Race bike is sold

The race bike has now been sold as well which leaves a lot more room in the garage and more money for the RGV. I've just placed the order for the piston kit and some Tyga end cans. I'm glad to be getting some momentum back on this. Now I need to find a good painter to colour match and paint the rear.

Carbs are on

A small bit of progress. I've got the carbs on after a lot of heaving and swearing to get them into the rubbers.

The pro bolt kit is in as well and I also swapped out the 14 tooth sprocket that came with the motor for a 16 tooth - see how it goes on the road.

Oompa Loompa chopper is no more

The dream that was the Oompa Loompa chopper is no longer with us - in fact it went to Toowoomba in the back of a van, sold on the evilBay. I have too many projects keeping me from the RGV so out it went. The race bike is also for sale and I'm flogging off a load of spare parts as well so the coffers are filling back up to finish the RGV.

Some (small) progress on the racer

I've fitted the blanking plate for the thermostat on the racer. As the KLX650 motor already has a thermostat in it I've removed the extra one that was a left over from the original RGV plumbing. I'm still saving for the pistons and rings so progress is slow.

I went out on a club ride to celebrate one of our member's birthday (Happy Birthday Ross). I spent most of the time cruising and being passed by the faster riders but it was fun all the same. This is about as close as I'd like my Gixxer to be to a Highway Patrol car......

When bolts go bad

The new pads on the GSXR were nice...the missing bolts in the rear caliper were not. With a ride on Saturday I managed to have my bike squeezed in at the local mechanics for an all round pad change before I went to work. Heading out to one of our suppliers I found my caliper hanging off with one bolt gone and the other one halfway through backing itself out. I'm glad I was cruising in the burbs rather than on the highway. A bit of bush craft with some cable ties (thanks Craig) and we were back in business.

Ultralite Bobber aka Oompa Loompa Chopper

I couldn't resist.......another fun project has risen from the ashes. This is the rolling chassis from the donor bike. Most of the parts have been stripped off and put on the other 2 bikes I am building and I was left with these parts scattered around the shed. A quick twirl of the spanners and they're all back together and the wiring loom removed. The original subframe has been cut up and redone to get the seat height lower and further back.


Thanks to Dan for welding it all together.


The aim is to get together a mini bobber with a nice simple air-cooled motor in there. Next up are the handlebars and after that the search for a motor that will fit.

Barrels are ready

I finished the barrels over the weekend which leaves me scraping the money together for a rebuild kit - pistons, rings, and gaskets. While I'm doing that I'll continue working on the race bike and start finalising the 2 strokers wiring.

I've also been looking around the place at.....dare I say it Harley Davidsons....especially bobbers. The old clean ones are great and I like the look of a lot of the Japanese efforts.



Harley's sure hold their value well as backet cases are at least $4500 before they're even touched. Cruising the interwebs got me onto the XS650 style bobbers and choppers and there are a lot of cool bikes around. This got me thinking to using what you've got which is much the way the old bobbers and choppers came about. What have I got? Well I've got another RGV rolling chassis....I wonder......



An XS500 motor in there.......? Do I have enough projects yet?