From Russell Holland in England. He's got the right idea.
Hello! How is it going at Sideburn HQ? I have followed the blog over the last few weeks and seen you encouraging people to go and race - it doesn't matter what you've got - just give it a go. I never figured I could afford to have a go at bike racing until I was introduced to sand racing at Mablethorpe by Mr Rocket. All you need is...
£250 running bike from ebay. It was a bit more expensive than I had intended, but I was pushed for time - and just look at that exhaust (genuine Micron 81mm mortar, christ knows what it was designed for). Put on a new chain and big sprocket and bin everything that isn't essential. I used the front wheel, tyres, seat, tank, bars and cut out from my previous sand racer. That and some knowledgable help from Carl Smith and away you go. Unfortunately Carl didn't want me to keep the 8kg of drainpipe on the end of the exhaust even though I thought it looked cool. There's no accounting for taste I suppose.
Mods for the up coming season include an Acerbis front mudguard that fits the wheel (£4.99 from ebay) and some new control cables.
See you down the beach ...
Russ
Russ why did you junk the back-rack?
ReplyDeleteHow you going to attach the top box
& secure your fishing tackle?
otherwise a sexy bike.
Going to have to drag the old RS out from under the ground sheet in the garden now,really neat bike,what was the tank and front end off originally oh and another couple of pics would be good
ReplyDeleteRegards
Roy
The tank and front end were taken off my old sand racer that Russ bought off me and then blew up after a few meetigs. I'm sure the tank is XL125 but can't remember about the front end?
ReplyDeleteDon't it suck when ya introduce a mate to something you do and they go out there and are much faster than you.....
The back rack went as I figured I would get sand in my sandwiches. I didn't think about fishing gear though. Bit of a missed opportunity there I reckon.
ReplyDeleteMost of the bike is original RS - there's just less of it. The motor/carb are standard, but there's a pod air filter there. The seat, tank and bars were replaced (along with throttle, clutch lever and engine cut out) from stuff I already had, but you do see people racing them on the beach as standard, but with dirt tyres.
Parts I junked include all bodywork, airbox, battery, brakes, original linked gear lever, right hand foot rest and all of the nice road going stuff like lights and clocks.
The front end is RS, but the front wheel is from the old sand racer and I reckon it was from a xlx or cr 250. I have no clue how it was fitted though - that was some of Carl's handywork. The rear wheel is the original RS wheel with a dirt tyre fitted.
The tank was xl 125. I hacksawed the ends off of the original tank mounting pins and cut the rubber mounts to fit and the tank slid straight on. Carl ground the original rear tank mounting bracket off and moved it up the frame to fit the shorter tank.
Oh, and the rear suspension is MZ. It was fitted to the bike when I bought it. I wouldn't whole heartedly recommend it for a conversion, but those shocks have so little spring to them they didn't highside me last year. Hopefully they won't this year either...