NBT- I'm going racing 😳

[Tricky]

I have to question why you didn't start with a somewhat different bike ? Something a little nicer.. What was the logic on this one and why did you go for it ? As with all bikes, i'm sure it can be made to be a cracking bike... but seems like you've made it a bit harder for yourself for winter.

You and me both!

But whatever I started with ( apart from this one) , I'd need to do pretty much what I'm going to have to do to this one, it's just degrees of it.
Before I bought this one I looked for a road bike to " convert" - as Bob rightly says, the rules are very tight, right down to what manufacturer needles and jets you can use in the carbs (OE Suzuki only, no Dynojet etc parts allowed), so most of the conversion is removing the lights , stands , etc, changing the rear shock to something better (free rein there), sorting the forks as best as you can (only springs and oil are allowed to be changed), and the usual lock-wiring etc.

Looking for a suitable bike, the reality was almost all of the road bikes were corroded to fuck shitters, or what I considered to be significantly over-priced if they weren't- maybe this sort of bike (cheapy commuter/hack) means that people typically don't look after them as much as they would, say a sportsbike, dunno.

Whatever, in the end I came down to a choice between the one I bought, or this one.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296074404474 ... media=COPY

Now this one I think is lovely, and how I would do it if starting from scratch- had some long chats with him and he's a sound guy , knows what he's doing and and I think put a lot of care into the build. He sent my loads of pics, and if you add up the cost of the bits and a half-decent starter bike it's maybe not a bad deal, but he won't budge on price, and when I added up what extra I'd have to spend on it (discs for the bare spare wheels, wets, etc) I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for a track-only 600 Bandit, although I would have gone to £3k- it's been up for sale for a couple of months now, but he's firm with his price still.

Maybe I would have ended up buying that one this month or next month if I hadn't found this one, but I did, and it was what I thought was sensible money for what I've got- if I'm honest, the fact that it's wearing my old CRC/New Era race number from the 1980s also made me think it was fate ( well a bit )
It was a fraction of the cost of the yellow one, and if I cost in my effort at zero, will cost me a lot less to get it to a similar state , well fingers crossed it will anyway!

Oh and yes, the brake calipers- they were apparantley part of the original build paint as in the pic below- the grey it's currently in is his primer half-arsed attempt at , err, smartening it up that he never got around to finishing after a trip down the road and through a gravel trap

[weeksy]

Yeah £3800 is a lot on a bike that's not your pride and joy and more a functional thing, so i can easily see how it'd stack up.

Out of interest you could take your panels/paintwork to MSG and get Greedy to paint (well, the guy they use) in whatever colours he's getting his done next year... i've seen their work and it's great.

I'm sure your one will scrub up nicely mate..

[Supermofo]

Must admit rough and ready is fine with me for track bikes and race bikes as long as they work.

[Tricky]

Cheers- got a horrible feeling that going public like this I am going to embarrass myself with my lack of speed, but , well, fuck it, I'm an old fecker now so I've ( sort of ) got an excuse, but however I do, am going to have fun

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Cheers- got a horrible feeling that going public like this I am going to embarrass myself with my lack of speed, but , well, fuck it, I'm an old fecker now so I've ( sort of ) got an excuse, but however I do, am going to have fun

You'll be faster than all the people that aren't racing, doesn't matter if you're slow, what matters is that you enjoy yourself.

[Nobby]

Nice. Good decision. Get it done while you're still able. Life catches up with you twice as fast as our age.
Would have loved to have popped along and given ill advised words of wisdom, but I think you'll do just fine.

[Horse]

Have them on the brakes.

Isn't there a 'gan it reet over' bit of advice too?

[Bigyin]

Looking for a suitable bike, the reality was almost all of the road bikes were corroded to fuck shitters, or what I considered to be significantly over-priced if they weren't- maybe this sort of bike (cheapy commuter/hack) means that people typically don't look after them as much as they would, say a sportsbike, dunno.

We use them as student bikes as they are pretty bombproof engine wise and when students lob them fairly easy to fix without loads of plastic to damage. I have noticed on a couple of our older ones there is a cross member just under the oil cooler and behind the downpipes that can rust to fuck if not kept an eye on due to all year use but a race bike should be fine.

You are right about prices being stupid for road bikes as we have had to hunt about to find a replacement for one of ours that was written off. They are holding silly money for not exceptional condition bikes. Dunno if our right off is going to be kept for spares or sold on to break as the forks are bent from what i remember but the rest of the bike is in fairly good condition and i think is a Mk2 version

[Tricky]

Time for a bit of an update- It's now an the bench and as of yesterday, this is how it currently looks




I have to admit, as I’ve started to pull it to bits @weeksy 's comment on the first page ringing around my head, as the amount of work I’ve got to do, particularly with the new (potential) deadline I have coming up is a little daunting, and I am starting to wish I’d bought that nice spangly fresh one I linked to, but more of that later...

So what have I found?

