Author Topic: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)  (Read 9245 times)

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Offline turboguzzi

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #25 on: October 27, 2014, 01:42:48 PM »
if that's of any help, my worst ever accident in 37 years of riding was on the road with a newer bike. Public guard rails tend to maim and kill way more than air fences on the track. Missed it by this much that time. Other than the usual first corner melee, i always feel safer at a track than on the road.
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Offline bwaller

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #26 on: October 27, 2014, 02:59:42 PM »
That's a great point TG. Besides the airfence, there's no gravel/sand on the track, no-one coming in the opposite direction around the next corner. There's a reason retired roadracers have trouble getting back on streetbikes.

Offline calj737

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #27 on: October 27, 2014, 04:45:09 PM »
And pretty strict about not allowing texting while racing I understand  ;)
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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of it's victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C.S. Lewis

Offline Lostboy Steve

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #28 on: October 28, 2014, 06:07:52 AM »
if that's of any help, my worst ever accident in 37 years of riding was on the road with a newer bike. Public guard rails tend to maim and kill way more than air fences on the track. Missed it by this much that time. Other than the usual first corner melee, i always feel safer at a track than on the road.
and check your PM's

I did. Thank you. Hypos aint a thang... ;) I have a friend who was doing a cross-country ride on a Virago. Went down in the rain on an off ramp and was lucky enough to only break his leg in half and not have it torn off by the guardrail support. Terrible accident as mild as it seemed. Even if I don’t get to do a whole lot of racing the pictures are super inspirational, which is just as much help as the advice!
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Offline turboguzzi

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #29 on: October 29, 2014, 05:27:58 AM »
The only way you have to at least gauge if you want to do it or not is to go visit an AHRMA or WERA vintage event. The main danger is quite easy to tell: It's contagious and  becomes an addiction in no time at all, be warned :)
Track days cater for everybody, mostly modern sport bikes, not much of a "vintage" feel in the paddock in my experience and you might feel a bit out of place on a 550 out there between all the CBRs, GSXR and ZXs...

I think the same happens in drag racing, most events are not vintage specific for all i know, but some other people here in HiPo will know better than me.

Offline bj

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #30 on: October 31, 2014, 04:14:08 PM »
Don't be intimidated by track days. Roger Lyle runs them at Summit Point, WV, maybe a 3 hour drive for you. I've run my CB350 there in the Intermediate group with no issues. It's usually - get passed on the straight, catch up in the turns - lots of fun. There will be a WERA race there sometime in the Spring. Come hang out.

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Offline bear

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #31 on: October 31, 2014, 04:51:03 PM »
Nice neat bike bj. ;)

Cheers,
Brian
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Offline Lostboy Steve

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #32 on: November 08, 2014, 12:15:53 PM »
Don't be intimidated by track days. Roger Lyle runs them at Summit Point, WV, maybe a 3 hour drive for you. I've run my CB350 there in the Intermediate group with no issues. It's usually - get passed on the straight, catch up in the turns - lots of fun. There will be a WERA race there sometime in the Spring. Come hang out.



That sounds cool. Maybe I will see if I can get down there for a weekend.
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Offline Music City Metalcraft

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #33 on: December 01, 2014, 09:45:02 AM »
Here's my Seeley750, raced it in Classic Superbike for a couple of seasons.
The part that needs the most upgrading is the nut holding the handlebars

Offline Roach Carver

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #34 on: December 01, 2014, 10:18:08 AM »
Yeah, but its blue :). Apparently you didn't get your Scarf in the bicycle propeller.

Offline Lostboy Steve

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #35 on: December 01, 2014, 10:18:57 AM »
I like that tail a lot. Did you make that?
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Offline strynboen

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #36 on: December 01, 2014, 10:53:35 AM »
i have a idea to thange my cb 77 vrag to a non modified "racer" just run it as stock as possibel..and learn..and still have the chance to make a  road resturasion on it later
i kan not speak english/but trying!!
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=60973.0
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=144758.0
i hate all this v-w.... vords

Offline SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #37 on: December 18, 2014, 08:55:03 PM »
Not really vintage but . . .







