Ross' Hooligan Racer - Shed Built Cagiva flat tracker

Matt, you've got two Kojima Grand Canyons on the bike shed fleet. Ross! Oh, that was them earlier! So, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was saying how there are two Kojima Grand Canyons on the bike shed fleet. My daily hack and Ross's race bike. So, Ross, for the uninitiated, explain to them what a Kojima Grand Canyon is. Well, first thing, Kojima, it's not Ka-guy-ba, Ka-gee-va, or anything like that. It's Kojima. Kojima. The name comes from the Castiglione family, Giovanni is the son, and then Varese is the place where the factory is based in northern Italy, so Kojima. I didn't know that. You didn't know that? No, good. Okay, so this was the precursor to the Multistrada, post-Elephant, which was a really great bike. They produced this, which, let's face it, is really fucking ugly. So don't be rude about your bike, it's not a pretty motorcycle. I bought it because of the engine. I had a Monster 900, which was my bike that I wanted, but it was far too small for me, so I wanted something with the 900 Ducati engine. It's still hot. And the twin filler caps made me very happy as well. So, a tall Monster 900 engine was the theory for me. And wife goes on the back. Yeah, come to this hell. But you have one of these, exactly the same, don't you? I did, I had one in dog knob red, I didn't have the fancy black like you've got. I put luggage racks on it, big aluminium panniers, everything but the kitchen sink, and rode around Europe for, I went back to the factory a couple of times, in Varese, met Giovanni. Did you? Yeah, he told me about the Kojima name, where it came from. Good. So that's how I was initiated. Yeah, I had a great time touring around, clocked up 15,000 kilometres, 10,000 miles, whatever it was. And this is that bike? This is what's underneath one of those. So, some scrope tried to steal my one, broke all the steering lock and everything. So I thought, what better thing to do than turn it into a dirt bike racer. So I took all of the plastic stuff off that you've got there, and then thought I'd do a quick BMW GS tank over the top, stick a seat on and go and do a dirt bike. But I got completely carried away, watched some Shinya Kimura videos and thought, that looks really interesting, I'll make an aluminium thing. And this is what I've ended up with. So where did you start? I started, hopefully camera down, you can stick some pictures in of all the cardboard mock-ups I've made, plaster of Paris stuff and all the rest of it. I then ordered just a big sheet of aluminium, got some snips out and started trimming away. I actually sort of copied what Red Max did in Norton. Do you remember from show one or two? Oh, the swindler? Yeah, the green thing. I copied the shape of that slightly, so thanks for that Steve. Formed this tank cover, just sort of bending it over my knees and trying to get the shape right. But the fuel tank itself is underneath, this is just a dummy. I'll show you that if you like. These bits. This is the key? That's the key. Torx bit. This is the Torx bit, this isn't the key. I'm not quite sure which number, that's the cap. So I designed it to come apart in case of an accident. So the fuel cap actually holds the tank on itself. It's not a tank, it's a fuel cell. A fuel cell. So it's a first hybrid flat tracker. What's all the numbers written on here? So these are for your grid position, so race 24, front row, grid slot 2. And these are from the UK Dirt Track Series? Yeah, so I raced this last couple of years in the Hooligan Championship. I'm not quite sure what happened last year. I think I got third overall, but it never got announced. And this year I did get third. So it's been a pretty good bike to ride. It was competitive until the Indians said, well don't show the people my gash welding. Show the nice side. So the reason I built this bike, apart from the dirt quake aspect, was I wanted to learn how to weld, how to fabricate. I've never welded aluminium before. So initially I made this tank section, gaffer taped it all together, masking taped it all together, gave it to a welder. But unfortunately, a fucking twat left all of the masking tape inside. So it's got baffle plates to stop fuel surge and a collector pot. So he left all the masking tape inside. Then when it got hot, the masking tape melted, dropped down, sat in the collector, and blew the pump. And that was what went wrong with Dirt Strike 1? There's a picture for you, Cameron, down there. I think you were helping me out that day trying to make it work. So that was 2014? 