If I’m honest, then I guess the answer is nothing that I wasn’t expecting, and so far, nothing too bad, but there are a fair number of little things that are just either really tired or plain nasty and have to be sorted.

So, in order of time-criticality…

1. Get the tank, set, bellypan, and mudguard prepped and painted, or probably more likely wrapped.
Have thought about doing it myself, but although I have a compressor, at this time of year it’s too cold/damp to spray outside, and without massive re-organization, I don’t have anywhere inside I could do it- but most importantly, even if I did, it would still be shit, as I can’t spray for toffee, and have never tried wrapping.
So I need to find a painter, and sort that horrible seat, and do a bit of repairing to the bellypan before it goes in anywhere.
The tank has a good few minor dents and scrapes, but I’ll be leaving those- if whoever I get to paint or wrap it says it needs to be better, then hopefully they can sort it but let’s face it, it’s a 20-year-old race bike so it doesn’t need to be, and won’t ever be concours.
Wrapping appeals to me primarily because the job is less involved, and hence I’m hopeful it would be quicker- painters are notoriously bad at sticking to given timescales IME

2. Get swing-arm, calipers, fork lowers and a few other miscellaneous bits and pieces blasted and painted / powder coated.


There’s a real old-school powder/ stove-enameler on an old farm a couple of miles up the road from me, doesn’t have a web or socials presence, and doesn’t really answer the phone, but has an excellent reputation for both quality and sticking to timescales, so will take a little trip up there tomorrow with the swingarm, and ask him if he can do the other bits too

3. Continue stripping the bike- removing downpipes, forks etc, and thoroughly clean / refurb or replace anything that needs it along the way- there are a mish-mash of fasteners here and there which have already made me very itchy, and need replacing with quality and uniform ones.

4. Rebuild the carbs
They are on the bench now ( complete with ye-olde bunsen burner fuel pipe ) - as I mentioned earlier it runs rough from cold, so will get them apart and go through them.


Along with whatever bits I may have to buy for the carbs, it will of course get new throttle cables as the current one (no push, only pull on this) is, um, a bit tired…


Unsurprisingly, the rubbers from the head to the carbs are like granite, so much so that I had a real struggle getting the carbs out of them, so they will be replaced. And ideally, if I can find a Mk1 airbox in decent nick, I’ll replace that too as a couple of the plastic tangs that hold captive nuts that hold the back cover on and secure it to the frame are broken, so it’s been cabled-tied.
Once the carbs, airbox and exhaust are back on, I’ll run it up to temp and do a compression test ( yup should have done this before I started pulling it apart but I didn’t ), to give me a feel for the condition of the top end of the motor- I have everything crossed that it will be good and I won’t need to be pulling the motor out and to bits, but alongside a complete engine service one other thing I will definitely be doing is removing the clutch cover and that hideous bodgers orange silicone and re-fitting with a nice new gasket



When all that’s done, I’ll re-build the brake calipers ( assuming I consider them serviceable), replace wheel bearings, probably fit a different master cylinder too, and tidy up some of the wiring as although it’s got the key things mounted up under the back of the seat on an ally plate, there are some less-than-ideal connections here and there



And also one or two “spare wire” mysteries to be investigated







And I need to fit and wire a rain light in- not quite sure why it doesn’t currently one one, maybe it was removed prior to the re-paint, and never got re-fitted after, as pretty sure it wouldn’t get through scrutineering without one, anyway, it will get one, and a nice blingy shift-light up front too.

Another decision I have to make is what to do about the rear shock.



It’s an old OE CBR600RR unit of indeterminate age- it felt OK just bouncing up and down on the rear before I pulled it apart ( well it had some noticeable damping effect ), but if I had to guess I’d say it must be at least 15 years old, and will be well past it’s best, which probably wasn’t brilliant brand new, so although I don’t want to go mad budget-wise on this, I think I’ll start hunting around for something a bit fresher and hopefully better performing.
The good news if that all the linkage and swing-arm bearings were nicely greased and feel good, so they shouldn’t need to be replaced.



Once that’s all back in and the seat and belly pan are back from painting/wrapping, then I need to turn my attention to properly securing them- the current method of attachment to the frame (cable ties only in the case of the belly pan) really is horrible, and the seat is a faff to get off unless you have really tiny hands to get up inside to get a spanner on nuts, so at the very minimum that needs some captive nuts welding onto brackets.

The battery box was also being supported by the rear shock reservoir so that obviously needs a little bit of fabrication attention too...



That'll do for now- more to follow as I go.

Oh, and that deadline- until a couple of days ago it was late Feb or the first week of March at an absolute push ( as that’s when my CTC assessment day is), but my Minitwin riding mate Tim has just booked Cartagena for first week of Feb as a shake-down sort of test for his (new to him) bike, so am currently considering trying to get on that too, albeit
1. I’m really not a fan of the track, although admittedly it's one of the more suitable ones for a relatively low-powered bike like a Bandit or Minitwin
2 I think the 2-hour lunch breaks there are tedious.
3. And the chances are it will piss down ( it did the last time we went and that was in March) - this of course really wouldn't be such a bad thing on this trip, and in fact would probably be good as I'll eat my pants if we don't get any wet races this year. The trouble the last time we went was that the rain was so hard they shut the track for the first day as it was unrideable.

