So long - VFR400 NC24

Today was significant in that i actually sold the one bike i said I'd never sell - my VFR400.
I didn't get a great deal for it nor i did i get a tear in my eye as it disappeared down the road.
I bought it for £1450 way back in 1993 it was a great bike, nice handling, light weight, and a brilliant and indestructible engine. It did 120,000 miles in my hands.
I took it touring, to Santa Pod to watch drag Racing, scrambling in very odd places looking for somewhere to camp in the lake district, and it went to RWYB's at York raceway where it ran 12.88 @ 99mph.
I do however, know that I'd never have ridden it again, and it's been stood for 8 years as it is. So before it rots i've sold it. Adiós VFR400.

It leaves me with some space at last in the cellar, which is worth something in itself. Plus Sam's little RG125 has a buyer lined up and could also be gone in the next few weeks. The money will be going towards the 'new van fund', the space will be occupied by .... well, watch this space.

Back to the world of drag racing then - some changes are underway, at the moment the Cylinder head is off so i can drill holes to relocate the NX nitrous foggers. The old holes that were in the sides of the inlet manifolds have been epoxied up and new holes go directly underneath the port in the traditional place. I'd never done this before as it would have meant having the cooling fins machined off the block. But with the new block i noticed they will fit without any work at all. The advantage to this move is improved accessibility to the foggers for jet changing purposes, it also means i can use the same length lines to each one, plus i can get the carb manifolds a bit shorter and improve the flow into the engine. I've also been making tiny little aluminium reducers to put between the carb and inlet stub that will create a straight, smooth transfer from carb to inlet.

Tests on the nitrous systems fuel pump have been taking place too, the results are a bit odd. Once primed the pump works faultlessly and produces a constant 4.5psi. However on a couple of occasions it didn't fill with fuel properly could be heard making a swishing sound as air and fuel were being mixed up. The result was 1psi of pressure. Why it does this I'm not sure and it's hard to replicate but it did it twice whilst on test so the decision was to made to replace it with the Holley blue i bought a while back. Getting fittings for the Holley is a complete pain in the backside, and can easily end up costing more than the pump itself. However a source of 3/8npt fittings was found at a pressure washer supplies shop and cost more to post than to buy. We are ripped off in the motorsport world.