Part Two

Welcome to Part Two of Project NSR Mini. Part two shows some major improvements with this mini bike since Part One. I never got a chance to do as much work on the NSR mini as I wanted to with my busy work schedule. Now winter has come, the bike is in storage and I have gathered all kinds of new and used parts.
47K - Click for full size image The tires on Project NSR Mini were in very bad shape. The center was worn out and the tires had small cracks in them. These tires had probably been sitting for years with no use and were dangerous to ride on.
My good friend Tak had a brand new set of IRC high grip street tires lying around and gave them to me. I was so happy !! Thanks Tak !! Larry and I pulled off the old wheels and had the new IRC sport tires installed. 62K - Click for full size image
54K - Click for full size image With the new tires installed and cleaned up wheels the bike looked better, Though the NSR was not really perfect, Larry and I took the little mini out for a test drive. Immediately we could feel a huge difference in the front end and the way the bike felt. What a difference. Project NSR was starting to come along.
So now we had the bike looking a little better, running not too bad and could be driven around the block. But more things needed to be done. One of the first things I wanted to change was the old rusted chain that was in awful condition. A new RK GS420MS Gold chain was selected from a local parts shop. 73K - Click for full size image
89K - Click for full size image While I was shopping for the RK Gold chain at Nankai Buhin ( Local parts shop ) I decided to buy brand new sprockets as well, since it was a perfect time for an upgrade and the stock sprockets were worn badly. I selected a lightweight Posh blue colored hardened aluminum rear sprocket in the stock size. Front sprocket was also changed as well.
With the new chain and sprockets installed on Project NSR Mini things were looking even better. Another surprise was how much easier it was to push the bike around when the engine was not running. It was so much more smoother and almost no drag at all. A major improvement. 54K - Click for full size image
65K - Click for full size image An ongoing problem we had with this NSR was a loss of power from 4,000 Rpm's at certain times. Larry and Tak both suspected the old Daytona CDI unit. We decided to order a brand new Posh CDI SP Gold unit and see how it worked. Old Daytona "Wonder Spark CDI " pictured above the Posh box for comparison.
After installing the new Posh CDI we started up the engine and the bike immediately revved freely up to the 12,000 RPM redline. What a difference !! The bike was running pretty good. We took Project NSR Mini on some more test runs and were both amazed how well the bike was running compared to before. 97K - Click for full size image
83K - Click for full size image I picked up this Kitaco 140km/h speedometer at a huge summer bargain sale and decided to install it along with a new speedo cable. Future plans will probably see a late model tachometer and a new foam face plate with digital temperature gauge.
With the bike running pretty good now, we decided to take Project NSR Mini it to a local go-cart track and test it out. Unfortunately a Typhoon came along the following day and it poured rain for like one week straight so those plans were canceled. 65K - Click for full size image
58K - Click for full size image Finally the rain stopped and a few minor road tests were performed on the bike. ( Never did make it to the race track ) We were still having carb setting problems and experimented with various settings. The bike was running but I am not pleased right now. When it gets a bit warmer I plan to work on the setting and may go back to the stock airbox setup with a Daytona Turbo filter or a possible new and slightly larger carb set up.
Another little problem with this bike right now is the seized rear brake caliper. We did not use the rear brake for testing. I have another caliper now and will be rebuilding that soon. After the caliper and a little more carb work Project NSR Mini will be ready for some real testing and I plan to get it registered for road use. 55K - Click for full size image
That is all for Part Two. The next chapter will see major modifications to the brakes and suspension plus a few small accessories. I hope to get this project on the road faster if time and money allows. Stay tuned for Part Three.........

Part One

Special thanks to Larry for all his help with this bike while on vacation in Japan. He helped me out big time and made me realize again how fun these little bikes really are. Part three coming soon !! Thanks Larry !!