Dakar Dazed II - the return! Part 1: Project LC4-50

You guys!

On a slight tangent, if you've been reading this thread from the beginning you'll know it is our intention to prove the new bike (and specifically the engine) throughout the 2013 season...

We are hoping to debut the LC4-50 powered bike at the Hellas Rally in April, but in the meantime, John Mitchinson will be racing his 690 Enduro fitted with the new EVO2 tanks and fairing kit, together with the TracTive 300mm rear-travel shock as a 'chassis shakedown' at the Tuareg Rally in a little under two week's time!

John will be supported by Martin & Torque Racing of course, and I'll also be attending in an assistance capacity - specifically to provide press and PR for a number of riders, including inmates Schattat and LukasM, Neduro and Jean-Luc plus the rest of the US-based RMS / If You See Kay Wine team!

Please check in over at the 'Official Event Coverage' Thread for more info, my featured rider's profiles, plus daily updates, photos and news from the event as it happens from the 8th - 15th March!

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=865985

Jx

Hi Jen,

I'm in...thanks for the link.

All things being well, we'll see your bike in action in January.

Ray

Just a quick update: On the eve of our departure for the Tuareg Rally in Tunisia next week, John has had confirmation of the LC4-50 piston specification from the techy fellas at Cosworth... all being well, we should have a working [prototype] engine soon after our return from Tunisia!

In the meantime, you can follow John's progress on the 690cc engined EVO2 bike, together with my other highlighted riders and all the latest Tuareg Rally news here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=865985



I'd better start packing!

Jx

Very late to the party.... but IN for the duration, EXCELLENT project!!!

The outline route of the Dakar 2014 has been published today - seems Peru is off the menu, but Bolivia in the main course, with a starter in Argentina and the dessert in Chile... aha ha - see what I did there?!



Looking at the very rough map, it would seem the 2014 event is going to feature a lot more stages in the Andes mountains, followed by (presumably) a new type of terrain in Bolivia - tropical rain forest?, before navigating pretty much the whole length of the Atacama desert in Chile... a proper 'adventure ride' in three distinct parts I imagine? - one thing for sure, it's going to be epic!

Jx

Living in Peru myself, I am really bummed that we will miss it!

But I guess I am alot closer than most! Still, I will make sure I don't miss it

Im new on here so am very (very) late to the party! (Sorry). Ive just read my way through most of the thread. Jenny, this is a cool project and im extremely curious to see the results of all yours and Johns hard work! Superb. +1 subscribed! Are you still on track for a prototype at Hellas? SB

Hi SB! - nice to see you here too!

The start of the Hellas is getting dangerously close now of course, but we have a plan in place - and are hoping to have the engine together either just before or just after Easter - then we can get it in a chassis and build a bit around it, even if it is an 'enduro light' version for Greece...

As I'm sure you'll appreciate, we'd like to get at least a few UK miles on it - if only to make sure the fueling and everything is sorted - before we head down to Greece... I'm standing by!

Jx

Love it. It just wouldnt be right for it not to be all 'seat of the pants' timing for the last push Good luck!

Great thread J mo. The crank/piston package are a great idea. Are there any other tech details out there for general consumption???

Hi Pete!

With everything around the Tuareg Rallye earlier this month, things have been a little in the background - but we are hoping to have the engine reassembled soon after Easter.

We are hoping that minimal other changes will be required to the engine - other than an EFi remap of course... one suggested [possible] concern is the size of the throttle body effecting the power characteristics, but until we can get a running engine on the dyno, we won't know for sure...

As for the rest of the bike, the idea is for it to remain pretty much stock 690R spec - although it will have the usual front suspension upgrades that John & Martin build into their rallye-prepped 690s - that is longer travel EXC forks; together with the new TracTive rear shock that can offer up to 300mm rear travel, and on-the-fly adjustable preload and damping... certainly the riders on the Tuareg who had that shock fitted to their 690s noted a marked improvement to the suspension action.

I'm hoping to have some photos etc by next weekend, and am really looking forward to getting the new engine into a chassis to properly test the package!

Jx

Great to see you are up and running again!
See you in Greece!

So looking foward to all the updates and storys of the big build up to the DAKAR,cant wait.

Nice jacket John

Really interested to see how the LC450 motor performs on the dyno. A lot of development work goes into engines these days so I'm interested to see how many iterations you will have to go through to get the performance out of it.

Great concept. Great looking bikes too with the Evo2 tanks

I'm late to the party but subscribed.

Lyndon

Can you give a little more details about the suspension mods? There are quite a few 690 riders who would like to upgrade the short travel suspension as it comes from the factory. This kit alone for a naked enduro sounds like an excellent upgrade.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Hi Sparrow' - John (KTMmitch) is your man in the suspension department... I'm sure he will be along soon to discuss the options and recommendations...

In the meantime, I believe there are two ways - one is to simply replace the fork legs with EXC equivalents, the other is to increase travel internally, as I understand the R model forks actually have the same length stanchions, just with a shorter spring and damper stack. However, I think things are further complicated for 2013 model year onwards, as the fork offset has been changed at the triple clamp (to improve steering angle), and the fork bottoms correspondingly altered to retain the original trail dimentions...

As I say, Guru John will explain in more detail shortly I'm sure...

Jx

Well, did it go bang ?

Ho ho!

To be honest, it would be nice if it made any noise at all! - At the moment things are 'slightly delayed' on the engine front, but hopefully we'll have something together soon...

Jx

In the meantime... I finally got my WR450 back together (it's been running for a while now already, I just had to fit a new drive chain) and actually rode it again this evening for the first time since my crash in January 2011... that's over 27 months ago now!!! Doesn't time fly?!



I am still waiting for a few fuel hose fittings to arrive before I can plumb in all the tanks, but I have to say it looks fantastic with the new (design) fairing and twin LED headlights fitted:



More (finished) photos to follow in the daylight!

Jx

:ddog
Patiently awaiting the action shots! Congrats on being back in the saddle.