2014. So I got it working in 2015. I had to cut a big hole in the tank to fish the bits of tape out. And I thought, well, while I'm there, I'll stick a battery in. So I've got this anti-gravity lithium battery. And was this the first welding you did? This bit here is the first bit of welding I tacked on this bike. So it's pretty hit and miss and a bit crap. But I then practiced loads underneath there, blew holes in it all over the place. And then because I thought this sub-5 litres wasn't quite enough capacity, I'll do a reserve tank. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking I was going to do, like the Indy Mile or something. So there's another 4 litres in there. So again, there's baffle plates running all the way through the little slots to prevent surge. And that's the filler there. And this charring here from the exhaust? Slames and exhaust. Slames and exhaust and fuel. Yeah, but it hasn't set fire yet. And again, this is a recent modification because, again, this was designed with two tiny little M4s here. So if I do crash, they just snap off, the Velcro comes away, and I don't have to remake this. Well, that's got a bit loose, so I've had to run a bit of an upgrade. And the pipes? You made the pipes? I don't have those pipes. No, you don't have these. Well, you do. You've got the same as this. The header is the same. This is actually a new one from the eBay because Dimitri Cost bent my original one. Thanks, Dimitri. But I made this rear section, and I made these silencers. It's bloody loud. It is bloody loud. Again, this was my first go at stainless steel welding, so viewers, don't take the piss too much. And this new lock wire holds it all together because since it all got bent at Hell's Race this year, it flaps around a bit. So that's just to keep it together. This subframe, you made this too? Yeah, I did. This is lovely. I like this. This is stainless steel. This is when I was using a bit of space at CRC, Will Allen's place. He persuaded me to squidge the ends of this stainless steel tube and set that in. But I do hate the bloke because he said, why don't you put this little 15-degree kink in here just to make it look nice? But that made making the aluminium battery box an absolute nightmare to fit because I wanted to do it without any visual bracketry or fixing. So that's hidden with little tabs in there and a plate under here. Is that probably electric? Yeah, it's a real dog's dinner in there. There's lecky spaghetti everywhere. And the ECU is kind of just wedged in. Frankly, I'm amazed it's done two scenes of racing. I thought I'd do the first race and pack up. So it's done pretty well. Positively reliable. It is. It's probably one of my most reliable bikes. This is the standard swingarm, isn't it? Stock swingarm. What happened here? That was actually, when I was on my trip, I got a bit enthusiastic. Do some green laning with the boxers on. Did a little jump and it wedged down on the racks. Splendid. And then pinged back up again a few hours later. So it's been a really, really fun tool. But the major problem with it is there's not enough steering lock. Steering lock. So I've had many, many crashes. No, I've already gone as far as I can go. And on the tank here, you'll see that, you know, before a few races, I've either gone at it with a hammer or just smashed the stanchions in to try and get a bit more. But that's basically been the cause of most of my accidents on it. High sides. High sides, yeah. Hence the name, the high sides. So, yeah, I'm not going to race it again. Frankly, trying to keep up with the Indians is pretty impossible. They're rapid, aren't they? They are rapid. I mean, they've probably got 40% more horsepower. And this is still running stock suspension that you've got, although probably a bit more dampened than you. Because I've broken mine. My rear shock's a bit collapsed. But it's a standard motor. Yeah, it's all completely standard. Obviously, this is where the air box goes. So that's gone. So I've just got Ram Air socks on there, which are sort of wedged in there, and they're a bit over-choked. But it does the job. It does. It runs good. Yeah, the motor has been absolutely fantastic. Anyone out there who moans about Italian bikes and electric, particularly Ducatis, fuck off. This has been the most reliable bike I've ever had. I've won reg-reco on it. But that's my own fault for concentrating on, when I was going on my trip, making sure that I had everything when I was going on my trip, making some exhaust fit, rather than checking the wiring. But it's, as I say, the most reliable bike I've ever had. Bought it in 2009 off eBay. Stuck it in the back of a car. Yeah. I think I've got a picture of that down there, see? It's amazing. I've never done a thing to it. I've done belts. I've never done valve clearances. It's