Nearly 3 years...disgraceful

Hard to believe that it's coming up on 3 years since I rebuilt the engine in the RGV and fired her up for the first time. Here's the latest clip of a little maintenance run the other weekend. I really need to get this on the road......

Pulled on the RGV

I took her out for a little test ride and it became expensive....

More motivation to get it on the road asap!!!!!!

Getting there...slowly

Fixed the power valves - I had the servo pulley on the wrong way which didn't help, so flipped it, then setup the top cylinders cables correctly and I now have working power valves. Timing them was pretty easy as I was expecting some sort of black magic ritual.

Off with the exhausts and in with the new gaskets and around the block for a quick spin, awesome. I'm supposed to keep it to 6,000 for the first 500 kilometers but couldn't help a quick excursion to 9,000 - just to check if the power valves were working of course.

What's left:
Time the power valves
Fix the indicators
Kick start seal is leaking
Front fork seals are leaking - and front feels pretty soft
Rear brake is ordinary - check pads
Tune the carbs
Sort out leaks from both exhausts
I'll be sorting out the electrics and then it's time to fix the leaks before it's off to Bogaarts for a dyno tune. and then rego.

One thing I have noticed is that the HRC reservoirs are sweating in the heat. I haven't come across this before and will need to keep an eye on it.

Saturday - IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!

Up early and went to get the key cut....they've moved, after a quick spin 4 suburbs over they took an hour.....and no joy. Back to Tommy at MMM Motorcycles for the chain and luckily he had the replacement part for the carb. Aired the tyres on the way home. Back home, gave up on the battery or rather it gave up the ghost, quick run out and picked up a new one. Worked out the key myself. Fitted the battery, kicked, and kicked, and kicked and....nothing No spark, started chasing down the problem - corroded ignition fuse, kicked again and.....let the smoking commence!!!

Controls have all arrived

eBay hath provided all the controls so now it's time to get it all on the RGV. Dan's machining the shift rod and then I can finish the foot pegs and controls. Getting closer............ Oh and the Gixxer is up for sale on evilBay again.....

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.

Another "Filly" for the stable

As I trawled the for sale ads looking for parts I suffered an overwhelming fit of compulsive buying and went and bought an RGV based Supermono race bike. I've always liked supermono and had a long held notion of shoving a CR500 motor into an RGV but having found out from someone that did it that it was unrideable and shook itself to pieces I skipped the idea. Then came this one - RGV250 chassis with a Kawasaki KLX 650 motor shoved in there. I didn't really need this but at a low price I bit the bullet and bought it. Plans are to shove it in the corner till I've finished the 250. Now how do I get this back from Warwick?

Welcome to the first post

Well the background to my build is I started riding on an FZR250R but I've always wanted an RGV. Moving up in licence I skipped the RGV and went to a GSXR750. After writing that off I picked up a crumby RZ250 - 350 motor with wiseco kit and 350 front end for a song and I kind of turned it into a rat bike. It was great fun and I enjoyed riding it around even nipping it up racing an RGV on the highway. After a while it developed a bad rumble in the engine and I sold it for a pittance as I was moving back to Ireland for work. Back in Australia and after a brief time with an XT600 and then not riding for 8 years I pick up another GSXR except it was an 1100 streetfighter this time. This year I've decided that I want to improve my riding skills at track days so the hunt for an RGV was back on. Unfortunately while they looked great in photos the majority were munted basket cases.

I shifted focus and grabbed a fettled rolling chassis and body work from Coolum Beach, way up the Sunshine Coast. It's a 1992 model and comes with 6-pot calipers from a 91 TL1000R, goodridge braided lines, and with a load of race tech gold kit suspension.

I also snapped up the bodywork and it is all original plastics (except for the race seat).
One thing I didn't get was the key, so I'll need a new one cut. Now for an engine....