On the transmission: It was my inability to understand how to shim an H2 transmission to the cases that connected me with Mark Doucette of R&D Motorsports.
Somewhat legendary in drag racing culture, renown for producing indestructible transmissions and with some new found respect for strengthening the transmissions on them Hardley’s on the ill advised Bagger Racing class over here, since 2020, Mark has somehow found the time take care of my H2 and RZ rebuilds by firstly magna-fluxing each component (checking for cracks) to ensure it is sound. He’s ruthless when it comes to diagnosing each part- if it’s not almost perfect it gets thrown out and you have to find another. (He's patient too.) He then gave the dogs a race cut which is almost mandatory in the drag race circuit. A swifter more engaged shift over your competitor can produce that slim margin to victory.
For me though, a simple dedicated street rider, I was just excited to have a specialist work on the H2’s and perform the black magic of the shimming. I have not regretted all the work I put into sending him the whole bottom case assemblies. I know that his attention on the transmission and Fast By Gast’s barrel and headwork (blueprinting only) would help me assemble strong motors that can handle the acceleration addiction that I succumb to every time I’m at the front and the light goes from red to green.
After witnessing the lack of care and attention that my NSR had been exposed to I decided the transmission needed Mark’s stamp of approval before I put it all back together. He magna-fluxed each component, replaced the bearings with OEM units that I provided, (I didn’t know about hybrid ceramics!) and then undercut the dogs. I think it looks beautiful.
I'll get a better pic of the dogs and throw it up here later...
Never having ridden one, I have no idea what to expect from this engine, but I think I’m doing my best to have all it's components perform well together by ensuring each and every part is checked out by me or a specialist. That’s the beauty of a two stroke. There aren't that many parts.
Which brings me to the NSR’s oil pump. The heart of the bike, who's failure, well, means death of a sort. With my LC’s: there’s a renown oil pump guru outside of Liverpool (UK) who has refurbed all my LC oil pumps- but that’s the only brand he likes to work on. I found someone in the US who checks over and heli coils the delicate alloy of H2 oil pumps. I’ve browsed through this forum but the time I dedicated to the search (probably not long enough) didn't help me find out if there’s anything I can do to prepare oil pump for more years of active service.
Apart from an 8mm washer and an o-ring, (ordered) the parts diagram shows the oil pump as assembly #3, one piece…no component breakdown illustrating replaceable oil seals etc….that says it all really. And then of course the service manual is quite clear: "Do to attempt to disassemble the oil pump." (to see how it works:0)
True- to avoid al anxiety- premixing might be the safest way to go but I really like all my projects to function exactly how they did when they rolled out of the factory.
Main shaft and countershaft bearings arrived and went straight into the freezer. Looking forward to this weekend!