My 950 Refresh or Mission Creep...

Bitchen dude.

Mad Props.

Congrats on the house (and shop) Gregor. Personally - not a fan of the pinstripe idea. I like the idea of the topo map lines - or, take a line drawing of a citi-scape or recognizable "adventure" horizon. Merry Christmas to you and yours out on the West Coast.

I'm loving the thread, not so much the pinstriping, but it is your call.

Idea: These bikes already have an "interesting" profile, and I'd try for something that pulls the whole thing together a little rather than segmenting it even more. What if you tried the topo map idea straight through the lower section where the c/f tank guards are located. Sort of a lower beltline area. I think it would "lengthen" the look of the bike rather than make it appear taller, and perhaps in charcoal with a little orange vs. all orange. Kind of a "ghosting" look.

Just a thought, sweet bike all day long!

I agree with both of you guys - the pinstripes aren't really working... yet. Peter has a vinyl cutter so I might tap him to do some ideas and I'll try the topo idea the next time I'm back in a week or so. Not sure of what more there is to do as we wait on the gasket question so I'll see if we can finish the choke next week.

Gregor

Is it next week yet? Class starts Wednesday so I'm going to need something to read in class.

Are you ready for stage 2

Stage 2??? I'm still coming to grips with stage 1...

Stage two is going to blow your mind (what there is of it)

My deposit for stage two went out today... I'm committed. May need to sell another bike to cover this but it will be worth it. Guess it comes right back down to the frame again...:eek1

Gregor

Hmm...only reason to do that would be to get to the engine. Only reason to do something to the engine would be to bore and stroke it.

You need to start saving for gas and wreckless driving tickets.

It's not the only reason to take it down to the frame....


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Well I hope it's worth it.

I'm in parts gathering mode at the moment, just bought a motomaster caliper and disc matched with an se master cylinder, hope it fits.

It fits alright, custom made cardboard box and all !!!!!!!

Cheers Matt

Come on. A bit more info. At last this on top again.

Before we get absorbed in the next part of the mission creep ...

How is the choke coming along?

Also, on the topic of carbs & cold ... has anyone had any issues with icing with the FCRs?
The CV carbs are prone to this (in fact, on the ADV, I have an over-ride for the carb heaters and I leave them on all winter). Are the FCR's any more/less prone to icing?

Putting a crimp in things is that Judiaann and I are supposed to close on our house this week but the past month has been dealing with inspections, pre sale repairs and such. Hopefully we'll close in a week and then at the end of the month I'll load up my shop and drive it cross country to the new place.

My bike will be staying in NJ with Chris however.

But, on the choke front, Chris has gotten the lower section of the carb drilled out. He's hoping to have the pair finished this week and get them swapped onto my bike and test them out.

That of course is not enough reason to keep the bike or strip it down to the frame - no, the real reason to do that isn't even the big bore kit. The real reason is we're going to convert it to All Wheel Drive. It wasn't something on my radar even though I've been a fan of the Christini's since 2007 when I first test rode one with plans to enter it in the Rally Moto series. I was all set to convert my 525 race bike when the economy crashed and shelved that plan.

Fast forward 6 years and a fellow in Australia decided he wanted to convert his bike so of course the first person he called was CJ who is the first person to have converted a 950. CJ said he wasn't able to take on a one off conversion right now so that left our friend to search for another person. Chris' name kept coming up because of his work on his various chassis and race bikes. In order to avoid the trouble of importing an entire bike back to Australia it was going to be more efficient to do the work on just a frame and ship that back. But in order to test the whole thing Chris needed a complete bike. If only there were a complete 950 in the shop with an owner willing to convert his bike to AWD... Oh, wait, there is. Me!

I mean, hell, why not? Actually I've been a fan of the Christini's since I'd ridden them in 2007 and I'm surprised it's not more popular. I think CJ is a hero to have taken the first shot at making them and I hope he ends up going into production. A bike as big and heavy as the 950 gets a greater benefit from driving both wheels than the smaller bikes as it has a greater need for traction due to it's power and weight.

There's another reason I'm into to doing this which is perhaps a bit silly but it probably worth (to me) half of the expense: wheelies. It's never mentioned when people talk about the Christini's but when I test rode the bike it did a lot of amazing things like pulling it's self over obstacles, pulling the bike into corners in a power slide but the most amazing was it's ability to pull endless, stable and effortless wheelies. I can wheelie a few hundred yards but that's about it. On the Christini I wheelied about two miles down a twisty road - it turned me into Gino. It was glorious and that memory has never faded. I love me some wheelies.

So, there you have it. Ash at Christini has been a friend for a long time and they've pledged to help in any way they can - they're an amazing company. Chris is hoping and planning to have the bike done by April. In order to pay for it I will be selling about anything I can get my hands on. Anyone need a beautiful 09 Husaberg 450? It hurts me to consider selling it but this isn't going to be cheap. Cameras, guns, tools - it's all going on the block for this.

The big bore is still on the table. In fact Chris and CJ have spoken about it and might even join forces.

Chris will shoot a video once he get's the chokes sorted and hopefully that will be in the next week. After that the bike goes down to the frame again...

Gregor

Final Creep?

I get the feeling that nothing will ever be final on this bike.

Gregor is obviously a madman.

So maybe a dumb question or maybe not.

How does AWD improve wheelieability being that one wheel is in the air!?

I'm thinking that it's to do with the gyroscopic stabiliser effect of the front wheel being driven...

Correct, or is that just stupid? :huh