everything but teaching

hello 2012

2012-01-28T16:36:00.006+09:00

2012 had started, already 4 weeks into it. i rode my xr a couple of times before i took it to zero engineering for check and small modification. taking parts at zero's warehouse, cold and dark. i'll have the motor down by next week. so far, i haven't find anything major by the look of the front bank cylinder... broken base gascket and slight excess of carbon on front top of the piston head.

i hope 2012 would be the better one for me and for my country.

Honda Fit

2011-11-08T18:09:00.004+09:00

1.3 liter CVT reached 800km without refuel. good enough for 40liter tank car.

his name is iki shijin

2011-10-23T21:49:00.008+09:00

the guy pushing my bike is him. one thing we have in common is that we both own panhead.

he doesn't push my bike for living... of course. he is a great painter and he doesn't do it for living, either.

on the edge #2

2011-10-11T10:51:00.003+09:00

mid section of the last turn of tsukuba

homework

2011-10-10T09:04:00.000+09:00

ride with a celebrity

2011-09-30T16:38:00.007+09:00

yes, i was looking down. it's only because my gas was running out. going into the last turn of fuji speedway. Aug. 28, 2011

on the edge

2011-09-19T17:32:00.003+09:00

tsukuba circuit, Sep 18, 2011

MCFAJ CSSC Open, August 28, 20011

2011-09-01T21:25:00.001+09:00

to make a long story short. i ran out of gas.

behind the scene

2011-08-30T17:35:00.003+09:00

one of our friends, #51 drove back from fujispeedway, came to zero shop around 9:30pm. he was running the bike at fuji earlier on saturday, when he heard unpleasant sounds.

we (there were enough hands so i was just watching) managed to disassemble the transmission and replaced all damaged gears, cleaned and re-assembled back before the clock turned to sunday.

we got to our paddock on sunday morning. there were some early birds. team hotdock at their usual spot. only harley-davidson xr besides mine... xr750

this xlcr-look-alike racer joined us first time. it retired during the morning time attack but it was a cool looking bike. hope to see him next round at tsukuba.

force

2011-08-23T18:31:00.005+09:00

just one of thousands sights where tsunami walked through.

i went to iwate to look for a friend. the force we are fighting agaist is unimaginable to me. people can study and calculate the "force" and put it into a figure, i suppose, but the figure will mean nothing to understand the force. it looks like i am standing on safe place but i wonldnt be on that day. the tsunami reached about 5m above where i was standing.

D.I.Y

2011-06-10T11:16:00.003+09:00

june 5, 2011 at fuji speedway

2'15.362

the cowl thing worked! you can't really test it with the speed you get at fuji speedway at anywhere else but at fuji speedway. i brought my old front number plate just in case the new cowl fails me. but it worked. i could put my left hand off from the handle bar and put it behind the cowl. one of the Do it yourself moment!!!

back in business 2011

2011-05-04T10:55:00.002+09:00

one warm spring day... it's been 8month since i rode my xr1000 on any circuit. the engine seems running perfectly but wrong gearing and clutch slipping didnt really make the day the way i wanted.

however, it was a good day for track ride. there were about 25 bikes in my stint, most of them were yamaha R6s with seriousriders, 1 agusta F4 and some kawasaki Z lovers.
about a month to go... im almost ready for fujispeedway next month!!!

lazy trick

2011-04-25T13:25:00.003+09:00

changing all 4 rockerams of harley-davidson xr1000

xr1000 engine is beautiful to look at but it's definitely not the one that you want to put your hands on to. just changing rockerams involves engine removal... or just tilting a little to the left.

a couple of scissor jacks will do the job.

usual suspect or unusual

2011-04-16T15:57:00.003+09:00

putting the top ball part of xr1000 push rod into a new rockeram

and put that into another rockerarm that has been in my xr1000 engine. notice the difference there?

the cup where the push rod head sits is clearly wearing out about a millimeter. okay, now we understand that can happen. but did it really happen after i broke the pinion shaft when i was coming out of the fujispeedway last corner, up shifting from 2nd to 3rd at 7,000rpm, and before i stopped the bike about 300m later???

what is that?