1975 CB550K1 "Blue" Stockish Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135005.0)
1975 CB550F1 frame/CB650 engine hybrid "The Hot Mess" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,150220.0.html)
2008 Triumph Thruxton (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,190956.0.html)
2014 MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800
2015 Yamaha FZ-09 (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,186861.0.html)

"There are some things nobody needs in this world, and a bright-red, hunch-back, warp-speed 900cc cafe racer is one of them — but I want one anyway, and on some days I actually believe I need one.... Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba." Hunter S. Thompson, Song of the Sausage Creature, Cycle World, March 1995.  (http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html and https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1995/3/1/song-of-the-sausage-creature)

Sold/Emeritus
1973 CB750K2 "Bionic Mongrel" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=132734.0) - Sold
1977 CB750K7 "Nine Lives" Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=50490.0) - Sold
2005 RVT1000RR RC51-SP2 "El Diablo" - Sold
2016+ Triumph Thruxton 1200 R (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,170198.0.html) - Sold

Offline Retro Rocket

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #38 on: December 18, 2014, 11:41:13 PM »
Not really vintage but . . .









Is that yours Don...?
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If You can't fix it with a hammer, You've got an electrical problem.

Offline calj737

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #39 on: December 19, 2014, 03:39:20 AM »

Is that yours Don...?
If it is, I hope I'm in his Will....  ::)
'74 550 Build http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=126401.0
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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of it's victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C.S. Lewis

Offline SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #40 on: December 19, 2014, 09:35:57 AM »
Not really vintage but . . .









Is that yours Don...?

That was my GSX-R750 track bike.  Showa (titanium nitride coated) superbike forks and monoblock calipers, complete race exhaust, Ohlins shock, PC, Brembo MC, racing tires, and custom mapped by a brilliant tech named Nigel who worked on the AMA Corona Suzuki team.  It was really dialed in -- at least for me!  I sold it when we moved to a house with a much smaller garage.   :'(  It handled even better than my RC51.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2014, 09:39:17 AM by CB750 Cafe Racer Fan »
1975 CB550K1 "Blue" Stockish Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135005.0)
1975 CB550F1 frame/CB650 engine hybrid "The Hot Mess" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,150220.0.html)
2008 Triumph Thruxton (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,190956.0.html)
2014 MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800
2015 Yamaha FZ-09 (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,186861.0.html)

"There are some things nobody needs in this world, and a bright-red, hunch-back, warp-speed 900cc cafe racer is one of them — but I want one anyway, and on some days I actually believe I need one.... Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba." Hunter S. Thompson, Song of the Sausage Creature, Cycle World, March 1995.  (http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html and https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1995/3/1/song-of-the-sausage-creature)

Sold/Emeritus
1973 CB750K2 "Bionic Mongrel" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=132734.0) - Sold
1977 CB750K7 "Nine Lives" Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=50490.0) - Sold
2005 RVT1000RR RC51-SP2 "El Diablo" - Sold
2016+ Triumph Thruxton 1200 R (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,170198.0.html) - Sold

Offline Retro Rocket

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #41 on: December 19, 2014, 02:30:18 PM »
Not really vintage but . . .









Is that yours Don...?

That was my GSX-R750 track bike.  Showa (titanium nitride coated) superbike forks and monoblock calipers, complete race exhaust, Ohlins shock, PC, Brembo MC, racing tires, and custom mapped by a brilliant tech named Nigel who worked on the AMA Corona Suzuki team.  It was really dialed in -- at least for me!  I sold it when we moved to a house with a much smaller garage.   :'(  It handled even better than my RC51.

Very nice mate, that would have been hard to part with. You know, almost any street bike thats been set up by someone that knows what they are doing will blow most stock suspensioned bikes away. I had an Old 1988 Kawasaki GPX750 {Ninja in the states} race bike that was set up very well, it was without doubt the best handling road bike i've owned and blew most of the modern bikes at the time away, this was in the late 1980's. A couple of my racer friends rode it on the street and couldn't believe how well it handled, it was so neutral, even with the 16 inch front wheel, I never changed the settings from the track when i put it on the street, I used to ride a bit harder then... ;D 8)  That bike was set up, believe it or not, by a HRC mechanic Gregs boss {previous owner} had work in his shop on an exchange program from Japan, he did things to that engine that most experts at the time said "wouldn't work" especially the amount of weight removed from the crank, the engine was an absolute gem, it was a real buzz riding that bike on the street.... 8)
750 K2 1000cc
750 F1 970cc
750 Bitsa 900cc
If You can't fix it with a hammer, You've got an electrical problem.

