gmbnj

I just got my nitro faor bike. It is biult and I am having a very hard time keeping it up and making turns.

The side guards that are meant to help it, seem to make hard turns impossible as it hits them and then just lays down.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions for a newbie ?

nuovaic

I got loads. But first, a bit of info is needed. What steering setup have you got - springs or silicone? and what length are the springs or the silicone? Is the steering reversed? (ie turn left on your transmitter should make the wheel turn right). Is the rake angle at maximum? Is there a steering damper fitted? Is the steering balljoint on the top triple free or stiff?
Of course it could just be that you just need to get used to it. It's not the same as driving a car. Try thinking about using the steering to nudge the bike into a lean rather than just plain steering. And bear in mind if the bike is travelling too slow it will just want to fall left or right very easily, if it's travelling very fast, it may not want to steer at all due to the stronger gyroscopic effect of the wheels. Look in the technical page here - www.nitrobike.co.uk and use the links to the Skipton site, there should be enough there to keep you going for a while

John

gmbnj

I am using the silicone for steering. I tried the spring set up but felt the silicone was better.

The steering is reverse and the rake is in the middle. There is a dampening shock for the rake.

So, should I set the rake at its maximum ? Meaning closer to the bike or farther away ?

Do you use the side protectors, do they get in the way of tight turns ?

Thank you for you help .

nuovaic

I have to agree. I use silicone on both my nitros, but it's not regular fuel tube, it's 10mm od exhaust silicone. But fuel tube is a good way to start, as you can experiment with different lengths.
Distance between servo shaft and steering rod is around 30mm on mine, but don't be afraid to try longer or shorter. Double check the balljoint on the top triple is not stiff, this is a common problem and will interfere with proper setup.
Ok, which ever way you have the steering setup, you should be able to hold the bike and shake it from side to side and see the front wheel move side to side too, without much movement of the servo arm. If this is ok, turn your transmitter full left and make sure the wheel moves full right. Same with the other side. Also make sure the steering centers at the same point when you return to neutral.
Rake should be at maximum (all the way out) Only on short twisty tracks would you be tempted to decrease the rake a little, but the downside is stability suffers.
If you still get steering problems, remove the steering shock and try it, but don't go too fast without it!
The side protectors are only there to gauge maximum lean angle. You can buy new piano wire and make your own, try shorter ones for more lean angle, or bend them up a bit. If the bodywork scrapes the ground mid corner, you got the lean angle too far. Also if the surface is not so grippy, you may have to limit the lean angle by extending the bars or bending down.
If you try to turn hard while dragging the bars, the front will wash away and steering will be lost. The bike will appear to slide sideways. Best to try just lightly touching the bars in the corners, if you find they are dragging too much, a touch of opposite steering or applying a bit of power will lift the bike a little, allowing it then to complete the turn without excessive scraping.
HTH!

John

gmbnj

John,

Thank you very much for your help.

For the rake, all the way out meaning the front wheel is farther rather than closer to the main frame ?

I will re check my steering . It does turn well without binding. I find that forks seem to bind a little though.

I am going to work on it tonighte and test it this weekend as I work all week.

I will let you know how it goes.

Also, do you store your bike on the stand with the front wheel in the air ? Does that realy help with the enging not getting flooded ?

nuovaic

Yup. Furthest out, more like a chopper.

No need to store the bike vertical, you only need it this way when starting, or immediately after running, just to keep the oily stuff out of the cylinder. Once you've finished for the day the best thing to do is empty the tank and / or run the engine till it runs out of fuel, then put around 10 drops of after run oil in the carb and turn the engine over to get it worked in. This helps neutralise any remaining fuel which is hydroscopic and can very quickly turn the inside of the engine into a rust bucket!

Have fun,

John

gmbnj

John,

Thanks again for your help.

I will hopefuly be on here MOnday morning posting how amazing the bike is .

The site you recomended was great.

They have some cool videos. Espeicaly the on board of the nova rossi bike, it looks like it will lift the front wheel off the ground.

nuovaic

It's the nature of these things that there will always be a problem or 2. Most things you can adjust, but adjusting one thing to make one thing better usually means something else doesn't work so well. But hopefully you've got a good starting point. The main thing is to practice, practice. Preferably on the same track then you can see the improvements.
If you watched the onboard camera videos you'll have seen it flip over in the second vid and at the end of the rearview cam vid. This really is something to be avoided as major damage is nearly always the result! Notice the screen goes blank as soon as soon as it flips, this was the camera battery flying away from the bike, I found it 25 yards away! The resultant somersault left bent forks, bent swingarm, misaligned and bent chassis, flattened exhaust and broken steering damper. No fun.
With that NR15 I had to limit the carb opening to 44% (on the transmitter) to avoid flips. At this setting the front lifts a little and it makes 'controlled' wheelies easier.
Oh I'm rambling again.

John

gmbnj

John,

Wow, I did not realize that was your bike inthe video.

My bike cam ewith the sirrio 15 motor. Is this motor strong enough for the bike ?

nuovaic

Unusual for it to come with a 15, Nuva Faor were selling the nitro bike kits in the US with a Sirio 12 which is a bit weak really. I brought one back from Vegas and tried it at the next UK race meeting in the dinner break and it was way slower than the Novarossi 12 that used to come with the kit. Pullstart problems and lack of power led me to ditch it in favour of the turbo head Novarossi 15 which is expensive, but ballistic by comparison!
But having said that, the Sirio 12 is probably a good 'starter' engine, then once that wears out, most people would have the experience by then to handle a motor with a bit more power.

John

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