I have been looking off and on for years. Originally I started looking but a cheap RS250 Aprilia came up and ended up a project. I then ended up doing a lot of work making pre-preg carbon parts which took up all my time and money so I stopped riding anything to get my business going.
Now after a series of events that started with a court case and ended with my father dying and doing work for BSB and WSS600 etc. I have had stress, loss and every emotion you can imaging good and bad. So when this came up I had to have it... It has a good engine and feels well bolted together and will be a bit of fun for next year while I do some other work on a couple of other project bikes.
So I am hoping to get out on it for a quick ride tomorrow and get a trackday in at Mallory sometime in November..
I may use it to do a few carbon parts. I am in the process of making a mould for an MC21 tank and if that works I may do some mc18 parts and an MC28 tank..... lol
Cheers Si.. You are the one to blame for me getting one... I hope you feel guilty and hang your head in shame....... Haha. Now I need to get out and ride it once before I strip it for a bit of a rebuild and then not ride it again for about 6 years... Like my Aprilia... Oh and your project bike...
mtec666 wrote:WOW! Those carbon tanks look amazing. Im sure you will find a few buyers for those.
I have the MC21 tank sorted ready to have a mould made. I have an RG500 tank coming from the USA to be made and I have got a good MC28 tank as well as my little MC18 tank now too... I have made 28 of the Aprilia RS250 tanks and 10 Aprilia Falco tanks! Bloody Falco who would have guessed anyone would even want a falco tank in carbon.... Haha...
Carbon looks great, but it doesn't crash very well...
Had a customer racing an Aprilia with my full kit crash at paddock hill and put a hole the size of a pea in the fairing. Another guy has been racing a full kit all year and had a few crashes and not sent it back for repair at all yet. I have a guy racing in the 2 Stroke series in Italy who crashed his bike so hard it too every panel out and ripped the breather off the tank. But the tank survived. The tank may have been a lucky close escape but the full kits with seat and fairing too... They have taken a few hits and survived a lot better than I imagined. So it seems unless its a direct hit and hard it is no worse than anything else..
Finally got to take the bike out for a quick spin. It has had 17 inch wheels fitted front and rear. So the steering feels a little slow so I am having some HRC link plates machined up at the moment. That should get it back to where it needs to be and speed it up a little more than stock too. The motor feels really nice and strong on the road too which is great. I just need to sort out the soda blaster to clean a few bits and sort out the wheels. As nice as black looks it needs to be white to make it look closer to stock. I also need to swap the black screen for a clear one too. Missed the boat on doing a trackday at Mallory, at least, this year. So its off for an MOT next week and will get a few miles on it over winter on the clearest driest days. I know the bodywork is a Chinese copy but it fits well and as its not stock it is not a problem for me.. Just glad I finally got to have an NSR250 to go with the Yamaha TZR which is on its way from Japan too.
Cheers. The carbon started to just make my own kit after I was let down big style by a company who supposedly specialise in pre-preg carbon. The mould maker was local to my dad and I had to see him to sort a few things out and it took off from there when he told me how bad the company was and after seeing some of their work I had to agree. So I did it myself. Now I do it for a living and struggle to get things made for me... But it is a great job and I love work again..
silikesguiness wrote:i can remember when we fetched the first one out the mould thats the one thats on mine isnt it
Yep you had the first one. It was not the same material I use now and I had never done anything in carbon before.. I am still surprised it came out as well as it did... From making a kit for my own bike because the guy who should have done it let me down to now making parts for BSB. World Super Sport and WSB as well as Moto 2. Its been a wild ride... What's next? HRC? Here is a HRC WSB fairing next to a sample of my work and its obvious the pinholes and trapped air in the HRC stuff where you can see the little grey dots in the corners of the weave.. So after showing my work to a couple of people who wanted to see me at the NEC I may add Moto GP or full factory WSB effort soon too... Who knows?????
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