2011-04-08T20:40:00.002+09:00

finished making the brackets. it will have #39 with yellow background to meet MCFAJ CSSC race regulation.

tv news are never enough to make myself understand what's really happening

2011-04-07T09:22:00.002+09:00

since the earthquake, feels like we're living in totally different world. i myself and my life, my family hadn't got any effect from the event but something has changed, though still trouble accepting and understanding what had really happened.

just a thought

2011-02-24T09:52:00.003+09:00

after 3hrs of play with the english wheel, placed the "supposed to be xr1000 upper cowl" on someone's bike...
is that better off being on someone elses than on my xr1000??? just a thought.

xr1000 update

2011-02-07T10:06:00.004+09:00

finally, i say, finally the harley davidson xr1000 engine had been put into one piece.

my friend and i tried to figure out why i couldnt achive specified tappet clearance, but we're still not sure what it was... anyway, to get a temporary solution, my friend made a special "adjustable-push rod" for my xr1000. done!
i think wear of rocker arm where the push rod is connected is the problem. so i just ordered a new sets. i probably get them sometime in march.
i put head-light, mirrors and everything back to the bike yesterday evening and went for a ride... just a mile. the engine was running okay. i'm still kinda uncomfortable running the bike without really knowing what was the problem causing the stupid tappet clearance, but...

transplantee football club

2011-01-25T18:49:00.002+09:00

who ever thought about having a football world cup by only transplantees?
Transplantee Football Club

happy new year

2011-01-05T14:44:00.002+09:00

things you do during a new year...

face to the first sunrise of the year, pray and make new year resolution.

go to the new year Sakurabuchi ride with a bunch friends...

visit Toyokawa-inari temple and throw money...

all done...

thorny path?

2010-12-29T18:29:00.003+09:00

this is not how i wanted to finish 2010...

i thought i got everything. surely i got every part i needed but it didnt quite go well as i expected. somehow a couple of tappet clearances were out of range. how? that's the mystery. it looks like the 2011 is also thorny.

another update

2010-12-16T11:11:00.002+09:00

replaced the problematic needle bearings to bushings. this is probably one of standard updates most of xr1000 owners would do. i don't know how many xr1000 owners up there reading my blog, however, i hope i can bring some ideas to them, some good, some may not be useful... i hear a lot of rumors about the model, mostly sever crticism. it maybe not wise not listening all that but i much prefer to experience myself before i speak.

colors

2010-12-11T17:08:00.002+09:00

i got the valves. made them from harley sportster's ones. cut the stems shorter, made retainer groove and hardened. because they had different material between exhaust and intake, my moriwaki friend had to apply 2 different hardening methods which made different colors.
i tried to fit the valves to my xr1000 engine yesterday, and found out that i need to cut or replace the valve seats for intakes... i shouldve done it before i sent the valves to moriwaki. oh, well, at least i got new valves now.

in hibernation?

2010-12-04T13:33:00.002+09:00

not quite.

very slow but some progress on my xr1000 engine.

we found someone in Nagoya could do me a special machining to finish this long time problem i had. the crank bearing case which casted in the aluminum crank case, became loose and i hadn't had complete measure for it. Now, see the photo. i think i can go another 50,000miles with it!!!!

now i'm waiting for the valves i sent to moriwaki which should be here sometime next week. will i be able to join my harley friends for the new year's day ride?

where it belongs

2010-10-19T11:37:00.003+09:00

who knows what tomorrow brings...

on the zero engineering floor...
i just realized that i haven't really up my blog for quite sometime. there aren't much progress with my xr1000 engine, anyway. at least i can say that moriwaki engine guy will get me a set of valves can fit into my xr1000!

good snap

2010-09-11T18:01:00.002+09:00

as we all expected...
coming out of the last turn of fuji speedway with 2nd gear at lap1, keeping it full throttle until it hits 7,000rpm, then up shit to 3rd... "SNAP". it was the time my small hope that my xr1000 aren't like no other was proved to be wrong... it was just another ordinary xr1000 with weak pinion shaft.
does anybody know where i can find a "andrews reinforced pinion shaft" before next race in october?

escaping from the heat

2010-08-30T16:32:00.002+09:00

narusawano-taki, or narusawa waterfall.
i just got a lens filter for my little panasonic. drove up the montains in back of mikawa region and stopped to get some cool breeze and test the filter... i can't tell the difference between with and without the filter... did i spend 7,000yen for nothing??? better learn how to use all these special functions that panasonic put into the camera.

