Wes Cooley Special Goes EFE

After a summer spent gardening I find myself back in the workshop this week and I couldn’t have picked a better time to be there.

The Wes Cooley Special with it’s two valve per cylinder motor chucking out about 110bhp posted some respectable times during a Track Day at Cadwell Park last week.

But – the two valver was deemed NFE (Not Fast Enough) and a Chris Mayhew tuned – big bore four valve EFE motor which has been sitting in the workshop for several weeks now is going in there instead —

No problem! They are both based on the stock motors used in the Suzuki GS1000 range so swapping them should be a doddle.

Not so! The four valve per cylinder motor was only used during the last two years of the production run and there are not too many of them about. The sump capacity has been increased to carry additional oil for the more powerful bike —

Which means the replacement motor fouls the frame bracing which had been added to keep the old tubular steel design from flexing under track conditions. An original fixed bottom frame lug has also to be chopped off and a new one fashioned —

A new straight front engine plate is sourced from the useful ‘swamp donkey’ —

to replace the original cranked version and while Buffalo gets down and dirty with his Tig welder I have a mosey round the workshop to see what else is happening —

This looks interesting —

It’s the old oil-cooled Suzuki seven fifty that I stripped down prior to refurbishment – in – oh – what seems like years ago —

It was to be a spare time project but there hasn’t been much of that in a busy year round race workshop.

The XR69 is also undergoing major mods to the front end. The XJR1300 sourced front forks are being shortened in house and fitted with Fireblade cartridges which should be a welcome improvement over the previous setup —

So there’s plenty for me to do but the Cooley Special has priority —

With the frame bracing plated and new fixed lug welded into the bottom rail it doesn’t take long to put that heavy lump of a motor back in —

and bolt her up tight —

Yes there are spacers of different lengths and diameters to be turned up in the lathe too but we get there by the end of the day —

The protruding gearchange shaft outrigger plate mountings are different which means a new carrier has to be fabricated —

That side cover bolthole arrangement is completely different too as is the extended threaded portion of the crankshaft. The two valver has a captive thread in the end of the crank instead of the protruding threaded piece—

The ignition setup will be completely changed and fitted to the opposite end of the crank and an easier to manage lithium/sumthin battery is on the cards for the space under the race seat hump —

But at least that lovely – lightweight titanium exhaust fits both motors —

The carbs have been test-fitted to ensure they clear the underside of the petrol tank. A higher capacity oil cooler and fittings to cope with the increased heat from the extra power are on their way and the revised ignition system has also been sourced. With everything coming together now the bike will soon be off to the dyno to have the carbs set up to match the more powerful four valve per cylinder motor and bhp figures north of 135 will be the target..

A test session is planned for the Wes Cooley Special at Aragon Circuit in Spain towards the end of this month before she is crated and delivered to South Africa where my friend Buffalo will ride her in a Classic Bike four race series over a three week period early in 2014.

The pairing finished fourth overall in the four race 2013 programme and will be hoping for even better things in the new year but with strong local competition such as ex-GP rider Les Zan Breeda on a well sorted – similar engined Katana it will be no easy ride for our former Scottish Champion and TT winner.

Wes Cooley Special Goes EFE