But, whether I go to Cartagena or not, realistically I need to get out on it before the first meeting, and chances of decent weather there are higher than they are in the UK in Feb or early March.

And after looking over his (very nicely prepped) SV and enjoying a couple of beers with him last night there is also potentially another option- I am now seriously considering reversing my original decision ( again ) and buying one of those and going in Bemsee Minitwins with him instead
Anyway, the jury is currently out on that, we will see....

[2xtwins]

Wow......you don't make life easy for yourself, eh, Rich.

Plenty to do and four or five weeks less to do it in , but I'm sure you will, as long as the painters/powder coaters/wrappers do their bit.

As for the MiniTwin idea, Bemsee has a good spread on the grid there but you'll definitely come across some young, hungry racers there

Whatever, great to see you're making progress on the sorting out of the old girl. Top man

Kev

[weeksy]

And after looking over his (very nicely prepped) SV and enjoying a couple of beers with him last night there is also potentially another option- I am now seriously considering reversing my original decision ( again ) and buying one of those and going in Bemsee Minitwins with him instead
Anyway, the jury is currently out on that, we will see....

All race bikes will have 'things' even his... when you start pulling it apart.

However, that said... IMO racing with mates is WAYYYYYYYY better than not. If he's not at some of your races as not the same organiser, than in truth it massively detracts from the experience. You're not there for getting a WSB ride, sorry mate... You're there for the laughs, the banter, the joking.. For that you want the friends around you. It's made even better if they're in the same race as you ..

The idea, i'd say, has merit.

Clean up the Bandit, flog it on and get the SV650...

[Skub]

I think that horn wire is meant for the nitrous.

Just saying,not like you'd cheat or anything.

[Count Steer]

For a moment I though a 'rain light' was an indicator to tell you it's raining.

[Dodgy69]

For a moment I though a 'rain light' was an indicator to tell you it's raining.

What is it...

[KungFooBob]

For a moment I though a 'rain light' was an indicator to tell you it's raining.

What is it...

If a race is declared 'wet' you have to show a suitable rear red light.

[Count Steer]

For a moment I though a 'rain light' was an indicator to tell you it's raining.

What is it...

https://www.bikevis.com/product-categor ... in-lights/

[KungFooBob]

When the ACU first introduced them loads of people tried to use cheap bicycle LED lamps. They didn't usually last a race before falling to bits.

[weeksy]

Where's the thoughts now then @Tricky

[Tricky]

Where's the thoughts now then @Tricky

Hehe, yeah...
Tim has been sending me links to MiniTwins to buy , but as of this morning, I have pretty much decided that I am gonna stick with the Bandit.

Bemsee MiniTwins is undoubtedly the most competitive MT grid, and he's starting out and wants to progress up into faster classes over the next few years, but not looking to spend £20k or more a season just yet so it's the ideal class for him.
It's definitely not really what I want though, and fuck getting sucked into trying to compete with that grid ( as I undoubtedly would,) , I would only get disappointed and that would take a lot of the fun and excitement away for me.
That's the main reason but a couple of the Bemsee meeting dates don't work for me, and alongside actually riding the thing, the build/personalization of what is currently an auld shitter into something that's (hopefully) reasonably presentable and fit is a fair part of the challenge I've set myself too .
As for riding with mates, yup, I get what you're saying and agree, but I will undoubtedly make new mates- part of the FPR rules are if you don't set up in the same pre-designated area of the paddock with all your fellow members, you forfeit any points you might otherwise get.

So it's onwards and upwards, and I'm off back into the garage now for more Bandit fettling- on the list fr this afternoon are having a crack at getting the tank, seat, bellypan etc in a reasonabley fit state to accept paint or wrap, and maybe pull the carbs apart too if I have time

[Tricky]

I've been making some progress on this over the last couple of weeks, albeit looking at the current state of it , doesn't look much as it's now in even more pieces than it ever was, but I've bought stuff for it , and been working away at some bits, but I've been doing a lot of other stuff too and I haven't taken pics of what I've been doing - tomorrow is planned as a full day on it, so will update the thread properly after that with pics.

In the meantime, one little reminder pic to maybe make one or two of you smile ( or even despair )- - just to remind you, this is what that beautiful seat looked like when I bought it







And this is what awaited me when I removed all that rubber - feckin club racers eh!



Oh, and the white gunge you can see ( I assumed it was silicon when I saw it ) you can see, well no, that was rock-hard pollyfilla

Anyway, we are getting there ( or at least that's what I keep telling myself ) and I've booked a shake-down trackday so there is a hard deadline in the calendar now so progress should escalate over the next few weeks - proper update with more pics to follow over the next few days