2.4kg of gunpowder

2010-08-11T21:49:00.003+09:00

something that you grew up with...

gremlin

2010-08-01T20:19:00.003+09:00

i took my xr1000 out last sunday first time since the race in may. started from zero engineering in okazaki and went to see one of my friends' exhibition in inazawa. good 40miles ride in 100F heat. got problem about after 20miles... unstable idling, felt like no gas were sent when i opend the throttle.
anyway, i got to inazawa, enjoyed the exhibit and waited for the sun to go down near the horizon. i started the engine. it was running no problem. i left inazawa and after 20miles, it started again.
i got back to zero, just changed spark plugs and when i left zero, of course, the engine was running "okay." and again, xr1000 decided to play funny.
i don't know what it was but i tried a few things and now it is running fine. one of the things that i found was that the picker rotor had a crack.
i broke it once just a couple of races ago. fitted a secondhand one from zero's storage and it only lasted maybe 5 track rides including 2 races. i'm about to call Nallin Racing Head Service now...

this is what i'm talking about

2010-07-29T10:13:00.003+09:00

a photo i found on motoGP site. american honda + moriwaki are bringing a md600 to indy gp in august. i can't wait.

long sleeves for summer rides

2010-07-23T15:52:00.002+09:00

i asked to have 30cm wide print on our t-shirt... well it was a little too small on actual t-shirts by the look of it.

i know it's not a harley.

2010-07-18T21:31:00.002+09:00

moriwaki md600, the one that leading the inaugural moto2 world championship race series at the moment. toni elias onboard moriwaki just won the german gp.
i really want moriwaki to make an exhaust system for my harley-davidson xr1000... though the managing director of moriwaki is my best friend, i can not ask her that. or maybe...

tsukuba remedy

2010-07-15T19:42:00.004+09:00

close ratio transmission...

will it work? wait and see. the $300 andrews close ratio transmission kit will shorten 2sec at tsukuba easily, i reckon.

not bad at all...

2010-07-05T21:19:00.002+09:00

when you are a man tuning to 42yr-old in old Japanese way (you are 1yr-old when you are born and you age on every new year day but not on your birthday), you are in "yakudoshi" or bad luck year. a group of locals including myself are going to take a big part of local festival this summer and we decided to make t-shirts... no one said who's gonna have to design it so i did. not bad... not bad at all.

dutch attitude

2010-06-30T17:49:00.002+09:00

that's why we can't stop loving them!

keepsake

2010-06-05T20:43:00.001+09:00

thank you, grandma!

99yr and 7month

2010-06-02T21:14:00.002+09:00

i couldnt imagine my grandma's funeral until it actually happened. close to 400 people came to see her leaving... thank you grandma.

people say it's jealousy

2010-06-02T20:59:00.003+09:00

when you spend too much time on one Harley-Davidson, this is what happens.
since i started racing with xr1000, i've been spending less and less time with the panhead.
a few weeks ago, with some friends we went up to the mountains in back of Aichi. we stopped for a gas after about 50miles. i filled my panhead tank and then when i tried to kick start the engine, the pedal broke off. luckily the engine started... i didn't have to look for a slope.
now i got a second hand part from zero enginieering and ready for another ride.

a shot from Tsukuba

2010-05-22T16:59:00.003+09:00

i thought i would not spend $40 just to get the photo... but i did.

i told you it was the tyre

2010-04-26T19:50:00.003+09:00

finally we went back to the circuit for the last ride before the season opening race this weekend at Tsukuba International Circuit. i got a new set of tyres so i really wanted to go below 1min4sec which i never had. and then what?
i got 1min3.280sec!!!! with new tyre, everythig went good. now i can feel the benefit of the andrews#1 camshaft. xr1000 is running faster at every part of the track. i'm very happy but the brake is becoming the bottleneck... squeezing so hard. i don't know if my right arm can last one race?????? Harley Davidson's stock brake... definitely not for racing.

blame on tyres

2010-04-06T18:49:00.002+09:00

just to see how far i got with the front tyre... my front tyre was not really holding the ground and i wasnt sure if it was because of me or tyre. so i decided to blame on the tyre and ordered a new set. now i can see the different between new and the accused one. i will go to the track one more time before the race in May. if my lap time doesnt improve, i will be blaming on suspention... or brakes...

the bear is on the move

2010-04-06T11:08:00.003+09:00

this was the moment when i wanted to have better camera.
it is less than a month to the first race in this season. we are almost ready... i guess.

