrees of freedom.    The damn thing was covered in powder coat so it was impossible to clean properly and  welding was pretty pidgeon sxxt too.  Tube is only 1mm thick (20 guage) so blew lots of holes due to poor access and visibility.... god knows if it will survive practice and an 18min race. That tube is going to get cut out post Cadwell.