Make it up as you go along, Level 1 Fork shortening for beginners

I decided that there was unnecessary ground clearance on the bike, and as the forks were too soft anyway i thought i'd strip them apart and lop a bit off. Of course there's no actual lopping involved really and the process is really quite easy. the hardest part (as usual) is actually getting the things apart.
In a standard set of forks you would add a spacer to the damper rod then remove a proportionate amount of the springs length but as mine have already been tampered with, all i needed to do was add the spacer to reduce the length slightly.

The damper rod dictates both the amount of travel and the free length of the forks. So if the free length is reduced so is the amount of travel. A spacer needs to be cut from a piece of steel tube of the appropriate diameter. You slide this over the damper rod and replace the damper spring on top of it. I reduced the travel to approx 60mm, this was only 15mm shorter than they were but about half of what they would have had originally.

To stiffen the forks enough to stop them bottoming out i didn't bother reducing the length of the main spring. This makes it incredibly hard to get the fork tops back on as you have to fight the spring, but after several failed spring launching attempts i got them back on. I also replaced the fork oil with the heavy grade stuff. I had no idea how much oil the forks need as i have no idea what bike they are off. So i put loads in, then bled a little off at a time using the drain screw until they "felt" right.

Heres a nice pic of a GSX motor that has looks like it's been overcooked slightly!!


Finally all the parts i need to finish the nitrous kit off have been sourced and ordered..... that is, all except some actual nitrous itself! As soon as they arrive i should be able to get it all plumbed in. I don't intend to use it just yet but i can't balance my carbs until the nitrous nozzles have lines
attached as they would allow air in ( i shouldn't have put them in yet!).
I'm currently working on the placing and mounting of fuel system parts. the ACU rulebook says a fuel shutoff should be within easy reach of the rider. There aren't many places you can actually reach but i think i have a spot under the carbs that will be ok. That is, so long as it doesn't cause air/fuel locks in the system because it has to come down so low then back up to the carbs.
I did want to use the nitrous kits fuel pump to feed both the carbs and the kit, but the carbs can't cope with the pressure and just flood. So the pump is now on a separate system and i found a place for it down by the battery.

I'm still unsure whether licensing rules will allow me to enter the Easter Thunderball event at Santa Pod as planned. So i'm going to just try and get everything ready anyway. I do however have a race number!!! it's CB16
The Easter Thunderball is the opening round of the UK ACU dragbike championship and is held over the easter weekend the 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th of March.
There will probably be 6 events in the series, 4 at Santa pod and 2 at Shakespeare County raceway (formerly Avon Park). Dates for all events have not been confirmed.