Oh... Mr. J.V.

2010-03-29T19:53:00.004+09:00

what on earth people do such thing... thank god nobody was hurt. oh, mr. J.V....

since i saw the "the world's fastest indian"

2010-03-15T19:41:00.002+09:00

when i tell people that i have never been to the states, they are quite surprised. just because i ride harleys and speak english doesn't mean that i have been there. But, of course, i would like to visit one day. since i saw the movie "the world's fastest indian," i really want to see the bonneville during the speed trail week.
so as one of my students... he just went there and got me the key chain and post card. it was february so the lake was dampy and he couldn't drive on the salt he said but i envied.
today my friend and i took our racing harleys to our home circuit for the first time this year. the new set of andrews #1 cam seems working good. it accelerates faster than before. my friend said it didnt sound like xr1000 anymore... it got too fast so i ended up in the gravel at the first corner! it was a great fun.

10yrs and 4months

2010-03-14T19:38:00.002+09:00

i bought the xr1000 in october 1999. it had 5,500miles on it.
it hit 50,000 mile mark yesterday on my 40th birthday... it had been a commuting bike than nothing else until i started taking it to track rides. it is definitely not a comfortable bike to ride but once you get used to, you kinda enjoy the "discomfort". i'm looking forward to see the odometer goes back to 00,000.0mile... maybe in 10yrs time.

a little detour...

2010-03-05T19:31:00.002+09:00

the weather's been pretty funny lately... i thought it's gonna rain whole week but got sunny today so took my xr1000 to meet a customer. on my way, i took a little detour to see special plum blossoms in Okuyama-kogen.
mercury went up over 20c degree again, it was way too warm to ride with my winter jacket. i tried to hit 5,000rpm a couple of time when i stopped at red light. it definitely got power but it needed a lot more gas. i had to open throttle more than i used to... larger jet in my carbs, or lift the needle up for another clip...

luxury...?

2010-02-22T19:38:00.003+09:00

so the xr1000 is now ready to hit the road. i rode my panhead to zero and swapped it with the xr.
i think i'm very lucky to own 2 harley-davidsons, and very lucky that zero can keep one of my bike at their garage.
i rode about 100km yesterday. xr1000 seems running okay. i haven't tried to push the bike yet but it definitely got louder exhaust sound now. next race is in 10weeks. i have plenty of time to practice... if the engine endures.

zero test course

2010-02-20T16:58:00.002+09:00

about 5 miles from zero engineering, there is a nice park got a museum on top of the hill. mindscape museum.
i got my xr1000 engine running yesterday and took it for a short test ride. i didn't try anything above 3,500rpm but it was running good. i hope i don't have to assemble the engine again this year.

problem solved...?

2010-02-14T20:25:00.003+09:00

finally we got the machinings done and it was ready to check the valve-to-valve clearance again.

assembled the new camshfts and head without cylinder. the xr1000 engine always reminds me of Vartan from the Ultraman... anyway, with the 1mm sinking of the exhaust valve made enough clearance now.
now the engine is on the chassis... i should be able to assemble transmission and all the rest next weekend. i hope the weather gets warm by then.

haven't changed much

2010-02-03T19:45:00.004+09:00

3 babies in 18months...
i don't know what was the occasion to take the photo. it could be me and my twin sis's 2nd birthday... that makes my younger sis was 5months old... yeah maybe that's it.
38yrs had gone and we are still close. good sisters.
One of my friends is just about to have 2nd bone-marrow transplant, giving by his sister. 1st one was from his brother... he's got good brother and sister, too.
here is his blog: http://kickoutheleukemia.blogspot.com/

no progress

2010-02-02T17:29:00.002+09:00

there hasn't been much progress since last time i ground the bits off around the crank shaft bearing.
zero engineering friend set my engine on a nice work bench. it's no longer on the floor with cardborad paper.
i actually checked the valves and piston movement with the new set of Andrews camshaft a couple of weeks ago. i forgot to bring my camera that day. anyway, the valves hit. valve-to-piston clearance seemed okay. now the heads and cam-cover are somewhere in okazaki getting machining and new bushings...
zero always gives me a space to leave my engine or bike on their shop floor... and let me use their tools and chemicals... maybe the zero engineering is famous for selling a custom harleys to hollywood celebrity but it is just those bike shop everbody feels welcomed. i don't know what i will be doing if there wasn't zero...