Offline SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #42 on: December 25, 2014, 03:24:46 PM »
Thanks, Mick.

Nigel was a wizard at working out the mapping issues.  After he was done, the bike had a nice even power band (before it would hit a flat spot and then surge wickedly).  She howled like a banshee with the race exhaust (in a good way!), and handled very firm but was so sure-footed.  I sure do miss that bike.
1975 CB550K1 "Blue" Stockish Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135005.0)
1975 CB550F1 frame/CB650 engine hybrid "The Hot Mess" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,150220.0.html)
2008 Triumph Thruxton (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,190956.0.html)
2014 MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800
2015 Yamaha FZ-09 (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,186861.0.html)

"There are some things nobody needs in this world, and a bright-red, hunch-back, warp-speed 900cc cafe racer is one of them — but I want one anyway, and on some days I actually believe I need one.... Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba." Hunter S. Thompson, Song of the Sausage Creature, Cycle World, March 1995.  (http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html and https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1995/3/1/song-of-the-sausage-creature)

Sold/Emeritus
1973 CB750K2 "Bionic Mongrel" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=132734.0) - Sold
1977 CB750K7 "Nine Lives" Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=50490.0) - Sold
2005 RVT1000RR RC51-SP2 "El Diablo" - Sold
2016+ Triumph Thruxton 1200 R (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,170198.0.html) - Sold

Offline rick.archer

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #43 on: January 07, 2015, 03:26:41 PM »
Here is mine, no clue how it will perform on track yet. Since you are in NJ you can go to NJMP for track days and a couple of races this year. PM for more detail if you want as I have been in contact with the group that runs track days there and at Pocono.

Offline Lostboy Steve

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #44 on: January 08, 2015, 07:54:39 AM »
Here is mine, no clue how it will perform on track yet. Since you are in NJ you can go to NJMP for track days and a couple of races this year. PM for more detail if you want as I have been in contact with the group that runs track days there and at Pocono.

Wow. That looks simple enough. First one I've seen that doesn't look highly modified. Do you ride it on the street as well?
1968 Honda Z50
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Offline rick.archer

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #45 on: January 08, 2015, 02:20:27 PM »

Wow. That looks simple enough. First one I've seen that doesn't look highly modified. Do you ride it on the street as well?

It is simple. Since I am a beginner at track days and racing, it's built for fun and to hopefully finish a vintage race or two this year. Next year it might be a bit modified!! No street riding, legally :)

Offline Retro Rocket

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #46 on: January 08, 2015, 02:26:23 PM »
Looks like you have progressive shocks on the rear, throw some Ikons {koni's} and revel in their superiority... ;)
750 K2 1000cc
750 F1 970cc
750 Bitsa 900cc
If You can't fix it with a hammer, You've got an electrical problem.

Offline seanbarney41

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #47 on: January 08, 2015, 02:28:32 PM »
Rick, I would like to encourage you to think about acquiring a spare set of body parts for that bike as that original paint looks beautiful in the pics and it would be a shame to low side or something with that tank.  Don't get me wrong, I totally support the decision to race any bike.
If it works good, it looks good...

Offline Retro Rocket

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #48 on: January 08, 2015, 02:30:52 PM »
Rick, I would like to encourage you to think about acquiring a spare set of body parts for that bike as that original paint looks beautiful in the pics and it would be a shame to low side or something with that tank.  Don't get me wrong, I totally support the decision to race any bike.

Great point Sean...
750 K2 1000cc
750 F1 970cc
750 Bitsa 900cc
If You can't fix it with a hammer, You've got an electrical problem.

Offline rick.archer

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Re: Can I see your Race Bikes? (How do I inject vintage racing into my life?)
« Reply #49 on: January 08, 2015, 03:10:12 PM »
Thanks for the advise/encouragement. The shocks and fork springs are Progressive (for start of this year at least!) and I understand the spare body parts statement but when I bought the bike for $275 my intent was for the track. The MAC exhaust and comp only baffle cost more than the bike. Ironically my brother commented about me crashing and being upset after seeing the bike in it's current condition, then asked when he could bring his 76 KZ900 over for me to restore!