had oil changes. That's it. It's amazing, actually, as to how that tiny, live little bike lives underneath all of this. So anything we haven't covered. Wheels are standard? Yeah, stock wheels. So 17 at the back, 19 at the front. They're Akron. Nice gold ones. Yeah, anodised gold. They look really nice, don't they? Yeah. And, yeah, it's a Haider now. I think it's K73. And for anyone out there who's moaning that I've got it on the wrong way round, it is on the wrong way round. But this side is cooked. So I've flipped it to have half a chance of keeping up with the Indians at Peterborough. You only need one side, then. Exactly. I only need one side. Shock. Stock shock. I've never even twisted a thing on it. I never knew what they did. So I've just left it as it is, and it's been fine. But your one's buggered, hasn't it? My one is peed all over the floor. It's completely collapsed. Stamping's gone. So I don't know what settings this is on for your next one. But you've upgraded, haven't you? You've got a fancy one. Yeah, I've got an extra tall one. A tall one? Yeah, I'm excited. Where did you get that from? A tall one for heavy people. Hagen. Oh, nice. Nice. So, yeah, that'll be good. Clutch. Not done anything to that apart from just stick a couple of washers behind. It sounds great. It also stops getting too hot. Yeah. So if you're buying 150 quid or whatever they are, cover or drilling a cover, just a couple of cheap washers in there. Yeah. Cheap fix. I love this bit. Vicious. It's over-engineering. Right. I was panicking, as I did with the fuel, panicking that things wouldn't be right. I was trying to get some air to the rear cylinder. So I made this air scoop that was also a throttle mechanism protector. Right. Cool. It took fucking hours. As everything did on this bike. Everything took me far too long. Quick brake fuel connectors. I thought I was going to be entering some AMA championship or something. But it was all good fun. And, of course, no front brake. No front brake. That's not allowed in flat tracking. There is a rear, but that never really worked from the day I got it. This is a bit twisty. Yeah. Actually, that was at least around here, and I thought that was my race over at Hell's Race, and sort of no chance of getting it back. Jamie Courtney, one of the guys I raced with, got a ratchet strap around there, around the foot leg, and just kept going. I looked away. I thought, there's no way Aluminium is going to make it back. Genuinely, it was back here. Got it all the way back. Yeah. Great. This is great. Hardcore. That was the big plastic lump on the standard one. Yeah. That, I thought, was a necessity. If nothing else, these don't have a center stand. So, when you want to change a sprocket, or a tire, or something like that, you can just find a log and whack that on. Yeah. Good things. And don't forget to change the belts on yours. No, the belts need to be on. It's really easy. Anyone out there who struggles with the concept of doing Ducati belts, it's so simple. The covers are right here. Everything comes off. It plugs out. You get a socket on this side. Turn the engine over. Plop the new belts on. And then, you've heard about the Allen key trick, haven't you? Yeah, when you run it around the. . . Yeah, you get the. . . There's the tensioner there. And the belt runs behind it. And you do a 5 mil and a 6 mil, I think. And you just. . . Double check. You just flick the. . . Try and flick the Allen key between the belt and the tensioner. And it should feel stiff. It should just pop through. And you have a bit of a bigger gap at the back cylinder, because this one runs a bit hotter. So, obviously, it all needs a nice. . . An A-screw. An A-screw, yeah. The Kojima guys obviously missed that one out in their R&D side of things. Shall we stick the tank back on and make it look pretty again? Yeah, we need to get this back in the shop. So, all in all, it's rough and ready and it's a bit of a bodge, but it was a learning curve. I really enjoyed it. I mean, it was stressful. I think I spent six straight weekends sleeping on the workshop floor at Will's CRC workshop. To get it done, most of that was sort of seat time, just staring, working it out. Planning. Planning, and not having anyone there to sort of bounce things off. It's really difficult. But I'm pretty pleased with how it's turned out. It's a great thing. I'm going to retire it now, because it's just got a massive crash written all over it and I'm bored of hospital. So, I don't know where I'm going to put it. Maybe in your shop. Probably. Retire it to your shop. Maybe up here somewhere. Yeah. Noise test. Yeah, this is your one. It's not bad. Come on then. A bit louder. You broke my mic.