can't go back

2010-01-11T15:52:00.002+09:00

now, i got the camshafts... compare to my last cams, the harley made screaming eagls "E" cams, the andrews xr1000 #1 cams have about 2mm more lift. what the hell is that supposed to mean...
2mm nipping off meat around the crankshaft bearing.
After a few hours of "yes" and "no", got a pneumatic hand tool and put a step into the area where you can't go back. i don't know how many xr1000 still exist in the world, however, not many owners put their xr1000s in danger like i am doing... can't wait to go back on race track.

dining in nagoya

2010-01-11T15:18:00.003+09:00

i don't eat out much. only the place i regularly visit is my friend's restaurant in nagoya. for me, this is the best restaurant i have ever been and it will be.

i was going to meet my Santa that night. he was giving me a set of Andrews camshaft for my xr1000.

this is his rudolph... not quite. chopped xr1000. you hardly ever seen harley-davidson xr1000 on street... never one with long stretched front.

had good meals with good friend, talking about xr1000... won't get any better.

Toyokawa Inari temple

2010-01-09T10:55:00.005+09:00

a million people visited the temple on first 3days of this year. it's only 20min harley ride away from my house. it's known as a god of business... that's what my friend told me. i hope that 1,000yen i threw into the offertory box will do something about this crisis we are having...

title

2010-01-03T09:09:00.003+09:00

i was riding my panhead on the new year's day morning, heading to okazaki on route1 in snow... i only had this stupid cap on my head. my ears were sticking out and small glasses didn't stop wind to get my eyes...
why do i have to do this? only the reason i could think of was the sticker i have on the back of my cap...
"official asshole"... happy new year, everyone. i hope we have good one this time.

a message from Mr. JV

2009-12-30T11:22:00.007+09:00

this is my brazilian friend, Mr. JV. we used to go out for SUSHI and SASHIMI, had great fun together. he moved to brazil last april and opened a restaurant in sao paulo. he says business is running good, very busy but he's got very good chef and servant lady, working hard.

a photo of his restaurant called AZUL BANANA or "Blue Banana" and the chef and servant lady.

right in front of the beach. beautiful location

he had some trouble with his employees. drinking a customer's beer...

when he is not watching... he said he fired the guy in red t-shirt and exiled him to japan. i told him that i will watch him when his is here.

i'll see you in brazil, Mr. JV.

dear santa...

2009-12-24T19:54:00.002+09:00

i know that i haven't been a good boy, i forgot to change the water in the george's fish tank last week... but i really really need your help. i want a set of harley-davidson made screaming eagles camshaft for my xr1000. it's already 24th of december here but we are about 7hrs ahead of you so i thought i can still make it. please, santa, i will be a good boy... i promise...
last monday, my mate and i went to the circuit for the last ride of this year. it was cold but okay. after about 10min, i heard this dry hitting noise from my engine... today, we found #2 and #3 camshafts with missing gear tooth. the end. what a christmas!

PANHEAD

2009-12-08T21:41:00.003+09:00

panhead... i took it today to see my friend who lives in nagoya, some 40miles away. i've been riding it last 3yrs and not giving me problems. it came to zero engineering from us as a custom-base-bike and i bought it as it was. i changed the exhaust, handle bar, foot-controls, cleaned up the welding and pate on the 1950 frame... the motor is running good. it's 1962 flh. i don't know what kind of surprises put in it since it came from america but i am not going to see it until it breaks down.

more pics from tsukuba

2009-11-24T09:42:00.006+09:00

a couple of more photos from friends. because it's a clubman race so hardly ever gets on magazines. it's good to have friends around and taking photos.
it was the last race of this year. there was a big, big gap between 2nd and 3rd but it's still a podium finish.

