Zippy's 2014 Trackday, 2015 Race Bike

[Tim400GB]

Cool, watching

[Zippy]

Well this one has to be up and running and race ready for 22nd Feb so I'm sure there'll be some frantic action between now and then.

[Zippy]

Well today has been a productive and worthwhile day. The one thing that concerned me about my race bike is the fact that it didn't have a V5. Once it was back home and I'd had a good chance to look it over I've discovered that the frame number is not correct as it starts NC130 which is obviously wrong otherwise we'd all be calling them NC130's instead. This combined to a dent in the right hand frame spar made me consider getting a new frame. Now I bought it legitimately and the person I bought it off bought it legitimately as well butI'm not sure of it's history before that. I know it's had an engine change at some point and I've been told it'd never been registered and only ever used as a track bike however I felt uneasy about using it as I've heard they will do frame number checks and impound the bikes if it's not legitimate.

On that basis I decided it was best to replace the frame with one with a V5 in my name so with the help of Tony i went and picked up a replacement frame and swing arm this evening on the way home from the NEC (more about that in a bit). Now I just can't help myself and I thought this would be a great opportunity to quickly strip and prep the bike ready for the start of the season. Then I thought it would also be a great opportunity to powder coat the frame and swing arm as well so that'll be done black in the not too distant future. It'll be a good opportunity to replace old bearings and bushes and replace cables as well.





I also had delivered this the other day. It's from a Bros but with a little fettling it should go straight on.



Now as previously mentioned I went to the NEC today to Motorcycle Live with the intention of getting some new kit for the race season next year. I have a fair few helmets but I either don't want to us them for racing or they're too old to use so I needed a helmet firstly. Now I do have a bit of an Arai fetish but I have been known to use the odd Shoei as well so I was primarily on the look out for one from those too brands. Had a good look on loads of stands and ended up with a really good bargain of an Arai Axces II which normally retails at £310 for the bargain price of £170 (they threw in a black visor too). Then I moved onto boots which I have a real problem with as I have large calfs. Now I've always been an Alpinestars fan but the last 3 sets I've had just haven't fitted properly so I thought I'd give them one last try and look for a set of SMX 5's. Luckily these have just been upgraded to the 6's so I managed to grab another bargain, these normally retail for £180 but I got them for £105. Finally I was after a decent back protector as my old one was crap when I bought it and I felt i needed something more substantial for racing. Again I went for a brand I knew and was happy with so plumped for the Knox brand and got a great deal on an Agies protector for £80 which was a saving of £20 over normal retail.



All in all I was a very happy camper today. Still a long way to go before the bike exits the pit lane but it's another small step to getting there.

[Zippy]

Forgot to mention I've been getting some race tips.

[bikemonkey]

I see a snowball appearing somewhere in that bike....

[Zippy]

I am thinking I should get things zinc'd and repainted lol

[bikemonkey]

Hahaha, this'll be shinier than my road bike!







Have you caught something from Timon?

[Zippy]

Yes

One thing I have learned from the RVF experience is never, ever keep a list of what you've spent. When the RVF is finished I'll show everyone the spreadsheet of that build. Scary expensive doesn't even come close, doesn't even scratch the surface.

[morris147]

Will follow the progress on this.....



So many 2014 race bike builds popping up, sadly mine is only being stripped, cleaned and serviced.

[benny]

What happened?