January 22, 200818 yr only to see a rather large and menacing rattlesnake at my feet!!! I've squashed a puff adder on an RMX250 (I was on the RMX).
January 22, 200818 yr just found out my airbox is cracked and it,s melted on the exhaust side. Will repair the crack with some epoxy and fiberglass should i protect it for heat while at it ? or is there a problem with the exhaust being too close.
March 14, 200917 yr Thanks for all the advice above. I have been fixing up a basket case 348 over the past year. Mine was road registered 1979 frame number is 51M11660 I have trialed it a few times, each time I find something else to adjust or change. Today I am moving the condenser to under the tank. Re the exhaust system. Can anyone tell me ? Should the centre section of the exhaust have any kind of covering to stop the petrol tank getting so hot the paint melts? Mine has the GRP tank ie not the version that is a cover over a metal tank.
March 14, 200917 yr There probably should be a heat shield in there to protect the fibreglass, but they came standard without a heat shield. My exhaust is in contact with the fibreglass, so I suspect a shield or lagging would have to be quite thin to fit in there.
March 15, 200917 yr There was a strip of asbestos cloth glued to the inside of the fibreglas. Good luck finding one of those....
March 15, 200917 yr Could you neatly stick a layer or two of aluminium foil, say off a pie dish, to act as a shield? Steve
March 15, 200917 yr Could you neatly stick a layer or two of aluminium foil, say off a pie dish, to act as a shield?Steve Would that not just conduct the heat ? Loft insulation with foil and glass wool might work and should compress.
March 15, 200917 yr Get a modern fire blanket and use a strip of that maybe? They are now made of fire retardant woven glass fibre I think. Not sure how you could stop it all coming apart though! Just remembered I had a roll of similar stuff from when I made a Vac Forming machine last year. It's a gasket material used in industrial ovens. Pic attached. Wayne... Edited March 15, 200917 yr by wayne_weedon
March 15, 200917 yr Thanks for all the advice above.I have been fixing up a basket case 348 over the past year. Mine was road registered 1979 frame number is 51M11660 I have trialed it a few times, each time I find something else to adjust or change. Today I am moving the condenser to under the tank. Re the exhaust system. Can anyone tell me ? Should the centre section of the exhaust have any kind of covering to stop the petrol tank getting so hot the paint melts? Mine has the GRP tank ie not the version that is a cover over a metal tank. My 348 has the same problem........the fiberglass tank is burnt / melted from the heat of the exhaust touching it. The airbox is somewhat melted from the heat too. I'm in the process of sanding the exhaust pipe and sillencers now, and will soon paint them with Tremclad Hi Temp flat black paint. I'd like to sand and repaint the gas tank next. There are a few "JB Weld" repairs on the tank side that some previous owner has done to patch some holes, as well as the burnt area that'll need to be reinforced with epoxy and some woven glass cloth. Otherwise the tank is in good shape. Good idea on using asbestos or fiberglass cloth on the inside of the tank to insulate from heat. I'll have to come up with something similar too.
March 15, 200917 yr I have been using a plumbers mat. It doesnt look too neat as it is too big ( around 8 inches by 12). that stuff is about 6mm thick and is still a tight fit. I eventually sorted this out. The problem some have suggested is that the silencer is empty. that is the wadding has all blown out. I therefore cut open the silencer and packed it with glass wool. I have covered the hole with alluminium pop riveted so I can open it up again in future. This seems to stop the silencer getting so hot. The tank fibreglass is not suffering the heat like it was. Edited August 21, 201115 yr by bigshineybike
June 30, 201412 yr Hello and sorry to ask another question, but does anyone know how many genuine Malcolm Rathmell 348s were really made? How can you tell if its a genuine MRR and not a normal 348 with signature applied later? as I'm buying a bike that is claimed to be a genuine (circa 1976) MRR, it would also be useful to know their chassis numbers. Thanks for your help, Stefano Edited June 30, 201412 yr by stefanop
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