i only started racing this year. in my last 22yrs of motorcycle riding i was never a person who would go for speed. i still think that if there wasn't zero engineering, if there wasn't kumagai-san (2nd on podium) working at zero engineering, i probably never thought about me racing.

a picture on the wall

2009-11-20T20:48:00.007+09:00

i got a new year's card with woodcut japanese lady on the back... i really liked it and it's been hung on my wall last 10yrs.
just last week, i was told that the friend who mailed the new year's card past away november last year and someone is opening an exhibit for 1yr anniversory of her. so i went.
She was a silver accessory designer... and cute fine lady with lovely smile

something that I like about my country

2009-11-15T20:15:00.003+09:00

a lot of people say, it's a beautiful country... no ague about it but i think when you come to something traditional, they are really beautiful.
everything is business nowadays but i appreciate people still carry out thisngs been done for long time.

my sister's wedding... nov 14, 2009

5hrs drive to Tsukuba

2009-11-11T10:51:00.006+09:00

preparing to leave for tsukuba. 2 harleys and 5 people are pushed into the toyota for 5 bloody hrs trip. thanks to our friend, shiga-kun for driving all the way and back.

we got to tsukuba around 3:30am, put out my sleeping bag outside and closed my eyes. a guard came to woke us up at 5:00am for a stupid reason... so our suday started.

it was warm for november in tsukuba, north of tokyo.

got a photo from one of zero engineering customers' friend who came from fukushima and helped us all day. 3 harleys are headding out for the qualifying session.

having a good time with good people

2009-11-09T20:05:00.005+09:00

i was asked to be an interpreter for an event organized by a city next to mine. i hesitated first because i had to do it for free but i thought about one of my friends who takes care of mentally disabled kids as her part-time job, i took the job.
it was a full day work, from meeting with city mayor to 2hrs newspaper interview... and reception party with beautiful dinner which i couldn't have because i had to come back for my real job.
Anyway, i was so glad that i took the job and met those sailors. i would love to see the city become the center of disabled sailing of Japan and Asia.

there was a lady from England, and she gave me that... knife-rest??? just like we have "chopsticks pillow." a beautiful gift, some 120yrs old... wow!

motivation and demotivation

2009-11-09T17:45:00.004+09:00

about a week ago, i had a chance to visit my favorite place.

although i love my xr1000 and i still think that xr1000 has the best looking engine, nothing can beat the beauty of moriwaki monster... i am one of those people who wish to be born a few decades earlier.

my race already finished yesterday but i wanted to put my blog in time order.

me and my mate went to the circuit nearby for the last check before the race. and of course, there is a problem. the point picker roter broke... i have ridden the bike last 10years over 45,000miles so things are starting to give me a little shit like this. but it was lucky that happened not during the race!!!

Since my blog title says...

2009-10-27T10:08:00.004+09:00

since my blog title says "everything but teaching", i should write something else than racing.
so, here is one... my very first paint job. not bad for someone never paint a signboard before.
i've been running my english conversation class for last 2yrs and i thought i better put some sign to let people know that i am here.

Back in business

2009-10-12T14:01:00.007+09:00

after 4 months of absent, the XR1000 is now back in business. engine seems running good. i just took easy today and checked if everything is okay. next race in tsukuba is less than a month away...

it doesn't look good... should i go a little deeper to clean the goo off the edge? no. it was already shaky at a couple of corners when my foot peg was scraching the track. better get rid of the front fork springs i've been using last 45,000miles.

package had arrived

2009-09-14T14:48:00.005+09:00

What the hell did I get...?

Yeeeeeeeeee yes!!!

4 pistons for 2 cylinder Harley?? It's just because the manufacturer can take minimum order from 4 pistons. but no worries. 2 of them are actually one-hundredth inch larger than other 2.

They came with precision laser measurement data!!!

It's a Christmas!!!!!!!

a harley at Fuji Speedway

2009-09-07T09:06:00.004+09:00

When Valentino is taking another GP victory at San Marino, when Ben is finally taking the championship lead in Germany, a black ordinary looking Harley Davidson XL1200 was dominating Fuji Speedway track...

Watching a friend racing is fun but it's always better to be in the race. I gotta get that new pistons and get my XR1000 running...

i'm not ready yet...

2009-08-18T17:27:00.000+09:00

...?